Restaurant Review: The Cliff House

Met up with my high school friend MH on Monday, we decided that we were going out for dinner. Originally we've made a reservation somewhere downtown, but she's accomodating enough to ask if there's anywhere I wanted to go. Given it's my last night in San Francisco and she drives, I said "Let's go to the beach!". Earlier that day another friend told me that I should go see the ocean, and it's only half an hour drive to Ocean Beach.

MH and I have known each other since the last two years of high school when she transferred to our all-guy school from an all-girl school, that was 14 years ago and we're in our 30s now. There's a lot of history there, she played Juliet to my Romeo and our group of friends had a lot of fun. There was a big exam ahead of us that determine whether we'll be able to go into an university, but we didn't care. We hang out every weekend going to karaokes and camping trips, party at people's houses, chasing each other around and do the beat down during recess. That's probably why we all failed miserably when the exams came but still that was the best time of my life.

We got to the beach around 7 and the sun has begun to set. We went in the Cliff House and decided to have dinner there. MH had read my blog before, so it doesn't take much to come out to her. Her blog is in Chinese and from what she wrote, I know that she's a foodie too.

There are certain history associated with the Cliff House and to dine while sitting on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is such a treat.

It's a little high in the price range, but we did go a little all out. I ordered 3 appetizers, MH had an entree and we both ordered desserts.


Row 1: (Left) Shrimp & Scallop Ceviche with Avacado Mousse, (Mid) Charcuterie Plate with Rabbit Terrine, Chicken Liver Pate, (Right) Beer Braised Black Mussels
Row 2: (Left) Rack of Lamb with Garlic Flan and Eggplant Quinoa, (Mid) Chocolate Fondant, (Right) Assembled Pistachio Cheesecake.

The ceviche was served with lavosh chips and have a very light grapefruit taste that is so refereshing. The charcuterie plate is very nice, although the toast is a bit oily and I'm not very fond of prosciutto. The lamb is very nicely cooked, The mussels are unnecessarily cayenned and so is the cheesecake. The chocolate fondant is not melty in the middle, but generally we throughoutly enjoyed the meal and the service was quite good. B

Adjacent to that is Sutro Bath, one of the earliest swimming pool houses in the country. By the time we finished eating, it was already too dark to go take a look, maybe next time.