Zare at Fly Trap Review

We were served decent French-influenced Persian food at Zare at Fly Trap. Although the starters were disappointing, the mains were cooked well. Nevertheless, though everything felt competent, nothing felt inspired.

Our appetizers:

• Sourdough bread and lavash bread accompanied by a feta spread and a black olive spread.  The feta spread was really a paste / a spread, not crumbled feta.  Neither spreads were that good.
• Braised eggplant accompanied by deep-fried breaded onions.  The eggplant was in a strange partially-mashed state.  We ate it straight or put it on bread.
• Mushroom cake.  Interesting and decent.  It looked like a crab cake.
• “Ménage a Foie”, or, precisely, three livers presented in different ways on breads: foie gras and huckleberries, sheep's liver and pickled jalapeno and roasted tomatoes, and chicken's liver and onion marmalade and balsamic vinegar.  None were too exciting.  People liked the foie gras better than the others, saying that the sheep's liver was the worst of the three but that nothing was too great.  I found I was more interested in the brioches the items came on, especially the one infused with balsamic vinegar.

Our entrees:

• "Grilled moroccan-style salmon."  Good.  Cooked well (not over-cooked).  I didn't appreciate the two sauces, one mint, one something like tartar sauce, that we were instructed to mix together and put on the salmon. The salmon was served on a bed of couscous mixed with tiny diced vegetables; S in particular called this out as notably good.
• "Lamb shank abgusht."  Good.  Also cooked well: soft and easy split with a fork.  Served with black-eyed beans and fingerling potatoes and green beans, all sitting in the lamb's broth.  However, though I didn't like the pickled vegetables (torshi) we were suggested to mix with the sauce, Oj did.

Our desserts:

• Goat's milk yogurt with honey, accompanied by biscuit crackers.  This was pleasing, but nothing one can't make at home if you buy goat's milk yogurt and honey.
• Banana torte.  This was nothing like we expected; it looked like a layered cake made from hard thin pastry dough layered with banana and chocolate and topped with tiny marshmallow-shaped meringue drops.  Eh. Also, the caramelized bananas served on the side tasted burnt to me.

Good service.

The total was $32/person including tax and tip.  We didn't order drinks.

Original Announcement

Tonight, Ojan will guide us to one of his SOMA neighborhood restaurants: Zare at Fly Trap.  It serves Mediterranean (including French) food with a Persian influence.
http://www.zareflytrap.com

[Note: Oj says the restaurant is Persian as reinterpreted by a French-trained chef.]

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