Dine About Town

"Dine About Town"... This is possibly THE most brilliant concept ever.... Also, I love the name because I like to consider myself a gal about town :) For two weeks in January, many of the best restaurants in San Francisco offer a prix fix menu at a majorly discounted price... either a two course lunch for $18.95 or a three course dinner for $36.95... I mean, seriously?! Talk about a steal!

Upon hearing this, I nearly freaked out. And by nearly, I mean absolutely. I immediately hopped on their website and began to research which restaurant I should take advantage of. I chose about twelve, but for the night of, it came down to two: Luce, a restaurant with a Michelin star, and Roka Akor, a restaurant that just looked amazing and swanky (and pricey). I chose Roka Akor for it's swanky factor and also because I was able to get a reservation...

I show up at 8 (ok 8:15) to find this handsome guy waiting for me...

The restaurant itself had a super cool layout. The kitchen was the focal point and it was completely open...

Above the kitchen was a super modern light fixture that would slowly change from green to orange throughout the night...

The Tasting Menu:

While we decided, we got some cocktails to sip on.

(They really get your juices flowing - a necessity when making important decisions such as what to eat)

Never one to shy away from tequila, I got a super yummy Blood Orange margarita...

If you don't know what Ian ordered by now, you really haven't been paying much attention...

(An Old Fashioned!!)

Cheers!

Then came our starters...

We got one of the Butterfish Tatakis (top) and one of the Hamachi Serrano Chili Rolls (bottom)...

In case you weren't drooling already, here's a closeup...

DI-VINE.

For his entree, Ian ordered the Prime Beef Fillet with Chili Ginger Sauce, which he declared to be the most tender beef he had ever had...

I ordered the Yuzu Miso Marinated Black Cod...
...and what I got was a mind-blowing tastebud experience.
OH. MY. GOD.
Literally, I kid you not, this dish alone is worth a trip to San Francisco. It is above and beyond THE most amazing fish I've ever had in my entire life. Apparently it was marinated for 60 hours? I didn't think that was a thing for fish... I thought that was just a meat thing. I don't know if I've ever had ponzu sauce before, but it really made the whole experience. It kind of tasted like and had the consistency of lemon icing? Which sounds like a weird thing to pair with fish, but I'm telling you - UNREAL.
Also, check out that presentation...

Then because the tasting menu was a wee bit small and Ian was still hungry, we asked our waiter if there was anything on the standard menu that we couldn't live without... After having the fish, I had a sneaky suspicion that there was bound to be something else we should try. He recommended the Wagyu Beef and Kimchi Dumplings and they did NOT disappoint. EVEN after the life changing fish/ponzu experience, and that's saying something...

Really, whenever there is any sort of warm chocolate "molten" cake situation on the dessert menu, it's a no brainer. I wish I had gotten a photo of the gooey inside of the cake.... sooo yummy!

Basically, if the city you live in has a "Restaurant Week" or "Dine About Town" situation, you NEED to get on board... like yesterday. Affordable gourmet food, people!
Or as Ian said, "ballin' on a budget"... oy

xo