We went out to dinner for Ron’s birthday, just the two of us tonight since it’s a weekday but we hope to celebrate both our birthdays with friends in a few weeks.
I wanted us to try something new so I went to Open Table to see what reservations they had available. I decided on Citizen Cake since it’s not too far from where we live and also because an 8pm reservation gives you 1000 dining points!
When we got to the restaurant, there were maybe 4 other groups of diners so there were still a few empty tables. I think we had pretty good service because there were less diners, only getting our check and paying took a while.
We ordered and they kindly brought us a complimentary sample of their soup of the day, a tomato soup with lemon oil. The lemon oil added on top gave the soup a little “kick” and it was served in a cute shot glass, just enough for a good taste of their soup.
For an appetizer we ordered the pork belly with dates and water chestnut. The pork belly was delicious, like bacon but not quite as fatty and it went well with the soft jam-like dates. The water chestnut added a bit of crunchiness. We enjoyed a glass of wine with our meals.
For our entrees we ordered the steak served with white beans, broccoli, and arugula salad. The steak was a bit tough and I found the salad a bit salty but Ron liked the salt, he thought it went will with the peppery arugula.
I had the pork schnitzel served on a bed of sauteed potatoes (including purple ones!). It was more of like the Japanese tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) than an Austrian schnitzel like we had in Austria. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but was expecting something a bit different.
After our meal, the server came to collect our plates and gave me a little *wink*. When making my reservation online, I had put a note to prepare their cookie platter for Ron and a birthday wish… so they wrote “Happy Birthday” with dark chocolate and served it with a sparkler!
The chewy ginger cookie was my favorite.
Overall a nice dinner, service and food were good, and I appreciated them doing their best to accommodate my request.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! 🙂
Citizen Cake
399 Grove Street
San Francisco