Plin

We had another fantastic dinner at Plin! It lived up to my memory and we found some amazing new dishes.
RESERVATIONS: Made just a few days in advance for a Friday night for 4.
THE SERVICE: Extremely friendly and helpful just as last time.
COST: About $ 180 total including tax/​tip for tons of food & drink for four. Not too bad!
MUST-​HAVES: Sausage & Crispy Polenta, Raviolo al Uovo, Fettuccine Carbonara. See my photos for additional details!
COCKTAILS
* Tranquillo SF (El Rette Reposado tequila, Cappelletti, lemongrass agave nectar, grapefruit & lime juice, mezcal. $ 13) — 3.5 stars
Good, but a fancy margarita.
SMALL PLATES
* Potato Chips and Nori ($ 4) — 3.5 stars
I liked that these were warm and fresh! Not super unique or impressive though.
APPETIZER
* Sausage & Crispy Polenta (spicy tomato sauce. $ 10) — 4.5 stars
This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. I loved the thick & spicy sauce, and the sausage was terrific.
PASTA
* Raviolo al Uovo (Parmesan cheese, Bloomsdale spinach, home made ricotta cheese, brown butter, truffle oil. $ 22 full) — 5 stars
As amazing as I remember from my last dinner here. The Truffle Oil really tops it off, and the pasta is delectable!
* Cold Spaghetti (fresh tomato sauce, pea purée, basil & pea micros. Half $ 11) — 3 stars
Definitely unique, but a bit sweet for my taste. My friends loved this and it was their favorite pasta of the night
* Agnoletti w/​Ricotta Cheese (tomato sauce, basil. Full $ 22) — 3.5 stars
This was solid. It had a tangy sauce, and the ricotta filling was very soft. This was a classic, but wasn’t a super memorable dish.
* Fettuccine Carbonara (Fra ‘Mani pancetta, egg yolks, black pepper, Parmesan cheese. Half $ 11) — 4.5 stars
This was very, very rich, but the kick from the pepper & the thick pancetta are fantastic. A bit salty, but still great.
* Gnocchi w/​Basil Pesto (pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic. Half $ 11) — 4 stars
Very soft & perfectly cooked gnocchi! The basil pesto was tasty, but it was quite heavy on the butter.

Wow! The food here is delicious. I would give five stars on the food alone, but unfortunately the service was fairly poor. We ordered our food and drinks and our food came out before water or our drinks. The waiter also insisted that we purchase the more costly meals, at $ 22 each and $ 13 drinks. We did and they were extraordinary, but $ 150 is a little overpriced for me for two people. I guess you get what u pay for !!

Brunch review. Five of us ate a mediocre brunch here that left me uninspired to return, which is too bad, because I REALLY love fresh pasta and love that they offer it in different-​sized portions.
Two vegetarians in the party of 5 came specifically for the VEGETABLE HASH – and they were OUT of it! They were also out of some veggie Benedict setup and were offering an alternative for that but no veggie hash. When your restaurant is EMPTY, and it is close to opening, how can you really be out of so many things?
We asked if we could have the POLENTA CAKES set up vegetarian (they come with oxtail) and were told no, which was REALLY disappointing since they were out of so many of their other vegetarian things and polenta IS vegetarian.
We settled for the MUSHROOM OMELET, which doesn’t come with potatoes, so we had to order HASH BROWNS on the side. The omelet was okay. VERY mushroomy and very rich – too much mushroom sauce, I guess. But definitely packed the flavor and the cheese. We also had the RAVIOLO AL UOVO, which was all right. SO RICH. Tasted more like the brown butter and Parmesan it was swimming in than anything else. Also, it is TINY. $ 10. Unilocal isn’t offering the option to add photos or I would show it to you.
The HASH BROWNS ($ 4 I think) were not that crispy and kind of greasy.
We found the décor (huge and suburban feeling, not city feeling) really out of place for the Mission and the paintings ugly. The music was loud and awful, although they did change it for us when we asked. I had a hard time hearing my dining companions until asking, and there were only 2 – 3 other seated tables in the whole place.
We peeked at the craft cocktail menu, and it wasn’t all that crafty, especially for its $ 13-​$ 14 price tags. I ordered a PISCO SOUR, and it was delivered as expected – a safe bet.
Bad coffee. Uneven service.
All in all, too many bad/​awkward things to want to return, which is sad. But fortunately there is excellent pasta to be had elsewhere (F+W, Cotogna).

My girlfriend is a pasta lover — she loves the authentic al dente pasta. She rarely ever wants anything fancy, just a simple pasta dish done well.
And that’s exactly what Plin does — they make simple pasta dishes, but make it to perfection. We loved all the dishes we ordered.
We’ll be coming back for more.

So my friend and I were in the mission and decided to give this restaurant a try after looking at their very appetizing menu. We started off with the Calamari as an app.
Whole body and a few tentacles… Cooked to perfection. Not deep fried but sautéed.‘
A tomato sauce with Italian White Beans and Caper Parsley Salsa. It was the bomb.
We then had a pasta course. Their pastas are in 2 sizes. A half order or a full order.
we had the Fettuccini Carbonara-​Pancetta, Egg Yolks, Black Pepper and Parmesan Cheese. Very simple ingredients… yet it had so much flavor. A definite winner as well.
Now for the entrée we had the American Kobe Sirlion Steak cooked a beautiful medium, with truffle potato purée, Swiss Chard (YUMMY) a parmesan chip and what made it sing… the veal demi glacé. This was a great meal.
Now about the service… The service is top notch. Kyle was our server. He very personable, very well versed in the menu and the wine list. The service team clears on time and marks the table after each course. I was taking a hiatus from drinking but my friend had some great wines. Some great Italian choices. The wine list is great too.
Look at the whole drink menu… they do have some classic cocktails that should be tried before getting into some food. (my opinion). One way to know that a restaurant is impressive are their restrooms and theirs are clean and have a great design.
So if you are in the mission a must eat place is PLIN.

BRUNCH review
Pros:
— attentive service (my coffee was refilled, like, 5 times)
— pretty good bread pudding (it’s called baked French toast, but really, it’s bread pudding with tasty candied pecans on top)
— ham & eggs Benedict came with a lot of ham and some nice jubbly eggs
— all of the poached eggs that were part of our meal were wonderfully yolky
— decent prices
— nice & clean décor
Cons:
— polenta cakes with braised oxtail came with very very very little meat
— polenta cakes were a bit more firm than I would’ve liked
— the food was good, not GREAT
Bottom line: this is a pretty good place for last minute brunch without reservations. The food, service, and décor were all nice, and they have a fairly large menu. They might have better dinner, but I’m not sure when I’ll return.

Great food, great drinks, but so-​so service.
I picked out Plin as I was looking for an Italian restaurant where I could get a reservation for a dinner among girl friends, who were visiting town. I arrived a little early for our reservation, so I sat at the bar and grabbed a drink, as I waited. The bartenders were friendly and fun. The signature cocktails were delicious and so was the concoction that the lead bartender made.
When we were seated at our table, we shared a few appetizers:
*Pickled ramps
*Grilled Spanish octopus
If you’ve seen my recent reviews or blog posts, you will know that I’m obsessed with octopus these days, especially trying to find a great one. I’ve had some amazing ones and meh ones lately, and this one rated among the higher ones. Yay!
For dinner, I ordered the American Kobe Top Sirloin, as I had been craving a steak earlier that day. Although it was prepared well and served beautifully, I was actually left unsatisfied, and still hungry afterwards.
My friends on the other hand ordered the Spaghetti with Grandpa George’s Sausage and Vegetable Risotto. Both were great. I really liked the spaghetti as you could tell that it was fresh made pasta. The risotto was light, not too rich and creamy. The pastas were great because they all came with a half and full portion size option. Makes it good to share or as a side with other entrees.
While the food was great, our server wasn’t the greatest. Not sure if it’s the general service of the restaurant that’s off or our specific server. I believe our server had mentioned only being there for two weeks, but that’s no excuse to not be putting out your best.
If it were for just the food, I’d definitely go back!

Plin, from the creators of Seven Hills, is a beautiful modern Italian eatery which opened recently in the Mission. First, I want to say I am a sucker for MOST Italian food, and second, Seven Hills is one of my favorite restaurants most notably for their Raviolo. I’m glad Plin has opened up in my neighborhood so I don’t need to wait months for a table at SH. The food is delicious, rich and flavorful but on the small and expensive side — especially the appetizers and mains. The menu is divided into three parts — appetizers ($ 10 – 13), pasta ($ 11 – 12), entrees ($ 20 – 22) and they recommend one of each per person, or you can share several across a few people. Note: Complementary bread and butter upon request
* BLOOD AND SAND:
Always a favorite.
* SALT SEARED MONTERY BAY CALAMARI ($ 9.50) — 4 STARS:
Super fresh lightly grilled calamari, not the tough chewy hard kind that you get frozen. It comes with 4 very small pieces of calamari served over a savory eggplant caponata. Quite a small portion, considering I could probably fit all 4 calamari’s in my mouth at once but very flavorful.
* GRILLED SPANISH OCTOPUS ($ 15) — 4.5 STARS:
The octopus appetizer is more like one small grilled tentacle served over a generous portion of fava beans. I love the texture and flavor of this simple octopus dish, and how the end of the tentacle is crispy and ever so slightly charred. Generally speaking, the portions are definitely on the small side for $ 15 I would have expected double the octopus portion but it was tasty and I’d order it again.
* RAVIOLO AL UOVO ($ 12) — 5 STARS:
Just as delicious as I remember from Seven Hills and the last time I was at Plin.
* BRAISED NIMAN RANCH PORK CHEEK ($ 22) — 4.5 STARS:
I imagined the pork cheek to be more like a moist tenderloin, but it came out covered in a thick bordelaise sauce and served over a buttery, creamy polenta. It was a really rich and flavorful dish, with sauce so thick and decadent it reminded me of French food.
* GRILLED BAVETTE STEAK WITH FRIED OYSTER ($ 24) — 4.5 STARS:
Comes with 5 medium thick, tender, juicy slices of steak, and when you say medium rare, they deliver on it! It was quite raw in the center but I didn’t mind at all, although it was a bit chewy at times. I wish the garlic flavor was more consistent throughout the steak, but the garlic chips were a nice surprise with every bite or so. Perhaps if we had ordered it with the agnolotti on top, the sauce would have evened out the flavor, but we were trying to go low carb. The maitake mushroom and fried oyster were a creative complement and excellent touch.
* FRIED MARY’S CHICKEN ($ 20) — 3.5 STARS:
I’m very critical of fried chicken because I know I could find some pretty good popeye’s chicken for under $ 10. I know it’s a terrible comparison but I can’t help it and I admit I am a sucker for those butter biscuits. This fried chicken was nice and juicy and the skin was very crispy, served over buttered kale. Good but not the best I’ve had. The pork cheek was my favorite of the night.
While this was a bit of an expensive meal, I enjoy it every time. Definitely a must visit if you enjoy the likes of Seven Hills, Locanda, Beretta or Flour and Water.
And an update for Brunch!
They now have bottomless mimosas and bloody Mary’s and they’re not as crowded as most brunch spots! The food was pretty good but nothing special. Stick with a few choice selections from dinner or maybe the happy hour menu.
* CROISSANT BREAKFAST SANDWICH ($ 10) — 4 STARS:
About as good and also reasonably priced as one I recently had at Café Fiorre. It wasn’t particularly unique but it was satiating and fresh. How can you ruin a croissant sandwich?! Extra points for the refreshing lemony side of arugula salad.
* SAUSAGE BENEDICT — 3 STARS:
The waitress assured me it would be different when it fact this was a very standard, albeit generous and fresh, breakfast sausage patty. I hate breakfast sausages, so this was just not meant to be. I liked that it was served on a fresh slice of French bread but it tasted too strongly of oil.

I’m a lover of pasta.
Not too long ago, I stopped by Seven Hills in Nob Hill to try their pasta. After being disappointed despite the high reviews, I learned that the chef (that made the mouthwatering creations at Seven Hills) had left to open Plin.
Did I mention that I love pasta? Well, I especially love pasta with red sauce, and as far as I was concerned, Spaghetti with Grandpa George’s Sausage was going to be the main star.
But first, the appetizers — We started with the Fried Parmesan ($ 4) and Grilled Octopus ($ 11). The flavors of the Fried Parmesan might be a bit strong for some, but I thoroughly enjoyed it (I like flavorful and sharp cheese). Admittedly, I could see that it could be a bit too salty for some. On the other hand, the octopus was grilled to tender perfection. Served over a bed of beans that have been buttered, the two complemented each other perfectly.
Now to the pasta — What I love about Plin is that you can order half servings of pasta to do it tapas style. And it’s not that BS where a full serving is $ 24 and half is $ 18. If a dish is $ 24, the half portion will be exactly half price. We ordered all half orders of Mushroom Tortelli, Pasta Carbonara and of course, Spaghetti with Grandpa George’s Sausage ($ 12 each).
Mushroom Tortelli was so rich and delicious. Arguably one of my favorites, but I would recommend a half serving. I cannot imagine anyone eating a full serving on their own unless they really enjoy the flavor of butter without feeling gross. Spaghetti with Grandpa George’s Sausage was as expected — delicious. The flavor of bell pepper was a bit stronger than expected, but the sausage and pasta was cooked to perfection. Carbonara was my least favorite from the bunch. I usually don’t like things too rich, but this was not rich enough. The sauce was very watery for some reason.
Lastly, I love that the restaurant is nice and open, without being too noisy. I usually feel cramped in SF restaurants, but not this one.
Overall, if you are a pasta lover and indecisive like me, I would highly recommend this place. Being able to share a bunch of pasta is heaven to me.

Disclaimer: this should be a solid 4.5-star restaurant. Really wish one day there will be a half-​star rating option…
Made a reservation for 3 at 7:45pm on Saturday, we arrived on time but were asked to wait for a while because the previous party had not left yet. So we hanged out at the bar, I got a cocktail — Corpse Reviver #2 (Gin-​based). Not bad at all. $ 12, standard SF price.
We then got seated, all staffs were very friendly with big smile on all the time. Complimentary bread was nice. We were debating whether we should order entrée or just order a bunch of appetizers and pasta, and the end we went with the latter idea since those descriptions are much more appealing…
Seafood Ceviche: B+.
Not bad at all. Snapper + scallop with orange, celery, fennel etc and it’s a pretty tropical-​tasting dish. It kind of reminded me of hamachi carpaccio but in a good way.
Grilled Spanish Octopus: A.
Very nice. The grilling time and method of the octopus was perfect; together with a slight sense of lemon juice, we couldn’t stop eating. Another wonderful thing was the Italian butter beans — I had never eaten that before, but perhaps it absorbed some juice from the octopus, the taste of it was super.
Grilled Asparagus with Poached Egg: A-​.
Such a simple dish but still surprised how good it turned out. Asparagus was fresh. Don’t belittle the egg — when I dipped the asparagus into the almost-​solid-​but-​not-​quite-​yet poached egg. it was simply wonderful.
Cuttlefish Ink Tagliatelle: A-​.
Tomato vodka sauced based pasta. i had never had cuttlefish with pasta before and it was pretty unique.
Raviolo al Uovo: A.
Very wonderful. The truffle oil was definitely the key — the ravioli wouldn’t taste so good without it. But anyhow, the ravioli itself was very nice as well. The parmesan cheese helped bring the taste of ravioli out even more.
Mushroom Tortelli: A-​.
A simple dish yet the chef mastered it. Simply with wild mushroom and mushroom tomato sauce. I like how thin the tortelli was, didn’t feel stuffed at all after eating a few and this was the last dish too.
Besides the above super nice food, we also opened a wine from there. It wasn’t a super expensive one but enough to get our night going.
Got the check and it’s only ~$ 60 per person, tips included! The value was definitely there. Highly recommend this place, and for sure I will go back in the future.

Went here for a friend’s bday dinner, and while the time w/​friends was fun the food was overpriced for the portions and flavors provided.
I suggest coming here for drinks maybe some appetizers, but going to grab a full meal elsewhere.

Wine, pasta, bread = though a simple request, it’s hard to find an upscale (and new) SF restaurant that executes Italian so well. Glad to report back that Plin delivers on the carbs and still manages to keep it kinda fancy.
Let’s just get one thing out of the way — you or someone in your party must order the Raviolo al Uovo. «Parmesan cheese, Bloomsdale spinach, home made ricotta cheese, brown butter, truffle oil». Cut open this large piece of pasta and the tasty sauce comes oozing out on the plate. Ask for some bread and soak it up. All of it. Doooo it!
We sampled several other dishes that were quite good, including the grilled Spanish octopus, pork belly as well as fettuccine carbonara. They were all superb. But I just can’t get that raviolo out of my head!
After cocktails and vino, along with several warm dishes later, we left happy and full. Would definitely recommend coming back with a date or friends and getting comfy in one of their booths for a few hours.

This is one of the fancier places I’ve seen on Valencia, near Duboce. It’s a large, spacey restaurant with nice décor and friendly staff. If I was able to just rate the bar and bartenders, I’d give this place 5 stars, but…
Well, my friend and I came in (without a reservation, I admit) for a table for 2. We were told there were a lot of reservations, but we could sit at the bar for the same menu. No biggie, but it was still super annoying to note that the whole time we were there (and by the time we left) there were still a bunch of tables that were empty for the entire time. Perhaps they need to plan out their reservations better, grr Anyway, in turned out okay in the end since the bar staff were really friendly and nice to talk to.
The food and drinks were good, but kinda pricey. I had the fettuccini carbonara and my friend had the venison. Since this is a bit of a fancier place, don’t expect massive portions. I was find with the portion size and found myself comfortably full at the end.
Overall, a nice place if you want to go here for a date (note: make a reservation) or just want somewhere quiet to eat, but your wallet will be lighter when you leave

I’m surprised by the slightly lower-​rated reviews of Plin, because I found everything from the service to the food to the ambience to be impeccable. I would definitely come here again, especially with a group — it’s the perfect place for a fun, shared experience with a gaggle of friends or colleagues
Our reservation was slightly on the later side of the evening due to arriving from the East Coast well into dinner time. Thankfully, the staff was still as fresh and charming as if we were the first seating, and although we had to wait a few minutes for our table at the bar, the bartenders were happy to pour us waters while we waited.
Once seated, we were treated to some of the greatest service I’ve ever experienced. Our waiter was thorough, patient, made loads of recommendations and checked on everything we had questions about.
My recommendations? The gnocchi, the raviolo (GIANT ravioli served in pairs — think one per person), the confit chicken cennelloni, and anything your server recommends. We shared every single plate and were totally happy with each one of them.
They also have a great wine selection at Plin, everything from 2oz tasting sizes to a full bottle (of course) with prices that fit into anyone’s budget. The nice thing about Plin is, you can come and share a few plates and glasses of wine for not a lot of money, or come and splurge. There’s also a private dining room for larger parties, which I hop to one day occupy!

I came here a month ago! I heard that the chef from seven hills moved here and had to try this place out!
Ravioli uovo: ⁵⁄₅: still delicious and one of my favorites. My boyfriend and I each ordered our own. It’s that good, we don’t want to share. Still has that perfect shell that encases a perfectly yolky egg. Once you cut in it’s so delicious and they offer bread to sop up all the eggy goodness!
Seared scallops: ⁵⁄₅: perfectly cooked and did not taste like the sea. It was perfectly seasoned and it was accompanied with corn pasta! It was so delicious, you should try this dish!
Seared steak with oysters ⁵⁄₅: perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. It melted in my mouth. So good! The fried oyster was also good as well! Can’t believe how good this was.
If you haven’t tried plin out yet, it’s a must! Service and food are both excellent! And if you love Italian this is a place to try!
Total for 2: $ 130

If you come to this place, choose a table away from bar, because the lighting is quite blinding near the bar.
The best dish was homemade spaghetti with grandpa George’s sausage. Yummy sausages and al dente homemade pasta.
The pork cheek and mustard green salad were pretty good but not something to rave about.
They ran out of the Sangiovese by the glass that night but had an alternative Sangiovese blend Morellino do Scansano which was excellent. Order sparingly and you will not be disappointed.

The other night last week, neither of us were particularly interested in cooking, especially since we both knew that we were both traveling for work the next day. So, in typical Lisa & Greg fashion, we started looking around for a new and interesting place to visit for dinner. Plin, a new restaurant that has only been open since August in the Mission, was put on my radar in my perusing of Unilocal.It was reasonably priced, not too far away from the Muni Metro/​BART, and Greg’s never met a carb that he didn’t like.
The first thing that surprised us was how BIG this place is! The dining area was «spacious», which in SF standards means, you couldn’t directly hear the conversations that were being had right next to you. After consulting with the waiter on the number of dishes we should order, we went with the following:
Appetizer:
Raw Tuna and Mission Figs
Pastas:
Spaghetti with Grandpa George’s Sausage
Raviolo al Uovo
Main:
Braised Niman Ranch Pork Cheek
Dessert:
Shortcake and Peaches
The tuna dish was easily one of my favorites of the night, it was so fresh and I absolutely loved the puffed rice that came with it. The pasta dishes were good, and the signature item here is the Raviolo al Uovo, but neither really impressed me. The pork cheek was also great, and it reminded me of beef short rib with how tender it was. The service at Plin was a little slow; our waiter seemed a little overcommitted and getting beverages turned into a longer process than anticipated given how popular the bar was. Overall, we’d probably come back for drinks or with a bigger group of friends to try more dishes!

TAPAS CONCEPT
(3.5 stars)
Portion control; more to take in.
Tapa-​style modern Italian. Who knew that would be possible?! Usually Italian food just comes out plates full and always leaving with left-​overs. Don’t expect that here.
EL JEFE (de OAXACA) — el peloton de la muerte mescal, fresh squeezed watermelon, lime, cilantro, and jalapeño. Since I am a person who isn’t a fan of mescal it was switched with tequila and I asked for extra fresh watermelon juice — way better. They should consider making it this way permanently. The drink is this light pinkish color topped with a jalapeño garnish. It was refreshing with a kick of spice from the jalapeño. Highly recommend.
SHIGOKU — They do serve raw oysters, you will need to ask which kinds are available. When I heard Shigoku, it was a must for me. Shigoku’s are my favorite oyster — usually delicate and creamy. However, always ask where they are from. You can have a favorite type but the profile flavor varies based on type AND location. Unfortunately, these were from WA and I am not a fan of WA oysters. It had a hint of grittiness; typical from WA oysters.
RAW TUNA AND MISSION FIGS — marscapone cream, balsamic vinegar, black sea salt, chervil. This was delicious. Creative dish, the mission figs and marscapone cream added a level of sweetness to the raw tuna and then balanced with the saltiness of the black sea salt. You usually never see a dish where sweetness is paired with raw tuna. I enjoy the plays between sweet and salty if it is done correctly and they do it here. Highly recommend.
SPAGHETTI WITH GRANDPA GEORGE’S SAUSAGE — green bell pepper, caramelized onion, tomato sauce. I think I had high expectations on this dish as its a more traditional Italian dish, however it was typical. Nothing special about it, nothing really memorable. The serving size is tiny and I don’t know if this was worth $ 11 because it can be slurped up in 3 – 4 decent bites. Don’t really recommend, prefer others to order other dishes.
Will I be back? Yes.
Until the next review…

Came for a friend’s birthday dinner with a pretty large group, so he had ordered all the dishes beforehand. Everything came out family style, in the sense that for our party of 18, we got about 3 – 4 plates of each item, and then 3 – 5 people would eat from the same plate. This was nice because we got to try a little bit of everything, and even though it seemed like we weren’t getting much food, I was actually full by the end of the meal. It helps that many dishes were pastas, which loads you up, and the dishes were pretty rich and buttery — also filling.
What stood out to me were the drinks! I got the El Jefe, which was really good. Ingredients I remember were mezcal, jalapeño, and cilantro. I tried other drinks around the table and they all tasted really good too.
A bit pricey for the amount of food you get, and I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a quality over quantity thing here. Food was good, but not AMAZING for the prices. Ambience was great though, and service was top notch as well. They did a great job of making the birthday dinner flow smoothly.

3.5 STARS
One of the biggest perks of dating a non-​yelper is you get to choose w-​h-​a-​t-​e-​v-​e-​r restaurant you want and you don’t have to hear the following:
«Uhhh but that place only has 3 stars!?!»
AND
«I’m not going there; Beezie B. gave it 1 star!»
BUT
«OMG, bone marrow is highlighted on Unilocal though… I love bone marrow!»
THEN
«Oh wait but Beezie A. gave it 5 stars… I never trusted Beezie B.‘s reviews anyhow… she’s such a beezie.»
You know, you’re all guilty of this at one point or another. Admittedly, I’m the number one offender which is why I like to try a newly opened restaurants so I can form my own opinion before it gets flooded with other reviews that may sway me differently. Granted there will always be kinks with grand openings but I can get a pretty good sense based on the food alone.
Opening on Friday, August 1^st, Plin comes from a Seven Hills alum who brought his signature Raviolo al Uovo to this Italian tapas menu. All dishes are $ 6-​$ 14 and three dishes were recommended per a person. Echoing others, I found the portions to be very tiny and more aligned with a 5 – 8 course chef’s tasting menu so ask for free bread as a filler (or plan for a second dinner). Personally, I would prefer higher price points with beefier portions because most dishes were just 2 – 3 bites; not made for sharing as «tapas» should be.
Unlike other Italian restaurants, Plin has a full bar and serves up some awesome artisan cocktails. The El Jefe ($ 11) was the winner with its spicy watermelon notes:
. I also had The Ambassador ($ 10):
and Russian Accent ($ 11):
which were good but that El Jefe was truly like boss.
~ * ~ F O O D ~ * ~
*Raviolo al Uovo ($ 10):
*Seafood Lasagna ($ 8.50):
*Agnolotti al ‘Plin’ w/​chicken ($ 6.50):
*Thai Snapper Carpaccio ($ 6.50):
*Fried Main Lobster ($ 12):
*Beef Filet & Fried Oyster ($ 12):
*New Zealand Lamb Chop ($ 14):
*Eggplant Parmesan ($ 6):
*Tiramisu ($ 10):
Collectively, everything we had was pretty solid but the obvious standout was the Raviolo al Uovo. Delicate al-​dente pasta encased a deliciously creamy yolk that oozed upon cutting. The brown butter and truffle oil made it that much better and it was good as I remembered at Seven Hills. The seafood lasagna was filled with über fresh rock shrimp but was the lasagna (sole) was a bit mushy. Loved the sprinkling of crunchy fried chicken skin on the agnolatti but the portion was barely a heaping tablespoon.
The seafood dishes we chose were surprisingly reminiscent to Asian dishes especially the Fried Lobster. It oddly reminded me of the stir fried lobster served at Chinese wedding banquets.
You can’t go wrong with any of the meat dishes which were perfectly cooked (medium rare). The filet with fried oyster was an excellent take on «surf & turf» but we each only got 1 bite. :(It’s a good thing the lamb chop was nice and meaty.
I liked the pretty presentation on the tiramisu and there was good rum-​coffee flavor but the sponge cake (texture was not like lady fingers) was dry.
~ * ~ S E R V I C E ~ * ~
What I enjoy about going to newly opened restaurant is the enthusiasm of the staff. It was no different at Plin and our waiter was great and attentive; as were the busboys who quickly cleared out plates, kept out water glasses filled and folded our napkins upon going to potty. We had an early dinner so food service was timely.
~ * ~ A M B I A N C E /​D E C O R ~ * ~
Minimalist and chic, I really liked the vibe of Plin. Tables were perfectly spaced apart and booths looked really roomy. I adored the really intricate chandeliers especially the spinning one (or was it the alkie talking?). The unisex bathroom stalls reminded me of Tao in Vegas without the special effects so no hanky panky in there ya hear?
~ * ~ P A R K I N G ~ * ~
Slightly easier finding street parking before 6 pm then say 18^th and Valencia. There’s a parking lot half a block away on 14^th/​Mission with a nightly $ 15 flat fee.
Before dining here, I booked the private backroom for my gf’s birthday dinner at the end of the month (she was sold on the menu). I’m hoping Plin will take into consideration the general consensus of the reviews here and reevaluate their price-​to-​portion ratio. Upon our return, I want to be able to gush like a crazy school girl and write a 5 star update… Beezie A. status.