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14 Reviews
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Best of the best
This is the, not one of, but the finest restaurant in the country. It's every bit as creative as a 3 star restaurant in France. Corey Lee's melding of local ingredients with Asian fusion sauces, marinades and soups are so brilliant. It is costly as one would expect a 3 star Michelin to be, but worth it. The service is perfect, attentive without being cloying. I cannot recommend it more highly. We've lived in France many times, and I feel that we're blessed to have such a treasure locally.
Be the first to ReplyVery overpriced and disapointing food
This was a memorable experience, a few dishes, especially the Xiao Long bao were stunning, and changed my perception of temperature and texture in food. The staff is very professional, yet friendly and not cold. It is felt that the food is made with high quality ingredients, the dishes are so beautiful I barely want to take a bite. And most of all I admire the cooks technique in every dish we ate. But for me the shocking and most unexpected thing was that the flavors and combination of elements were just not so good. A lot of dishes just didn't have that wow effect when they enter your mouth that one expects from a #28 restaurant in the world. In my opinion in some of the dishes the high quality ingredients tried to mask poor flavor and thought behind the dish, such as the rice and caviar or lobster sausage. I thank Cory lee for the Xiao Long Bao which was undoubtedly the best bite of my life, but all the rest is just not worth 500$ a person.
Be the first to ReplyWOW, no menu, they just bring you great dishes.
We all sat down and no one brought menus, haha. All their fare is so good you just consume whatever they bring you. YES, everything tasted delicious! It's really nice not to have to make a choice and be surprised at what shows up on your table.
Be the first to ReplyA Dazzling Meal From Start to Finish ā Flavorful, Unique, and Memorable
Itās worth repeating the writeup for Benu from the 50 Best Restaurants of the World (in which Benu currently sits at 28): āA nuanced menu riffs on transnational culinary traditions including Korean and Cantonese, using local produce and western technique. The result epitomizes the melting pot of influence intrinsic to modern American cuisine, while the service ā convivial and relaxed ā is all-out Californian.ā
It is easy to see why Benu has garnered such high praise from the culinary worldā¦it all about taste, creativity, freshness, and exceptional service. A standout for us was the exceptional service of the sommelier whose finesse and familiarity with the menu made the pairings worthy of the chefās culinary creations. A San Francisco foodie destination if ever there was one.
Wildly overpriced and pretentious
It is an amazement to me that this restaurant has two Michelin stars. That truly makes me question the validity of the star system.
What this restaurant is, is a prix fixe menu., with 16 "courses." The "meal" is not so much of a meal as it is a floorshow. It's a theatrical experience and the dishes are merely props. If you have no palate and you are easily dazzled by unique appearing foodstuffs, this may be the place you are looking for.
For me, it was a disaster. I have never had a bad meal in a high end restaurant in San Francisco in my life -- and I'm 70 on my next birthday and have eaten in high end restaurants in Paris, New York ,Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. This meal at Benu was a joke.
There was some kind of a "lobster soup" which was served lukewarm in a jewelry box, to give you an idea of what this experience was like. Then there was one whole wheat roll, which we were assured was quite amazing and so was the drizzle of honey that went on it. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. If I saw this in a movie I would have been howling, but there I was in real life, and my date for the evening laid out $600 per head. (We drank a lot of good wine, which is the only saving grace this place has, is a decent wine cellar.)
The meal started out with the 1,000 year old quail egg, which was a flavorless morsel of slime. The rest of the meal did not go too far up hill from there. The only dishes with any taste were a few spareribs and a piece of quail.
The quail was brought out with vast fanfare and flourish. It reminded me in the scene in Restaurant At the End Of The Universe where the cow comes to the table and says hello before they shoot it. Total theatrics. Maybe I didn't have enough to drink.
Dessert was unspeakable.
It goes without saying that I will not be returning to Benu my next time in San Francisco.
A word to the wise: Don't take anybody here if it's a special occasion. I went here on a first date with a guy and we finally stopped speaking to one another after yet another fight about this horrible restaurant. Do yourself a favor, go someplace normal if it's a special occasion. Stay clear of Benu.
The words "caveat emptor" should appear in every ad for this place.
Extremely Disappointed
Took me a while to decide to write this review!! The birthday celebration was in late 2021 and after an extraordinary dinner at Bird Dog last night, I decided to express how I felt after my third visit to Benu that we will never visit again!!
Food was beautiful but extremely in expansive, serving colorful Tofu, couple pieces of mushroom, rice wrap with seaweed, fried rice was not justify to pay $500 per person!!! Beside the Quail, nothing were worth the money!!! May be we are paying for the technique??!!!
Extremely disappointed at Cory Lee that he is so full of himself and think he is a super star!!! WRONG!!! Our Asian waitress was so condescending that why I am not finishing the rice wrapped with seaweed???!!!
This will be our last visit and we rather spend our money elsewhere like French Laundry, Protege, Atelia Crenn and many others Michelin starts restaurants in SF/Bay Area!!!
A Great Dinner in August
A Great Dinner in August
We were back in San Francisco in August, for several meetings for my wife. Historically, we have been in San Francisco, at least once a month, for the last 15 years, but that is coming to an end, as her corporate offices have moved to Chicago, so the frequent trips to SF are coming to an end. We have embarked on our āswan songā restaurant tour, revisiting the best of the best, that we have found, over all of those years. That included every Michelin 2 & 3 āstarā restaurant in California (one, or two had gone up, or down a star, since we had last dined there), and most 1-star restaurants, as well - and that is just in California. Benu was one of the top dining experiences in San Francisco (and far beyond), so it was fitting that we dine there once more, though 3 years and a month, since we were last there.
We were able to make our reservations, and arrived at Benu, at 22 Hawthorne St in San Franciscoās SoMa Neighborhood (South of Market), for our early reservation. Nothing had changed in the entry way courtyard, and those fond memories were flooding back. The window to the kitchen was still there, and it was what had attracted my wife, while on her way to her office, some years before. That had intrigued her, so she wrote down the name, and found out that I had been researching Benu, at the same time - within a year, we were dining there.
We were promptly seated, and in a smaller, front dining room this time. We had been in the larger dining room, just beyond this one, previously. The dƩcor is the same, with a very strong Asian influence, that is nicely understated. In some ways, the interior reminds me of some of the top spas in Tokyo - soothing - relaxing - comfortable - minimalist - just right. Corey Lee has done a great job, in creating this wonderful restaurant.
This time, our table was smaller, than the one we had on the first visit, and I was a bit concerned that we had enough real estate, for our wine glasses. As it turned out, there was no problem.
We opted for the Tasting Menu + Beverage Pairings. I say āBeverage Pairings,ā as we had one Ale, and two Sakes, along with 6 wines. Each was an excellent accompaniment to the dish/dishes. As for the dishes, there were 17, which I counted, and a few come together, so I could have lost count. Portion sizes were usually quite small, allowing only a taste, or two, but with the total number, there was a lot of food - almost too much. Fortunately, we had spent most of the day at airports, or on a plane, so almost nothing but wine, or Champagne, since early morning.
The interior is cozy, and generally somewhat dim, but, as before, our table had great task lighting, allowing us to appreciate each dish, its plating and preparation. The evening started with a hammered stainless steel charger. That became a stage for a procession on dishes, most on/in small dark plates or bowls. This worked nicely, and created a very pleasing effect. Unlike some restaurants, the presentation was subdued, with no fireworks, cryogenic fog banks, and very little slight of hand - everything pretty much was, what it appeared. While we do appreciate the design and unique plating, or say Chefs Grant Achatz, JosƩ AndrƩs and Monique Crenn, we also enjoy a simple, beautiful and tasty dish, as well. Benu falls into that latter category - beautiful in its simplicity, and so many wonderful flavors.
The charger was removed, and each dish had a unique plating, plus the portion sizes increased just a bit too. The beverage pairings continued, with an explanation of each given by the Sommelier. Throughout the evening, the stemware for the beverages was excellent, as well.
The pacing was excellent, with no pauses at any point, but also nothing, and I mean nothing being rushed. As we like to save our wines, to try with other dishes, we did come close to filling up the table at times, but there was never an issue - only empty glasses were silently removed. The same for the attractive silverware/utensils - it just came, and went, and we hardly took any notice. Service was stellar, with the staff sort of floating in, and making a subtle presentation, and empty dishes were removed, almost as if by magic - just perfect!
The Asian influences were in evidence with most of the dishes, but in very subtle ways for most. Some of those influences were more in the presentation, with a few dishes, that the preparations.
The noise level was low, even as the restaurant filled up, and nothing above the hum of quiet conversation was heard. I think that there might have been background music, but I cannot recall actually hearing it.
About 3 hours after it began, the meal wound down. Due to the number of courses, Benu is not a restaurant to dine in, if one is pressed for time. It requires, and deserves the entire evening.
As our business travels to San Francisco are ending, I am not sure when we will get to return, but Benu is the type of restaurant, that we would make an exception for, and travel, just to dine there. Of all of the great restaurants, at which we have dined in San Francisco, it is one of maybe our top 3, so worth a flight over from Phoenix.
The emperor has no clothes
Pretentious & overly worked dishes that were mostly bland. Original combinations but whatās the point if the flavours donāt complement each other? Nothing like other restaurants weāve eaten at in this category in Europe & the US. An incredible disappointment.
Felt like an ordeal, a $500 a head ordeal.
Worth it if you have the time and large stomach for it...
What Iām comparing it against: fine dining restaurants in major cities/markets.
Dining background: Iām 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 āis this place good or not.ā Enough has been written about this placeāof course itās one of the most respected in the country and now even the world (#47 on that one 2019 list). Instead Iāll address other details to help you decide if you want to come here or not.
Food: Impeccable. Some say āFrench-Asianā or āhis own design,ā 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 Iāve ever had. Same goes for something I believe was a tempura prawn. A couple of weeks have passed, and Iām still thinking about some of the things I had.
This is a LARGE tasting menuācanāt 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 hereā¦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 dayāyou will need all the room. I ate at 1:30pm that day (big sandwich from Molinariās in North Beach), and Iām 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 (Iām guessing itās 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 conversationāon 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 āhominessā 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 donāt 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 itās really hot. Also fine would be a tucked in dress shirt and pants. Youāll 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 youāll 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 outāsame 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 serviceāunlike 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 youāll 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 wonāt 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 restaurantās reputation. But if you want to come here, the main things to consider are whether you want to make this meal your entire eveningāthe 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 youāre 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.
Delightful, Surprising, Unforgettable
From the start I should highlight that we visited Benu last week as part of an event being hosted by a supplier who were extremely generous by taking us to this excellent restaurant in the middle of San Francisco. As a result, the menu may have been somewhat different to the 'norm' although that I not a word I expect that is used very frequently when describing the Benu experience and I can openly confirm that no compromise was made as far as I could possibly tell!
We started with canapes and (Winston Churchill's much beloved) Pol Roger champagne in the restaurant's delightful courtyard amidst pickling pots that they actively use for various courses. It was very relaxing, the staff were first class and we were very well looked after as the acoustic guitar player quietly played in the background.
We then went in to the dining room where we sat at tables set for 6 and after a short welcome from our hosts, the 16 course extravaganza began. From mussels, to crab, to pickled tomatoes (presumably pickled in the aforementioned courtyard outside!) To jellyfish wrapped prawn, chicken, more pickled tomatoes accompanied with caviar, lobster with beef then on to a short rib with delicious side dishes, it was an amazingly crafted experience. We move on to beautifully presented pear and then to the most incredible 'milk pudding' with references made on the menu to 'salt, smoke and peat'. This final course was truly surprising, the peat was clearly evident and anyone who is partial to heavily peated single malts such as Laphroaig or the 'Octomore' editions from the Bruichladdich distillery would find this surprisingly delicious!
I could go on to discuss the 8+ wine pairings but I think that by now you will recognise that these were pretty much spot on, 2 of the reds being particularly exciting.
I wouldn't say that Benu scores a perfect 5 but going into my short list of points feels somehow conceited so I will park that given these were minor concerns given how much we all enjoyed the evening. Thank you again to the entire Benu team!
3 Musketeers Night
This 3-Michelin starred restaurant was an epic experience!!! We reserved a table for five weeks before because getting reservation is difficult. Frankly, I wasnāt aware of Benuās reputation but that night of I think 20-course dinner was truly delightful. Seamlessly incorporating Korean and French ingredients to create one-of-a-kind dishes that were sublime. We had a dedicated team of servers who explained each dish with quiet pride and our sommelier was very informative and paired the wines perfectly. We thanked the Master Chef Cory Lee in person for an unforgettable experience. A must for anyoneās bucket list!
Be the first to ReplyWhat to expect if you are invited to have a lunch with the Head of State and Royal of Asia.
Service, Quality of food and the selection of all the service ware were all equally exquisite. This is how a truly wonderful important dinner is served in China, Japan and Korea. The skill of the chef, the quality of food and the full presentation. Benu has achieved that and I will be coming back for their Chrysanthemum tofu soup, their vegetarian Shark fin soup, their roasted quail and the rest of all their wonderful offerings.
Be the first to ReplyExcellence on their lofty 50-best perch
We are star collectors. I posted our star resume below. We came to San Francisco as much as anything to sample Benu and Quince. Benu was incredible and we put it in our top five Star Restaurant experiences. But...then we went to Quince and I am sorry to report, I donāt think that there is still room in the top five.
At any rate, counting the amuses (a term that has apparently gone out of style) Benuās menu was 14 courses. Everything was cravable.
As I always end reviews of Starred restaurants, if you go, get the pairings. It adds so much to the experience.
Paris 3 Le Taillevent 4-Feb-05
Paris 3 Le Cinq 5-Feb-05
Paris 2 L'Espadon 8-Feb-05
Versailles 1 Trianon Palace 11-Feb-05
Bruges 3 De Karmeliet February, 2006
Rome 3 La Pergola February, 2007
Amsterdam 1 Restaurant Vermeer August, 2014
Paris 3 L'Ambroisie May, 2015
Amsterdam 1 Restaurant Vermeer May, 2015
paris 3 Guy Savoy July, 2018
reims 2 les CrayĆØresā Le Parc 1-Nov-18
paris 2 Le Gabriel 3-Nov-18
Amsterdam 1 Restaurant Vermeer 19-Apr-19
Berlin 2 Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer 17-May-19
Berlin 2 Tim Raue 21-May-19
Dusseldorf 1 Laurushaus 24-May-19
San francisco 3 Benu 30-Jul-19
San francisco 3 Quince 2-Aug-19
Booked
Athens 2 Spondi. 2-Nov-19
Athens 1 Hytra 3-Nov-19
Outstanding fine dining.
The food, wine pairings and atmosphere were all outstanding. The staff were top class and managed to tread the perfect line between friendly and professional.
However, based on my experience - if you prefer to dine at a relaxed pace, it's probably best to avoid an early sitting.
We booked relatively last minute and ended up with a 5:30pm booking on a weeknight (seated by 5:40pm). The restaurant must have had another reservation for our table for 8:15 or 8:30 and as a result they pushed us through the courses slightly faster than I would've preferred. Just after 8pm they brought bill out without our request while we were still enjoying dessert.
For some people a two and a half hour dinner might be exactly the right pace, but for me, not being offered any control over the timing was enough to slightly diminish an otherwise magical experience.