Restaurant review: Grand Lake Kitchen, East Bay gem, comes to San Francisco

Grand Lake Kitchen made her entrance into Noe Valley just four months ago via Lake Merritt and the Dimond District in the East Bay. 

The refurbished space in Noe — formerly Mr. Digby’s Bar and, before that, Noe’s Cantina — is a clean, well-lighted place, if you will (with apologies to Mr. Hemingway), albeit one with hanging plants, copper lamps, and a TV screen in the corner. 

We were greeted enthusiastically at the door by our hostess. The place was bustling, and everyone seemed in high spirits; it felt like a party from the moment we walked in.  

We started out sharing the smoked trout toast from the nosh section of the menu.

Smoked local trout, with a lovely horseradish tonnato and smoked trout roe. Loved the smokiness and the kick of the horseradish, like a little fête in your mouth!

Next, caviar pie, another nosh.

A “tower” (in truth, more of a “disk”) of chopped hard-boiled eggs, creme fraiche, cream cheese and chives, comes topped with American caviar to be froufrou, and buttery Ritz crackers to bring you back down to Earth. It’s a classic combination that works.

We also shared the steamed clams.

Plump, firm little bivalves came in a pleasantly winey, garlicky broth, which went great with the frites and aioli we just had to have.

For our main, we split the spiced chickpea stew:

This dish is one of a few vegan offerings on the menu. Chock-full of kale, carrots, tomatoes, onions and harissa, and I really appreciated the bitter greens on top. Still, this may have been my least favorite dish of the night. Nourishing, but not very exciting.

Even though we were quite full by then, we succumbed to the siren song of mini cinnamon donuts.

Very nice! Though I did feel they might have benefited from a little crème Anglaise dipping sauce to gild the lily.

There’s so much more to try: Burgers, salmon, and a bone-in pork chop that is already calling my name (note to self: bring carnivore friend next time). And on the vegetarian side of things, besides the aforementioned chickpeas, there’s eggplant Parmesan, spaghetti burrata, vegan sandwiches, and all kinds of veggie sides. 

There’s brunch, too: Savory french toast! Breakfast salad! Pastrami Bennie! I foresee lines around the block on a Sunday morn. And prices weren’t crazy, with no main dish over $36.

Grand Lake Kitchen sports a full bar of classic and house cocktails, boozy slushies, a tidy little wine list, draft and canned beer, as well as N/A offerings.

Neighborhoods need new blood every once in a while. What a grand addition to Noe Valley — and for the rest of us, too. 

Grand Lake Kitchen Noe Valley
1199 Church St.
San Francisco