Greens Restaurant Review

We left Greens Restaurant very satisfied. The appetizers and desserts were slightly better than the entrees, but every single dish was solid and good. This was one of the Chronicle Top 100 restaurants that we could see how it actually deserved the honor.

Approaching the restaurant through the warehouse-like structures that make up Fort Mason was a bit odd. After parking at Safeway -we didn't see the entrance to Fort Mason's parking lot- and braving the cold wind coming off the water, we entered Greens and was greeted by its spacious decor. High ceilings (20+ feet), a tall (10 foot high) window that ran the length of one wall of the restaurant, and large (5x6 feet?) soft-toned paintings hanging on the walls made this large restaurant (seats 100?) fit appropriately in its warehouse building. When we arrived, the room was two-thirds full and decreased progressively as the night wore on.

The food was generally nearly as high quality and consistency as Zax Tavern. (I say nearly because, as one attendee described it, "The meal was failed potential -- so many dishes were so close to greatness, bot most stopped at merely good." Zax's had a bit more items that hit the greatness.) But how were the particular dishes we ordered? Next are the details, followed by a few further comments on the atmosphere and service.

Appetizers: 

• Potato griddle cakes. Pretty good, and similar in texture and appearance to a cross between potato pancakes and crab cakes. Served with tiny tasty pear chunks with whipped cream.

• Hot olive oil salad. Pretty good. The olive oil wasn't significantly hot when the dish reached us, but the heat already had the nice effect of melting some of the cheese (gorgonzola?) into the greens and it all worked well together.

• Cheese plate. Pretty good. Both cheeses were soft and creamy. One was a tad bluish and sharp; the other rather mild. Served with whole figs (which always go well with cheese) and whole acorns.

When the entrees were delivered, we were impressed by how beautifully they were presented: 

• Ravioli with cheese and (porcini) mushrooms both inside and on top, mixed with pine nuts. Like everything else, quite good. This dish was also stunningly fragrant, emitting a wonderful odor we all noticed as it was delivered.

• Pizza provencal. While still decent, this was item we ordered we were least happy with. The best part of the pizza was the whole cloves of garlic and tomatoes on top. Little bundles of flavor! But the pizza itself had an unusual crust that was a bit oily and a cheese that, while we all liked it, was too rich and sharp for us to finish the pizza. (We think it was parmesan, an unusual selection as the primary cheese of a pizza.)

• Grilled skewers of tofu, mushrooms, peppers, yams, fennel, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes. Everything but the tofu here is good. The tofu, as I wrote in my notes, was "just bad." The tomatoes and mushrooms and yam slices were great! Served with couscous mixed with almonds and figs and tossed with a vinegar-based sauce. We all enjoyed the couscous.

As for dessert, we split two unusual selections: 

• Pumpkin bread pudding, served as a slice (like pie). Although it had a mild pumpkin flavor, as a whole it was fairly similar to tiramisu. Some attendees complained it had too much of a rum flavor, but toward the middle of the slice the rum flavor and the complaint diminished. In the end, quite decent.

• Grape sorbets. Two scoops of sorbet, one purple and one white, served with a piece of biscotti. Both, quite sweet, were very reminiscent of wine. The purple was very good and creamy, and one attendee called it his favorite part of the meal; all of us agreed it was delightful. The white one was disappointing (even without the contrast with the purple) -- the sorbet was crystalline and chunky in places as if it had been melted and refrozen.

We all had glasses of wine with which we were happy (and got good recommendations from the waiter). One person ended the meal with a very good chai tea with steamed chocolate (which the waiter accurately described as chai with mexican hot chocolate); another person ended the meal with a jasmine tea that was declared good and respectable.

Greens has a decent view of the water. Sadly, it faces west (and is located on the northern edge of San Francisco) so we didn't get to the see the densely packed skyscrapers that make up the center of the city. However, we imagined Green's actual view looking westward toward the golden gate would be very impressive during sunset.

Service was excellent from the moment we entered the door -the immediate recognition and seating by the hostess, unprompted taking of jackets, and the way the waiters stepped out of the way as we passed- through dinner -the waiter was extremely knowledgeable about the food and described it quite aptly- and through our departure -the hostess, unprompted, recognizing us and bringing back our jackets-.

Total was $44/person for a three-course meal counting taxes and tip but without drinks. We paid a little more because we all had glasses of wine, some of us had coffee/tea (all of which we were all happy with), and we tipped more heavily because of the very good service.

Original Announcement

This *Thursday* at 8:00pm we'll converge in the city at Greens Restaurant (in Fort Mason) for vegetarian food. Greens has been the only vegetarian restaurant consistently in the Chronicle's Top 100 list and is well regarded by chowhounds.

http://www.greensrestaurant.com/

Please tell me if you are coming!

Comments from Other Attendees

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