San Francisco Wrap Up: Brenda's French Soul Food, Zuni Cafe and Fleur de Lys

Brenda's French Soul Food

With no real agenda on our last day, MW and I trekked from our hotel through the Civic Center area of San Francisco to Brenda's French Soul Food. Albeit a bit skeptical about finding authentic Creole food on the west coast, this restaurant intrigued me after reading numerous positive reviews, but we ultimately decided to go due to our craving for some beignets. We arrived to no line and immediately grabbed two seats along the wall that sat adjacent to the kitchen. Service was fast and efficient throughout the meal, and as with any veteran waitstaff, our coffee cups were never empty.

Undecided on which beignets to choose, we naturally decided to split a Beignet Flight which consisted of one of each of the following: Plain, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Granny Smith Apple with Cinnamon Honey Butter and Crawfish with Cayenne, Scallion and Cheddar. Definitely not the best beignets I've had, but solid nonetheless, these thoroughly satisfied our beignet craving. The plain served as a control and was good, not too sweet but not as delicate as others. The crawfish came dusted in cayenne pepper but lacked any real crawfish. However, the granny smith apple was very good, reminiscent of the fried apple pies I enjoyed during youth, only better. But the favorite was the Ghirardelli chocolate-filled beignet that was sweet and rich.