Acme Chophouse
The other night we had our first dinner as part of the Dine About Town festivities. Basically, a bunch of restaurants have offered 3-course, $30 prix fixe menus for dinners on what would otherwise be slow nights. For many of them, getting a single entrée for less than $30 would be a challenge, so this is a great chance to try some of San Francisco's hippest restaurants without extensive damage to your pocketbook.
Such as Acme Chophouse, a steak house located in Pac Bell Park. Only in San Francisco would a ball park have a gourmet restaurant known for its organically raised, hormone-free, grass-fed beef. We had been eager to try it for a while, not only for its reputation but to support restaurants that make an effort to serve food that's been raised right.
Our prix fixe menu was a salad of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese and walnuts, a choice of either ribeye steak or ahi tuna, and a dessert of chocolate pudding. The salad and the dessert might have made us feel a little gipped, if it weren't for the fact that the steak was one of the best steaks I've ever eaten. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked (though it was a little more cooked than I imagined when I asked for it rare), it was a revelation. If they skimped on the appetizer and dessert so that they could afford to give me that steak, well, I'm not complaining too loudly.
The ahi tuna, which Melissa got, was also extremely good. I think I made the better choice, but the tuna was a close runner-up.
The wine list at Acme is quite ample, featuring a number wines by the glass, and two sides of a large sheet of paper full of wines by the bottle. We each opened with a glass of Prosecco, and then enjoyed a bottle (actually two half-bottles) of the Guigal Cote du Rhone. It seemed the best single wine to get to cover both the steak and the tuna, and it stood up to the steak reasonably well. To go with my dessert, I had a glass of Vin Santo. I took a chance and assumed the pudding would not be really dark and intense. Fortunately, I was right, and the Vin Santo went with it marvelously.
Of course, the thing about Dine About Town is that the $30 doesn't cover tax, tip, and, most deadly of all, wine. So it's not like we got out of there for $30 each. Still, going with the prix fixe and a relatively inexpensive wine made the evening reasonably affordable.
So would I go if I weren't getting a deal? I think so. That steak alone was enough to get me back in there at some point.
- Rnm:restaurant Review Closed
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