REVIEW - Baker Street Bistro

Baker Street Bistro doesn't say "we're French" in the way that Bistro St. Germain might, but the reviews on Opentable were positive so we went ahead and journeyed across the city to the Marina district and arrived at what Madame described on first sight as "a dump".  But, bearing in mind the reviews, we parked up and went inside only to find it was just as unimpressive in there too.

(I make it sound like it's a long way all "across the city", but San Francisco isn't that big a place, so it only took half an hour. Of course, those 30 minutes don't begin to describe the gulf between the hipster locales of the nearby Mission district and the poseur vibe of the Marina).

The food was okay, but not really good enough to provide the sorely needed oxygen to this place with zero atmosphere. My view was taken up by a wall of nine or ten large clocks, only half of which were working.

One of the restaurant's daily specials couldn't be made as their meat grinder was kaput, so Pavey couldn't have her Steak Tartare, and opted instead for the vegetable soup followed by roast Salmon, with Buerre Blanc a l'Orange, Puree de Carottes and Ginger, with Sauteed Spinach. She ended it all with a hmph.

I had the Salade du Sud-Ouest (smoked duck breast on a bed of greens with pine nuts and duck gizzard confit), and the Cassouet Toulousain (white bean stew with tomato, duck leg confit, bacon, and garlic sausage). That cassoulet was excellent, and kind of dragged the whole experience up to average.

So, all in all nowhere near a match for most of the French restaurants we've visited elsewhere in the area, from Bouchon or Bistro Jeanty in Napa, to L'Ardoise, Cafe Claud, Le Charm here in SF, or even Chez Papa right here on Potrero Hill.

Baker Street Bistro isn't worth Le Schlepp over to the Marina.