Loooong Lunch
Written: Aug 13 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very nice wait staff, well-prepared food, desserts
Cons: A bit slow, very few vegetarian options
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| WhiteGlove's Full Review: Boulevard |
I went to Boulevard for the first time last Friday with six others (a bon voyage lunch for a friend), and we had a lot of fun. Three hours of fun, to be exact.
Our waiter was extremely pleasant and the wait staff could not have been nicer. But it would have been nice to get our bread within the first half-hour of being seated. We received our drink orders relatively quickly (about 15 minutes after being seated). Then we began to wonder what we would need to do to get the waiter's attention to order our meal (one friend suggested that we all put our heads down on the table). Thirty-five minutes after being seated, we were able to give the waiter our orders.
About twenty minutes later, the appetizers arrived. The appetizers ranged in price from about $7 (soup of the day - lobster bisque with a few shrimp) to $16. I chose the arugula and fennel salad with feta cheese and raspberry vinaigrette. The arugula was very tasty, but I could not taste the fennel at all (I like fennel), even after taking an entire fork of only fennel. The raspberry vinaigrette, although delicious, caused me to raise an eyebrow at first as it looked like russian dressing rather than a vinaigrette. No matter - the pink was lovely in contrast to the dark green of the lettuce. My companions thought the lobster bisque was excellent, and the tuna tartare was great but still not as good as Aqua's.
Another thirty minutes later or so, we got our entrees (from about $13 for risotto to $25 for medallions of steak). They substituted the grilled mahi mahi with grilled ono, which I chose. Good, hearty portion, which I could not finish. It was served over edamame beans and a miso beurre blanc. The sauce really brought the dish together because otherwise the ono had very little flavor (and I love fish and seafood and can distinguish between nearly every fish with just a small taste) and the edamame beans, of course, had very little flavor to them. But the sauce really was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. I did not pick and probe at the others' plates, but everyone only had compliments for their respective meals and I think I was the only one with any remnant of food left on a plate! As a side note, I recall only one vegetarian option, a risotto with heirloom tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
For dessert, we just could not choose which of the wonderful treats to get. So we got one of each, except for the grape sorbet. Heather Ho was voted best pastry chef in SF by SF Magazine, and she did not disappoint. I mainly indulged in the cheese plate, but also tried the fresh berries which were served with ice cream sandwiches of fresh gingersnap cookies sandwiching fromage blanc ice cream. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The cookies were soft, but had a super ginger bite to them (I am a big fan of ginger in almost any form) and when contrasted with the ultra-smooth ice cream, your taste buds just do a little dance.
The chocolate mousse, bread pudding terrine, gooey butter cake, torta della nonna, and one other dessert that escapes my memory were wolfed down by the others.
A few people ordered the Sauternes and the port, of which I tried a taste of each. If it wasn't the middle of the day and I had to return to the office I would have gotten a glass of one of them myself. I've always been disappointed by places that overly emphasize ports or brandies or sauternes, and Boulevard had a very balanced menu of dessert wines - at least two excellent selections of the major types of dessert wines.
Although the dining room was packed, it never got noisy. The ceilings are tiled with brick which likely helps dampen echoes and keep the sound to a pleasant murmur around you.
Reservations are highly recommended, but it looked like people were just sitting at the bar if they walked in without one.
Oh, and the total bill for all 7 of us (each with appetizer, entree and dessert, plus one bottle of wine during lunch and 4 after-lunch drinks) was $475. I would recommend Boulevard to a friend so long as he or she was not paying. The food is good, but quite over-priced. The service, even though slow, was excellent (they did not take away the plates as everyone finished but rather waited until all were done, as they should).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
WhiteGlove
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Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 5 members
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