Update: Ironside Restaurant – SoMa
PRO: Nice neighborhood atmosphere, wide-ranging menu, improved food
CON: Wide-ranging menu…lacks a little focus. They need a fireplace!
Why is it that I expected Raymond Burr to wheel himself over to take our order? And then grill us on our order until we break down and cry and admit we murdered someone? Anyhoo, that wanker Bauer beat us to the punch (again). He gave this place a rating of 2 last 
week. And as much as I hate to agree with that has-been, we actually agree with him on at least one thing – as much as we like selection, the menu is a bit ‘rangy’. Makes it hard to really put a cohesive meal together. Case in point? The dinner we ordered just last night. Yes, kittens this review is hot off the presses, nice fresh and piping hot. And wait, he didn’t really beat us, as we reviewed Ironside for breakfast and lunch way way back in September. So there!
Well, I guess you could defend this menu as “whether you’re a carnivore, vegetarian, vegan or Aborigine cannibal (are they cannibals?), there’s something on this menu for you”. OK, I’m down with that. Nice argument. Point, counter point and all that. But there’s still some kinda weird shit on this menu, like Tempura Fried Avocado. WTF?
OK, enough waffling. Back to our order. We started with the Roasted Corn on the Cob ($7) with Queso Fresco, Chipotle Aioli and Carnitas Salad. I’ll tell ya one thing in general: corn does not break down, if ya get my drift. OK, enough bathroom humor. I love roasted corn on the cob, and this was damn good. They do make ya sing for your supper on this one though. The corn shows up on the cob, and they instruct you to take a knife and carve the corn off the husk before eating. More sophisticated than just picking it up in your clammy paws and chowing down I guess. But it works, ‘cuz you get some of that nice corn milk mixed in with the cheese and spicy aioli. Well done! And easily worth 7 bones.
Next, we had the Clam Chowder ($8) with Smoky Bacon & Tabasco Butter. Say what?! Did you just say Bacon AND Tabasco?! Talk about two great tastes that taste great together. Shit I’m gonna short out my Mac keyboard, I’m frothing at the mouth like a Basset Hound waiting for supper.
Whoa. I think this was marked as a ‘Heart Healthy’ choice. Dang guurrrlll, this is some rich chowda. Comes in a good-sized bowl, and is super-creamy. Almost a little too rich, with a few less clams than I’d like but still tasty. We polished it off like…well, like Bassets polish off bacon for supper.
Movin’ on, we then had the Vegetable Paella (OK for once, is it pronounced ‘Pie-ella’ like Gordon Ramsey says, or ‘Pie-ay-uh’ like the rest of the world? Hey Ramsey, quit trying to be a TV star and get back to focusing on your restaurants, fool! Anyhoo, the 
Vegetable Paella ($16) with Saffron Rice and Roasted Vegetables. I’m not a Paella bitch, like I am with Pizza and anything Mexican.
Hell, it tasted pretty good. But what I do know about Paella I learned from the Food Network. Or was it an episode of Top Chef? Yes, that’s it. That dude with the bad English got his ass booted off the island for a bad Paella. Why? ‘Cuz the rice was overdone and there was no ‘crispness’ that would have come from the bottom of the pan. Well, this rice was done just fine, it could have used a little crisp, sightly more spice and for $16 for a veggie dish, don’t bogart the veggies, Ironside! A couple more broccoli florets ain’t gonna kill your food budget for Chrissakes. Feel me?
Last and certainly not least, what’d we get? I said What Did We Get!? Yes, the Pizza. Very good. I panned the pie last time I was here, but we gave it another go. We ordered the Ironside Pizza ($9) which is basically a margherita (basil, tomato sauce and mozzarella) with additional toppings of Mushrooms, Onion, and…WTF? ‘Fresh’ Mozzarella at $3 a pop. But hold on. Extra $$ for ‘fresh’ ingredients? I call Shenanigans! What’s next: “So sir, with your Clam Chowder would you like ‘FRESH’ clams for only $5 more?” Hmm. Maybe a little word-smithing or something might help. And we asked for this puppy to be rolled THIN, BITCHES! OK I’ll stop shouting.
So did the pie deliver? Did it pick itself up off the ground, shake itself off and come strong after my previous smack-down? Simply put, yes it did. Shit, I wish I had my camera, because they did a nice job. Very thin crust, a little too much corn meal though (I know, I know I can never just give a straight compliment), with nice bubbling and crispiness. And the melange (yes, I said melange) of toppings was tight. I recommend this pie! OK here I go again, with that inability to just give an outright compliment: I recommend this pie if you are here. This place is not a Tony’s Pizza or Pizza Nostra that specialize in pies. But if you’re here get it. And do specify ‘thin’ or you may be disappointed.
We topped it all off with a carafe of Pinot Grigio, which pretty much went fine with all the random stuff we ordered. Somehow the tab came up to about $90 bucks, which if you have been keeping track doesn’t really make sense. To us it seemed like a $75 dollar meal, but I will quit whining. Hell, maybe we had two carafes of Pinot! Each individual dish was pretty solid this time around, and we polished off everything. The service was attentive and friendly (it was pretty dead last night), food came out quickly, and it was a comfy spot for a dinner on a rainy, stormy Satu
rday night. And yes nice catch – we did substitute stupid random graphics to cover up for the fact we forgot to take pix of the food.
Hours:
Coffee: Mon-Fri 8a-close
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11a-2:30p
Dinner: Mon-Sat 5:30p-10p
Ironside Restaurant
680A 2nd Street (@ Townsend)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(416) 896-1127
