Reviewer: Foodnut.com 54 Mint Wine Bar 16 Mint Plaza (Near Jessie) San Francisco, CA 94103 415-543-5100 |
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54 Mint Wine Bar is a new Italian Restaurant in Downtown San Francisco’s Mint Plaza, across the street from the Westfield San Francisco Center Shopping Mall. The restaurant owner opened New York’s Il Buco, and the chef is from New York’s Mangiafuoco. The bakery/pastry chef serves some very good and complimentary foccaia bread.
Decor, Vibe – Compact dining room with stylish chairs and tables, decorative cooking items on the shelves. Bar area near the door and another dining area downstairs in the basement. Homey decor with lots of wine bottles, pottery. Folks dining were locals in their 30’s and 40’s, with many couples.
Menu Pictures (Click to zoom into any picture)
Picks:
Salumeria ($12) a selection of house cured charcuterie including chorizo, salumi, prosciotto, lardo, pancetta. All meats were top notch, and very full of robust flavor. Raw bacon was hard to eat for us.
Arancina di Carne ($10) fried saffron rice ball with meat ragout was one delightful deep fried ball of deliciousness. Nice crispy skin made a nice combination with the saffron flavor, meat, and peas inside.
Cus Cus di Pesce ($16) couscous with grouper and monk fish in a fish broth was a hearty sized portion of well cooked fish with some mussels and a prawn on top, and cous cous underneath. A bowl of strong fish broth was on the side. Almost like a cioppino.
Trenette al Pesto Trapanese ($14) house made pasta with Sicilian pesto was a nice mound of home made egg pasta smothered in a coarsely ground pesto sauce. Shaved parmesan was added to the top. A more filling dish that the raviolis
Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci ($14) house made spinach & ricotta cheese raviloi in butter & sage. Three huge and yummy raviolis stuffed with good cheese and spinach.
Porchetta di Maiale ($16) rolled pork belly roasted in wild herbs and spices, and served with mash potatoes was nice big slice of fatty decadence. Remove the fat and you do not have much meat left. Tender and full of flavor, but grease city.
Panna Cotta ($12) was super expensive and topped with some special vinegar. It was very smooth and one of the best we have had.
OK:
None
Pans:
None
54 Mint Wine Bar recently opened and had erratic service that was still being ironed out. Give them time to fix this. The food was very good, portioned well, and reasonably priced. We would consider coming back one they had some time to iron out their service problems. The food has potential to be even better.
Short wine list with fair markup and several organic and biodynamic wines. Wines by the glass from $5, Bottles from $12.
6 Comments
flour + water Restaurant Review, San Francisco, 94110 | Foodnut.com
May 28, 2009 at 12:08 pm[…] a pasta, and a dessert to be full. Delfina is not far away and a lot better and so is Farina. New 54 Mint is also a better bet. Moderate wine markup, small selection. Glasses of wine from $6.50, bottles […]
Debbie Wong-Okabe
May 30, 2009 at 9:44 amHow hard is it to find parking nearby? Will they take reservations? Great review– thanks! Really want to give it a try; coming from out of town so need to figure out the logistics
Food Nut
May 30, 2009 at 10:30 pmYes they take reservations. The big 6th and Mission parking structure is 1/2 block away.
Dana Reid
June 9, 2009 at 10:42 amThey do not take reservations, at least on Friday or Saturday nights, I just tried to make one.
Jennifer
June 28, 2009 at 11:45 pmSo, forgive me for asking a very basic question, but casual attire means what exactly? I am going on a first date at 54 mint and i want to look the part!
Food Nut
June 29, 2009 at 7:32 amMy definition of casual is a step up from wearing sweats and t-shirts. It is all a matter of personal preference and what makes you feel comfortable.