3rd Cousin — Restaurant in San Francisco

Meals like this is what makes life worth living. Have been here twice so far this year and it's my new favorite SF restaurant. Loved every single dish and the entire dining experience.

Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Cost to worth it rating: 4 (for the quality of food, it was SF affordable) Opentableable: no but Tock Return worthiness: yes!

Highlights: Uniqueness: selections had a different flair to them with cool fresh ingredients like green strawberries and white gooseberries found at the farmers market. Chef/owner: we were into our meal when we realized the chef was our waiter! He was amazing pitching in all around the dining room and so fun to talk to. He also didn't cut us off from our standard over ordering. ;-) Consistency: it's very rare to order so many dishes and not just love every single one but not even find a nit picking flaw in any of them. We cleaned every plate. Soft shell crab: such light airy batter, meaty, and no fishy taste at all-- best I've had. Awesome pickled cucumbers and green strawberries too to cut the fried. 5 stars Pork chop: one of best we've had. Thick and juicy with a wonderful flavor from the char. Bonus for an extra rib with the bone. And the simple bok choy was somehow great too. 2nd visit was just as stellar. 5 stars Lobster risotto: my fave dish for our return visit. Loved the yuzu citrus pop, crunch of the snap peas, and perfect texture for the risotto which I don't often see--not too goopy or runny. Scallops and pork belly such a great scallop and the belly was cooked well and not too fatty. Missed this dish our 2nd visit. 5 stars Casarecce: unexpectedly our fave pasta. It had a light creamy sauce made from gouda cheese and fresh pop with fresh asparagus. Pasta was toothsome with almost bucatini like little short duos stuck together. 5 stars A5 Dumpling: melt in your mouth ground meat filling with a spicy vinegar chili sauce on top. Note 1 comes in an order so you may want to get a few. 5 stars Uni creme brûlée: like a seafood version of foie gras. Decadent and smooth texture to top on pieces of bread. Slices of uni in addition to 3 types of fish eggs: yuzu tobiko, caviar, and trout roe. 5 stars Pappardelle Bolognese: fresh wide noodles with a tasty ground meaty combo and a dollop of cheese on top. Also a return order and money again. 5 stars Spaghetti swash and kale fritters: from our 2nd visit they almost were like beignet like with the dough but so crispy outside and bits of toma cheese inside. Sofrito added a bit of tang. Asparagus soup: velvety without being too creamy with nice bits of ramps and spring onions. 5 stars Cauliflower and potato soup: 2nd visit Mushroom and truffle ravioli: nice savory mushroom filling with a brown butter type sauce. Reorder as well. 5 stars NY strip: I'm usually not a strip cut fan, but of course here somehow I enjoyed it a lot. 5 stars Focaccia: fluffy with the right amount of salt. 5 stars Parmesan ramp butter: simple yet delectable with lots of shaved parmesan on top. 5 stars Bagna cauda: Thai basil dip was slightly bitter from the anchovies. 5 stars Tallegio cheese fonduta: from our second visit, loved this super spreadable yet not gooey cheese--my fave of the dips. 5 stars Pistachio cake: light with crunchy texture. 5 stars Souffle cake: classic for our 2nd visit executed perfectly with an exterior crunch and oozy inside. Loved the pairing with black sesame ice cream. 5 stars Outdoor atmosphere: parklet outside with 3 tables and heaters. Playing chill 80s music had a nice ambiance. Indoor: small and comfortable. Wine: good amount by the glass including 3 choices of sparkling and reasonable bottle prices with many options under $100.

Lowlights: Not easily accessible by Bart or Caltrain, however if you drive there didn't seem to be an issue with street parking.

Went with some of my best friends who are going through a hard time, so was appreciated to bring some happiness and joy into their lives. The second time they were comforted knowing they could count on a...

I came for the valentines day dinner this year.

First off, let me say I was happy when I saw there was a vegan specific option for this dinner and given the michelin rating I was pretty excited. It's hard to find any sit down very upscale dining experiences that cater to vegans in the bay.

When i arrived, I noticed there was no vegan specific options on the menu for the night only vegetarian and omni. I was told the vegan meal would be some of the vegetarian with substitutions and there was a specific entree and dessert. This was the first red flag.

What followed was some of the most depressing food I've had in a long time. The first dish of potatoes and beets was fine but nothing out of the ordinary for a decently cooked versions of those veggies.

The second pasta dish was a step down from there with sauce that literally just tasted like straight up tomato (nothing else) despite being told it was a sofrito sauce (which usually is just a blended paste of good stuff not it's own sauce) but i couldn't taste anything but tomato anyway. The pasta was cooked well and the veggies were just present. But all together it felt like something i would have made for myself on a busy college night.

The entree was wildly underwhelming. None of the vegetables seemed to be seasoned at all and the tofu was just like warmed (maybe baked?) but it had no color on it aside from what it was marinated in and 0 texture. It was like they took it out of the package, make some score marks and tossed soy sauce on it and then just steamed it for like 2 min. If there wasn't a sauce on the plate the veggies would have been aggressively bland.

Lastly the dessert was supposed to be a sorbet but was basically just frozen grapefruit juice, the texture was super icy and not smooth at all. IMO closer to a granita.

If this is what you're going to offer for vegans then please just don't ever offer a vegan option. I'll go somewhere else or just cook my own meal. It was honestly insulting given I had paid $500 for the two tickets to the dinner.

And to boot, the whole time my girlfriend and I were there, we saw who we assumed to be the chef going around to all the tables to chat except ours. It's like he knew the food was trash.

All that said, if you eat meat I'm sure its great but if you're a fan of plant diets stay far away from here. And to the chef, maybe try visiting any of the numerous delicious vegan spots we do have in the bay (maybe like lion dance cafe, or tane, or taqueria la veganza) so you can see how to cook something with a depth of flavor and some texture that's all...

My friends and I decided to give this place a try during SF restaurant week because it had been on our list for quite some time. Our 3-course restaurant week menu was priced at $75/person with the option to add wine pairing for an additional $49. The menu also had some extra items that we could order for an additional cost. Since there were 3 of us, we tried to order as many different items as we could. Here is the list of items that we tried - 1st course Crudo and tartar of Hawaiian tuna

2nd course Snake river farms flat iron Baja striped bass

Extras Signature uni creme brulee Lobster risotto

3rd course Hojicha and coconut panna cotta Banana fosters pot d'creme sorbet (raspberry, apple, and one other flavor)

The Hawaiian tuna was decent. The dish by itself had very mild flavors, so the pickle really helped add some sourness to the dish. The tuna was fresh. Signature uni creme brulee was pretty good. It consisted of reserve caviar, mendocino uni, tobiko, and trout roe along with crostini. The uni creme brulee was very creamy, but the crostini wasn't as good. The lobster risotto was very creamy and flavorful. The rice was cooked perfectly. The lobster may have been a bit overcooked because it was a little bit chewy, but the dish still packed a lot of flavor. It was acidic but just the right amount. We could have gone for another round of this dish. The snake river farms flat was delicious. The meat was cooked well, and it was juicy. The sauce that it came with was really good, but there wasn't enough of it to dip the meat in. The polenta on the side had a creamy, smooth texture and rich buttery flavor and had us craving for more. Usually I'm not a big vegetable person but the bok choy that came with the dish was cooked really well so I devoured that to my own surprise. The Baja striped bass was a bigger portion size compared to the farms flat iron. The fish was fresh, and it had a moist and flaky texture with slightly sweet flavor. The desserts were, unfortunately, the least exciting course. The panna cotta was mild, but it was decent in both the size and the flavors. The gronola and the pear were a nice touch, and for me personally, they only worked well individually rather than all together. The banana foster was rich and sweet, but it was a smaller portion compared to other desserts. The sorbet was okay. The staff was very welcoming and attentive. 3rd cousin is a small restaurant with dim lights and intimate dining setup, and overall, we enjoyed our...