Until this past May, if you wanted a seat at Bar Crudo, you either had to show up at the tiny Nob Hill restaurant right when it opened for dinner or wait for tables to turn over. Thankfully, brothers Tim and Mike Selvera relocated to a larger space on Divisadero, down the street from Nopa on a developing strip that’s exploding in popularity. Now they can accomodate a wider audience for their excellent seafood, and they even take reservations.
Bar Crudo features a very good beer program. You’ll only find five beers on tap, but there are seven bottle categories: including Light, Crisp, Dry; Floral, Fruity, Spice; Hoppy, Malty, Dry; Rich, Fruity, Sour; and Rich, Malt, Dark. My tart glass of Dogfish Head Festina Peche ($5) was a refreshing Berliner Weisse flavored with peaches but not too sweet. My dad asked for a dark beer, so we got him a bottle of Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, a chocolatey 5.2% brown ale a hint of coffee bitterness.
Bar Crudo featured a raw bar with plenty of enticing oysters and shellfish, but we stuck with composed plates (and bowls).
Bar Crudo offered 6 choices of their signature item, crudo. 4 pieces per plate only cost $12, which was a bargain considering the pristine seafood and (mainly) inspired flavor combinations.
Arctic Char was similar to salmon, but without as much essential oil or flavor. That’s where the spicy horseradish cream, wasabi-infused tobiko and dill helped.
Rosy strips of Kona Kampachi paired well with sweet peaches, tangy chili-lime vinaigrette and creamy avocado mousse.
My favorite crudo was probably the Butterfish, which lived up to its name and really shined with a drizzle of salmorejo (tomato soup), salty, smoky jamon Serrano and paprika-dusted quail egg.
Hokkaido Scallop was another winner, featuring sweet slices of sea scallop, sweet corn puree, a drizzle of lobster mushroom tarragon oil and crystals of sea salt.
We added a fifth choice for variety’s sake: Spicy Yellow Fin Tuna with ginger, soy, Sriracha and green onion. The ruby color of the yellow fin cubes was gorgeous, but the marinade was fairly bland, even with Sriracha.
Lobster Heirloom Tomato Salad ($17) was kind of a misnomer. Yes, there were big chunks of sweet lobster, but this salad was successful due to the bursting heirloom tomatoes, kernels of sweet white corn and creamy strands of burrata. Basil, mache and Banyuls vinaigrette completed the plate.
Octopus Salad ($12) was the dinner’s only other letdown, featuring chewy sheets of ceviche-like octopus and a mismatched mix of white beans, orange, caselveltrano olives, mint, pea shoots, sherry vinaigrette.
The cup of Seafood Chowder may have been the best $7 we spent all weekend, featuring big chunks of fish, plump mussels, sweet shrimp, tender squid, potatoes and chewy cuts of applewood-smoked bacon that permeated the pink broth.
We’d gorged on some fine seafood, but couldn’t resist the butterflied fillet of crisp-skinned Idaho Rainbow Trout ($17). The juicy fish was strewn with of-the-moment summer vegetables, including peas, snap peas, zucchini and a charred heirloom tomato vinaigrette that took the dish to another level.
We were more than satisfied, but craved something sweet to end the night. Bar Crudo doesn’t offer dessert, so our waitress recommended Candybar, located down the street and around the corner, which delivered some experimental desserts in an artistic lounge setting.
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I hit Bar Crudo when I was in SF last December and it was delicious. Those fantastic pictures of yours bring back fond memories.