L'Ardoise Bistro — Restaurant in San Francisco

We enjoyed another lovely, relaxing evening at l'Ardoise, this time at the 9:15 seating on a cold and rainy night.

We again shared the delicious Tiger Shrimp ravioli as a starter. My husband also remembered loving the Coq au Vin from our visit last summer and was very happy with his choice.

I had the excellent and fairly priced salmon and cod special. The fish was wrapped together in a chard leaf and seared, placed on a bed of fresh crunchy cucumber and butternut squash spirals on top of mashed potatoes, then finished with a lobster sauce.

The dish was beautifully prepared, the ingredients complemented each other, and the fish was tender and flavorful. I had a glass of white Sancerre, recommended by the waitress, and liked it. I asked for a half-pour to go with the rest of the meal and was accommodated, which I appreciated. Not all SF restaurants will do this! We would love to have a wider choice of wines by the glass as we are not big drinkers.

Dessert to share was a special double swan puff pastry they added for Valentine's Day filled with hazelnut cream and "floating" on a lake of creme patisserie. Dinner was hearty, so we did not want a heavy dessert. The double decaf espresso was excellent and went well with it.

The beautiful aspects of French culture are expressed here--the excellence of the food, comfortable atmosphere, and emphasis on enjoyment. We never felt rushed and enjoyed a lively conversation with our waiter. Several groups of friends hung out, talking and laughing as the restaurant emptied. There's something magical about a place that lets you retreat from the urban rush and be in the moment. It was a bit of a splurge for us, but it's worth it, and I think it will now be a regular feature of...

L'Ardoise is a nice, neighborhood restaurant, with the feel of an authentic, French neighborhood bistro. The food was pretty good but didn't amaze us. (There were four of us -- all of whom were first-timers.) We tried the escargot and butter lettuce salad with white anchovy filets as starters. The escargot sauce was delicious. The salads were very fresh and had relatively mild, pickeled anchovie filets.

For our main courses, I had rack of lamb, which was fine. My partner had the duck breast, which was a bit dry. The pommes landaises that came with our meals were out of this world -- simple but extraordinarily delicious! Both of our other dining companions had hanger steak (ordered medium) with pommes frites. They said that, although the cut of the hanger steaks appeared unusual, they were perfectly prepared, even if they were not terribly tender. That being said, we all cleaned our plates and shared the "floating island" dessert, which was pleasant and a nice treat.

The service was a bit disjointed. We actually failed on our first attempts, to get the attention of the servers, to ask them if we could order a drink. And then, later in the meal, when we wanted to order more wine, had to get our server's attention to ask again. Perhaps they wanted to give the authentic European service experience. 🙂

I would go again. I would just lower my expectations regarding the service level and would take more responsibility for ordering and requesting everthing that we...

This intimate little boite serves up scrumptious French fare in an elegant setting.

There are no windows in this Bistro, and the front opening is covered by heavy, velvet drapery. If you plan on waiting for a table, you'll be waiting outside unless you snag one of the couple chairs sandwiched between the drapery and the glass.

The food is the star here. Their Coq au Vin is fabulous, the sauce done just right. The duck confit is supreme. Poultry has never been my favorite, but L'Ardoise makes me seriously question why that should be the case, so adept is their execution. The Loch Salmon Duart on a bed of parmesan risotto is the perfect blend of water and earth. The mixed green salad with goat cheese is simply delightful.

For dessert, the chocolate fondant was exquisitely scrumptious. Top all of this off with an excellent bottle of Pinot Noir and you have a dining experience so sumptuous and satisfying that you won't bat an eye at the hefty price tag, because it's worth every dollar.

The feel of this place is high-end, but thankfully, not fussily so. Most of the diners here are casually dressed, though staff is not.

The staff are reserved but very attentive to their customers' needs. They kept bringing us delicious baguette and butter until we begged them to stop, as we couldn't keep ourselves from eating it. They check with you regularly to see if all the needs of the table are being met.

A truly magnificent experience. Highly...