Bossa Nova

Bossa Nova opened a few weeks ago across the street from our apartment building. When we moved into this building a couple of years ago, the Buzz 9 Cafe occupied the space — we ate a couple of pretty good cheeseburgers before Buzz 9 promptly shut its doors a week after we moved in. In the interim the space remained vacant, which naturally attracts a certain crowd of temporary residents.

While Bossa Nova’s stated focus is Brazilian, the food tends to be a bit more pan-Latin fusion — which actually makes for a nice balance of small plates. We tried a couple of ceviches (the kampachi — oil-cured and not exactly a ceviche per se — is extraordinarily good), the churrascuria-inspired lamb and pork sausage skewers, a salad of hearts of palm, the croquettes of bacalhau, a Brazil nut-crusted goat cheese (ha ha), and the grilled sweet corn with blue cheese butter (!). Of all of these, only the pork sausage missed the mark — a single pork sausage left whole on a plate is a bit too rustic of a presentation to please. The bacalhau croquettes have a strong, salty-fishy taste — unsurprising for a dish based around salt cod but perhaps not a good choice for those with delicate palettes. (What the hell, I liked it.)

Bossa Nova is loud. The dining room is small, the floors are hardwood, the crowd is definitely an after-work set spilling into what I assume is a local dinner crowd (do all of these beautiful people really live in my neighborhood — crazy), and the caipirinhas and mojitos are good and strong, all of which makes for a practically deafening dining experience. After about an hour or so inside, the noise can be a bit tiring. Atop this, they also have live music some nights, all in a space that’s smaller than my apartment.

Service is surprisingly good for a restaurant less than a month old. We’ve been there twice and both times one of the owners has been on site doing some quality control. The servers are casually friendly but know the menu well, food arrives pretty quickly, and the restaurant manager remembered us when we came back again the following week. Prices are very reasonable for a small plates restaurant.

The place appears to be pretty packed every night when I walk by on my way back from the office, and they are currently not accepting reservations. Here’s hoping that they continue to do well. A nossa!

Bossa Nova, 139 8th Street, San Francisco, CA. $$