San Antonio

(From March 2012)

With a witty, extensive, and generally spot-on seafood menu, restaurateurs from Monterrey and Mazatlán have brought Mexico’s west coast to the north side of San Antonio. After you grab a seat at a sidewalk-cafe table or the sleek bar, explore the raw side of the menu (oysters on the half shell, a sea scallop aguachile) or sample street-style antojitos (like tiny tacos of achiote fish or battered shrimp with cabbage and tomato). Then get serious with one of chef Jesús Vargas’s innumerable seafood specialties, from coconut shrimp to a whole octopus marinated in soy and chipotle. Bar.

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(From February 2012)

The Fig Tree, with its jewel box setting, is not quite the special-occasions-only outing it once was. But the ambience, service, and cuisine are every bit as delightful. Chef Byron Bergeron designs a seasonal menu with the best of them, featuring such treasures as fall-off-the-bone braised lamb over polenta and wild grilled Tasmanian salmon with a spicy couscous. Even the appetizers find a balance between flashy and classic; the wedge salad here is tender Bibb lettuce with Roquefort and lardons. Bar.

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(From June 2011) Formerly known as Pesca, and little changed from those days, upscale Ostra offers classy seafood dishes to River Walk strollers. Though a bit pricy (lobster tacos for $25, oysters $3 a pop), the kitchen justifies it by turning out exemplary dishes. We have been impressed with remarkable vodka-cured salmon with pickles, a strangely captivating watermelon gazpacho, branzino with browned green onions and a huge sprig of fennel, and exquisite grilled scallops accompanied by a salad spilling out of half a coco-nut. In short, Ostra takes seafood about as far as one will find it in San Antonio, much to the pleasure of those who try it. For good measure, the menu also includes several steaks for the confirmed carnivore. Bar.

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(From May 2012)

While chef Andrew Weissman’s restaurants have always served extraordinary seafood, here there is almost nothing but: the menu is loaded with fish both cooked and raw, robust and subtle. (And yes, there is—horrors!—the occasional beef dish.) We started with a raw scallop graced with a tart, luscious yuzu-and-ginger sauce, a mini masterpiece, and an onion tart (apparently the very recipe served for years at Weissman’s late, lamented contemporary French venture Le Rêve). We then enjoyed skate wing with curry, lime, and coconut and succulent off-the-menu broiled swordfish. The blue and white interior combines informality with an upscale smartness and knowing service to create an ambience suitable for any occasion. Beer & wine.

Saturday, April 10th, 2010, 7:49 pm
Francis says:
Mixed messages: The look and ambience (try butcher paper table covers) are mid-level, but the style of food and prices are high end. Two appetizers, one entree, one dessert and three glasses of wine added up to $100 for two (not including tip). We started with an onion tart (superb) and a salt cod brandade (salty and heavy, but good cod flavor). The entree was fluke wrapped around a shrimp mash- tasty, nicely sauced, but the fluke was dry and so could have used more sauce. Wine by the glass selection was good, but the pour was far from generous. Dessert was a blueberry-strawberry cobbler - truly excellent. Service was OK.

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(From February 2011) A quick perusal of the menu shows a restaurant that takes seafood seriously. Four varieties of oysters, hapuka (a relative of grouper from the waters of New Zealand), and a plethora of other fish and shellfish fill the menu. Malpeque oysters, briny and crisp, started us well, as did a thin but flavorful crab cake with a minimum of breading. The hapuka turned out to be a robustly flavored white fish served on a mélange of white beans, onions, and peppers. An equally unusual (and tasty) dish was the browned scallops with couscous and grapefruit. The dignified space, once Reggiano’s, had an amiable buzz of conversation. Bar.

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(From January 2012)

From the towering offerings of the cold bar to the fun fare for the glittery happy hour crowd, there’s clearly adventure to be had at this vast oceanic outpost. And the drama is scarcely superficial: the seafood and shellfish are consistently good, often remarkable. Crisp gingered calamari on a bed of crunchy rice noodles played like a party, intensely spicy and loud. Thin filets of red snapper came crisp on the outside, flavorful throughout, and topped with sweet morsels of crab.

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