Worth it if you have the time and large stomach for it... - Benu San Francisco - Buy Reservations
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😍 5/5 - Worth it if you have the time and large stomach for it...
By 👻 @ashvinraj, 11/08/2019 3:00 am
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What I’m comparing it against: fine dining restaurants in major cities/markets.
Dining background: I’m pretty much a lightweight. A few 3-star Michelin restaurants, several 2-star Michelin restaurants, probably 20 1-star Michelins, and perhaps 30 more 1-star Michelin caliber places not located in Michelin cities.
Not going to go much into whether “is this place good or not.” Enough has been written about this place—of course it’s one of the most respected in the country and now even the world (#47 on that one 2019 list). Instead I’ll address other details to help you decide if you want to come here or not.
Food: Impeccable. Some say “French-Asian” or “his own design,” but the flavor is more Asian than anything else (East Asian, not Indian or Pakistani/South Asian). Flavors are absolutely wonderful. I had a chicken wing stuffed with foie gras (I think), and it was the greatest chicken wing I’ve ever had. Same goes for something I believe was a tempura prawn. A couple of weeks have passed, and I’m still thinking about some of the things I had.
This is a LARGE tasting menu—can’t remember how many courses, but it FELT like 18. Which brings me to my main point of this review. It was simply too much food. Plenty of meats, fish, dumplings, soups, broths, desserts, etc. Towards the end, I actually had to step outside for five minutes and walk around before finishing the last four courses. The guy at the table next to me declined his final meat course because he was so full. Mind you, the food here is wonderful, so a person has to be rather stuffed to decline food here.
Some advice if you come here…be prepared for a 3-hour meal (which is actually the norm for most 2 and 3-star Michelin restaurants), and do not eat anything past 12pm that day—you will need all the room. I ate at 1:30pm that day (big sandwich from Molinari’s in North Beach), and I’m also known for being able to eat a lot, yet I struggled to finish here (but I did).
You can order a wine/beverage pairing (I’m guessing it’s a mix of an impeccable wine and sake list), but I opted for a couple of wines by the glass instead.
Vibe: I actually liked the interior more than I thought I would. All the social media pics showed the lighting of this place as rather bright and stark, but upon walking inside, it is dimmer (but not dark) than most pics indicate. I prefer really dark places (think any trendy speakeasy bar to know what I mean), but I found this suitable. After all, you do have to be able to see the food to appreciate the plating. Music was loud enough to add to the atmosphere but not loud enough interfere with conversation—on the soft side. Music was classic jazz along the lines of Coltrane and Monk. Well done. Couple of art pieces, but pretty minimalist look. Seating was comfortable with enough space between you and the next table. This place does not have the luxurious “hominess” of The French Laundry or The Inn at Little Washington, extreme modern art interiors like Alinea, actual art like Atlas in Atlanta or a breathtaking mural-size piece of ocean waves like Le Bernardin. You may not want to come hear if you place an extreme amount of importance on those elements.
Dress code (for men): Benu makes no mention of dress code on its site, and I don’t believe any restrictions exist. However, I think some level of dressing up is suitable for this place. Men will be fine with a going full suit, which I prefer unless I have plans to go to a more casual club later or it’s really hot. Also fine would be a tucked in dress shirt and pants. You’ll also be fine with dark jeans and an untucked FITTED button-down shirt and dress boots here (go with Redwing Blacksmiths, Briar-slicked leather). I advise strongly against polos, khakis, sneakers, shorts, etc.. The staff here is very-well dressed, just so you know.
Service: Impeccable with no missteps. Pleasant but not overbearing. The men in suits stop and check in 2-3 times during the meal to see if you are enjoying everything. You will deal with quite a few servers over the course of the night, but you’ll have a main one you see slightly more than the others. They did an excellent job of not bringing the next course until they knew you were done with the previous one (and they knew right away). I think they also rely on cameras and extensive communication with each other to know the movements of the guests. When I got up to step outside for a break, someone immediately arrived at the door to let me out—same goes for when I was returning and I when I finally left after the meal (final greeting). This is the type of place where if a napkin is dropped on the floor, staff will notice right away and will pick it up even before the dinner even knew they dropped it.
One thing about service—unlike some other places of this caliber, there is not a heavy emphasis on presentation in terms of the dramatic unveilings, smoke, carving meats tableside (like Saison) and the like. Nor do the servers say too much about each course besides a basic description (although they are more than willing to field your questions). In other words, they try to be unobtrusive but will gladly answer questions you have about course preparation and ingredients.
Reservations/payment: Benu is a bit old school in that reservations are taken via OpenTable or by phone (I believe two months in advance is the furthest out you can do, and you’ll need to do it that far in advance). This is different than most restaurants of its caliber who have switched to Tock, meaning the whole thing is prepaid and non-refundable. The OpenTable approach is more customer-friendly since you won’t be billed unless you cancel less than 48 hours in advance (a very generous policy). Nothing is prepaid, and the website price is the price of the meal WITHOUT tax, tip and drinks. The bill at the end will have 20% gratuity automatically added, which is nice since such computations can be difficult after drinks and a lot of food.
In my case, there were no openings on OpenTable, but the staff was wonderful (much thanks to Hee-Won) in corresponding with me by email, putting me on a waitlist, and calling me few days prior to alert me of an opening as my trip to San Francisco neared.
Summary: Food and service was everything one would expect given this restaurant’s reputation. But if you want to come here, the main things to consider are whether you want to make this meal your entire evening—the time and energy it takes from you basically rules out all other activities for the night (even for me, who is a bit of a night owl). Second, you have to be willing to eat no later than 12pm to ensure you have room here. These are not big issues for those already living in San Francisco, but if you’re only visiting for a few days and need to make the most of your time in terms of exploration, Benu may be bit of a challenge. It is worth it, but it depends on your priorities as well.
I did not mean to write this much.
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