Displaced

Still overrated. I had a bizarre scallops dish. I love scallops, so it’s hard to hurt them, but they gave it their best, surrounding them with chanterelle mushrooms and what appeared to be sauerkraut. Thank God they change the menu every day: at least this sort of thing doesn’t hang around for long. The chocolate pot de creme was fine but served on a promo business card. Let me hear you say, “Tacky!” Let me hear you say, “Resting on its laurels.” To top it off, the movie was that entertaining and upbeat classic Das Boot. Give me a break.

Eliza’s in Potrero Hill is a solid, local Chinese place that I’m glad we finally found. Good service and presentation. Apparently very popular and very cheap. Local favorite. While bright, the decor is not the usual take-out genre of open spaces, empty tables and extreme lighting. I think I still prefer Eric’s, but the walnut prawns were crisp, the potstickers yummy (if not exceptionally so) and the standard Kung Pao chicken solid. The most original bit was the Mongolian Beef, which was served on a raised dish (inexplicably in an painted Italian pattern) and bedded on crispy, puffed rice twirls.

R had a strange root-vegetable salad and pork loin. I had risotto pancakes and salad. I also had rose petal creme brulee. Citizen Cake has wonderful pastries, in the great tradition of sculpted meringue and perfect paper rings around the tarts. They are not as good as City Bakery’s in New York, but they are stellar. Their scones are excellent. Their chocolates look excellent. (I have never had them.) That said, I cannot see paying their prices again for dinner. The food was a tad strange and left the impression of disorganization, but perhaps that was the server who was a little officious and “we” oriented. In sum, I wanted to steal the art and the flowers (short-cut lilies in a square candle vase) from the bathroom but the food was, as my grandmother would say, nothing extra.