On Christmas night, after spending the day seeing a movie at the Castro, wandering that neighborhood, then making our way up to the painted ladies and then strolling through the Civic Center area, we found ourselves at our evening destination: The Stinking Rose. Mike and I LOVE garlic… and I mean LOVE. We roast heads and eat the whole thing and add at least twice as much garlic as is called for in any recipe. So what better than an entire restaurant themed around garlic?
We started with a pot of roasted garlic. It was a LOT of garlic but, surprisingly, not really garlicky. It was wholly disappointing compared to the ones we roast up in our oven (cut the top of the head off to expose the cloves, brush with olive oil, wrap in tin foil, put in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, scoop or squeeze out the cloves… you’ll thank me).
We ordered drinks and I know Mike got his new favorite, Anchor Steam beer. I went with the blueberry margarita. It was okay, but I wanted more blueberry!
For my entree, I chose the garlic prime rib. What could possibly be bad? Weeeellll… it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. It was just… bland. How can THAT much garlic be BLAND?
Mike got the Porterhouse Pork Chop, pan-roasted with sweet garlic relish and caramelized apples… and well… the apples were good.
We decided we would go for broke and try the garlic ice cream. Why not? This was actually the BEST part of the meal (by far). The sweet garlic was flavorful without being overpowering and the caramel sauce on top just added the right kick to it. We really enjoyed this… and only this.
Without getting too personal, I must confess that the aftermath of so much garlic (regardless of how weak it tasted) was NOT pretty. I think both Mike and I were thankful we weren’t a new couple!
Overall, The Stinking Rose was completely boring. My theory is they rely too much on their gimmick to worry about fresh and well cooked ingredients. It has so much potential and it just fell entirely short. It was fun though!
Total Nom Points: 4 out of 10
