Aix Marks the Spot

James Sanders

Marina X: A little French, a little Italian at Bistro Aix.

Location Info

Map

Bistro Aix

3340 Steiner
San Francisco, CA 94123

Category: Restaurant > California

Region: Marina/ Cow Hollow

Photos

0 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare

Details

Duck leg confit $9.95

Arugula salad with clementines $8

Grilled lamb steak $18.95

Veal Milanese $20

Pizza with bacon, leeks, and broccolini $12

Panna cotta $7

Sauternes $10 a glass

202-0100

www.bistroaix.com

Open for dinner Monday-Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m., and Sunday from 5:30 to 9:30

Reservations accepted

Wheelchair accessible

Parking: difficult

Muni: 22, 28, 30, 43, 76

Noise level: moderate to high

3340 Steiner (at Chestnut)

Related Content

• B. Patisserie: New French Bakery in Pacific Heights Traffics in Everything Nice
  April 17, 2013
• Spelunking in the City
  October 31, 2012
• "2 Days in New York": Julie Delpy Brings the "Paris" Gang West
  August 15, 2012
• Julie Delpy: She's Taking on Everything That's Wrong with Movies
  August 15, 2012
• DJs from Mars: Show Preview
  July 11, 2012

More About

• Bill Erica
• Yountville
• University of Aix-en-Provence
• Italian Food and Cooking
• Eating Out

When I returned a week later with Peter, I knew the drill, and we got what I expected: not overly ambitious food, but a meal that pleased us in every particular. We selected from the nightly bargain-priced prix fixe, a choice of two appetizers and two entrees, which in essence means you get a free starter for the $18.95 price of your main course. Peter picked the grilled top sirloin, and this time I went for the crispy chicken breast. I loved the cannellini bean soup of the day, its mild broth fragrant with lots of slivered garlic, fennel, and a touch of basil pesto; for $1.40, Peter added a nice-sized round of breaded goat cheese, melting under its crust, to his mesclun greens in a tarragon vinaigrette. Emboldened by our savings, we split a pizza of the day before our entrees; the crisp cracker crust is not our favorite style, but the toppings — chunks of applewood smoked bacon, leeks, broccolini, and aged Swiss — tasted wonderful together.

Once again the food was very good indeed: tasty sliced steak slicked with a hint of melting maître d'hôtel butter accompanied by thin frites that could have been a tiny bit crisper and a pile of nicely bitey watercress; tasty chicken that could have been a tiny bit juicier served with perfectly cooked baby red potatoes, perfectly cooked haricots verts, and a little chicken jus that brought everything together. Classic food, carefully prepared. Behind us a table of five was enjoying a meal that ranged from burgers for the little ones to an enticing chunk of halibut with grilled asparagus and Meyer lemon aioli for the grown-ups. We lingered over a glass of Sauternes and a crème brülee with thin aniseed cookies. It wasn't quite the French bistro I expected, but after two pleasant meals, I was happy with Bistro Aix exactly as it was — and not surprised that every seat in the house was filled.