South Pacific Trip

Comments (0) By Matthew Stafford Wednesday, Apr 5 2000

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Anthony Pidgeon

Self-dubbed "waitron" Grace Clark serves up some exotic concoctions.

Location Info

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Ponzu

401 Taylor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Category: Restaurant > Asian Fusion

Region: Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin

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Details

401 Taylor (at O'Farrell), 775-7979. Breakfast served Monday through Friday 7 to 10 a.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 to 11 a.m.; dinner served nightly 5 to 10 p.m., till midnight in the bar (bar opens at 4:30 p.m.). Reservations accepted. Wheelchair accessible. Parking: difficult. Muni: 27, 38. Noise level: pleasant

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One of the two best dishes on the menu is a chicken curry ($13) that's unlike any in my experience: The flavors are vivid, with the starring crispy-moist chicken fillets interacting with supple dates, crunchy almonds, and the barely sweet bite of pickled green peaches. The other terrific dish is the coconut cream puffs ($5.50), a knockout of a dessert in which the crisp, cookielike puffs are stuffed with an unsweetened cream studded with coconut shards and served with two last dipping sauces: a dense, almost fudgy bittersweet chocolate and a caramel rich with butter and sugar.

The wine list, full of vintages chosen to match the sweet-hot flavors on the menu, is supplemented with a wide array of premium sakes and draught beers. The location, Taylor and O'Farrell, is adjacent to the striking Serrano Hotel, its recently refurbished Old World elegance perhaps symbolic of an encroaching Tenderloin retrofit. But the mood -- elegant, exotic, adventurous, and tasty -- is in the best, most time-honored San Francisco tradition