This post is dedicated to White on Rice Couple who reminded me that I promised to review these restaurants soon. I'm so glad you liked my blog and I hope it comes in handy! :) Thanks for your comment!
We went back to Picante's the other day because we were in the mood for fish tacos. I should have tried the pork to see if it was any better than last time, but I just wanted a fish taco. It was really good with grilled Mahi Mahi, red & green cabbage, a slice of avocado, and salsa verde. They have the best salsa! I really do like Picante and I'm sure we will continue to go there.
We finally had a chance to try Bobby's Cafe in downtown San Rafael a couple of weeks ago. I was not very impressed with either the ambiance nor the food. The service was ok until our waiter disappeared for about 15 minutes at the end of the meal, making us wait way too long for our bill. We couldn't wait to get out. We ordered 2 items off of the "Specialties" section of their menu: Fish & Chips and a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. Both were just terrible. The fish was overly battered & greasy. The chicken was like a frozen chicken tender and the baguette it was served on was too hard to bite into. I wish Bobby and his crew all the luck, but we won't be returning any time soon. Maybe they serve up a good breakfast; I don't know.
Now Jason's, on the other hand, was delicious!! His old space was in an industrial area of San Rafael and did well there for a little over 3 years. Well, when Giorgio's moved out a few months back, Jason didn't waste any time moving in. And I have to say, maybe he should have. The decor was a little bit tired and I would have liked to seen at least some new, updated carpet. I have a few complaints regarding the service, but the food was actually pretty amazing.
We did not have a reservation, so we put our names in around 6:40 pm on a Saturday. We were quoted a wait of 40 minutes, then they said 45-60. Not a good sign especially since there were clearly several unoccupied tables. We decided to wait in the bar and have a cocktail. At about 7:30, we were offered a deuce that we saw at least 2 couples refuse (they did not appear to have a reservation, and I even asked one couple if they did, and they said no), so we of course refused. It was right in front of the kitchen and I wanted to be in the dining room or the patio. Well, at 8:00, I was quite upset. I was hungry and cranky. I told the hostess, who I think was Jason's mom, that we had been waiting well over an hour and we'd seen many people who came in after us being seated. Turns out the other, younger hostess was somehow under the impression that we were waiting for the patio. No idea how she thought that, but whatever. So, we finally get seated, waited at least 10 minutes before we were greeted by our waitress, Jennifer. I'm just going to leave it at this: the table service did not improve and was very, very slow. She didn't seem bombed, just not in a hurry, I guess.
We ordered the Dragon Prawns appetizer which was out of this world!!! Tempura prawns are drizzled with a wasabi aioli sauce, chili oil and tobiko on top of a cucumber salad. Yum! We also shared a delicious bleu cheese salad. Then for our entree's, my husband ordered and enjoyed the Seared Cajun Ahi Tuna, which was served with a mango salsa over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes, and these amazing crispy tempura fried green beans on the side! I ordered the Blackened Rib Eye Steak, which was cooked beyond the medium I asked for, but it was still delicious, and served sliced over a bed of jalapeno mashed potatoes that were to die for. We did not have room for dessert, but next time--and there will be a next time--I'm going to have the Bananas Foster.
Bottom line: Check out Picante, avoid Bobby's, but run as fast as you can to Jason's...but be sure to secure a reservation!!
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