Al's Place - San Andreas

Interesting, inventive menu with great flavors! Started with the pickled fries and ended with the blueberry and sesame dessert. Fast and attentive service, interesting model we had 3 5 different people come to our table to take order, leave orders, and check on us. One negative is the staff wouldn’t switch us to an indoor table despite it being open for the duration of our meal?. Surprisingly affordable we a starter, 4 of the “mains”, and with a glass of wine and dessert were out the door for $112 tip. Worth the slight wait (they were still first come first serve even with a reservations? for the creative dishes. Tried to order focaccia but the day’s batch didn’t turn out, at least you know it’s made fresh! Be warned the food is rich!

Overall was solid, although I do question a bit Michelin star status for some of the one stars I 've had of late! I feel like there 's two camps for 1 star contenders the solid staples, and places with creative flair. I 'd definitely put this in the later category if you arrive expecting to eat normal things, then you might be disappointed. But if you 're looking for something a little unconventional, then this is fun. I honestly didn 't enjoy every dish, which was a bit of what I expected going in. Highlights were probably the chawanmushi, amberjack, salad, and green curry. The amberjack and salad were in the more conventional camp, but well done nonetheless (although I really didn 't love that for the salad we were told to use our hands we were dining outdoors so had to venture in to wash our hands again...otherwise it strikes me as pretty unsanitary. The chawanmushi was strangely delicious it was made with fava beans so quite different from the traditional egg based prep, but nailed the umami and custard texture. The strawberries in the green curry were a great touch of lightness and acidity, and the curry itself was resoundingly good.The French fries and dessert were a bit lackluster and I could have done without.

I had my expectations very high and left underwhelmed. I visited with a friend and we went for the family style, which was a 10-course selected by the chef. Almost all the dishes were some form of a salad. The ingredients on their own were all exceptional, but the dishes left me disappointed. Our course started with a couple snacks. One of them was their brine pickled fries paired with a smoked apple sauce. It was good taste-wise, but the fries had a strange almost chewy texture that I found to be off-putting. The spiced almonds were very addicting and had a flavor reminiscent of Indian cuisine. The salad with herbed avocado and pistachio crumble tasted great. However, I think it was arranged terribly. The lettuce should have been chopped more. I had to either cut pieces of it myself or unhinge my jaw to eat it. Having the avocado sauce at the very bottom of the plate beneath everything made it annoying to use. The dish with hamachi was interesting. I 'm not sure if I like it or hate it. The spicy strawberry 's in it were delicious though. My favorite dish would be the one with tomatoes and burrata. I loved the contrasting textures and the variety of flavors. Great dish. We were served an awful duck breast. It may have been undercooked as it was very chewy. Duck is one of my favorite proteins, and this may be one of the worse duck dishes I 've had from any restaurant. The berry sauce it was paired with worked well with the duck at least. For drinks, I ordered a cocktail. It was called Puck, and was good but not great. I 've had a better cocktail in a hipster hotel bar... I was hoping it would make better use of the natural ingredients they source, but it was underwhelming. I decided against ordering another cocktail as I did not want to be disappointed again. The service was very good and I don 't regret trying this place. However, it is my least favorite out of all the Michelin-starred restaurants I have tried. I honestly question if this place is deserving of one.

Very excited to try this place but left disappointed in the food. We did the prefix menu. Each dish doesn't really have a name so I'll name it by the most prominent ingredient. Snackles Pickle brine fries (not pictured): These we're interesting. I see what they're trying to do but the outcome is an extremely chewy french fries. The inside doesn't really resemble a potato anymore. The smoked apple sauce was good and resembled a smokier honey mustard sauce. 2.5/5 Vegan Cilantro Chicharron: This was... weird. It doesn't resemble the chicharron that well and calling it a vegan chicharron is a little insulting to a chicharron. It was more similar in flavor and texture to fried rice paper chips. The kimchi mayo sauce saved this one. 2/5 Nuts (not pictured): We got these nuts that resembled candied nuts. Very average; not good or bad. 3/5 Egg Custard (not pictured): This was the best out of the snackles. The egg custard was pretty savory and had a delicate texture. It wasn't airy and the tomatoes paired really well with each bite. 4.5/5 Cucumber: The peanut sauce wasn't bad but overall didn't enjoy the texture of the dish. It was reminiscent of a vietnamese spring roll but not in a good way. It didn't make me nostalgic of the spring roll but made me prefer the spring roll. 1/5 Appetizers Salad with Herbed Avocado: This was beautiful to look at. Presentation was on point. However eating it was kind of a mess. The lettuce is broken into small heads so that you can eat with your hands but each head is quite big and it is a little difficult to consume. The dressing was very light and the herbed avocado sauce at the bottom was mildly aromatic, although I think more was needed considering the head of the lettuce. The pistachio crumble added texture and crunch to the salad which was great. 4/5 Hamachi: Was excited for this dish and disappointed after getting it. The hamachi itself is very fresh. However, the anchovy vinaigrette is overly salty and makes the hamachi saltier than it should be. I think this was done intentionally with the other ingredients but was way too salty. The potatoes were a little overkill considering the nature of the dish but the spicy strawberries were delightfully sweet, tart and had a kick. 3/5 Burrata and Eggplant/Tomatoes: This one wasn't bad but I think they were overkill with this dish again. I think the string beans were unnecessary bc they didn't really add anything to the dish. The tomatoes I think could have been roasted but there were too many raw veggies in this prefix. The eggplant was good and the crispy shallots on top added a nice crunch. 4/5 Entrees Duck Breast: This could have been the saving dish but sadly also a disappointment. The duck was undercooked and way too chewy and tough. 3/5 Pasta w/ Lamb Bacon: This one was a nice refreshing pasta but it contrasted too much with the lamb bacon. Minty but salty from the bacon. The bacon also was more fatty bacon than bacon with actual meat on it. 2/5 Dessert Brownie: Standard brownie and tasted like a reese's puff. 3/5 Overall disappointed. Wouldn't come back but would recommend if you're interested in veggies as they are veggie forward with their dishes.

$83 for a family style dinner with $54 pairing and then a surcharge on the 35-day dry aged grilled ribeye is what I paid for this dinner for two. Al 's Place is a highly recommended restaurant by locals and while the restaurant has a simplistic decor, it has an open kitchen. The service was good and the waiting staffs could not be friendlier, except the rush towards the end of the dinner. The food is what I think will be called New American with a heavy Asian influence especially on the snacks course in the beginning. Some of the dishes seemed a bit odd but I enjoyed the brine pickled french fries with smoked apples sauce, fava 'd mushroom broth chawanmushi (Japanese style steamed egg), Raw Hamachi starter, and the 35-day dry aged ribeye with grilled peach, genmaicha and burnt tamari. The wine pairing is good and the staffs are very accommodating to our tastes. However I am still not convinced of the hype and the Michelin star. I actually think I will give it a higher rating without all these additional expectations. It 's a nice dinner but not sure if it is a $300+ dinner with two.