Ernest — Restaurant in San Francisco

Updated review - August 2022 - Tasting Menu: (-) Willapa Soleil Oyster, Penn Cove Co., Bruceport, WA - served with a weird like strawberry sauce that tasted like melted sorbet and was too much and too sweet for the oyster. (+) (Addon) Uni Toast - little pieces of jamon and quail egg, one of my absolute favorites. the toast is perfection, i dont even know how you make that. Plenty of uni. So yum. (-) Mexican Shrimp Coctel - love how much shrimp and avocado you get on this but I can't stand that it's served with saltines, lol. (+) King Salmon with Chilled Tom Kha, Makrut Lime Leaf - I really liked this, love the little mushrooms in it and I thought the chilled tom kha was refreshing and delicious. ( ) SoCal Yellowfin Tuna with Cherry Tomato - I thought the viniagrette oil or whatever they used was a little overpowering and didn't do the yellowfin justice. (+) Parker House Rolls w/ House Cultured Butter & Its Milk (+) Sushi Rice w/Ikura, Raw Beef, Toasted Nori - one of my absolute faves. ( ) Aged Beef Dumplings w/Salsa Macha - i think the sauce was a bit too much. (+) Crab Rangoon Dip w/Peach Sweet & Sour, Wonton Chips (+) Heirloom Tomatoes w/Avocado, Fig, Red Curry Vinaigrette - and the ricotta! Really yummy. (+) Brentwood Corn w/Yellow Nectarine, Summer Truffle (+) Koshihikari Fried Rice w/Nightshades, Summer Squash, Jidori Egg. Lots of little surprises in this fried rice. (+) Lo Mein w/Manila Clams, Smoked Trout Roe - omg this was one of my favorites. SO GOOD. (+) Pork Neck Tonkatsu w/Heirloom Tomatoes, Green Goddess - far too much dill in the green goddess but still really delicious (+) Smoked Duck Breast w/Sukiyaki Broth, Chrysanthemum - really good, that sauces is delicious (+) Medium Rare Basque Cheesecake (+) Soft Serve Sundae (+) Strawberry Shortcake Shave Ice

June 2022 Review (+) Uni toast. Omg. Yum. The texture of the bread, deep fried, the uni. I died. I had to share one with my husband and... Beef tartare - soooo good. Just do it. (-) Shrimp cocktail - served with saltines...? Idk it was shrimp and avocado. Passable ( ) Oyster - a lot of granita. Passable (+) Hamachi - Wow ( ) Maguro - meh (+) Fried rice - really good, loved the freshness of the Asian pear on top (+) Beef and bone marrow - wow this was rich but delicious.

Would highly recommend getting the...

The food and service were exceptional. This should have been a 5-star review as other reviews have noted. I am only giving it 1 star so the owner will read the review and take corrective action.

Again, the food and service were really outstanding. I dined alone and had two raw oysters, an alcoholic version of the Singapore Sling, the Parker Rolls, the baked squash, the beef tartare, the lo mein noodles, and the basque cake. $120 plus tip and worth every penny.

There was one really glaring problem that ruined what was going to be one of the best and most memorable meals of my life.

The night I dined there, San Francisco was being pelted with a much needed violent rainstorm and intense winds. California has been suffering from a major drought. This rainstorm was probably the first in the short history of this restaurant.

Sitting at the bar, every time the front door was opened, I was blasted with cold air.

The rude and incompetent greeter at the door was not making any effort to get people in quickly and then sort out their reservation status after.

Like a guard, by his inaction, he forced a large party to stand in a small area in front of his stand, with the last person in the group standing in the doorway and holding the door open. While he continued to discuss the reservation or lack thereof with the person “leading” the group.

Meanwhile, I felt like I was in a wind tunnel in the middle of my meal. I shouted at the party to please come in and stop holding the door open.

The “little Hitler” host felt he needed to chastise and insult me because I had to do his job from ten feet away and should not have “yelled at his guests.” I hope he gets fired.

No one took seriously my suggestion to do what they do in restaurants in cold weather cities and install a canvas curtain to keep the cold air in the vestibule and not blowing inside the restaurant. Letting outside air into the restaurant also raises their heating bill.

So, five star restaurant with one bad nasty employee and an architect/designer who believed it would never rain again in San Francisco.

Please go, just not on a...

First, the restaurant is located on Florida and Mariposa not Bryant. You can see it on the map but we got dropped off based on the address and it took a few minutes to find the actual place. Because of that, we walked in 7 minutes late. We were greeted with a reminder that we were late and only had 3 hours to complete our meal. It didn't set a great tone for a celebratory dinner. When we sat down, the server reminded us again that we were late. Definitely didn't feel welcomed after that. He then hovered over us waiting for drink orders and pressured us into getting our entire order in. He did recommend an appropriate amount of food for the group and was "attentive" in that we felt forced to finish our starters so he could plate the table for mains which took a while. Everyone working there seems stressed and you can feel the tension. Even when the food is brought, the person describing it is speaking as they hurry from the table which you can already barely hear because of the too loud music. I felt startled every time someone approached me because it felt so aggressive like they were rushing at me. I couldn't wait for the meal to end so we could leave that environment. So, would give zero stars for atmosphere if I could. You are paying way too much for that experience.

The food is good. The starters are the highlight of the place and the dessert is also very good, however not mind-blowing. The mains...not memorable but edible.

I would not recommend this place for a group larger than a 2 top or for any special night. You definitely won't leave with good feels and you'll feel like you paid a lot of money for that yuck feeling. You'll just be constantly reminded of the things the chef doesn't like and pay for the privilege.

Between our desire to leave ASAP and staff rushing us, we left in 90 minutes. Glad were able to stay within that 3 hour time limit.

Overall, would say 2.5...