Vermillion

[babern38]

Living only two blocks away and being enticed by the indian/south american fusion I thought I would try Vermillion on Hubbard st. To make a long story short, I there were many items on the menu (tapas and entrees) and instead of picking I opted for the $75 tasting menu. Without going into complete details, many of the dishes were very nice, though there were a few problems encountered along the way.

First the amuse was a shaved ice with ginger, lime and mint. This was so cold, that the spoon stuck to my tongue like a flagpole in winter. I was worried that I may not be able to taste the rest of the meal due to the impending frostbite.

I really enjoyed the artichoke pakoras, a 3 pepper soup of the day, the caldeirada de peixe(amazonian seafood stew), and the chili-glazed tamarind ribs. I was also served one of the best flourless chocolate cakes I can remember eating which was a complete surprise given the type of cuisine.

The scallop suffered from too much "grittiness" and the paneer vegetable terrine, while comprising of a few tasty components, didn't work well together in my opinion. Oh, and the sorbet with dessert was also frozen.

My general impression is that this place has some pretty good ideas and some definite talent combining flavors and ideas, but could possibly use a kick in the pants to kick it up a notch to get it to the level it is desiring to be.