Foreign Cinema

Foreign Cinema is often touted just for its scene – a lively bar, the outdoor seating under the light of a foreign film, and a giant dining hall bustling with tables small and large. Tonight (and for several more weeks), the film is Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet. On this Monday night, perhaps the scene takes a backseat to the food. As packed as the restaurant was, it felt more like a typical popular restaurant that happened to be playing a movie outside.

Overall I’d say Foreign Cinema is worth the trip. The food was solid if unspectacular, but the place is gorgeous, and the service is efficient and superior to several restaurants at this price level. One note: the restaurant seems to skimp on some of the cheapest ingredients, e.g. crostini w/ appetizers and potatoes w/ entrees.

Appetizers – I started with a baked cheese, described as a milder version of Brie. As baked cheeses go, this was a simpler preparation, i.e. no tart or cooked vegetables really, just some fresh veggies on the side and some crostini. The cheese was tasty and a generous size.

I also tried a friend’s brandade, basically a salted cod paste. This was very good, and it that had more chunks of fish than usual, which I actually prefer. The portion was really small even by SF standards – I’ve had similar appetizers at similar class restaurants that had 2-3 times the fish.

Entrees – my salmon was delicately cooked and a nice medium. The plate overall was pretty spare, though – a few green beans and slivers of potato. A satisfying preparation, but I’ve had better and more generous dishes at other places.

My friend’s halibut had much tastier and much more accompaniments – braised artichokes and risotto. The halibut itself was pretty bland.

Desserts – tried fig tart, chocolate cake and ginger cake. All were pretty good and decent finishes to the meal. The chocolate cake in particular was rich and generous for $7.

My husband and I have always loved the unique Cal-Med style food, seamless service and lively atmosphere here, and we went back for brunch today and were still really impressed. Service was impeccable – friendly and efficient – the place is run so professionally. The place was packed, good thing we had reservations. The food was amazing – the menu changes daily which is super fun – and I think our three year old daughter enjoyed it as much as we did. Plus, she had a good time drawing with crayons on the white butcher paper lining our table.

This is a cool spot for private parties. They have the art gallery next to the airy patio, the mezzanine and a small Director’s Table. There’s also Lazlo bar in front of the restaurant which plays good DJ music and is fun for late night drinks. Buyouts of that space are possible.

Of course, being able to watch a flick on their patio wall at sundown is a neat concept, too. And, they sometimes have special events like winemaker dinners and guest chef series. This is such a great place!

Cool and interesting setting in the Mission — while we were seated inside and couldn’t really partake in the screening of the movie on the (large) outside patio, at least we weren’t freezing. Great concept, though!
The food was mostly equally interesting and good, uniformally good, wth impeccable service. I went there for a birthday dinner, and they added a nice touch by serving dessert with a candle on it. Nice!
For first courses, we shared the red and yellow watermelon salad with a very creamy and soft goat cheese, which I liked very much. Nice chunks for coarse salt cause little flavor bursts! We also had the beef carpaccio with arugula, horseradish cream and shaved parmesan. The beef was a little too thinly sliced for my taste, and not very flavorful. The horseradish was too creamy, no bite came through. Overall, a bit boring, but still good.
We had the Steak Bavette, which was a nice cut, but not overly juicy. It was good, with tasty heirloom potatoes, delicous sauce (mostly deglazed pan drippings, it seemed), and fingerling potatoes and some greens. Tasty and well executed, but nothing to write home about.
Much better was the halibut, which we had a second entree. This was served with fig and olive paste and some greens and was very flavorful and moist. Absolutely the dish of the evening!
Dessert was also very good: a yummy and dense gateaux au chocolat with marinated cherries and a (citrus?) panecotta with a dollop of cream and blackberry sauce, which provided a nice fruity and creamy closing highlight that was light on the palate — which at that point was exactly what was needed.
Portions overall are small but absolutely adequate, although obviously not meant for sharing.

Food was great, I had the pork chop. Desserts were amazing but the scallop(s) may not be worth it. Literally two scallops. Hilarious.