Without a doubt, Nopa is one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco. Located near Alamo Square Park, this California cuisine restaurant is always fully booked so when I saw an available reservation on OpenTable I had to snatch it!
I’ve been wanting to try Nopa for quite some time now and I’m so glad that I finally got a reservation. The dinner menu has a lot of options so there’s definitely something for everyone.
Avocado Toast with Pickled Onions, Arugula, and Shaved Pantaleo Cheese (8.5/10).
We started off the meal with avocado toast, simple yet delicious. Luscious avocado piled high on warm crusty thick slices of earthy bread garnished with sharp pickled onions and pieces of shaved Pantaleo cheese. As a California girl, I’m pretty much obsessed with avocados and I’m definitely picky when it comes to them. When I was living in Italy, the only kind of avocados I could find were the large green kind with watery tasteless flesh. Coming back to California made me realize how fortunate we are to have accessibility to amazing produce especially hass avocados with creamy rich and flavorful flesh!
Flatbread with Bacon, Apricots, and White Cheddar Cheese (8.5/10).
Next, the flatbread was another winner which hit all the right flavors; salty bacon, sweet juicy apricots, peppery arugula, and white cheddar cheese.
Squab with Potatoes, Tzatziki, and Purslane (8/10).
Our first main course was the squab which was cooked to moist tender perfection. It was served with deep fried pieces of squab wings (yum), refreshing tzatziki sauce, and roasted potatoes.
Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù, Escarole, and Olives (7/10).
The last savory course, the lamb ragù pappardelle, was very flavorful but probably my least favorite out of the savory dishes. The ragù itself was extremely delicious and rich but some of the pappardelle noodles were stuck together making it difficult to eat.
Bomboloni with Cardamom Sugar and Coffee Anglaise (7.5/10).
Almond Pavlova with Roasted Fig Ice Cream, Fennel Seed, and Blackberry Curd (7/10).
Now both the desserts were tasty but weren’t as strong as the savory courses. The bomboloni (donuts) were pillowy and dusted in cardamom sugar and creamy coffee anglaise. The pavlova had too much meringue for my liking but all the accompanying components (blackberry curd and roasted fig ice cream) were scrumptious.
Nopa is the epitome of New American/Californian cuisine using fresh seasonal ingredients and taking inspiration from other culture’s cuisines. Nopa was a solid meal and portion sizes were a lot larger than most places I dine at in the city so my overall rating is a 7.5-8/10.