Prospect – 11/26/10

ByDarin November 30, 2010September 15, 2021

Prospect
Infinity Towers
300 Spear St
San Francisco, CA 94105

Prospect is the latest restaurant opening by the team behind Boulevard, which has been a fixture in the SF dining scene for over a decade. One of the highly anticipated openings this year in the city, it features a contemporary American menu with an emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients (though, who doesn’t nowadays in San Francisco?).

We started off with a few appetizers.

Yellowtail Crudo seaweed rice cracker, pickled cucumber, white miso

This yellowtail, pounded thin, was accompanied by crunchy pickled cucumber and a little bit of a mild miso flavor. These clean, bright flavors were complemented by the textural addition of the crunchy seaweed rice crackers.

Handpicked Dungeness Crab chilled beets, vadouvan yogurt, spiced onion rings

The crab was in nice chunks, sweet and tasty. The beets were also good, while some onion rings provided a nice crunch. I would have liked a little more crab in this dish, however.

Seared Calamari & Octopus house made chorizo, savory clams, aillade, confit garlic potatoes

This dish looked really interesting, and it didn’t disappoint. Squid, octopus and clams were all present in this dish, and I really liked the slightly spicy, smoky chorizo. The potatoes added some heaviness to this dish making it a filling, yet delicious, appetizer. I thought the octopus was a little chewy though, especially compared to the tender calamari.

Black Cod shiso shrimp fritter, shiitakes, snap peas, red curry

The black cod was extremely moist and flaky. Very nice. The curry added some extra depth of flavor.

Roasted Quail wild rice, broccoli romanesco, fuyu persimmon, almonds, brown butter

Very nice preparation of quail here with a good char on the outside and a very juicy and moist interior. Lots of flavor.

Next were the entrees.

California White Sea Bass chanterelles, celery root & sunchoke puree, oyster bisque emulsion, crispy sunchokes

This was much denser and less moist than the black cod. I wouldn’t say it was dry, but it didn’t have the same moist flakiness as the cod.

Lamb Loin fingerling potatoes, artichoke, marcona almond romesco, green olive, mint & tongue relish

This was a nice preparation of lamb – very tender and flavorful.

Wagyu Zabuton butterball potatoes, creamed cippolinis, smoked trumpet mushrooms, spinach, mustard seed jus

I ordered this medium rare, and this turned out to be sort of on the lower side of medium rare. As a result, the meat was kind of chewy (not tough) for my tastes. The flavor of the meat was good though, with the mustard seed jus adding depth of flavor. The spinach and buttery potatoes were great accompaniments.

Next we tried three of the desserts on the menu.

Petit S’mores house made peppermint marshmallows, graham wafers, melted ganache, crushed candy canes

I really enjoyed these holiday s’mores. The cookie was gingerbread, the marshmallows were peppermint, and there were some crushed candy canes on top, all adding to the holiday theme. The ganache and marshmallows were warm and gooey – in tandem with the gingerbread cookie, these were comforting and delicious.

Ice Cream Sandwiches chocolate cookies, eggnog ice cream

I love ice cream sandwiches so this was a must-try. In keeping with the holiday theme, eggnog ice cream was the choice. While the cookie and ice cream were both good individually, the cookie was way too hard; as a result, the ice cream just squeezed out after each bite…defeating the purpose of the sandwich. I don’t understand how this was overlooked.

House Made Ice Cream chocolate brownie chunk

Lastly, we tried this ice cream. A very good ice cream with a deep chocolate flavor, though not exceptional.

I was pretty happy with this meal. I thought the menu was interesting, and offered variety of appealing dishes that tasted good. While nothing was mindblowing, all of the dishes “worked” for me and were things I’d come back for. Though, probably not for the ice cream sandwich.

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