2316 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
Occasion: Henry's Bday Dinner! 02.22.11. Our most favorite fine dining restaurant out of all the birthday dinners/fine dining within the two weeks! We each ordered the four course meal and shared everything! It was so filling, we barely touched our last course!
** 1 Michelin Star **
Red Wine
Because we're getting old. Can't be downing those shots anymore! Like wine...we get better with age. =P
Amouse Bouche
Ahi tuna tartare with some creamy sauce. AMAZING! I could not wait to taste the rest of the things. This first appetizer took us away!
Amuse Bouche
Poached egg in an egg shell with a crispy potato chip on top and brioche bread to dip into the egg shell filled with some kind of soup. Another appetizer that upped our experience another notch. Very cute presentation.
Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras
with poached spiced apple in a sweet/ tangy apple cinnamon sauce
Biggest piece of foie gras I have ever been served. I was a bit hesitant in ordering this because it is usually really rich in flavor. I've eaten it by complementing it with a piece of steak, but I was convinced to order it through recommendations of a friend and fellow yelpers. So glad I tried it. It wasn't as rich as I'd thought it would be and in fact the spiced apple complemented the foie gras really well. We both enjoyed this appetizer a lot!
Frog Legs "Bernard Loiseau"
with garlic puree and parsley coulis
Another delicious dish. I've never had fried frog legs, so why not. We were not disappointed. Tender meat and delicious sauces that went well with it. I've only had frog legs prepared by my parents at home and at Chinese restaurants, I was excited to see how the French would prepare it. Also, I think the middle block of white stuff was a bone marrow mousse. Very interesting!
Warm Pig Feet
Sweetbread and Lobster Terrine, on a Lentil Salad with Bacon and Hazelnut Vinaigrette
I couldn't tell I was eating pig's feet, which I guess you can say it was a good thing. It was wrapped in a crispy skin, which was really fun to eat. Lentil salad was simple, but very very good to me. The textures of the variety of things included in the dish were very fun to eat. It was very interesting and I've never had anything like that before.
Lobster and Mushroom Risotto
Amazing with huge chunks of lobster. It was delicious and made perfect to my liking.
Butter Poached Lobster
served with English Pea Ravioli with Truffle Beurre Fondue, and Marcona Almond Salad
So good it melts in your mouth! The taste of the truffle on the ravioli was absolutely memorable. Chunks of lobster were generous and though there was only one ravioli, it was wonderfully prepared. Loved it!
Liberty Farm Duck Breast, Smoked Duck Tongue and Duck Confit
Duck prepared in 3 ways, that was pretty exciting. We only got a taste of each because by the time the last two dishes came out, we were STUFFED!! Duck breast was absolutely tender and it was topped with mushrooms of some sort. Duck tongue meat was so tender and it went really well with the sweet tangy cranberry like sauce on the side. Duck confit...OMGGGGGG...mouth watering good! Nothing about this dish disappointed us.
Rôti of Quail and Squab, stuffed with Mushrooms, Wrapped in Crispy Potato Strings, Truffled Jus
Another AMAZING dish. By this time we were both very very very stuffed so we only had a little bit of it. Presentation was amazing! There was what seemed to be a quail egg cooked over easy in a potato chip of some sort. Quail was stuffed with mushroom and wrapped in crunchy fried potato strings. Squab was amazing as well with tender and not over cooked meat. Very well prepared dish!
Palate Cleanser
Complimentary before we start our dessert. Cool and tangy!
Spring Strawberries and Valrhona Chocolate Bread Pudding, Basil-Olive Oil Ice Cream, Champagne Sabayon
We decided to try bread pudding to compare it to Chaya's. Chaya's won. It was good, but not as good as Chayas.
Complimentary dessert
We were barely able to eat this, but everything was good! Brownie was a little bit too rich. Caneles were delcious, as were the madelines. The jelly cubes were mediocre at best. I liked how they were small and bite sized.
