Where to eat nice French food with friendly services and not harm your wallet too much? Côté Sud can be one of your choices.Côté Sud was mentioned many times among French. However, Totof and I did not try until this Winter. I have a cousin living in Los Angeles. My cousin and I used to play together quite often when we were little. On the phone, she told me she was going to drive up with her friends to help a friend move in. We had not seen each other for ages. So, we wanted to take advantage of this chance to meet each other. Just coincidentally, Navaline called during the afternoon. She asked us if we were interested in dinning at Côté Sud. Why not? Let's put everyone together.
So, our plan was to meet my cousin, drive to Côté Sud, meet friends, then have a feast.
It was our first time at Côté Sud. We followed a stair way and entered a bright space. We had six people at that night. Laurent, Navaline, Rita, my cousin, and us.
Wonderful cooking skills
Their dishes were quite tasty. After the dinner, I knew why Côté Sud was one of the best French restaurants in San Francisco area. I listed what we liked.
Appetizer
Moules Marinières
Moule = mussel. I had steamed mussels many times. Moules Marinières in one of typical French dishes. The chef steamed mussels, then poured white wine, and finished the cooking with shallots and cream. Côté Sud's Moules Marinières was as good as others. Generous portion.
Escargots Ravioli
Escargot = snail. I never had ravioli with snail meat. The portion was elegantly arranged. With herb and butter. Quite tasty.
Tomates Clafoutis (the second photo)Coquilles St Jacques luttées, sauce au homard
Hard to describe this dish. So I uploaded a photo. The third photo showed you what coquilles St Jacques was. Côté Sud's coquilles was made of day boat sea scallops and served with a lobster sauce.
Assiette de Charcuterie
This dish was a plate of various charcuteries. A common dish in France.
Entrée
Filet de Bar de Rivière a l’oseille
Filet de Bar = Bass filet. The main body was a sautéed striped bass filet. It came with shrimp and salmon mousse and dashed with sorrel sauce and eggplant caviar.
Bavette Grillée
This dish was a grilled skirt Steak. Very tender. Pink meat inside. Wonderfully cooked. It had green peppercorn sauce and pommes dauphines on side.
Thon Basquaise
As mentioned in another post, Basquaise was a famous cooking way in Basque. Côté Sud means next to South. Basque is in South France. So you would not feel surprised to see a Basque dish in Côté Sud. The main body of this dish was pan seared tuna. Côté Sud's Thon Basquaise was served over parsnips puree and tomatoes basquaise.
Confit de canard
Canard = duck. The dish was a duck confit, another typical French dish. It came with potatoes galette and was dashed with garlic cream sauce.
Dessert
Ile Flottante, crème anglaise
Apple Charlotte
Moelleux au Chocolat
Crème Brulée
Paris-Brest (the first photo)
All dishes from appetizers to desserts were excellent. Don't miss Côté Sud when you are in San Francisco.
Location: 4238 18th street, San Francisco, California, 94114
