Kat's 9 Lives

I am a huge fan of French food, but with a New American twist. Ms. Lin recommended Hyde Street Bistro in SF for some French comfort food. This place falls under a more traditional French cuisine, makes me very nostalgic of Paris. Oh how I miss Paris! The decor was a very classic elegance. It's dimly lit with strings of light around the trees outside. The interior was a cozy neighborhood feeling. Parking there was murder! We circled around for half an hour to park late on Friday night. To start off the night we shared the Foie Gras Pate with coroichous, prune, salad, toasts, and a dash of hazelnut oil. They brought over country wheat bread to start and then our appetizer came. I was starving that night so the first bite of the pate tasted very good, but as I started to eat more and more I felt a weird aftertaste. Ms. Lin thought that it was flavorful, but I felt nauseous after eating a lot. So I don't know if I'd recommend this too much, but if you like pate then why not. ^_- We also shared the classic Onion Soup with croutons and Gruyere cheese. I LOVE cheese and espeically when it's melted! The soup was good. Pretty flavorful and not too thick. It didn't have too many onions that would overpower the rest of the soup. I just wished there was more cheese!! All in all I would say this was better than average.I couldn't decide what to get for the main course. The only thing that looked appetizing to me was their special, which they were out of! =*( So I asked what the server recommended and he told me to try the Porc en Roulade. It's pork tenderloin stuffed with Shitake mushrooms & onions, served with Tarragon cream reduction and sautéed potatoes. I must say that this was truly a disappointment. I regretted not going with my first instinct of just eating appetizers! It would have been safer to just eat the moules. After trying the first piece, I immediately decided that I didn't like the Tarragon sauce. Overall it lacked any delectable flavor, it was just an overwhelming taste of alcohol with hints of Tarragon. The pork was cooked tender enough, but I was not a fan of the stuffing. All in all, I would NOT eat this ever again so I can't recommend it unless you liked the parts of what I hated. =9Surprisingly, I liked what Ms. Lin had. The Traditional Cassoulet was the sole reason for Ms. Lin to drag me here. I abhor beans! So this must tell you that this dish was pretty good for me to tolerate the flavor and taste of beans. We often had this in France, but nowhere did we eat tasted that great. It's a dish prepared with white beans, pork, duck confit, and Toulouse sausage. Despite the fact that we both don't like duck confit, I really like the crisp skin it had. The meat was only so-so but the skin was prepared superbly. There were tons of sausage and pork. Ms. Lin wished they put more beans than anything, fortunately I love meat so I helped her eat the meats. Sadly, I would have rather ate what she ordered even though I despise beans. This should tell you how much I hated my dish! >_<# I would definitely recommend this dish to people if they want something that was packed full of flavor and delight for dinner. It definitely was more on the heavier side, but not too heavy. I am willing to overlook many things if the dish tastes good like this one was.All in all this place was a hit or miss. It definitely was not anything to die for, it's just simplistic French comfort food. I would probably come back again for dinner, the cassoulet was good enough to convince me in giving this place another try. The service was friendly and the ambiance was nice. This place reminds me of this little French bistro in LA that I really like, but the menu at Hyde Street Bistro was much smaller. After all the dishes I have tried, I would stick with the cassoulet. You can't go wrong with that!

Hyde Street Bistro
1521 Hyde St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 292-4415