BLUE better than CHOW

BLUE better than CHOW

I ate Blue last night and was pleasantly surprised. See, i live around the corner from it's Market st. location and walk by all the time. The monochromatic blue decor never enticed me in. It wasn't until a co-worker of my wife recommended it did i decide to eat there. It was late and we where hungry and wanted something easy. We got to the restaurant around 8:45 and to our surprise it was packed. The restaurant was warm but even packed with people the restaurant's cold feel didn't beat off the wind and fog. The waiters are friendly but to a point of annoyance. At first glance the menu is simple and at second glance it remains so, As long as you are in the mood for comfort food you are in the right place. A citrus salad with fennel and Orange caught our eye to start. Then the waiter walked buy with a bubbling hot crusty over sized ramekin filled with mack n' cheese. At this point I new this was not going to be a low calorie night. So i went for the gold and ordered meatloaf with gravy and two Amstel lights. The conversation was good but the tables where a little close together so both our neighbors conversations where also enthralling. As the food began to arrive we realized that we made the right choices. The salad was dressed nicely but it could have used a boast in the fennel department. The mac n' cheese came out and was everything i hoped it would be (but it needed salt). I am a purist when it comes to mac n' cheese and this one is strait out of the book. It was tangy, cheesy and velvety smooth, It really hit the spot. But I think my heart would've stopped if i ate the whole bowl, but hey, I haven't heard of the mac' n cheese diet yet. The meatloaf was equally classical but I think they use a lot of pork in there meat blend. which makes for a lighter loaf but doesn't produce that beefy(yea beefy) flavor that you want from meat loaf. The sides of mashed potatoes and garlic carrots where also done well. it is nice to see that they didn't go lame on the sides the portions where big and the flavor was good... not great but really good. I went there with no real expectation and was pleasantly surprised to find a restaurant that does comfort food well and at a good price. Chow was my go to place for that but I feel like the quality of chow's ingredients has become a little mas produced for my taste. I look forward to Blue for an upcoming breakfast i have a feeling there Monte Cristo could be enough to stop my heart for good.