Le Colonial — Restaurant in San Francisco

In short: An all-around wonderful experience. Quality drinks, exceptional food, attentive and helpful staff, great ambiance. We've already reached out to other friends of ours about going there for a 'double date'.

The full story: We arrived early for our reservation and headed upstairs to the lounge for drinks. I knew what I wanted right away but my wife was undecided, we asked for the bartender for a recommendation and he was spot on with a sweet drink for her that was citrus based so it wasn't cloyingly sweet. A great way to start the evening.

We were seated at a table for two, but unlike some places we've been the table was large enough for us to be comfortable with our entrees. I'm a tall person and not knocking my knees is a good thing. There is an outside area and an inside area. The outside is more of a street cafe feel with the glassed over trellises and open airy experience. Inside is a darker formalized setting with designed tin plated ceiling, and dimmer lighting.

Our waiter was extremely helpful. He knew the menu well as well as the preparation of the dishes and had excellent recommendations. I knew what I wanted but after we were done talking I'd changed my mind and know I was happier with the resulting meal than I would have been with my first choice.

We started with the tasting appetizer platter for two and you could taste the freshness of the ingredients in each bite. Even the fried foods were light and crisp without the normal heaviness from the fryer.

For the main course my wife had Ca Hap La Chuoi, a steamed Chilean sea bass wrapped in banana leaves. You could taste each ingredient, which was amazing for a dish like this. The fish was perfectly cooked, the pasta was light and complemented the dish. I had the special which was a lobster bisque with a puffed pastry butter crust. It had a coconut milk and lemon grass base with huge chunks of lobster. It was rich and amazingly balanced.

At the recommendation of our waiter we shared the Xu Bruxelles, Brussels sprouts, for a side. They were well cooked with thinly sliced carrots and a sweet glaze. It almost could have been a dessert on its own and went well with both of our meals.

Following everything else dessert did not disappoint. My wife had Riz Au Lait, a coconut based rice pudding with passion fruit, kiwi, licci, and sesame nougat candies. In her words "it was light and refreshing, the candies gave just enough crunch that it was perfect". I don't remember what it is called but I had a rum sponge cake with a whipped topping and thin layer of custard, of course ordered with the side of hot spiced rum. I was blown away, the cake was a base flavor heightened by the topping and the taste just expanded in my mouth. After the bisque it was perfect because I think anything too sweet would have been unbalanced.

During the evening we were visited by not only our weighted and the support staff but also a gentleman in a suit and one of the two maitre d'. There was never a moment when our drinks were dry or we were left wanting for something. This is truly a...

This place would probably be a solid 2 or 3 normally. However, the floor manager has no business running the front of the house. Maybe he's one of those guys that got rich in tech and decided to become a restauranteur, but he ruined our party's evening all by himself.

First off we arrived early and we wanted to take advantage of happy hour. Granted we were seated at our table, but our waitress (who btw was great) mentioned that people bring their drinks down from the bar upstairs. Nope! stopped cold by our buddy the floor manager. Has to be drunk upstairs.

We check into Yelp and notice that there is a special 5 course meal for $48. Nope! stopped by our buddy the floor manager again. You have to call in a day ahead, and it can only be with a reservation! They have to prepare! We point out that there are no restrictions mentioned on the Yelp check in, and what's the point of having a check in deal if you can't use it without a reservation etc. He says oh well that's supposed to be changed blah blah blah. He's either lying or he's an idiot for doing such an idiotic job in marketing.

At this point we were about to walk out, but we decided screw this we're going to happy hour. We ask to move our table upstairs and we end up drinking and eating upstairs which isn't a problem since this place was less than 1/3rd filled on a week night. Our waitress upstairs was just as good as ours downstairs. Nice, pleasant and honest. When we mentioned something about our buddy the floor manager downstairs, she basically went yeah, I've gotten a few comments about him tonight.

The food was OK, the only thing exceptional was how high the price is, about 30% more expensive than comparable food. I've spent less for a meal at about half a dozen Michelin starred restaurants than this place. Shoot I think I spent about the same money at Michael Mina and definitely less at Aziza before. I think I liked the crab noodles the best. That was a slightly over priced side dish, but at least it was a good size. The fried banana dessert was also good as well.

The only redeeming things was that our waitresses who were good. As bad as it made me feel because of our buddy, I had left a full tip because our waitresses did a good job. Especially while being supervised by our clueless buddy the...

I was first taken here on a date many years ago. The food is quite pricey, but was delicious. I had the catfish wrapped in banana leaves. In the years since, I'd gone there often for swing dancing in the lounge upstairs. The menu up there is good also. Last year, they suddenly decided not to have live music anymore which was a big disappointment. It's a cool place with a nice warm atmosphere. Recently, I found out that they had started up the live music again. I called to inquire about the band and was told that they were closed for a private event that night. I went to their website to see the calendar for other nights. It stated that they were closed for a few dates for private events. No music info on the calendar at all, so I called to inquire about a day other than the closed days listed and was stiffly told that they were closed for a private event that other night also. When I asked about the bands and what night the swing bands plays, mentioning that there was no info on the website to go by, I was treated very rudely and told that there was no dancing allowed. Such a "fine" establishment should not be so haughty and rude in their customer service. If you don't like to answer customer questions, update the website! If you have an attitude, customer service positions are not for you! SHAME ON YOU LE COLONIAL. You USED to be a great place. Now, you're just a stuck-up, rude has-been and that's too bad. There are MANY MANY restaurant options in this city. You know that and shouldn't be driving customers away. You'll learn the hard way. To people looking for good eats, there are MANY PLACES in SF were the food is fabulous and the prices are much lower where you won't get treated rudely. If you want a pleasant experience, this is not the place to go anymore. Take your money elsewhere and let them wallow in their...