Zare at Fly Trap Visited 9/9/2011 4 Forks

Zare at Fly Trap 606 Folsom St., (between 2nd St & Hawthorne St), San Francisco, CA 94107

This was one of the first times I've traveled and didn't have a long running list of restaurants to try.  Luckily, I was hanging out with my friend Neera and her co-workers and a lot of them were food lovers too.  I was felt like I was in good hands when it was time to go to dinner after happy hour.

We chose Zare at Fly Trap was because it was within walking distance, could accommodate 8 people at the last minute on a Friday night and their Pistachio Meatball was on the 7x7 Must Eats.  We were all quickly seated at a tall communal bar table, which made it hard to talk to everyone but that would have happened in my big table seating.  The menu is focused on Mediterranean/Middle East food and everything sounded amazing.  There was lots and lots of lamb on the menu and it was hard to decide what to get.  If I was with more people I knew and was in a more intimate setting, I would have suggested more dishes to split (such as the salads and bone marrow appetizer).  Instead, I got the lamb burger ($14) for myself and we split the meatballs for the table ($12).

We had heard that the meatballs were famous because they were supposed to be gigantic.  But these were normal to on the small size, so we were a bit confused.  It turns out they only offer the giant meatball on certain nights, oh well.  The meatballs were delicious and had a nice honey glaze on top of the meat but I don't know if I would say that it would belong on a Must Eats list.  Most people at the table got the lamb burger or the lamb entree so I guess lamb is the way to go here.  The burger was simply addictive.  It had a lot of different Middle Eastern/Moroccan flavors and was very juicy.  The bun was a soft brioche and went well with the burger.  The fries were equally great tasting, it was on the thinner/crisper variety, not the thick cut fries.  The salad that came with the burger was actually just ok...it came with tomato and feta but also with parsley which I don't like.  While I was eating the burger I was in heaven and I really did enjoy my meal. The one thing to note is that the smell and juices of the burger are really long lasting on your hands and breath.  I brushed my teeth and washed my hands big time when I got home but I woke up at 2AM with this overwhelming taste and smell of lamb on me.  The total bill including drinks, dessert, and tip was $50/pp  

Photo Credit: Yelp