I generally like French cuisine, being sauce heavy and all, but for some reason, I haven't explored many French restaurants in San Francisco. After loving my (delivery!) French food from Brasserie du Parc in Houston during a recent business trip, I decided to try a new (to me) French place in San Francisco that had been on my list for quite a while: Isa.
"Nestled in the heart of San Francisco's Marina District, Isa is a Cal French small plate restaurant. Executive Founder Chef Luke Sung, who is talented beyond his years, created the types of satisfying combinations one can eat every day. His food is deeply flavored, elegant, yet straightforward."
Isa isn't quite classic French, as they draw heavily on local Californian ingredients and trends, but, the essential French sauces are most definitely still a focus. I get the impression the restaurant is a fairly cute, cozy bistro, although I never visited in person, as I don't frequent the Marina.
I've ordered online via DoorDash every time, and the experience was mostly good - the menu was out of date, so I did receive a main dish with different sides/garnishes than as described (same with an appetizer I ordered another time), and I did ask to have a sauce on the side and that note was not followed, but, otherwise, the ordering and delivery process was straightforward, and it gave me a chance to get an excellent meal from the other side of the city.
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Food & Drink
The menu at Isa is an interesting combination of classical French technique and cuisine, with a flair towards local Californian. I was drawn in by many things, mostly seafood, like the grilled local calamari, the seared scallops, and the potato wrapped seabass (!), but also by classic French goodness like the sweetbreads friacassee. Most dishes come with potato in some form (mashed, rosti, au gratin), and truffles show up in many dishes. People rave about some of the lighter, more Californian things too, like the raw Japanese hamachi starter, and of course, local oysters, and Dungeness crab salad.
In addition to the food, the drink list is extensive: they offer far more wines than most by the glass, and have a full bar with cocktails, aperitifs, and the like. And, protip, this is all available for takeout and delivery - every wine they have, by the glass or bottle, every cocktail, even just a single pour of your favorite spirit. I was really impressed with the takeout drink offerings.
Drinks
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| Kir Royale. $12. |
Ok, I don't know why I ordered a Kir Royale. This is one, and exactly one, place I ever order a Kir Royale: on board British Airways flights. I'm fairly certain, that until this day, I never had ordered one elsewhere. My reason for the Kir Royale on those flights is simple: 1) it is a BA signature thing, and 2) I don't care for champagne generally, so, the Kir Royale is at least a little better, when I want something to sip on as I settle in / go with appetizers. So yes, on British Airways flights, I get a Kir Royale (as you've read about before).
But in "real life", I don't. So why did I get one from Isa? For takeout of all things? Honestly, I don't know. I saw it on the menu, and thought, "oooh, that's fun!" Spoiler: um, it wasn't really fun.
First, the "fun" part of a Kir Royale is the bubbles. Do you know what happens when you take sparkling wine, put it in a plastic cup, and then put it in a Dasher's delivery vehicle for 45 minutes? Yeah, it sloshes all around, and entirely loses all its sparkling nature. This was as flat as can be. A flat Kir Royale is dramatically less good.
Second, I suspect it wasn't particularly good sparkling wine in the first place. Hard to evaluate really, but, it was basically just flat lackluster wine, lightly casis flavored. Even though I did pour it in to a proper champagne glass, and try to make this more lively, um, it just wasn't.
Bad order on my part, and I clearly wouldn't do that again. *+.
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| Bonneau Demi-Sec Chardonnay. $8. |
I liked it - it was slightly sweeter than I'd really want with a meal (although, with the scallops and bacon, it wasn't too sweet, really), but paired beautifully with my dessert. It wasn't a super sweet wine though, nothing like a sauternes or port. It was slightly buttery, smooth, and not too dry, super low acid. Very drinkable. The pour was a standard size, and the $8 price was quite reasonable.
I was happy to have this delivered to me, and if I wanted a dessert wine again that wasn't over the top sweet, I'd get it again. ***+.
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| Six Grapes Port. $9. |
"Aged for two years in seasoned casks before being bottled, Six Grapes is a youthful, bright, and complex reserve port. Known for its finesse, Six Grapes is full-bodied and marked by its fresh aromas of blackberry, liquorice and cassis. Generous black fruit flavours on the palate make it perfect for pairing with dark chocolate."
The next time I ordered, I also added a drink to my order, this time opting for something I knew would be pretty safe, a glass of port, to go along with my massive glazed jelly donut I had at home, that I planned to warm up and serve a la mode. Port sounded like *just* the thing to go with it!
Like the other drinks, it came in a plastic cup that just felt wrong to sip port out of, but that was easily remedied. It arrived warm, because it was packaged with the hot food. I put it in the fridge while I ate dinner, and it was a nice temperature once I was ready for dessert. It was a fine port, one I've had on airplanes many times, and did pair nicely with my dessert. The $9 price was fairly reasonable, and it was a generous pour.
***+.
Appetizers
The appetizer lineup at Isa is fairly large. Lots of local focus, lighter dishes, ranging from several salads (one with Dungeness crab, one with local baked goat cheese, etc) to soups (including their signature lobster broth), to raw seafood (oysters, hamachi) to cooked seafood (grilled calamari, sauteed prawns, steamed mussels). Interestingly, there are no dishes with meat of any kind - no foie gras, but not any pork or beef either. This section really is the lighter fare.
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| Grilled Local Calamari. $17. |
"with red bell peppers, spice, flageolet beans, arugula & red aioli." -- Their Menu
I was pretty excited to see the local calamari on the menu, particularly as it was grilled, not fried. I had been really craving calamari (yes, really) and so I was thrilled to see it, although I was less excited about the rest of the dish ... as it came with flageolet beans.
Or, that is, it was supposed to come with flageolet beans. The DoorDash menu said it would have those beans (nope), arugula (also nope), and honey spice (uh ... not sure?). When I looked it up on their own website, the description was different, and was slightly a closer match, as it mentioned red bell peppers, which I did have, but, it too claimed there would be the beans and arugula, and, even better, red aioli. I had none of those things. I did have some wilted frisee ...
Anyway, I didn't mind the missing beans, since I don't care for them anyway, and I don't mind the frisee rather than arugula, but I wasn't into the red bell peppers, and really did wish it had honey spice or red aioli. The frisee was fine, although fairly saturated in dressing / liquid, and thus, quite limp by the time I got it. So, kinda "eh" to the sides.
The calamari was ok. It wasn't still warm when I got it, so I did have to heat it up, and I could tell it suffered a bit doing so, even though I tried to gently warm it in the oven. It got a bit tough, I suspect it was better originally. I did try a few bites cold, and it was actually better that way. It didn't have a smoky grilled nature to it though, which I was hoping for. I also didn't see any grill marks. Given all the liquid in with the dish, it seemed like it might have just been sauteed? I did like having the mix of bodies and tentacles, and it was all properly cleaned.
Overall, this was solidly boring, but fine. The dish lacked seasoning, as it had nothing to make it pop. It desperately needed a touch of acid (luckily I had some lemon wedges on hand), and a pinch of salt. I wanted some kind of aioli or something to dunk my calamari in. And the soggy frisee ... eh. But the calamari was fine, really, and some of this I'm sure was just lackluster due to takeout. I wouldn't get it again. ***.
"with garlic, jus de veau, and parsley."
Mains
The mains at Isa really drew me in. Their signature dish is a potato wrapped seabass that looks pretty phenomenal - crispy potato outside, brown butter, capers, and tomato confit ... awesome. They also always have a seasonal seared fish (often halibut), and seared scallops. There are multiple poultry options (not just chicken, also a duck breast), red meat (rack of lamb, steak), vegetarian options (truffle risotto, pasta), and even veal sweatbreads. Many of these dishes come with mashed potatoes, although some don't come with much of anything besides sauce/garnish.
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| Seared Scallops. $30. |
"with mashed potato, white corn, english peas, cherry tomatoes, and truffle sauce." -- Door Dash & Restaurant Menu
"with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, white butternut squash, bacon & topped with truffle sauce". -- Actual Dish
The first main I tried is one I always get when offered: scallops.
What I got clearly didn't match the online menu, neither the one on DoorDash, nor the one on their website. I know they change out the vegetables with the scallops seasonally, with brusssels sprouts with bacon in the winter, asparagus in the spring, and the expected corn/peas/tomatoes in the summer, and I clearly hit a seasonal boundary. I was slightly disappointed, as I really did want the corn and peas mix, but I still dug in eagerly. The aroma from the truffles as I opened it was enticing.
The base was mashed potatoes, nicely creamy, but not remarkable. They didn't seem particularly seasoned, but, there was enough sauce and other elements to the dish they didn't necessarily need to be. I'd call them absolutely acceptable mashed potatoes, but not extraordinary. They were however a really nice base for the dish, and perfect to soak up the sauce. ***+.
Next up, the vegetables. Not corn/peas/tomato, but I what I thought was cubes of more potato (?) and butternut squash. I thought it was possible they were another root vegetable, perhaps yams, perhaps parsnips or turnips, but, they didn't actually have any taste I could distinguish, which was fairly surprising, as I generally think I have a decent palette! They were neither firm nor soft, again, no hints as to what these vegetables actually were. Like the mashed potatoes, they also lacked seasoning. *** mystery veggies. I later followed up with the restaurant, because I was so curious, and learned that the white cubes were white butternut squash (!) and the yellow were sweet potato.
And then ... bacon! This was quite unexpected, so, beware if you order this as a pescatarian or otherwise not one who eats pork, but, the bacon really was quite excellent with the dish. There is a reason bacon wrapped scallops are a thing ... Anyway, the bacon was well prepared, crispy like I like it, and added a bit of needed salty element. The bacon paired well with the scallops, and with the mash, and tied the dish together nicely. Not entirely necessarily, but, certainly added to it. ***+.
Now, for the main protein, the scallops. Four large sea scallops, very, very well prepared. You can see just from looking, a light sear on one side. They were tender, not over cooked, not rubbery, just, very nicely done. I was very impressed with the cook on the scallops. I can only imagine how fantastic they would be fresh at the restaurant! ****.
And finally, the truffle sauce. This was lovely. It was not quite what I was expecting, I was thinking more of a buttery style sauce, maybe a cream sauce, and this was more of an au jus it seemed, darker. It reminded me a bit of southern style gravy that you get on shrimp & grits sometime (not the white style gravy), and, it worked that way with the mash too. The truffle flavor was strong. It was really quite tasty, although, as you might be able to see, it was kinda oily, and had clearly broken (perhaps suffering from being in transit?). The oil may have all come from the bacon? Just slightly off putting to see so much separated oil, but, the sauce really was tasty, truffle-tastic, and great to have smothering the mashed potatoes. I suspect bread would be good dunked in it too. ****.
Since it was delivery, and Isa is located fairly far away, the dish was lukewarm, and I did opt to heat the mashed potatoes/sauce/veg up in the microwave for a moment, and stuck my scallops in the pre-heated toaster oven. It heated up well, and I really, really enjoyed this dish. It felt like fine dining, from my house, and really was a nicely executed dish that ate well. My only minor feedback is that it could use with some seasoning (which, was easy to add at home, and I'd much rather they err on the side of too little than over salted!), and, I still would have preferred another vegetable to those mystery cubes. Overall though, a fantastic dish, and I'd gladly get it again.
****.
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| Seared Fresh Alaskan Halibut. $29. |
"with fresh citrus orange, grape fruit, cucumber, cilantro, micro green, champagne vinegar, and aioli." -- DoorDash Menu
The next time I ordered, it was hard not to just get the scallops again, but I was still pretty excited by other options, like the halibut.
Well, my heart sank when I opened my delivery box. I was really looking forward to the halibut, with light, fresh sides of citrus/cucumber/etc, and, I do love aioli. And what I had ... while it was halibut, so I knew I got the right dish, um, there was no citrus nor cucumber, no micro greens, and certainly no aioli. The Isa menu on the restaurant's website has a "seared fresh seasonal fish", but that comes with au gratin potatoes (yay!) and sauteed spinach, so clearly that wasn't this dish either. What I seemed to have was sauteed spinach, artichokes, olives, and a tomato sauce. Caponata-like.
I would have never ordered this if I had known what the accompaniments were. Not only were they not the dish I was in the mood for with the light and fresh elements, I don't like artichokes, nor olives, nor tomato sauce. Sigh. The dish was also stone cold when it arrived.
I ditched the artichokes and olives, and scraped off as much of the tomato sauce as I could, and set about re-heating the fish and spinach. Luckily, I had some leftover mashed potatoes and corn succotash in my fridge, and fresh asparagus, so I quickly assembled a meal I actually wanted, and drizzled it with pesto. It was a fine meal at that point, but, besides the lackluster spinach and the salvaged fish, entirely my own stuff. The halibut was a large portion, and was nicely seared, but it is hard to evaluate it all that much, as it was cold, and served with things I didn't like.
Sigh. I do think Isa is a quality restaurant, and this likely would have been good if it was warm and if I liked the components, but, I do need to dock them for not having updated menus ever, as I truly would have never ordered this with these sides.
*** for the fish I guess, but, *+ overall.
Sides
The sides lineup at Isa is pretty minimal: bread with butter, mashed potatoes, or, mushrooms. No green vegetables available.
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| Local Mushrooms. $9. |
To go along with my calamari that first day, I got the mushrooms. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but hoped that "local" meant they'd be interesting.
And they were! It was a mix of several kinds of wild mushrooms, stems and tops, cut into easy to eat pieces, sauteed with plenty of garlic and veal stock. They were not too soft, had a nice chew, were fairly meaty (likely enhanced by the veal stock), and quite flavorful. I think they'd be great spread on some crusty bread.
I quite enjoyed these, and I think they'd go great with mashed potatoes too. ****.
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