restaurant review

PlumpJack Cafe
Tucked away in the middle of a busy city block in Marina district, PlumpJack Cafe is small and cozy. With probably no more then 20 tables or so, the room is dimly lit and mirrors on the walls create an impresion of a slightly bigger space. The night starts with the wine list, which is well positioned and rather extensive. Surprisingly, PlumpJack wines, while presented on the list, are not heavily promoted. Rather the choice is on small and better than average wineries from different regions of California, but world vines are well-represented as well. Moving on to the menu, all the different choices are presented on two simple pages. The waiter explains that the menu is intentionally small and concentrated, but is designed to cover a range of preferences, from foir gras appetizer, to country fried chicken, to seared yellowtail, to New York steak. While all the dishes are recommended, the duck trio is the signature dish. Overall, the food is excellent. Foir gras appetizer is sizable enough for two people to share. At first, the taste is a bit surprising, the dish is a bit firmer than usual, and the flavor is a bit stronger. That attributes to the fact of chef not using French foir gras, but rather a Canadian variety. The usual combination with fig sauce and slices is excellent. For the main dishes, the seafood ravioli is pronounced with crab and lobster meat, and sauce is a perfect complement, not overpowering the taste of the crab, but merely supplementing it. The duck trio dish consists of the seared duck breast, duck sausage, braised duck leg, and it definitely deserves the designation as the signature dish. The combination of three different textures brings great variety to the dish, and the duck flavor ties it all together. Even little mises, such as braised leg being a touch dry, only add to the home-style of the restaurant.Finally, the service is good and un-intrusive. In my opinion, the service is best when one does not notice it and has nothing to say about it. That was definitely the case here, where waiters do a good job of being attentive without being overbearing, which is a challenge of its own in a space that small.

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