French Alley in San Francisco...

[Carolyn Tillie]

I've heard rumour that Belden Place is an alley that contains some inexpensive, delightful French-style bistros and restaurants.

As Shawn and I have an unexpected Friday night off TOGETHER (rare!), we opted to head to the city for a day and wondered if anyone can ellucidate on the potential of this locale.

I don't know of any specific restaurants -- just the street. We are on a budget and I would love to have an exceptional meal, if there are any other recommendations that anyone would like to make.

[Busboy]

On my one visit to SF my wife and I stumbled across this street (on our way home from Chez Panisse) but didn't have a chance to sample the food. It seemed quite lively, even at a late hour, and rather strange -- "France Town" about 10 blocks from Chinatown. Apparently a lot of the people live nearby - the Catholic Church in the neighborhood celebrated mass in French.

To tell you the truth, none of the restaurants looked particularly great, but it appears to be a fun place to head for the evening. Bring a sweater!

[mixmaster b]

Several years ago I had a fun dinner at the bar at Plouf on Belden Place. I seem to remember the food was good, but the lively scene, great bar, and cute French waiters were the main darw. There are other spots along the alley, but I have not been to any of them.

Here's a Citysearch list. Plouf seems to be the most highly rated, both here and in Zagat (where food gets a 22).

[Wolfert]

I like B44 a lot. It's catalan mama's cooking.

[IrishCream]

I've eatan lunch at Cafe Bastille....the mushroom crepes weren't bad but the real treat was the people watching. If you do a search for Plouf you will find that some eG members swear by the mussels there.

[IrishCream]

Carolyn...after thinking about it for a while I was going to suggest that you go to the Slanted Door. Thank Goddess, I just checked their website. Their prices have doubled since the eG dinner there last February! I am in shock. But I still think there may be better places for a really good, relatively inexpensive meal...than anything at Belden Place.

[Roger McShane]

Just love B44. Wonderful food. A great place for lunch sitting outside under the umbrellas.

[rshorens]

Another place to consider is Cafe Claude, on Claude Lane(a tiny alley between Bush and Sutter Streets) It has a zinc bar, very reasonably priced French cafe/bistro food and drinks, superb bread(for me a very telling sign about a restaurant), everything very home-made and delicious. Most of the staff is French. There's often jazz on weekend nights. Open for lunch and dinner, some outdoor tables. Not at all touristy. They have a website for details. Claude Lane intersetcs Bush Street right across the street from the French church and French Consulate in SF, several blocks closer to Union Square than Belden Place is. Bon appetit!

Roz

[tsquare]

Family and friends have been to Cafe Claude - all I got was a postcard. They all thought it was great for a touch of Paris in SF - but it can be smokey (or was - no smoking in California bars and restaurants anymore?)

[Stone]

Plouf is my favorite place in the alley. The best mussels you'll find in the city. They come in a number of styles -- my current favorite is coconut. (Basically Tom Kha with mussels. They tried to take it off the menu because it wasn't "French", and too many people complained.) The other stuff I've had there is excellent as well, except they have a tendancy to overcook the halibut. (And there's a lovely Tunisian waitress with long curly black hair . . . .)

I've had two meals at Cafe Bastille. Although it's owned by the same people that own Plouf, the mussels were a huge disappointment both times. I thought the rest of the food was mediocre as well.

B44 is Spanish. Not sure if it's a tapas place. They're famous for the squid ink paella.

"BK" down at the off-end of the alley sells char-broiled burgers with your choice of toppings. Really, the only reason to go there is for the fries.

[rshorens]

Family and friends have been to Cafe Claude - all I got was a postcard. They all thought it was great for a touch of Paris in SF - but it can be smokey (or was - no smoking in California bars and restaurants anymore?)

Don't worry about smoke-unless the kitchen catches fire- because there's NO SMOKING in San Francisco restaurants!!

[Gary Soup]

Family and friends have been to Cafe Claude - all I got was a postcard. They all thought it was great for a touch of Paris in SF - but it can be smokey (or was - no smoking in California bars and restaurants anymore?)

Don't worry about smoke-unless the kitchen catches fire- because there's NO SMOKING in San Francisco restaurants!!

Well, yes and no. Belden Place is still a haven for smokers because most of the places have outdoor seating, and they haven't YET banned outdoor smoking.

And isn't it a bit nonsensical to say "a touch of Paris in SF - but it can be smokey" when "a touch of Paris in SF - especially when it's smokey" would make more sense?

Parenthetically, a recent public hearing about permitting a Starbucks in yet another SF neighborhood opposed to it featured an argument by a nearby organic food shop proprietor whose objection was "It'll bring more smokers to the sidewalk."

[Margaret Pilgrim]

The food at Plouf is certainly adequate, and it sings at B44. A big caviat, however: if you want to have any kind of conversation, sit outside. Inside at both lunch and dinner, we could neither hear each other nor the waiter, nor could the waiter hear us.

[Carolyn Tillie]

The food at Plouf is certainly adequate, and it sings at B44.  A big caviat, however: if you want to have any kind of conversation, sit outside.  Inside at both lunch and dinner, we could neither hear each other nor the waiter, nor could the waiter hear us.

So... Here's what we did:

Having to visit Shawn's favorite bookstore on Polk first (Field's), we opted for Swan's for a luncheon of fresh oysters on the half shell (6 Blue Point and 6 Kumamoto), a few slices of smoked salmon, and a bowl of clam chowder.

Upon arriving at Belden, we walked the length and perused all the menus and while we had received additional recommendations to dine at Plouf, the menu at B44 looked the most enticing, even though I had been craving French. Inded, we were not disappointed. Two appetizers continued the seafood theme of the day, Herb-Crusted Scallops served atop white beans and fresh greens, and their version of Mussels which was secondary to the amazing sauce they were served in. We had to ask for extra bread to sop up this lovely, herby sauce.

For dinner entrees, I had the Chicken, Rabbit, and Fresh Mushroom Paella and Shawn had the roasted Rabbit. We both paired our meals with different Tempranillo blends that were lovely and finished the meal with their version of Creme Brulle (extra cinnamond and lemon zest) along with a glass of 10-year-old Dow Tawny Port, which combined and enhanced the cinammon.

All in all, too much money was spent but a lovely time was had. I really needed the nice day out. Besides the books at Fields, too many CDs at Amoeba, we discovered Dee Vine Wines at Pier 19 where I picked up some fabulous German Whites (their speciality) which I am looking forward to opening soon... (Bay Area Potluck???)