Sotto Mare
| Cuisine | Seafood |
|---|---|
| Price | $$$ (31-50) |
| Rating | 7/10 |
| Last Visit | May 18, 2023 |
| Location | SFBA: San Francisco: North |
General Notes
Sotto Mare serves some of the best seafood I've had -- I was recommended the cioppino and the scallops and they definitely did not disappoint. It's super popular and well-known, but it's certainly not a tourist trap. Everything that I had was super flavorful and well-prepared. It has a decided old-school / retro vibe to it. It's definitely bustling inside and can be a bit loud. You should also expect to get pretty messy with the cioppino. All things considered, not a place to go to for like a first date, but I would definitely come here again to experience the seafood.
Positives
> They provide you with a bib to consume the cioppino, which is definitely a necessity -- consuming the crab and shellfish will probably get messy.
Negatives
> The bread itself leaves a bit to be desired. But it's not a huge deal, since for the most part you'll be using it to sop up all that beautiful soup in the cioppino anyways.
Dishes Tasted
- ★★★☆ Cioppino -- The soup is incredible -- it's so flavorful and you can really taste the seafood. It's so satisfying to consume with copious amounts of bread. The seafood itself is solid (the mussels / clams in particular were cooked really well), but not particularly noteworthy -- it was really the flavor of the soup that really carried everything. They're famous for this and for good reason -- it's very good.
- ★★★☆ Sea Scallop Saute -- The scallops are absolutely MASSIVE, which made them really satisfying to eat. They're cooked really well -- seared perfectly (which gave them an excellent flavor), perfect texture. The sauce also compliments it well; the only thing is that I wish the sauce were served on the side / on the bottom instead of over the top to preserve the texture of the sear.
Cioppino
