haonusa's Reviews

COCO is my master

So lately I’ve been feeling like I was developing a case of the JP. What is JP you ask? JP is also known as the jaded palate. You know you have it when you are eating a nice meal and inside somewhere you know its pretty good but all you can muster is an “eh not bad.” So many restaurants do the seasonal local Californian with a twist of french or italian that it all starts to look the same. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with the idea. Sometimes it is outstanding and mind blowing. French Laundry comes to mind but sometimes it just lives in the sea of sameness. You go out and spend $100+ and are certainly not dazzled. Tends to happen when you do anything really often even in a great food city like SF.

ANYWHO….Coco500 was freaking outstanding. Excited my jaded palate. Deftly executed dishes every one of them. Not a dog in the bunch. Sensational…let me say it one more time…SENSATIONAL truffled flatbread. Crispy and salty, and rich. Pumpkin ravioli is one my favorites and this raised the bar with chantrelles. Salad: great. Wild steelhead trout with wild mushrooms. Petral sole with absolutely perfect sugar snaps. and drum-roll please…..the beef cheeks with watercress made me give a James Brown “HuH. Hoo Ha, Good God! Makes me step back and kiss myself” Rich melt in your mouth meat and the watercress a perfect counterpoint. Never knew how much I liked watercress.

HIGHLY Recommended. One of my best meals of the year.

(side note to the JP. For some reason cheap thai, indian, ethnic street foods don’t seem to really succumb to the JP. More investigation needed)

Reviewed on: December 07, 2006