Foodie Digest

Every month a group of friends join Small (me) for a night out. Small’s friends pick the place (with input from all attending). Some months have been great discoveries, some returns to fond memories, some forgettable, and others just unsatisfying.

This month’s location was Conduit, a relatively new place just barely in the Mission district.

First impressions once I figure out what door to go in, I’m greeted by a warm fireplace and a friendly host. The decor is cool and industrial but the fireplace tempers this and creates a warm ambiance.

Since we haven’t all arrived I’m welcomed to wait at the bar. My friends are all late (we’ve picked a rather early dining time) but we’re offered our table when only half of are present. We sit and wait for our delayed friends. Our server is nice and unobtrusive. We don’t feel rushed whatsoever as we linger over wine and read the menus.

By the time we’ve all arrived and are ready to order it’s an hour after our original reservation. The restaurant doesn’t seem to mind. This is constant throughout the evening; we never felt hurried and relaxed for hours.

The food: We start with some shared appetizers:

• skate—I can’t remember the description, but it’s 3 thin slices of pan fried fish. I enjoyed this; others did not.
• quail—the description said something about bacon. I resisted trying it when others raved about it. I finally tasted it and wasn’t a fan. Then again, I don’t like dark meat in chicken, turkey, or any duck so not so surprising. 
• fettucine—this was with some type of sugo and shaved truffle. Both pastas were incredibly small portions (which we were warned about). 7 of the 8 of us were able to get a taste (as in 1 bite). This was really good but I probably wouldn’t order pasta here again. The portion sizes are really just too delicate.
• gnocchi—this was served with crab and arugula. It came 6 to an order to our table of 8 ordered two of these. The gnocchi were very light and delicate. The portion was quite as, um, Small as the fettucine but was still on the petite side.

We’re all pleased with the appetizers, but realize we haven’t even ordered dinner yet. So we do. Across the 8 of us we sample:

• Halibut ordered by me because it seemed the most calorie conscious choice and preparation on the menu. Ordered by a couple others because the description sounded good. The dish arrives and it’s cooked for flavor rather than calorie conservation. The fish appears pan seared (can’t remember the description) and is served on what was described as a vinagerette but seems more like a light cream sauce. There are also artichokes below the fish. This is quite tasty.
• NY Steak served with root vegetables. This was prepared properly but those who had this and also tasted fish decided the restaurant really excelled at preparing fish.
• Sable served with chickpeas. This was also tasty; I must admit I preferred the halibut.
• Game hen cooked sous vide (I know, you’re reading this as I did; this must be the calorie conscious entree) served with pea ravioli. The server assures me this is indeed tasty because the breast is cooked sous vide but the leg meat is sauteed with butter and mushrooms and is served on the ravioli. I opt out of this one but get a taste anyway. Really good.

Overall verdict on the food by now is very good. Out comes the dessert menus.

A few decline but the table orders:

sundae with some really decadent caramel description served with a homemade graham cracker type concoction that’s really an excuse to caramelize butter. The table got 2 of these.

some chocolate espresso thing this looked almost like a small molten chocolate cake that was served with a potent coffee ice cream (so said all those who tasted it).

By this time we’ve been here over 3 hours. It was a very leisurely paced meal that worked out well with a group of friends trying to catch up.

Overall thumbs: 8 thumbs up

Food tastiness: Really high. There wasn’t anything that wasn’t good, and there quite a few standouts.

Service rating: Very high. The bartender and our server were really nice. Plates were cleared and water was constantly refilled. 

Weirdness factor: Well, I couldn’t exactly do dog friendliness rating here except to say it isn’t. But I will give a caveat on the bathroom. It’s coed ala Slanted Door in that there are 4 stalls and a single trough sink. Two of the stalls have a M; two have a W. The weirdness part? The stalls themselves are made of frosted glass so you can see the shadow/color/shape of the person next to you. This proved uncomfortable for some of us; others didn’t really care. Just figured you should know.
Weight watcher points: 11