South Food + Wine Bar

South Food + Wine Bar
Categories: Wine Bars, Restaurants

Neighborhood: SOMA

Wow. Two new Restaurants two nights in a row (Laiola the night before...) and Another great hit for me tonight. Nice, I love when that happens... And by 'Hit' I mean, Good Food, Great & Friendly Service and Great Atmosphere that will have me coming back...

So we finally went here at the prompting of my girlfriend Jen, who had been wanting to come here for quite some time, but a rez had been difficult to get up to this point. Surprisingly, I actually scored a table for 6 on OpenTable that same morning... Must've been the Thanksgiving weekend... Whatever the case, I am so glad that we got in for Dinner.

First of all, it is a Beautiful Space... The Place is very Modern Oz/Kiwi with Warm Brown Woods, Maori inspired Floors and my Favorite Part is the Molded Australian Wood Lighting Fixtures hanging from the Ceiling which cast Intricate Curvillinnear Shadows onto the Entire Space.. The Effect is Gorgeous.

We were greeted warmly and our group was sat in front of the window. Our Server was extremely friendly and introduced herself, and although it was busy in the Restaurant what she lacked in attentiveness at times, the Bartender picked up, so we were never left hanging. Our Bartender was very knowledgable about Australian & New Zealand Wines and very easy on the eyes too. The Wine was really flowing that night and the one Wine that he suggested that stood out for us was the Arlewood, Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, 2003 which went really well with the Food.

So here's the Raptor Food Breakdown:

For Starters we shared the Bushman's Plate - a Combination Plate of Olives, Salami, Marinated Veggies, Lamb Sausage, Shrimp in Herbs, Hummus and Such... A nice start...

We also had a dozen Oysters with Buttery Leek and a Wasabi Vinaigrette to start and the Coconut Broth with New Zealand Green Lip Mussel Dumplings which were both lovely. One last Starter Dish that we had was the Salmon Sashimi in Curry & Lime, which I thought made for a really nice Flavor combination which my Dining Companions would more than likely agree with...

For our Mains, we had the Pan Roasted Barramundi with Crispy Skin rubbed with Rozelle Spices and paired with Cauliflower Puree and Sunchokes. I really liked the combination of Flavors in this Dish as well...



We also had the New Zealand Lamb Cutlets with Mint Chimichurri and a Snow Pea and Almond Salad. I liked the Lamb with the Chimichurri, but the Salad, I just didn't get. It was a bit bland and didn't really add anything to the Dish for me.



Lastly, we had the BBQ Australian Beef Fillet with Mushrooms, Salsify and Truffled Verjus which was really great. Very Flavorful and a definite hit amongst all 6 of us.

I did not know what to expect from an Australian Food & Wine Bar and this place exceeded my expections. And the Food, the Food was all pretty spot-on. No misses here and the Staff is incredibly friendly. Try this place...