(Clockwise) Cucumber soup, deviled eggs, eggplant and tomato salad, smoked trout

I found myself at the rehabilitated part of San Francisco (although there are still many street peddlers roaming around). Thus, I took the chance to try Alta, which represents San Francisco cuisine at its finest. All savory dishes I ordered were meticulously prepared with fresh ingredients. 

The only aspect Alta fell short (and yes, I will write at length about for this post) is the iced green tea matcha, which I was hesitant to order but my waitstaff assured me that it was "good" and new on the menu. It turned out to be just regular powdered matcha with a humungous block of ice. At $6 per glass, I was beyond shocked by how unimaginative this drink is. The wait staff also only had minimal knowledge of what a matcha drink should be since he murmured that he "doesn't know much about matcha" after I complained about my drink and sent it back to the kitchen. I could have easily made this at home using my own restaurant-grade matcha powder. Alta, please take the iced green tea matcha off the beverage menu.