😍
Already so many great reviews on Yelp so I'll keep this
Already so many great reviews on Yelp so I'll keep this short....this is the best restaurant I've ever been to in my life. As a Korean, I approve all these dishes The rabbit was a particular highlight for me. You have the option to eat the head (fried) afterwards....I was a little hesitant at first, but it ended up being a unique experience....I would recommend eating the head Biggest letdown was the lack of a pairing menu. There was a sommelier there to help us guide our courses with some wine pairings on an ad-hoc basis. Unfortunately, our group of 4 ended up paying $900 for the wine alone...might be worth bringing your own bottle(s).I attached the wine receipt below if you would like to see what to bring
😍
I cannot wait to come back once my next paycheck comes in.
Benu is one of the greatest dining experiences I've ever had. The restaurant is located pretty close to the street but they have a tiny little lot that adds a bit of space to the crampedness, but basically parking is a huge pain. Think they have limited valet though if you wanna pay an extra fee. To get started off, restaurant atmosphere is very nice. Very clean bathroom too, 10/10, as expected of a three Michelin star restaurant. A clean bathroom is the key to success in any good restaurant. Our food came by pretty fast after the servers checked in with us, and right off the bat I was shocked at how delicious the dishes were. I've never had century egg because I've heard mixed things, but I'm so glad my first time was here at Benu. The egg with the green jelly stuff around it tasted amazing, I had to stop eating for a bit to relieve how shocked I was at it's taste. The next few dishes were some interesting looking veggie dishes, they all tasted great, but I was still in shock by the egg. After that shock went down a bit, I was served their tempura, and this was one of the crispiest, lightest, tempuras I've ever had. Wish I had more and could eat these like chips. The tofu in chili powder was a really pretty dish, and had great texture but not too much flavor. The next dish however, made up for it. It was a squid ink taco with truffle, prosciutto, and some other stuff in it. This one biter was by far one of the most flavorful things I've ever eaten, and I still think about it sometimes. Next up was the bread, which I'm always looking forward to. Immediately, I noticed how warm and fluffy it was, and how well the honey butter paired with it. We ended up asking for an extra loaf which the servers ended up giving to us for free.The next few dishes were all really solid. Some chicken dish, xiao long bao (tasted like a regular xiao long bao), this wrapped veggie meat thing, and sea cucumber dish. All these dishes tasted great, no complaints here. My friends got the abalone, stuffed something, and mackerel. The abalone and stuffed thing were beyond words at how good they tasted, and the mackerel had a great kick to it despite looking like the lower half of an incapacitated fish. Dessert was this mint drink thing and milk pudding. The milk pudding tasted like panna cotta and felt like a healthier ice cream. It was a great smooth texture and had great flavor in each bite. The mint thing wasn't that tasty imo, kinda refreshing, but also kinda hard to eat. Was meh. Wish the meal ended a bit better but the rest of the meal was beyond mind blowing. The price for Benu is pretty high so coming in I had huge expectations. I'm happy to say that every expectation was met and I have zero complaints about my experience. Would 100% recommend this to anyone celebrating anything. Thank you for blessing my culinary palette Benu. I will return when inflation goes down or when I have more money.
😍
Intricate, thoughtful, delicious.
These are the three words that I would use to describe our meal here. I would say this is the first restaurant that actually lived up to its 3 star Michelin rating as the others that I've been to fell short in my opinion in terms of their taste or overall impressiveness.Our meal started off with their "small delicacies" as stated on their menu. These dishes included the famous quail egg, stuffed mussel, naengchae, marinated mackerel, jellyfish wrapped shrimp, tofu in chilled broth, a type of acorn taco, and sprouted grain bread. The attention to detail was incredible and the knife work was painstakingly intricate. This level of refinement is what a 3 star establishment should strive for. The thoughtfulness shined in the variety of temperatures and textures that were displayed in the course of these small bites.The knife work was most apparent in the naengchae dish and the tofu. An ultra fine julianne of vegetables in an array of magenta, green, and white. A tofu that was cut so finely it resembled cubic strands of a finely bristled barbecue brush mop suspended in liquid. Amazing attention to detail. Other instances of attention to detail shined in the stuffed mussel and marinated mackerel. Again, a beautiful array of colors adorned the interior of the mussel and was greatly appreciated due to what I know be a monumental amount of effort put into this single morsel of food. I hope the diners stopped to appreciate this level of effort before it became an unidentifiable mush in their mouths. The marinated mackerel was very reminiscent of a tightly packed saba maki you would have at a fine omakase restaurant but larger and with added flair from the additional vegetables. Very delicious.Prior to the main courses was the pair of xiao long bao, a clinical representation of what you would imagine a rich, luxurious, umami packed XLB should taste and feel like. Remember to put it in the spoon with your chopsticks, gently bite the tip, slurp the soup inside, lightly dip the remainder in the soy sauce, and enjoy. The main courses I chose were the charcoal noodles, mulhwe, and barbecued quail. Originally I was perplexed with the amount of choice (you pick 3 of the 9 dishes across three ranges) but I suppose it gives greater flexibility to the individual preferences of the diner. I was more than happy with my selections and if I had to choose again, I'd probably opt for the same selections. The charcoal noodles were adorned with a sautéed black bean sauce (reminiscent of jjajangmyun but lighter and more refined), giant squid (again, the knife work was incredibly detailed), and caviar in two forms. The caviar added notes of ocean salinity and luxury to the more humble but delicious chewy/firm sauced noodles.The mulhwe was a chilled kimchi broth dish with fluke, oyster, and sea urchin. The refreshing vinegar bite of the kimchi broth enveloped the proteins and accoutrements of seaweed, radish, and sesame leaf very well. Each of the proteins were at the peak of their respective qualities and were thoroughly enjoyed as they were scooped from the bowl.Prior to visiting, I saw that the barbecued quail was somewhat of a signature here so I went with that as my choice. The quail itself was wonderfully succulent while the skin was glazed perfectly. This was definitely appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed to the last bone.The desserts were subdued and understated but elegant. They consisted of a omija sorbet, milk pudding, and an herbal sikhye. The sorbet wasn't overly sweet and had a slight contrasting tartness from the magnolia berries. The milk pudding very much reminded me of a fresh burrata in terms of texture and taste, a slight firmness in the skin and a velvety interior. I enjoyed them all and they didn't serve to overwhelm you at the end of the meal.I highly recommend this establishment and my only regret was not meeting Chef Lee as he seemed quite busy; but I'm sure we'll be back again sometime in the future when visiting San Francisco.
😒
Very overpriced and disapointing food
3/5 by
davil on 07/27/2022
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.
🙂
Come here for a special occasion where you want to feel
Come here for a special occasion where you want to feel special. I came for a birthday, and they started celebrating it from the moment we walked in, wishing the birthday person happy birthday when we checked in, printing it on the menu, and surprising her at the end with an adorable birthday music box. So much has already been written about Benu, but if you like Asian flavors and more unique ingredients, this is the place to go. This was probably the most up my alley palette wise among the high-end restaurants I've gone to - almost everything I had I enjoyed, even the mains, which I usually find too heavy or bland or uninspiring. Don't be misled by the menu they give you. With the misleading name of "small delicacies" it sounds like there are 1-2 small bites that you'll be started off with before the xiao long bao, grain, fish, and meat courses. But no it's really like a full meal of "small delicacies", so pace yourself.What we had over our 3 hour meal: thousand year old quail egg, potage, ginger - refreshing start to the meal, I liked how the savory soup paired with the eggmarinated mussels stuffed with glass noodles - beautiful dish. it's tasty but tbh the primary flavor is probably the glass noodles.jellyfish wrapped in mustardcrispy spring salad with mangola peas, brackenfern, angelica shoots - essentially very well executed tempura with unique vegetables you've probably never hadmarinated mackerel, vegetable, gamtae seaweed - a reimagining of kimbap, and was one of my favorite small bites. I loved the unique texture of the gamtae seaweed (a seaweed native to Korea) and how it paired with the mackerel and crunchy vegetables. flowering tofu, chilled consommé, chili sesame oil - It fundamentally still just tastes like tofu with sesame oil, but man is it pretty.toasted acorn flour wrapper, iberico ham, black truffle - This was probably my favorite small bite - I loved the unique malleable texture of the acorn flour wrapper, paired with the delicious truffle and ham flavors. So good.chicken wing stuffed with whole abalone wrapped in liver mousse, grilled over charcoal - chicken was covered in a sticky sweet glaze and it was quite tasty but I just don't think I care for stuffed chicken that much. sprouted grain bread with butter drizzled with orange blossom honey infused with ginseng - bread and butter + honey is good so do have a bite but don't fill up on this because there's so much more food to goxiao long bao with homemade soy sauce and vinegar - It's a very well executed xiao long bao but it's still just a xiao long bao. short grain rice seasoned with green onion paired with steamed taro root and huacatay salad, preserved white asparagus with spicy pollock roe, roasted squash omelette marinated in tomato juice, water kimchi with heart of palm, roasted rock seaweed - I wasn't sure what to expect but turns out it's kind of like you're being served a variety of banchan. All of them were tasty and light, and I loved wrapping the small dishes with rice in the seaweed wrapper. charcoal noodles with sauteed black bean sauce + giant squid, sesame flowers, fresh and dried caviar - I had a bite of this and the noodles were nice and springy and had good flavor.mulhwe with iced water kimchi broth + cured fluke, sea urchin, sea cucumber + radish, sesame leaf, assorted seaweed - This is a raw fish dish which I enjoyed, every piece of fish / seafood was incredibly fresh. steamed cod in a mustard bath + chinese mustard greens, sour apple - This was probably my favorite of the fish dishes, the cod was so tender and I loved the sauce that it came withroast turbot glazed in spicy fermented pepper sauce + braised chrysanthemum and radish, dried garlic flowers - Also a very well executed tender fish.barbecued quail + broccoli xo sauce, black truffle - the quail they use is some specially bred massive sized quail and man is it delicious. The quail is so incredibly juicy. this was my favorite main. charcoal-grilled beef rib braised with beet and pear + steamed mountain yam, minari - beef rib is very tender but probably the least interesting of the meat mains. fried rabbit and liver soondae + wood ear, cilantro, sweet and sour rabbit jus - If you hadn't told me it was rabbit I would have thought this was fried chicken. They also give you the option of getting the fried rabbit head which we opted to get - it's got a high fried crunchy exterior to meat ratio since the head doesn't have a lot of meat so mostly it ends up tasting like the fried crunchy exterior. omija and olive oil - the unique thing about this dish is you're supposed to taste every flavor (salty, sweet, bitter, etc) but I just found it too off putting and didn't end up eating more than a few bitesmilk pudding + salt, smoke, peat - jiggly delicious milk puddingmalted rice tea, pine needle shiquette with toasted mint - toasted mint was interesting, a palate cleanser to end the meal
😍
Thoughtful in every way.
Incredible technique throughout. A true unique culinary experience. Nothing else like it on the West Coast.
We tried Benu this evening. We definitely recommend. A hot spot in the SF food scene right now. Everything we tired, was better then the last. It was so delicious. The creativity that goes into each of their dishes is awe inspiring. I don't how many times I said... wow tonite. The wine pairings were spot on. The service, unparalleled. I feel like at Benu, they make sure that each dish has the perfect texture as well as flavor combination and then find the right technique and ingredients to achieve that. Every ingredients they put was prepared to perfection. Presentation was impeccable. Very impressive! More details on the course: Small delicacies: - Thousand years quail egg: pretty good thousand years egg! - Oyster, pork belly, kimchi: The kimchi wrapper was so crispy and gave a kick to the overall dish. Oyster was fresh, and the cream foam thingy right under the oyster gave it a nice savory taste. Half-dried cod fried rice with spicy caviar and egg yolk Another very fragrant dish. The spicy caviar and egg yolk brought the fried rice to another level Spring chrysanthemum tofu soup Not really a fan of the broth but it was soothing. The tofu itself was really good and really pretty! The texture was like a super soft fish tofu and they made it in a shape of chrysanthemum flower which surprisingly make the texture even better. Apparently the quail itself is fattier than regular quail as it was raised by a farmer that's been working with them forever.please book a reservation and experience BENU for yourself.
😍
Dining at Benu was simply a delight.
The decor was minimalistic (I was a fan) and the music was tasteful, featuring jazz and classical ensembles. The waitstaff was lovely, engaging, efficient, and polite. We were served 16 courses, with 7 of those being the small delicacies. I can be a picky and not adventurous eater but some of my favorite dishes were some of the most innovative combinations. All were wonderfully presented, from the quail, the fried rabbit head, to the salad treasure chest and the XLB. Some of the stand outs were: - small delicacy: mussel stuffed with vegetables and rice noodles- a ratatouille ensemble arrange within in the mussel- small delicacy: tofu in chili and sesame. I LOVED the broth and the tofu was cut in a sea urchin-like sculpture and suspended in the broth. - small delicacy: bamboo shoot. It was glazed with a sugary concoction reminiscent of the sweet glaze on hot baked buns. It was heavenly. I have never liked bamboo shoot so much in my life. - small delicacy: oak tree inspired pancake with ham and truffle. Subtly savory and flavorful. - small delicacy: abalone stuffed in a chicken leg. So bizarre, so tasty. - bread and butter. The butter was lightly doused in a ginger or ginseng infused honey. I could have eaten this all day. - milk pudding. I am big on panna cotta so this was a hit for me. The smoky caramel ("salt, smoke, peat"?) was genius. - toasted mint in paper form. So bizarre but so much fun. It had the flavor of toasted marshmallow and mint. We had a slight snafu with our reservation being at 9pm (it being a 3 hour long course) and having our car locked in a parking garage when we went back at around 1230am. I recommend the valet next time, because the hassle of not having a car or hotel at midnight in SF and trying to figure out the next course of action when extremely sleepy was not worth the $26 parking fee. I did try to move our reservation earlier but alas the restaurant was fully booked. Reservations are refundable until 72 hours prior to dining. I would not hesitate to come back to Benu again!
😒
I selected this restaurant because it had been awarded a
I selected this restaurant because it had been awarded a Michelin 3 star rating. Unfortunately, it also gets a three star restaurant review.Why??? It's very dated. Contrived asian -fusion food is over. So is minimalist interior decor, and the contrived minimalist uniforms worn by the staff. Some items on the wine list were purely there for drama. Collectible Bordeaux at several thousand dollars per bottle are neither realistic nor salable. Tourists from small towns may be wowed, but more urbane diners will not be impressed.More specifically, we prepaid for a fifteen course meal. The food was more about culinary acrobatics and attentive service rather than a real experience.Yes, the service was absolutely wonderful. Food items were very interesting, unique, and flavorful. However, diners are also going to get clipped for a high end wine list, and a $30 valet parking fee. So all in, it's close to $500 per plate, but it's not a $500 meal.Very good, but not great. We left early feeling bored and overwhelmed.
😍
Amazing experience! Exceptional service! It is hard to book
Amazing experience! Exceptional service! It is hard to book for a reservation, just be patient to wait for availability. Worth the price!
😍
WOW, 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.
😍
Celebrated my boyfriends birthday here and enjoyed the
Celebrated my boyfriends birthday here and enjoyed the experience!They were able to accommodate for my diet (pescatarian, dairy-free, and egg-free) and without it feeling like I was missing out. In fact, my bf who had the normal course said that my dairy-free dessert was better than his regular dessert! We got a chocolate tart with pears for the dairy free dessert.I was hesitant by the menu feeling short when they brought the paper but with the short delicacies they bring you many dishes!The turbot was probably the winner of the night. Also really enjoyed the complimentary teas, especially the barley tea.
😍
A Dazzling Meal From Start to Finish – Flavorful, Unique, and Memorable
It’s worth repeating the writeup for Benu from the 50 Best Restaurants of the World (in which Benu currently sits at 28): “A 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 – convivial and relaxed – is all-out Californian.”
It is easy to see why Benu has garnered such high praise from the culinary world…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 chef’s culinary creations. A San Francisco foodie destination if ever there was one.
🙂
My husband got me here to celebrate my birthday dinner in
My husband got me here to celebrate my birthday dinner in luxury and style. Right off the bat, this place screams sophistication. We arrived early and so decided to take a walk around the block which gave us a chance to peek into the kitchen through the glass. It surely doesn't look like your regular kitchen with the staff running hustle bustle (or as they show in movies). Everyone looked calm and composed and seem worked with such ease. There is a coat check in as soon as you walk in. I was even escorted to the rest room by the staff when I asked them for directions. I felt like royalty :)Food and Drinks : Its a set menu except for the drinks and the main course. The staff will help you decide on wine pairings with the food. Every time I go to a place that offers multiple courses in tiny plates, my greed makes me believe that the food won't be enough to satiate my hunger and I am proven wrong every single time. Same goes with this place. Though the menu only lays out only 4 courses which was igniting my sense of greed, there were several tiny plates that came in even before the 4 course started. The food is delish and you can never guess the ingredients or will be left in disbelief. I decided to try rabbit here for the first time and wasn't disappointed. In the end, they brought us they tiniest and the cutest cake I have ever seen in my life. It was a very cute gesture!Ambience : The decor of this place is minimalistic. Nothing loud, even the furnitures look very subtle and simple. The Outdoors gave me very Japanese minimalism vibes as I walked through the front lawn/garden. There is not much decor indoors and it seems like all the effort was put into the food. Even the furniture in here was muted. I wish they did a little more with the space. The reason I am giving this a 4 star and not a 5 is because I felt that the table were a little too close to one another. Unfortunately for my husband and I, we had a very loud older couple sitting at the table next to ours which ruined our quite luxury experience. Whats more annoying was that they kept involving the staff in long conversations which made them delay our service.Staff : Extremely knowledgeable, courteous and helpful. They even apologized to us several times for our next table neighbors who were being so loud and the fact that they were being called in so many times by them. Our coats were ready as soon as we decided to head back. Full points for attention to detail!Value for money : It's a Michelin 3 star, so expect your pockets to be much lighter when you reserve a table here. But for occasions when you feel like splurging, this place is an experience you must try.
🤮
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.
😍
Came in here almost a year ago for my girlfriends birthday .
Sorry that my pictures don't have captions, but the foods had a lot of fancy descriptions that I don't quite remember , but they were super delicious. It was kind of my first fine dining experience so I was in a bit of awe. Service was great and everyone was extremely nice and helpful. I definitely want to come back again because I think I was too nervous to enjoy the full experience. I don't really belong in fancy places lol but I've had a few more experiences since so next time I'll be ready.
🙂
If you like Korean cuisine, you will love Benu.
Otherwise, it might not be the place to spend more than $500 per person for dinner.You won't be full eating here. For a table of 4, they served ONE roll of sourdough bread the size of a child's fist. The butter with honey was lovely though. The 2 desserts (pear sorbet and milk pudding) each was tinier than an egg. AND I am talking about the kind of eggs laid by California quails or mourning doves. I and my sister barely touched the little milk pudding so that my niece (a high school swimmer) could alleviate her hunger.
😍
Benu accomplishes so much to greatly earn it's Michelin 3
Benu accomplishes so much to greatly earn it's Michelin 3 stars. While the interior ambiance is very calming, any large group of 6 or more will take the noise level up considerably. Beyond that however, the menu concept has the true colors of Benu. While predominantly Asian in theme, there are subtle flairs of French. Each presentation is a work of art. Each bite demonstrates the Chefs orchestration of ingredients to accentuate flavor combinations beyond belief. As for the service, impeccable and very well timed. Do not be intimidated to ask any questions. No question is too dumb. All in all, a very memorable evening.
😒
I made reservations here to celebrate my fiancée's
I made reservations here to celebrate my fiancée's birthday and early anniversary. I picked Benu because it's a 3 Star Michelin restaurant that focuses on Asian Fusion food. The service was really good. Everyone was very attentive. One of the servers noticed I was left handed and moved my utensils to the left side after our first dish. The outside is tucked away in a part of Downtown SF. It looks like a hidden gem. The interior is very minimalistic. It's simple design, and monochromatic, but that helps to invoke intimacy while you eat I guess. Now, the reason I gave Benu, a 3 Star Michelin restaurant, 3/5 stars is because it just didn't feel like It to me. I didn't come out of the restaurant going, "Wow, that was amazing. Something I'll definitely remember!" It was more of a "How is this place 3 Stars again???"I'm not saying the experience or food was bad. It was elevated, but it wasn't exceptionally memorable. It wasn't something I wanted to brag to all my friends about. It wasn't something I could justified spending almost $1k on!I will say that you'll definitely get full off of the 15 course meal. There some surprises like the quail egg was wonderfully well done. That was the first dish that made me to wow, but then everything else fell short. I felt there was a little too much pickled foods. I know that it's draw from the influence of Korean culture. But the pickled theme was a little too much. Things like the XLB fell short. (I coulda got that from Ding Ding House)I do like that, unless most tasting menus. Benu gives you the ability to choose 3 different entrees, for entree portion of the tasting menu. I was feeling adventurous and tried the fried rabbit. I never had rabbit before and figured if I was ever going to try it, do it at Michelin star restaurant right? We'll, it was poor decision on my end. That's my bad for picking rabbit, I'll admit that. Shoulda went with the rib or quail instead. All and all it was a good experience. It just wasn't a spectacular one. And it certainly didn't feel like a thousand dollar meal. We'll probably won't be coming back. But it's nice that we're able to cross off another Michelin star restaurant off our list.
😒
Reservation is made a month in advance.
My first time at a 3-star michelin so I had some sort of expectation. To summarize, if you're familiar with staple Asian dishes (e.g. 1,000 year old egg, Dumplings, Quail, Mentaiko, etc), the dishes you get here will feel the same but more elevated with additional ingredients. I can see why some people can be disappointed. Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed the different additional ingredients and methods that each dish was brought together, but I don't think I could come again. Service - 5 / Ambiance - 4 / Food - 3 / Price - 2
😍
This review is long overdue, as we celebrated our
This review is long overdue, as we celebrated our engagement over dinner in November. Though I've dined at Michelin starred restaurants, this was my first time at a 3 star and that extra star definitely makes a difference! The monochromatic multi-textured aesthetic invokes a sense of calm as soon as you are greeted at the door. We were quickly seated and our waiter explained the details of the menu and briefed us on the optional selections, which were hard to choose from with only 2 people in our party. In the end it doesn't really matter what you order because it's all delicious! The entire experience lasted around 3 hours, which is what I expected. If you're drinking wine like I did, you'll most likely get the opportunity to use their fancy Toto toilets, which cannot be underestimated in a "public" restroom, haha! At the end of the meal, we were presented with an interactive dessert + music box which made the experience extra sweet and fun. Favorite delicacies/courses: 1000 year quail egg, stuffed mussel (so pretty too!), honey butter, acorn taco with black truffle and Iberico ham (not pictured), xiao long bao, bbq quail + steam bun (for a makeshift sandwich OMG), and the fried rabbit (they give the option of bringing out the head to the table if you're not too squeamish- my fiancé recommends it as the best part, but I was too full/not feeling adventurous to try it)!I don't know that we will be back, because we are so full of curiosity to try other places in the area, but would definitely recommend to our foodie friends!
🤢
Massive waste of money.
Everything is cooked well but very little creativity. Not a single dish makes you go "oh wowwwww". Why am I paying so much for XLBs that are barely 5% better than good XLBs elsewhere for a few bucks. The quail is cooked quite well but again it's by no means "shocking" how it tastes. It's smoked and tender but so what? Why was the hokkaido uni in a pickled sauce so pungent that you literally cannot taste anything but that sauce. Don't waste your money here.
🙂
3 michelin stars and 28th best restaurant in the world for
3 michelin stars and 28th best restaurant in the world for our 26th anniversary dinner! Customer services was superb and each dishes were truly creative and distinct! Unfortunately not every dish satisfied my palate! We truly enjoyed the whole experience and each master course but don't think we will ever come back hence we need to try other michelin restaurant
Back
Back
Any post-paid time that starts 
Tap here to bid for more than one day
Fair Price: $
The French Laundry Yountville
Best Posts
1 Thumbs Up
0 Replys, 0 comments
Last Reply by FluffyStar64 (03/30/2022 5:42 pm)
Your bid has been “matched” with a reservation. From the time a reservation has been located, the seller of the reservation must connect with moderator to give transfer information for reservation. If the seller;however, does NOT respond to reservation transfer, then your bid is reprocessed and returns to the first step, which is connecting your request to a reservation.
Best answer by EvocativeFold67 (10/02/2021 4:37 pm)