Ernest

General Notes

According to Google Maps, Ernest is a "hip option with an open kitchen preparing local & global dishes & desserts". The "global dishes" part is definitely true -- the menu resists classification and truly tries to present the best of everything. The prototypical New American restaurant, if you will.

Overall, I had a great experience here. Came here for a friend's birthday dinner. We reserved a private room on the second floor, which included a table for 14, and shared a whole bunch of items (like, 4 orders of 60% of items on the menu). To my knowledge, my friend signed a contract with the restaurant specifying duration, minimum purchases, beverages, etc. Nice vibes and great service.

The food was mostly excellent, although there were quite a few notable misses too. Overall, still great and worth a visit. You'll definitely try something new.

Dishes Tasted

• ★★★☆ Dungeness Crab Cake -- kani miso remoulade. Solid dish, the kani miso remoulade is incredible. The crab flavor permeates every component of the dish, which is excellent.
• ★☆☆☆ Koshihikari Fried Rice -- mortadella a l'orange. This dish was good but not particularly noteworthy. I wouldn't order this over fried rice dishes I've made myself.
• ★★★☆ A5 Wagyu Katsu Sando -- Obviously A5 katsu sando is going to taste good. The combination of bbq sauce worked quite nicely. For me A5 in a katsu sando is just ... a bit too much. Steak in a sandwich requires bread with more structural integrity and toast, which Japanese milk bread simply doesn't have.
• ★★★★ California Citrus -- stracciatella (a type of cheese), chicharron. Also served with chili oil (kind of like lao gan ma). The whole combination paired delightfully well.
• ★★☆☆ Chrysanthemum Salad -- sicilian XO, aged parmesan. Overall, I like the flavors in this dish. Each of the components are a bit too strong for my taste, but at least they balance each other out. Chrysanthemum leaves by themselves have a very ... unique flavor. Note that this is a pretty huge dish.
• ★★★★ Parker House Rolls -- This bread was truly incredible. Possibly some of the best straight bread + butter I've had. So fluffy
• ★★★☆ Sushi Rice -- ikura, raw beef, roasted nori. Intended to be eaten like hand rolls. Pretty solid -- it's hard for beef tartare + ikura to taste bad.
• ★★★★ Madai Sashimi -- chilled shabu shabu
• ★★☆☆ Mexican Shrimp Coctel -- Shrimp cocktail itself was solid, but saltines was not really the right accompaniment for this.
• ★★★★ Lobster Tostada -- can't find this on the menu anymore, but the sauce that this dish was served with was something else.
• ★★☆☆ Hog Island Oysters -- salsa marisquera
• ★★★☆ Ernest Soft Serve Sundae -- A delightful combination! The highlight was the crispy / crunchy bits (hazelnuts?) that provided textural contrast at the bottom. The pouring liquid chocolate over it was also cool.
• ★☆☆☆ Basque Cheesecake -- This had a weirdly sour taste that didn't sit well with me. Warning that it's served "medium rare" and is _very_ soft. A bit too soft for my taste.
• ★★☆☆ Dreamsicle Kakigori -- Honestly, I'm still not quite sure what this is. It's kind of like shaved ice, but with more hearty components in the middle. Some cream-based topping, fruit-based filling, etc. Pretty solid, but it pushes a little too one-dimensionally towards the tangy side and I'm not the biggest fan of shaved ice.