Going to GARY DANKO'S...what to order...
 

Hey There,
We're going to Gary Danko's this weekend. We have never been there. Their new fall menu is on-line. Who has been there? What are your comments? Which menu items did you really like, or didn't like? Thanks!

I hope you have a wonderful and memorable meal.

Watch out, you might get a response from somebody @};- who said she wanted to make reservations there but couldn't get in. She did see the menu, though and has some suggestions...yikes!

We are going on 11/18. We are from DC and are spending 5 nights in San Fran. We are really looking forward to it. Please post after your dinner. We have a 9:00 reservation and I am hoping it is like DC and is hopping at that time!

We ate at Gary Danko's in June. We really liked that we were allowed to create our "own" tasting menu. I was there pre-fall menu, but I know we ordered a lobster appetizer and a lobster main and they were both superb, as was the duck dish they were offering at the time.

One thing we wished we had not done was ordering the wine pairing. The wines they selected were average/mundane and the pours were super skimpy. It was not worth the money. With the nice wine menu they offer, we wished we had ordered a full bottle of something!

denice, I don't know about the times at Gary Danko, but I will say that SF seems to be a fairly early dining city compared to other cosmopolitan big cities. I can't tell you how often we'd book at 8:30 or 9:00 at really popular restaurants and find ourselves the last ones there about 10:00 or 10:30. It was a drastic difference from places like New York, LA, Boston, and even Chicago, which I always felt was an early town, too.

Yeah, Patrick, we live healthy lives, no food before bedtime, yeah! ((Y))

One of our favorite here in San Francisco.

You won't go wrong with any of the tasting menu ... and don't forget to ask for a quick tour of the kitchen after you dinner.

Faina, the trick is not to go to bed till 1 or 2!

Patrick: Don't you know Faina gets out of bed at 2 am and turns into a pumpkin? LOL!

I always go for the game--duck, quail, etc. Outstanding.

No Shanghainese, first I turn into a pumpkin, then I roll out of bed :))

Faina: We will have to enter you into the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Contest next year!

Sure! Just roll me down!

The dinner at Gary Danko's was a great experience. We ordered the 5 course dinner. We're not really into cheese, so we skipped the cheese course. Instead, we opted for an additional meat and seafood course. It was great that they allow you to create your dinner however you like it. My husband and I had a total of 10 different dishes that we shared. Below is a review of our dinner:

Appetizer:
AHI TUNA-was superb. It was quality ahi...never seen it so red!
SEARED FOIE GRAS with caramelized onion and apples-heavenly flavors and generous portion of foie gras!
Seafood:
HORSERADISH CRUSTED SALMON-was told that it's one of their signature dishes that they never take off the menu. Beautiful presentation, but I thought it lacked flavor. The horseradish didn't come through. The crust on top was kind of weak.
MAINE LOBSTER WITH CHANTERELLES-awesome dish. Wonderful tarragon sauce. Didn't want hubby to touch any of this one!
SEARED YELLOWFIN TUNA-very nice flavors again. Was a very light dish.
HERB CRUSTED LOIN OF LAMB-it was very tender...but I didn't really care for the flavors of this one.
LEMON HERB DUCK BREAST-generous portion. Tender and good flavor.
BEEF TENDERLOIN-the meat was very good but overall the dish lacked flavor. It was served with a sweet potato gratin which was nothing special.
Dessert:
TRIO OF CREME BRULEE-creme brulee is creme brulee unless it is really good creme brulee. This was just creme brulee...so we should have ordered something else. Huge portions of 3 different flavors.
APPLE BREAD PUDDING-this was to die for! I couldn't get enough of it.

At the end of dinner, they brought out some miniature desserts. It was nice, but not overly outstanding (like the ones from French Laundry). Overall it was a great dinner. We took pictures of every dish that came out. Service was good. The bathrooms were really nice. Had nice lavender aromatherapy going on. At the end, we asked for a copy of the evening's menu and were surprised that they gave us copies signed by the man himself!

Sounds divine! Tiny portions ala the French Laundry I hope and presume....

Regarding the salmon, if they serve it year-round, I doubt that it would be consistantly fresh wild salmon, therefore, it would not have as food of a flavor as most who know salmon, desire. Did they tell you it was fresh and wild (sounds like an old boyfriend of mine)? Did you pair your meal with wines?

Aaaaah, the lobster with the mushrooms. You guys did very well.

BTW, I wouldn't say that it's fair to compare the dishes, even the miniature pastries, with French Laundry. After all, the superb $210 tasting menu at FL is more than twice that at Gary Danko's. However, the service at GD is almost un-paralleled by any San Francisco restaurant.

Wow zachanned..
Thank you so much for sharing what you had..everything sounded delicious and the lobster with chanterelles sounds divine and you had the profiteroles for dessert just like French Laundry..
What type of wine did you have?
I can't wait to go to Gary Danko's!!