Yip on Fresca
Fresca * 2114 Fillmore St @ California * San Francisco, CA 94115 * (415) 447-2668
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
3945 24th St @ Noe * San Francisco, CA 94114 * (415) 695-0549
Neighborhood: Noe Valley
Cuisine: Peruvian
A Peruvian delight with locations in both Noe Valley and Pacific Heights. I have been to the one in Pacific Heights numerous times but decided to branch out and hit the Noe Valley location last night. Reservations can be a bit tough and walk in is nearly impossible at the Fillmore location, but the Noe location has a bar, so you might be safe with a walk in. I’d be skeptical about taking your chances though on a prime Friday or Saturday night. Stick with a resy on those nights or go a different time.
The Scene
In the Noe location, the restaurant is about 2x the size of the Fillmore location, but the décor and feeling are pretty much the same. They have awesome mosaic tiles on the floor and great art and lighting.
The Menu
Fresca is a Peruvian restaurant with a solid offering in the ceviche sector. They have like 15 different ceviches. They have a great selection of fish (this is what you SHOULD order from here), as well as meat dishes. We ordered one of each and to my surprise the pork dish was *almost* as good as the fish. It was deliciously NOT greasy and very flavorful.
The Food
Portions are HUGE! You can definitely family style it up, which they suggest sometimes but not always. If you dining with just one other person, I’d suggest ceviche starter, an app, and one entrée. We started with the halibut ceviche which was tangy, tasty, fresh and to die for. Love it. I could have just eaten mounds of that. We also ordered to entrées to share for main meal. Though we finished most, it was a lot of food. We could have gotten by with one, like I said. I was stuffed even before dessert – which of course we had to have the chocolate cake. I was wishing it was that delish molten choc cake, which maybe it would have been if they took it out of the oven a bit sooner. It wasn’t exactly overdone, but it could have had a little more moistness. The ice cream on the side was the perfect accompaniment.
The Service
They did a good job of suggesting a wine pairing from a Chilean winery, which I was totally psyched about. The wait staff was also very available but didn’t intrude on our conversations. In fact, they were so smooth, that they brought the bill and my friend treated me by paying literally right under my nose. He even played a trick on me, suggested we should dine and dash (in fact, he practically insisted!). Finally I let him convince me to walk out, when in the back of my mind I was praying that he already paid. They had my opentable.com information so they were going to get paid one way or another. I just hoped it would be because they came running out the door after us. My friend even had the table next to us in on the joke. Jerk.
I would be remiss if I did not mention one flaw, and accidents happen so you can determine for yourself if it is excusable. The tables are quite close together and as they were clearing out plates, the flatware fell of one of our plates directly onto the middle of the table next to us. It was loud, clanky and downright shocking, as it happened so fast that no one saw it coming. I thought the restaurant should have offered them free cocktails or something, and for all I know with my power of perception that night, maybe they did.
The Bathroom
As I walked down the long hall to the bathroom, I was thrilled by all the art on the hallway walls. When I got to the bathroom, I was even more thrilled: it was clean, appropriately decorated and the paper towels and trash were close to the door for those germaphobes like me that don’t want to touch a thing after they wash their hands. The only hitch … it was like a meat locker in there!!! It must have been sub 50 degrees. Yipes. OMG – arctic.
*************
In a spoonful, ceviche is excellent, fish is excellent, pork is excellent. Skip dessert but not the wine. And make a reservation. Oh, and bring a scarf and your warmest jacket with you to the restroom.
Yip gives it 3.5 spoons.
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
3945 24th St @ Noe * San Francisco, CA 94114 * (415) 695-0549
Neighborhood: Noe Valley
Cuisine: Peruvian
A Peruvian delight with locations in both Noe Valley and Pacific Heights. I have been to the one in Pacific Heights numerous times but decided to branch out and hit the Noe Valley location last night. Reservations can be a bit tough and walk in is nearly impossible at the Fillmore location, but the Noe location has a bar, so you might be safe with a walk in. I’d be skeptical about taking your chances though on a prime Friday or Saturday night. Stick with a resy on those nights or go a different time.
The Scene
In the Noe location, the restaurant is about 2x the size of the Fillmore location, but the décor and feeling are pretty much the same. They have awesome mosaic tiles on the floor and great art and lighting.
The Menu
Fresca is a Peruvian restaurant with a solid offering in the ceviche sector. They have like 15 different ceviches. They have a great selection of fish (this is what you SHOULD order from here), as well as meat dishes. We ordered one of each and to my surprise the pork dish was *almost* as good as the fish. It was deliciously NOT greasy and very flavorful.
The Food
Portions are HUGE! You can definitely family style it up, which they suggest sometimes but not always. If you dining with just one other person, I’d suggest ceviche starter, an app, and one entrée. We started with the halibut ceviche which was tangy, tasty, fresh and to die for. Love it. I could have just eaten mounds of that. We also ordered to entrées to share for main meal. Though we finished most, it was a lot of food. We could have gotten by with one, like I said. I was stuffed even before dessert – which of course we had to have the chocolate cake. I was wishing it was that delish molten choc cake, which maybe it would have been if they took it out of the oven a bit sooner. It wasn’t exactly overdone, but it could have had a little more moistness. The ice cream on the side was the perfect accompaniment.
The Service
They did a good job of suggesting a wine pairing from a Chilean winery, which I was totally psyched about. The wait staff was also very available but didn’t intrude on our conversations. In fact, they were so smooth, that they brought the bill and my friend treated me by paying literally right under my nose. He even played a trick on me, suggested we should dine and dash (in fact, he practically insisted!). Finally I let him convince me to walk out, when in the back of my mind I was praying that he already paid. They had my opentable.com information so they were going to get paid one way or another. I just hoped it would be because they came running out the door after us. My friend even had the table next to us in on the joke. Jerk.
I would be remiss if I did not mention one flaw, and accidents happen so you can determine for yourself if it is excusable. The tables are quite close together and as they were clearing out plates, the flatware fell of one of our plates directly onto the middle of the table next to us. It was loud, clanky and downright shocking, as it happened so fast that no one saw it coming. I thought the restaurant should have offered them free cocktails or something, and for all I know with my power of perception that night, maybe they did.
The Bathroom
As I walked down the long hall to the bathroom, I was thrilled by all the art on the hallway walls. When I got to the bathroom, I was even more thrilled: it was clean, appropriately decorated and the paper towels and trash were close to the door for those germaphobes like me that don’t want to touch a thing after they wash their hands. The only hitch … it was like a meat locker in there!!! It must have been sub 50 degrees. Yipes. OMG – arctic.
*************
In a spoonful, ceviche is excellent, fish is excellent, pork is excellent. Skip dessert but not the wine. And make a reservation. Oh, and bring a scarf and your warmest jacket with you to the restroom.
Yip gives it 3.5 spoons.
posted by SoCalATA at 2:42 PM
1 Comments:
We have been to Fresca twice and it is excellent. Having been to Peru, our expectations for any Peruvian restaurant are always low, but Fresca is creative, tasty, and reasonably priced.
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