Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Cafe - San Francisco, Bay Area

My knowledge of caviar was only limited to what I had read in Wikipedia and that super salty lumpfish caviar (made by Abba Seafood) from IKEA. And now comes the time I get to taste 9 different types of caviars.

We ordered American Caviar Sampler, Brut Champagne & Caviar Flight, and 10-gram of Select California Estate Osetra (the premium caviar). The caviars are served on buckwheat blini with creme fraiche.

American Caviar Sampler:

(starting from top and going clockwise)
Gold Pearl Trout - a bit smaller than salmon roe, quite chewy
American Golden Whitefish - quite salty
Wasabi Whitefish and Ginger Whitefish - taste just like wasabi and ginger, how about use them as sushi topping?
Truffled Whitefish
Beet & Saffron Whitefish - this caviar must be the saltiest we had on that day
Paddlefish Sturgeon

Brut Champagne & Caviar Flight:

(left to right)
Hackleback Sturgeon
Paddlefish Sturgeon
American Golden Whitefish

The two sturgeon caviars are truly better than the whitefish caviar.



Select California Estate Osetra Select - we like this one the best. This variety has less salt than the other caviars.

I also grabbed a copy of their nice looking catalog and learned something new from it. Only the salted roe of sturgeon should be called "caviar" and the other salted roe can be called caviar when the name of the fish is included (e.g. "Salmon Caviar"). And guess what? The little spoon we used to serve the caviar is worth $8 a piece.

Address: 1 Ferry Building #12, San Francisco, CA
Tel#: (415) 288-8630
Website: www.tsarnicoulai.com/cafe/details.html
Hours:
Tue & Wed 11AM - 6PM
Thur & Fri 11AM - 7PM
Sat 9AM - 6PM
Sun 11AM - 5PM

Special Thanks to 團友A for treating me this fancy delicacy.