Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc is my absolute favorite restaurant in the Bay Area. I can't think of any other restaurant that captures the spirit of Sunday Nite Dinner better than Ad Hoc. The food is rustic yet refined and served family style. The atmosphere is friendly, super casual and lacks any pretentiousness.

Ad Hoc offers a daily fixed-price ($45), four-course menu. There are no choices and only one menu is prepared each evening. The family style supper begins with a hearty soup or an extremely fresh salad, followed by a main course of seafood or meat. There's an interlude with an artisan cheese course. Then the meal is concluded with an amazing dessert.

Yesterday, Hungry Bear and I paid our fifth visit to Ad Hoc this year with our friends, Brennan and Deb. The menu was...

Haricots Verts and Potato Salad
Proscuitto di parma, walnut halves, shaved radishes,
sherry vinaigrette and fingerling potatoes

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Marinated Skirt Steak
Sautéed wild mushrooms, pea shoots and Texas 1015 onion rings

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Cowgirl Creamery Sally Jackson Goat Cheese
Marshall farm’s wildflower honey and toasted almonds

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Warm Chocolate Brownie
Whipped vanilla cream and caramel sauce

As always, the meal lived up to expectations. The green bean and potato salad was fresh and tasty with only a light dressing. The onion rings were nice and crunchy with a slight kick from the cayenne in the batter. The marinated skirt steak was perfectly cooked and melted in your mouth. I believe the highlight of the main course was the sautéed wild mushrooms (maitake, beech and oyster) with bacon lardons. If you go often, you'll notice the frequent use of applewood smoked bacon, and of course, everything is better with bacon!

The third course is always an artisan cheese course and we tend to under appreciate it, because we are excited about the upcoming dessert. Usually, I'm very full after the main course and want to save room for dessert, so the cheese gets a cursory taste. However, if you appreciate good cheese, you will love the cheese offerings at Ad Hoc.

Warm chocolate brownie with whipped cream and caramel sauce... it speaks for itself. Ok, I will say that it's the best chocolate dessert that I've ever had at any restaurant. The brownie is made with a bittersweet chocolate and there is a lovely, chewy outside and soft inside... spectacular!

After eating five amazing meals at Ad Hoc, I'll share some key insights about Ad Hoc.

• Limit your bread intake - the bread from Bouchon Bakery is fantastic, but the portions are very generous, and you need to save room for dessert.
• Ask for seconds - even with the generous portions, you can always ask for seconds if you particularly enjoy an item, side dish or dessert.
• Ask questions - the staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about ingredients, cooking techniques and wine, so ask away and you'll learn about sous vide cooking and plate cut short ribs.
• Signature dishes - the braised short ribs are to die for. The buttermilk fried chicken is served every other Monday. The panna cotta and Basque cake are popular desserts with the staff. A smaller version of the chocolate brownies, called bouchons, can be purchased down the street at its namesake bakery.
• Sit at the bar - can't get a reservation? Just go early and grab a bar seat. You can also order a la carte at the bar if you aren't hungry enough for a four-course meal.
• Daily Menu - the menu can be heard by calling (707) 944-2487 or by visiting Ad Hoc's daily menu. Although with the increased popularity, it is very difficult to reserve a table the same day.
• Special requests - despite the single menu each day, dietary restrictions are accommodated.

I cannot rave enough about Ad Hoc. We actually prefer going to Ad Hoc over The French Laundry. For the price, we can dine at Ad Hoc FIVE times to every French Laundry meal. Plus, we love the casual, laid-back atmosphere at Ad Hoc. And nothing beats sharing a family style meal with good friends!

Location & Hours:
Ad Hoc
6476 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2487
Hours: Dinner Sunday through Saturday 
Update 08.30.2007: Starting Sept. 18th, Ad Hoc will be open seven days a week.
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Update 2.29.2008: Since this post, we have gone to Ad Hoc three more times and loved each meal. Here's another slideshow of the dishes we enjoyed recently. The pictures are taken at night with a flash, which I dread doing. Nevertheless, they turned out okay and the dishes still make my mouth water!

Muguboka Korean BBQ restaurant is in my hood (the Inner Richmond) and I've walked by it many times without trying it out. Last week, Jane, Hungry Bear and I finally went in and had a late lunch there.

When we entered the restaurant, the first thing we noticed was the absence of wood charcoal pits. Korean BBQ tastes better when prepared on charcoal but you also end up smelling like it when you leave. Muguboka is a small, low-key place with about ten tables. Most patrons had their food prepared in the kitchen but I did see a group of people grilling with portable gas burners at their table.

Anytime we try a new Korean BBQ place, we always have to get...

• Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap
• Bul Go Gi
• Kalbi
• Jap Chae

to compare and contrast the quality of the food. The lunch prices were reasonable at $8 - $9 per dish. Jane and I got the lunch specials that came with rice and a bowl of spicy tofu soup, which cost an additional $2.

Although it was hard to understand our waitress, she was very friendly and the service was very good. Our food came out promptly after we ordered and we quickly had feast of Korean food and banchan (side dishes) in front of us. We were also presented with a complimentary hae mul pa jun (seafood pancake).

We had seven banchans of kimchi, tofu kimchi, bean sprouts, radish kimchi, broccoli, salted anchovies and pickled seaweed. The banchans were adequate but fewer in number than at other Korean places. The only side dish that stood out was the pickled seaweed, which we had never had before and was good.

The dol sot bi bim bap was just ok. It wasn't very flavorful and didn't have enough meat or vegetables on top. The bul go gi was overcooked, dry and was insufficiently marinated. The seafood pancake suffered from the same lack of flavor issue, but it was complimentary... so no complaints.

We did enjoy the kalbi, spicy tofu soup and jap chae. Each dish was tasty and well seasoned. The spicy tofu soup and jap chae were definitely the best two items we had. The total bill was reasonable and came out to $18 per person including tax and tip.

Overall, Muguboka is not as good as our favorite Korean place in the Bay Area, Koryo in Oakland. It's also a step down from Brother's, another Korean BBQ restaurant in the Inner Richmond. However, given the close proximity, friendly service (which I found to be rare), reasonable prices and the smoke-free environment, we will definitely go back.

There are a lot of times when we want Korean food but pass, because we don't want to smell like Korean food afterwards. Muguboka offers a friendly, low-key setting for decent Korean food and the ability to walk out smelling like the way you walked in.

Location & Hours:
401 Balboa St (at 5th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-6007
Monday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sunday 4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
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If Korean food is foreign to you, check out this Korean food primer.