Farallon
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 956-6969
- Price:
- $$$$
- Cross Street:
- Powell Street
- Specialties:
- Seafood
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 5:30pm-10pm, Sun 5pm-10pm
Editorial Review for Farallon – by Bethany Jean Clement
The Scene
The famous blown-glass jellyfish chandeliers, sinuous lines and cheeky aquatic motif create a submarine dreamworld--this is premier dining, Lost City of Atlantis style. Older well-heeled patrons, special-occasion visitors and curious tourists alike are served with pomp.
The Food
The oft-changing seasonal menu offers lushly presented seafood dishes that are consistently elaborate and sometimes inspired. Playful "ravioli," in which black caviar fills scallops acting as pasta, is creamy and deliciously oceanic, but a Maine lobster appetizer with angel hair pasta suffers from an oversweet champagne fondue. The Alaskan king salmon entree is perfectly seared and enhanced by every element of its complex accoutrements, including kale, butter beans and fried squid. Flaky Hawaiian ono rests atop disappointingly plain, flat potato ravioli that tangerine, braised endive and black truffle scrapings cannot revive. Desserts can be disappointing, especially a gummy Meyer lemon cheesecake.
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Insider Tips
Where to SitThe Pool Room is where to see and be seen, but the balcony hidden at the top of the grand staircase is quieter and more intimate.
When to GoGet tickets to a show and make a night of it: A three-course, pre-theater prix-fixe menu is served until 6pm.
The ExtrasThree private dining rooms with the same under-the-sea decor are located on the fourth floor; call (415) 956-6998 to book your party.
User Reviews for Farallon
03/07/2008 Posted by raeanded
Our experience started with the butter which was great and went uphill from there. The Mediterannean Shellfish Soup was light and incredibly flavorful. The seared Kona Blue Kampachi with a light paprika dusting with a truffle ravioli and carmelized onion jus was a new taste sensation for us. The Hawaiin Walu melted in our mouths and the caramel apple sundae with brown butter pecan brittle made me want more. The service was impeccable and this was on Saturday night!
Pros: don't even have to go outside if you are at the Post Thestre
Cons: pricey but worth it
02/04/2008 Posted by YataYata
Farallon is a San Francisco "has been" that should be embarrassed to consider itself an elite restaurant in this town. I recently had dinner at Farallon and the whole experience was down right unacceptable for the price tag. FOOD. The food was mediocre, at best. The fish over cooked, temperature of one dish too cold, one dish over salted and a potato accompaniment to one of the meals was dry, hard and had to be cut apart with a knife. SERVICE. Food is one thing for a "has been" restaurant, but you gotta nail the service. These guys were armatures. We had 4 different people constantly interrupting us, constantly filling up the wine glasses when they weren't even half empty, constantly asking us if we were "ok". I like to dine... these guys wouldn't let us do it. WINE. Yes, the wine list is very nice, but the waitress suggested wine without even asking us what we would be ordering. My advice, keep your thoughts to yourself unless you really know how to pair a wine. The sommelier (or at least what we thought was the sommelier) came next ~ good guy, knew some things, but tripped up a bit when we told him we wanted a “local” wine. He then suggested a wine from Washington, Australia and one from Napa. That made me chuckle, so I had to ask him if he learned geography in school. PRICE. Outrageously over priced for the experience. Head over to Michael Minna and spend your money there.
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