Somebody celebrated a birthday this week!
And that somebody is D…
Happy Birthday Cupcake!
Kidding, I don’t really call him that.
We started the day with a run along Fort Mason and Crissey Field…
it was so pretty out.
Tuesday was a scorcher (aka 75º but that’s scorching in SF!) so we headed to the Ferry Building for lunch. The tourists were out in in full force, so we decided on Mijita because it was a little less packed and we were able to snag a great table out back in the shade… perfecto.
Honestly though, we weren’t overly impressed with the food there. I was expecting more, especially because it’s one of Traci des Jardins‘ restaurants. We ordered some chips with guacamole to start with, and I had the tacos de carnitas and D had the tacos de carne asada. Eh. The tortillas were soggy and the meat wasn’t that flavorful or tender. Tacolicious is sooooooo much better. Still, we had a lovely lunch hour outside in the sun.
My birthday plans for D involved dinner at Marlowe and then tickets to the Giants game afterwords. After we got off from work we hit up Anchor and Hope for a pre-dinner drink…
bubbles, baseball & beer = great combo!
We definitely want to go back and try it for dinner some time…
the menu looked great, even for non-fishy people like myself.
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay long as we had to book it to Marlowe to make our early-bird ressie on time. And when I say early-bird, I mean early-bird. We were the first people in there! I normally hate eating this early, but we had a game to catch later!
Here’s a close up of the quote window outside… pretty fun.
I told you we were early!
the fabulously yummy menu
Corner table = perk of being the first to arrive!
Since we were early, we decided to spread out the meal as much as possible.
To start, some crispy brussels sprouts chips as we perused the menu…
… paired with pink bubbly and a smokey grenache.
D decided on the spiced jumbo gulf shrimp,
served with a hot & boozy cocktail sauce.
I had one of the specials… beets with burrata, arugula, mint & dill.
I loved it, and the presentation was really pretty.
Okay, so here’s the deal. Marlowe is known for their burger. Known in the way that anyone who finds out that you are going there for dinner will tell you to order the burger. Known in the way that if anyone finds out after the fact that you have been there will ask if you ordered the burger. It was pretty much decided ahead of time that we would be trying the burger.
Marlowe burger caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, horseradish aioli & fries
Sounds innocent enough, right?
Fairly typical?
Your everyday, commonplace cheeseburger?
It was anything but. The different layers of flavor came through in every bite, with no one ingredient overpowering any other. Served medium rare, each patty comes with a smear of horseradish aoili, a melty slice of cheddar cheese, perfectly caramelized onions, and a thick slice of bacon. We both ordered one and were happily silent as we had those first couple of bites. I have to mention the fries too – delicious – perfectly crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, served piping hot. It is not often that meals will live up to so much hype, but Marlowe scored on all levels.
We couldn’t pass up dessert now, could we?
The birthday boy decided on the TCHO chocolate cream pie.
I was secretly hoping he would choose this one.
Earlier I had a little chat with the waitress to see if she could put a candle in whatever dessert he ended up choosing…
Yay candle! Everyone needs a candle on their birthday!
And yay for mason jars again!
This dessert rocked.
Sweet with a teensy bit of salt.
Creamy but with a fab cookie crust for crunch.
This was soon empty.
So, although our meal was a huge success, the game turned out to be a disappointment. We arrived as the Twins had scored their 8th run in the first inning, and the Giants never were able to recover. It was still a fun game though… the weather was great, we had a fantastic view of the field and the bay, and the crowd was having fun even though the Giants were never able to get it together.
Happy Birthday again D!
Love you! x
(His birthday was Tuesday btw, I’m just late on posting!)
