B44 (San Francisco)

It's funny how sometimes the best things to eat are the simple things. I haven't been to this restaurant in a couple years, so I thought I'd stop in. B44 is a restaurant specializing in Spanish (Catalan) cuisine and is situated on Belden Place among several other western European places to eat. After my last visit, I'd recommend the Catalan toast and ox tails appetizer. From memory their paellas are quite good, but for us last night it was the basic appetizers that hit the spot. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera on me, so no pictures - just descriptions.

B44 (Google Maps)
44 Belden Place
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 986-6287
b44sf.com

Pa amb tomaquet - Catalan toast
Very similar to bruschetta - the Italian garlic, tomato, and basil on toasted bread dish. It's got everything I like about bruschetta but better - the toast was thin and crispy (but not hard) and still fluffy. There was a strong garlic flavor with refreshingly cool tomatoes (but not piles of it - it's amazing how much flavor they can get with just a little tomato when some Italian places pile it on and it tastes flavorless). The only possible complaint is there might be a little too much oil. Highly recommended dish.

ox tails
Tender but not the most tender ox tails I've ever had. The portion size was just enough to whet the appetite. Served with a great potato puree and wine sauce gravy. Recommended dish.

Fideuà - noodle paella with monkfish, squid and shrimp and served with a dollop of aioli
This dish had good flavor, fresh seafood taste, and al dente short cut capellini. Mixing the aioli in (as you are supposed to) really makes this dish pop. Unfortunately, the positive feelings don't last long and the dish gets a bit boring after a few more bites. Since we've never had a noodle paella before, this was interesting, but in the end we preferred the rice paellas we had last time.

confit of rabbit
Okay dish. I didn't find anything extraordinary about it and ended up enjoying the frisee and bread salad that it was served with more than the rabbit itself. I ended up getting bored eating it and took half the rabbit home.