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| - Mina is not the greatest at the WOW factor, I'm speaking in terms of ambiance, service & cuisine.
Nobhill is just that, not a bad thing per se, but just no POP.
Dining room is very sparse, with a few isolated booths available adjacent from the bar. We were seated at a large square table next to the bar and the main walkway: huge foot traffic.
Water & wine were requested on several occasions through the evening, but our server Ryan made the best out of a busy evening of parties heading out to the show @ the Garden Arena.
Tasting menu: only ONE, the COOKBOOK menu, MM's signature. BORING. It's at TWO of his other restaurants. VERY disappointing.
Amuse: A lightly fried ball of risotto. A salty ball of guilty pleasure.
So we opted for our own 'tasting':
1. 'Palace' Green Goddess Salad w/Watercress, parmesan, red onion marmalade, simple, fresh ingredients, the perfect amount of dressing. I would have liked some other texture in addition to all the leaves and cheese.
2. Red Lentil Soup w/curry, wonderfully thick, hearty & robust. Reminded me of the season. Tiny diver scallops were seared and tossed in as a nice surprise element.
3. Seared Hamachi, buttery, so much as to say it was remiscent of otoro.
4. 'Solari's Grill' Dungeness Crab Louie w/baby hearts of romaine, avo, & Louie dressing, three lettuce wraps, good, but the Louie sauce was a bit creamy & overwhelming for the sweet crab.
5. Lobstertail w/a balsalmic reduction. Liked the reduction, but the nothing was special about the dish or the crustacean.
6. Foie Gras atop Scallops, good, but really how can you go wrong with this heart stopping dish?!?
7. Black Cod, w/broth & Israeli cous cous, had this at MM SF & I liked it more the second time around, fabulous light broth, beautiful piece of fish & I love Israel's version of the grain! Five types of mash came separately on the side, whimsical, but unnecessary.
8. Apple Trio: fritter, sorbet & cider. Eh. Everything was sticky sweet.
Price, not so bad, we ordered to our hearts desire + 6 glasses of wine & a double espresso for under 4 bills.
All in all a good experience and quality food. I would NOT pick this for a special occasion, more for a biz function.
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