Serpentine Love

To celebrate Wil's birthday and the end of CNY, we went to Serpentine, a new restaurant in the Dogpatch by the people behind Slow Club. Wow, I may have another new favourite restaurant. Althought the food was not as spectacular as SPQR, the location and space was far more to my liking. Industrial and slightly alternative.
The four of us shared a bottle wonderful, reasonably priced Morgon (the wine list was very well-priced and selected) as well as the following appetizers:

Chantenay Carrot Soupfried sage - black truffle oil $6.50
Crispy Hama Hama Oysters -south carolina style hush puppies - smoked pimenton aioli - meyer lemon$10.50
Savory Bread Puddingnettles - roasted onions - swiss$6.50

The appetizers were all amazing. The carrot soup was smooth and creamy without being too dairy dependent. You could really taste the freshness of the carrots.
The oysters were perfectly breaded and fried with a touch of spiciness and the hush puppies were as Southern as one can get in these parts.
The bread pudding was divine. Full of umami and rich as hell. We coudl barely finish a serving between four. We were amazed at a woman sitiing near us who ate the whole thing on her own. Chalk that up to American glutoony, but that's another debate...

Chris had for his entree the Prather Ranch Hamburgeracme roll - arugula - pickled onions$11.50add gruyere or buttermilk blue$1.50. He said it was just as good as the Slow Club version.

Jenny had the Liberty Duck Breast grilled sunchokes & roasted purple carrots - arugula - blood oranges$22.50. Huge pieces of duck breast with tender meat. She wished that the duck fat had been rendered out a bit more by the skin for crispiness.

Wil had the Anderson Ranch Grilled Lamb T-Bone french green lentils - roasted white turnips - baby red dandelion greens - nicoise olives - anchoaide$24.50 which we shared. Great piece of lamb. I never had lamb T-bone before. The lentils wer a bit salty for me.

I had the beef cheeks (no menu description) that I also shared with Wil. Rich and falling apart tender. I still ike the Coco 500 one better.... but this one was no loser.

The cocktails were expertly made and all the prices were low enough to make coming back easy and desired. We also adored the low key yet attentive service.