Iluna Basque
701 Union St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 402-0011
Cuisine:
French, Basque, Small plates
August 27, 2009
'Top Chef' season 6 contestant is chef/owner of this place
Since chef Mattin Noblia is on the current run of “Top Chef,” I thought it would be fun to check out his North Beach restaurant, Iluna Basque, and sample some of the Basque flavors that he perfected in France and Switzerland.
My foodie girlfriend, husband, daughter and I recently shared a number of small plates for dinner. Everything looked attractive and for the most part, everything came to the table nice and hot. Did we find ourselves basking in the glory of the flavors and textures of Basque cuisine? Not so much. Many flavors lacked balance and some of the textures were troubling. 2 1/ 2 stars overall.
The best things about this place were the relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff and extensive list of wines by the glass.
We really wanted to fall in love with this place and wholeheartedly root the young buck on as he battles it out on t.v. It always pains me to write unfavorable things about a restaurant. It’s like killing a little bit of someone’s dream. But since many of you have expressed an interest in hearing more of the ugly stuff along with the good, I’m sharing this experience with you. Maybe it was an off night, or maybe we didn’t order the right things. It’s doubtful, since our collective tastebuds told us that so many of the dishes failed. Maybe chef Noblia will show me a thing or two by taking the title of “Top Chef.”
Dishes I tried:
chocolate cake
Everyone agreed that this cake with raspberry coulis was good.
flan
The koka, caramel flan, was fine, pretty ordinary.
croquettes
The shrimp and potato croquettes were tacky and gummy inside. Even my daughter spat the goo out with a frown and a disdainful “ewwww” to go with it
stuffed piquillo peppers
The Spanish salt cod filling in the piquillo peppers fared only a smidge better than the croquettes and suprisingly didn’t have much taste.
mini lamb burgers
These started off strong, with sweet carmelized onions and well-seasoned meat. But halfway through, mine had an off-putting gritty texture and my girlfriend said she wanted to spit hers out.
mini pizza
The same thing happened with the serrano ham and Etorki cheese pizza. The first couple of bites were good, but after that, the ham tasted more like a salt lick, and we were lapping out of our water glasses. My ravenous daughter, who is a bit of a pizza connoiseur at the ripe old age of three, did eat a couple of slices of the new pizza we ordered minus the ham, but once she popped the last piece into her mouth, she scrunched up her face, grumbled about wanting to go home “now!” and curled up in her stroller to try to forget her sub-par pie experience.
scallops
The sauteed scallops with ratatouille were well cooked, but blah.
empanada
The only redeeming but not jaw-droppingly good dish was the chicken, olive and tomato empanada. The crust was buttery and flaky the filling had a nice, distinct olive flavor.
BananaWoo
06/12/2009Thanks for the words of encouragement :) I think I might be addicted to this site.
BananaWoo
06/05/2009Wow, your pictures are making me hungry!
Megster11187
06/04/2009congrats on your win, woohoo!…but now the question is, where will you spend the gift card???