Anchor & No Hope

Image courtesy of SF Mag

All seriouslyfood-ers were present as we celebrated our 9-5's by spending our hard earned cash on a bottle of bubbles and some fries with eyes. Our anticipations were high on the recently opened, nautical-themed restaurant Anchor & Hope (same owners as Salt House and Town Hall). The decor was cafeteria-chic (or open and lofty), and our service was equally cafeteria-like with 8 different servers waiting on us.

I met Erica and Allison there, who were already clearly sauced up for the night. The minute we received the menu, Allison exclaimed her items of choice, "Pork belly! Bacon wrapped oysters! Fries with eyes! Broccoli rabe! Garlic soup with anchovy tapenade!" After I calmed her down with some gentle taps on the head, we settled on the Angels on Horseback (bacon wrapped oysters), Fries with Eyes (deep fried smelts with remoulade), and a side of broccoli rabe to get those greens in. The seaweed and sea salt garnishings decorating the Angels on Horseback might have been more memorable than the dish itself, which was good but not GREAT. The remoulade accompanying the less than crisp "fries" tasted like a fancy (or not so fancy) version of thousand island. And the side of broccoli rabe, while nice and garlic-buttery, were maybe overcooked? I thought so at least; my problematic-untouching teeth had a difficult time chewing.

All would have been forgiven on the average appetizers (after all, they are appetizers) except that our entrees were just as unremarkable. In retrospect, the appetizers may have been the highlight of the meal. Erica's boullaibaisse was boullai-bad. Allison's lobster pot pie with brandy cream sauce, tasted like buttered brandy (not creamy!) with undercooked celery root and a shred of lobster. I ordered the petrole sole with preserved lemons and almonds after securing that 1) the dish was the server's favorite entree and 2) the preserved lemons did not have a strong presence (after Allison expressed her dislike of the pinesol-tasting slivers). Props for having fish with bones and props for filleting it for me (I knew there had to be a catch when I saw fish with bones on the menu, and we were the only group of Asians). The sliced almonds were a bit distracting as I couldn't differentiate an almond from another fish bone when all mushed up in my mouth (poor fillet job, bud). The fish could have used more flavor, or some salt. I kept eating only in anticipation that the dish would get better (which it didn't). At last our meal ended with earl grey tea on Erica's side and some over-baked gingerbread served with a, as always, less-than-enough scoop of gelato. We went dutch on the bill and signed away a half day's worth of work.

Two blocks away, Erica hurled her boullaibaisse out, and Allison and I left feeling stuffed without an ounce of happiness.