Live fire cooking half a block from the ocean is rare in a major American city. It’s a nightly affair at Angler. The Embarcadero Michelin star-holding restaurant, run by chef Joe Hou, is both a lunch destination and an outstanding option for dinner.
• As soon as you arrive, ask about the crab rice (or even call in advance for the $100 plate). The shelled-out crab arrives with its meat inside, covered in Angler’s XO sauce, and served with a side of koshihikari seaweed rice with Japanese black vinegar, sake-cured salmon roe, and crispy garlic chips. It’s a signature dish that earns that rep.
• Don’t miss the squab, deboned, and served with lime and a fermented fish sauce garum of alliums and coriander.
• For dessert, order the mini sundae and the chocolate bar. The former arrives half the size of the standard order, but still ladled with caramel and sea salt. The latter is a peanut brittle-based ingot of chocolate heaven. Together, they’re the ideal size for a pair to split.
Fancy and French; chefs repeat orders back to each other like an army on the far side of the restaurant. Big, bug-eyed fish and rams’ heads decorate the walls. It’s a swanky coastal temple, and it shows.
Like so many fine dining restaurants out there, a stool at the bar might be the best seat in the house. Come in right at 5 p.m. when the restaurant opens and get waited on by the expert bar staff. You’re almost as close to all that spitting flame as the chefs themselves.