Caffe Macaroni
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| Squid Ink Pasta with Assorted Seafood |
Relevant Links:
Caffe Macaroni Website
Caffe Macaroni - Financial District - San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
20160414:
While the lower level is small and crowded, there's some extra seating upstairs. Whether it was a weekday or simply later in the evening, the upper level still had plenty of open seats. However, on a packed night, one should expect to get friendly with strangers as the seats are almost shoulder to shoulder.
In any case, after looking through the menu I was going to get the linguine di mare (linguine pasta with mussels, clams, garlic, chili, and parsley), but the waiter subsequently suggested a special consisting of squid ink linguine pasta and an assortment of seafood. Having read some Yelp reviews prior to arriving, I had a good idea of what this dish might look and taste like, so I went ahead and accepted his suggestion. To go along with the entree, I went ahead and got a glass of pinot grigio.
My Description:
Amalfitano Black (squid ink) linguine with mussels, baby octopus,
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| Pinot Grigio |
The mussel taste good and the baby octopus together with the sauce was amazing. The sauce, however, occasionally tasted salty.
Fortunately, the pinot grigio provides the perfect lightness to contrast with the stronger tasting seafood.
Moving along, I liked the clam more than the mussel, but both were good. Finally, at the center of the dish was the prawn which I saved for last. Unfortunately, it was underwhelming.
By the end of the dish, the dish's saltiness had managed to accumulate in my mouth, and yet tasted so good I continued to dip my pieces of bread in it. This eventually made me realize that the sauce and its saltiness was similar to a dish my dad occasionally cooks using fish and tomato. Upon making this realization, I wondered if the saltiness was thus a result of putting too much salt into the sauce or a natural saltiness imparted by seafood. 7:46PM PT
The wine was drinkable with a light spiciness that might have stemmed from the entree. There was definitely a time when I wasn't fond of white wines, but my delight with this pinot grigio would suggest such a time has passed.
Having finished my entree and wine, I decided to drink a dessert wine. Once again I asked for the waiter's recommendation and he described various options. After we exchanged a couple of sentences, he brought for me a glass of marsala. While enjoyed as a dessert wine for its sweetness, apparently marsala is also popular as a cooking wine.
In any case, it had a sweet swell which I could not pinpoint to any particular fruit or juice. I initially thought about grape juice, but then I thought it definitely didn't have the smell of grape juice. After a couple more sniffs, I thought it might be plum and proceeded to give the wine a sip. It had a delightful, sweet taste with a subtle alcoholic presence around the edges. In the end, it mostly tasted sweet like some sort of fruit juice, but like the smell I couldn't put my finger on what sort of fruit it might be.
After the marsala, I was planning on calling for the check, but the next thing I knew, the waiter and I were taking a shot of a what I vaguely heard to be limoncello. Without being sure of what I was drinking, I noted it had a lemon flavor, and was deliciously sweet, though not nearly as sweet as the marsala. Actually, the taste that lingered after I took the shot was as if I had just bit into a lemon, except without any sourness. In any case, I liked finishing the meal with it instead of the marsala, because it exuded a brighter, happier taste. 8:11PM PT
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| Marsala |
Actually, I had enjoyed the shot so much that I just had to know what it was before leaving. He explained that it was limoncello made on site with vodka. He also elaborated, saying the mix was lighter than real limoncello because the state of California doesn't allow alcohol beyond a certain proof. He seemed to suggest that this wasn't the case in Nevada (but I don't want to pass on any legal/false information). Delighted to hear I was happy with the shot,** the waiter told me to wait for him to grab me another. Awesome!
Overall, I had a great experience at Caffe Macaroni, the upstairs had a great view, the outside seating is probably nice during warmer weather, and the waiter who served me was friendly (though I'm not sure I've met an Italian waiter who wasn't friendly).
*While I suspected the answer was white, I nevertheless asked the waiter what he would recommend as the appropriate wine to drink with the special. Confirming my suspicion, the waiter said any of the whites would go well. I wanted to note, however, that he did not go out of his way to suggest a white wine to a nearby customer who also ordered the same dish, instead letting the customer order a (red) sangria.
[20160422 Edit]
