Tasty stuff across the bridge- Snacking in Sausalito

While I live in San Francisco, I work in Sausalito, a small town right across the bay. I get to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge every morning and through the Marin Headlands, so I think I may have one of the most beautiful work commutes in the world. Sausalito is an interesting place. It's only a 15 minute drive from San Francisco, yet it feels so different. The weather is always sunny and the temperature's about 10 degrees warmer. It's got a small town feel you would expect to find in a rural city. For example, the police do undercover sting operations to make sure vehicles are stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks.

There's a lot of good restaurants in Sausalito (see my previous reviews for Sushi Ran and Horizon's). This week I’ve experience two other eateries that should be added to the list of places to visit when you find yourself hungry in Sausalito. The first is Bar Bocce. This is a fairly new establishment right on the water off of Bayview. While the name automatically makes you think of bocce, there’s only one playing area. But there’s a large patio with wonderful views of the bay and the food is surprisingly avant garde for a “bar.” We started out sharing a couple of salads and an appetizer. I was excited for the shaved artichoke salad, with fennel, celery and pecorino. Sadly, the artichoke flavor wasn’t there at all. The salad seemed to be 80% fennel. The second salad was better thankfully. The wild arugula with balsamic and shaved parmesan was well-balanced and surprisingly flavorful. The appetizer we got actually could be considered another salad. We tried the heirloom tomatoes, topped with tarragon, pecorino and toasted pistachios, which were fresh and also flavorful. The toasted pistachios added a nice crunchy texture. They’re known for their pizzas, so we tried the margherita and the squash blossom with tomato and burrata cheese. Usually I’m not too wild about cheese but I have to say creamy burrata is quite delicious. It’s almost like sour cream without the sour. The margherita pizza was fine but nothing mind-blowing.

The other place I went is the much-raved about FISH. It may be cash only with picnic table style seating, but the prices are pretty expensive. Luckily the flavor and quality of food makes it worth the money. We started out with a large plate of oysters, which were phenomenal. It tasted like they had just been pulled out of the water, they were so fresh. We tried the ceviche, which had giants chunks of different types of fish and avocado. We also had the tuna tartare, which was served with potato chips. It sounds a little random but the saltiness of the chips with the fresh tuna and marinade was perfectly balanced. For my actual meal I had the crab roll. The sandwich was stuffed with crab and dripping with butter, so yes, it was amazing. If it’s a sunny day in Sausalito (which it is 90% of the time) and you’re looking to sit outside on the water and enjoy fresh seafood, this is the place to go. Just remember to bring cash and don’t get sticker shock from the prices.