The Waterfront

Someone wrote:
...
>Anyone been to the newly redone Waterfront restaurant in SF? We have
>fish-loving visitors coming from out of town and thought it might be
worth
>trying. Seems pricey, so I was wondering if others have had experience,
and
>could comment both on ambiance and food.

Hi,
We went about 3 weeks ago with some friends from out of town and had a great time.  I can't remember the names of the dishes we had but 3 of us opted for a seafood casserole with veal gravy served wrapped in banana leaves (or something similar) it sounded, and was, something a bit different in the presentation stakes.  It actually tasted very good. The fish was firm and full of flavor and the gravy added richness and depth without overwhelming.  I remember that we all liked our appetizers though I don't recall what they were and the desserts were good but not outstanding.  The atmosphere was warm and quiet, low lighting that kind of thing, perfect for talking or gazing out of the windows across the bay.  The service was OK.  Not rude or with attitude but not very polished.  I got the impression some of the staff hadn't been well trained, they leaned across us to reach things, dribbled the wine when pouring it that type of thing.  Didn't spoil the meal though.  It was quite expensive, $300 for four of us including tax and quite a bit of alcohol.  Good for a special occasion but I'd feel cheated if we'd just gone for the food.

We've only been once before, last June before the renovations.  On the basis of these two visits I'd say the food is better the interior decor nicer and the price has gone up.  Our friends had a good time so I recommend it.

I enjoyed the Waterfront. Very good food. The best seafood is at Aqua. It is more expensive than the waterfront but it is that much better. Yabbies Coastal kitchen on Polk is also has very good seafood and less expensive.

chacht wrote:
>
> Anyone been to the newly redone Waterfront restaurant in SF? We have
> fish-loving visitors coming from out of town and thought it might be worth
> trying. Seems pricey, so I was wondering if others have had experience, and
> could comment both on ambiance and food.
>
> Thanks...

Reporting back on The Waterfront, as promised --

Our experience corroborated most of the comments posted here, except that the service was terrific! Either things have improved or we just got a very good waiter. Only service problems were that dishes didn't arrive exactly at the same time (though there was only a very brief wait), and they did not routinely refill water glasses. Our waiter was very professional, appropriately friendly, and extremely helpful (two people at our table had dietary restrictions).

The food was very good to excellent. I started with escolar (in the mackeral family), crisply finished and served over green beans with mustard seed and sesame seeds, if I remember correctly. Very tasty. I followed that with striped bass, served over a ragout of root vegetables. Not outstanding, but looked pretty, tasted good, nicely executed. Others had for starters, all very well received, a soup of kabocha squash and lobster, scallops over a celery root puree, and tuna tartare. For dinner, one person had the lobster (pricey at $36, and not really a lot of it, but very well prepared), another had the rare seared tuna, and a third salmon. Everyone seemed very happy. Desserts were also very good: two of us shared a carmelized tart of rhubarb and fuji apple topped with ice cream. Nicely done, but you couldn't actually taste the fruits as much as I would have liked.

Views were lovely, as promised, though noise levels are quite high. All in all, a very nice experience. With one drink and one bottle of moderately priced wine ($26) for the four of us, we ended up paying about $65pp with tax and tip. At those prices, I don't know that I'd return in a hurry, but it certainly is a nice place to show off SF to out of town guests.