I had one of the great meals of my life last night at Pescadou Bistro. They put on a holiday prix fixe, and mom and I went to the early seating, which was cheaper and also got us home before the… stuff started down on the peninsula.
Three courses, choice in each. I had the quail and foie gras over baby lettuce, with pears. Entree choice was filet mignon with peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes, and endive. Dessert was a warm chocolate cake with creme fraiche. The other options were a first course of lobster bisque, a second of seabass or venison, and a third of an apple/camembert tart.
Pescadou is serious French food, which doesn’t mean stuffy or expensive or pretentious, but it does mean attention to detail and tradition. It also means reasonable portion sizes, unlike the U.S. tradition in celebratory meals of forcing an entire farm down your throat.
Everything was made… just… perfectly. The owner and staff are friends after years of going there. It’s more like showing up to someone’s house in a medium sized southern French town for dinner than it is like a restaurant. It’s nothing like any other restaurant around here, that’s for sure.
The three course prix fixe was $52. With tax and tip and two glasses of wine for mom and some fizzy water for me, $80/person. That’s about as expensive as a meal can get there. The usual dinner prix fixe is $25.
Please don’t change, Pescadou.
Be My Blog 
How fun, I’d really like to try it. Where abouts is it?
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Durrrr, I could always be more proactive and click the link. Duh.
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wow, parallel lives… johan and i had the prix fixe at french 75. i opted for oysters, the most incredible fliet mignon with a wine reduction, and the pot de creme. johan had the lobster bisque, new york prime with roquefort brulee, and apple tart with cinnamon ice cream and caramel. and a kir royal to start of course! god, i die over french food! i’m glad you had a lovely new years dinner. lets get together soon!
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What a way to start the year. That’s terrific.
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Happy new year, C. That meal sounds great. Can we go there if/when I visit?
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Ok, so when are we going? I’d like to go for my birthday perhaps in February? Lets start saving now…
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The local bistro in my neighborhood, Chou Chou, sounds similar. The management is going through a bit of trial at the moment— the owner’s wife just had twins, but otherwise, we’ve been happy for years with the place. The pastries are still excellent, and the new chef has finally managed to undo the damage done when the opening chef left for New Mexico. If you come to San Francisco, you could do a lot worse than Chou Chou. We’ll be sure to check out Pescadou next time we have reason to be in Newport Beach.
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Ah! I should’ve made myself Steak au poivre last night instead of buying grade-z supermarket chinese food. I love French food; I’m glad to hear you’ve found a good Bistro, wish we had one.
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Foie gras, Yum! I would like to try!
-k
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i’m so going there. as much as i love the hobbit, which is right down the street, i can’t go there as often as i would like, or my bank begins to call me ugly names. đŸ˜‰ so a lower-priced option i could go to more frequently sounds divine. i shall go check out the link now.
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