Jason F.
Yelp
Located in San Mateo, All Spice provides quality Indian-inspired French Californian cuisine. After the meal that I experienced with a friend I could see why they were celebrated with a prestigious Michelin star. I have wanted to come to All Spice for years now, especially since they received their much ballyhooed stars, I can honestly say that after the meal and service that I experienced with a friend, All Spice should be given serious consideration to receive that Michelin star once again. Much praise goes to husband-and-wife team Sachin Chopra and Shoshana Wolff who founded All Spice in 2010 when they discovered and transformed a former gatehouse for a huge country estate that once existed behind their current home. After a lot of sweat equity was put into their home, they turned this first level of one time very old home into a restaurant with a beautiful bright interior with three separate dining areas. Reservations via the All Spice website were super easy to make via the Tock website and the fact that you did not have to leave a credit card number, which was nice. They do say they have outdoor dining, but we couldn't find any al fresco dining, and when we arrived at 6 p.m. we were the only diners inside their dining room, and it was like that for quite some time.
All Spice is known for their multicourse prefix menu, in which diners can select three, four or five courses for 75, 95 or 105 dollars respectively. Many of their courses tended to be vegetarian and seafood focused, with a handful of meat courses that they do have, they charge with supplemental pricing. For my first course, I opted for their Seared Scallop which was served with sourdough crisps, pickled winter crucifiers, romanesco fonduta and a mustard-yuzu yogurt, which was sold for an additional 5 dollars. For her first course my friend ordered their Butter Bean Croquette, which was a warm chickpea mash served with cardamom and coconut milk, endive, jicama, carrot and peanut dressing. For my main course, I ordered their Mishima Reserve New York strip steak served with black trumpet potatoes, mushroom jam, mushroom chips, and winter pickles which was sold for an additional 7 dollar supplement. For her main course, my friend ordered their Pan Seared Salmon which was served with a crispy sunchoke, a crab ginger salad, broccoli-chive cala, creamed corn, and yuzu-dill beurre blanc. For our dessert course, I ordered their Warm apple-walnut cake, as it was served with honey meringue, rum caramel and butter brown raisins. My friend opted to order their Yuzu-white chocolate ganache which was served with roasted and pickled pineapple, blueberry compote and brioche croutons.
Our meal began with an amuse bouche that was a small almond croquette and this was served with their Housemade Bread served with a side of cultured butter on a bed of berry compote topped with fresh herbs and lemon zest. We loved every bite of this starter, and it only made us anticipate the remainder of our meal. When my seared scallop was presented at our table, it was as if it was a piece of beautiful artwork with all of the colors and ingredients beautifully composed so much that I didn't want to touch it as if I would ruin my plate's beauty. But once I did, I was so glad, as every bite came alive with such freshness and delightful prose. We then were presented with our entrées, and I loved my strip steak as our meat was prepared sous vide style whereas each piece of meat was evenly cooked medium rare and when combined with the mushrooms and potatoes and when paired with a carafe of "Shoshana's Blend" from Wolff & Father Wines, we were in culinary joy. The good news is my friend also loved both her croquette appetizer and salmon entrée. She too was quite famished once our firs two courses were completed. Which only prepared us for our desert course, and I cannot describe how enriching my apple-walnut cake was, as it wasn't too overly sweet but filled with an abundance of ingredients that I simply could not get enough. But thankfully we weren't done, as the staff presented us with two small bites of chocolate cake to finish our meal on just the right note.
When all was said and done, we had a wonderful time at All Spice and when we split our final bill, it was about 105 dollars per person before tip, which wasn't too bad considering the amount and quality of our multiple courses, the stand out service, and overall experience of dining in the homey restaurant that represents the time and energy of its ownership. They recently announced that their lease renewal for All Spice will last two more years at this location, as the food at All Spice can be best described as a mixture of flavors that are acting as best friends just hanging out together on a plate, and here's to hoping that they find a permanent future home in San Mateo, where more people can experience a meal that I will remember for quite some time.
