The Blue Plate "Mac and Cheese with Drunken Spanish Goat Cheese"

Yahoo often partners with Zagat or Travel sites to list the top 10 burgers, pizzas, ice creams, etc in the USA. Well my friend found a link for the 10 best Mac and Cheese in the USA. One of them, Beechers, I had already visited up in Seattle , however there was one in San Francisco at a formal restaurant called the Blue Plate listed that I decided to try out. It was tucked away in the mission district of SF.

The official review by Yahoo states: The ultimate mac and cheese for adults can be found in a cozy little restaurant on Valencia Street in the mission district; The Blue Plate's recipe is so revered among locals that it hasn't changed since 1999. The star ingredient is "Drunken" Goat cheese, cured in Spanish red wine for two months. To offset their cheese indulgence, patrons can pair the mac with a side of fresh local vegetables.

Ohhhhh boy

Review: Yahoo's opinion is spot on. This mac and cheese tasted like nothing I had ever had before. It was 100% completely different and totally unexpected. I was extremely pleased with the flavor, cheese, consistency, and even pasta.

Pasta: A standard elbow mac, cooked perfectly tender. The pasta itself was kept very subtle, to focus more on the taste of the cheese, which is a very smart move when you have such a unique flavor.

Cheese: The Goat cheese used was indeed cured in Spanish red wine for 2 months and showed. It had a rich consistency and a very subtle sweet flavor to it as well. It's very difficult to explain the taste of it, however when combined with the crusted Parmesan on top, it's hands down amazing.

7 minute test: I ate the entire dish with a friend and we didn't even bother waiting for the 7 minute test. Nor would you if you had this mac.

Advice: You wouldn't want this ordered any other way. One piece of advice I would give however is to not eat this on an empty stomach. The portion is small for $9 and the rest of the food there is good... but extremely expensive.. I'm talking about 30 dollar chicken. Unless you are a fine diner, I would eat somewhere beforehand and just go for the mac and wine.

Rating: 9.5, the best restaurant mac I have had so far.

Here is the original link, I am going to try and hit all 10 one day.: http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/america-s-best-mac-and-cheese-010004044.html