Group Blog. Yes, sometimes one's friends get so enthused about the blogging adventure, that the camera is passed and angles assessed and out comes a lot of photos of an amazing meal. And this was a special celebration -- a dear colleague had accumulated 10 years with my former employer, and another friend celebrated a twenty year friendship with her. And it was a kind of reunion of colleagues who live in geographically distant places and don't have the opportunity to sit and break bread together very often.

So Friday night, we went to Yabbies Coastal Kitchen on Polk Street in San Francisco. What a fabulous choice Sachiko made for the group. They were friendly and had a nice ambiance. And the food was delicious. We started with the Signature Seafood Platter to share. It consisted of Cracked Maine Lobster,Cracked Dungeness Crab, Ceviche of the Day, Oysters on the Half Shell, Jumbo Prawns, Steamed Mussels and Littleneck Clams on the Half Shell.

We also had their fresh and delicious Steamed Mussels in a roasted garlic and cream sauce. The sauce was SO good that we passed the bowl around and people took spoonfuls in turn.

We celebrated with Champagne, and some delicious Flowers chardonnay. (....and reordered it when it ran out!)

Then the next round of food came. Sachiko had ordered the Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce with Blue Cheese Dressing, Bacon, and Avocado. She generously shared some with me, it was really quite good!

Yoshi had the Butternut Squash Soup, and reported that it was good. Sachiko, in the spirit of an enthused blogger, snatched the soup away as his spoon was descending -- reminding him to take a photo before sampling!

Then the entrees started arriving, beginning with mine, the special Sand Dabs over Mushroom Risotto. It was awesome, with tender fish over mushroom and greens laden risotto.

Taeko was sitting to my left, which is the direction the camera went, and she snapped this great photo of her Diver Scallops over soft polenta with bacon and greens. We traded bits, and hers was cooked to perfection! Slightly caramelized on the outside, moist and juicy inside.

Next up was Yoshi, who ordered a delicious salmon over rice. (There were more creative names here, but I can't remember them all correctly). Good report on taste here too. The staff kindly offered to take a group photo, not noticing that it was the FOOD we were after at this point... Sachiko pointed out it was the food we were after as there was a blogger in the midst (there went the anonymity...)

Larry, who had a sixth sense about the amount of food that was being ordered, sensibly ordered a Caesar Salad as his entree. Sachiko artfully took the photo by standing in back of him with her arms around his shoulders and neck, with the camera slightly below his face. Quite the blogging team! It was also hard to get the photos as the light was extra dim, and you really couldn't see the food properly until you were actually pressing the button to take the photo.

Sachiko, who sat on the other side of me ordered the Dungeness Crab cakes, which she said were great. She often comes to this restaurant, and the staff knew her and chatted familiarly throughout the evening. I don't blame her as the seafood dishes were really good, well executed and fresh.

By that time, we had enough champagne and Flowers chardonnay in us to loose all inhibitions about ordering dessert. So we chose a couple for the table, this one a delicious Pear Crisp.

Next was a smooth Classic Creme Brulee with a crackly caramelized sugar crust.

And the staff gave us a surprise, a Hot Fudge Sundae that was to die for! The hot fudge on this was amazing.

And since it was Taeko's 10th Anniversary, she tried something unusual for her, an after dinner dessert wine for a sweet finish to a lovely celebration. If you enjoy great seafood, you can't go wrong choosing Yabbies.