Prospect — Restaurant in San Francisco

After years of living nearby, I finally visited Prospect for dinner with a friend... and I was glad I did! From start to finish, we had an excellent dining experience here.

Reservations: It was easy for her to make a reservation online, and we were seated almost immediately after arriving. Granted, we were there for an early dinner since both of us had things to do later in the evening, but still...

Ambiance: It got quite busy as "typical" dinner hours rolled around. Although the noise levels did climb, it was never too much and it was still easy for us to carry on a conversation, even across a broad table (we had one of those big booths, even though there were only two of us - but we appreciated the space). There were a lot of guests in business attire and there are a few reasons I can think of for this: close to financial district, APEC this week, and it seems like a well-visited restaurant for business dinners. I felt somewhat underdressed as a result, but it wasn't a big deal, especially in SF.

Service: The servers (there were two - I think one of them was in training) were friendly and attentive, and able to answer questions and give recs with ease. They checked in regularly to see how things were going and to inquire if there's anything else we wanted, but they weren't pushy about it.

Food: We shared the Hokkaido milk bread (the first thing to catch my eye on the sharing menu) - it was quite sizable for 2 people, had good texture, and was tasty. We also shared the squash blossom (it's on the in-person menu but not their online menu) - it had interesting textures and a lot of flavour packed in. For my entree, I ordered the risotto (didn't add the scallops so I kept it vegetarian) - it was sooo good and my favourite dish of the evening. Was too full to have a dessert, but I did have one of their cocktails with espresso to finish.

Great experience overall and I can confidently say it won't be years again before I visit...

Prospect offers a fine dining experience. 5 stars for ambiance 5 stars for food 5 stars for service

I went to Prospect to celebrate a birthday at Prospect. What a great choice! The interior is lovely wood with modern clean lines. It felt spacious. In the main room there is a wall with velvet, a nice soothing pale green with floral patterns on it.

When my party arrived, we were quickly seated in a booth. Spacious seating for our small group.

The wait staff appeared promptly in case we wanted to order cocktails. There is a fine wine menu but I opted to get a non-alcoholic drink: the Prospect Cooler, a mix of juice and syrups. Very light but refreshing.

The food menu has a good variety in case you feel like a light bite, want to share plates or want a full meal. There are vegetarian bites as well as one veggie focus d entree. I liked the variety of choices for the main because if I wanted vegetable risotto or a steak they were both options.

My scallop starter with small curls of calamari in a seafood and butter sauce was Delicious!

For the group, we ordered the Hokkaido Milk bread with furoshike butter…like Hawaiian bread (a brioche) but a smooth milk taste.

We all chose the Heritage Pork Chop (a winner) which had fried okra, slices of grilled apricot, potato cake and pickled greens. The pork was tender and juicy.

A combination that evoked a savvy chef’s Southern dish. For dessert, we had the light pineapple upside down cake with coconut ice cream. Great finish. The kitchen even placed a birthday candle on the plate.

Overall, I was impressed with Prospect restaurant; a surprise treat which I plan to return to...

Had dinner here with my wife and with a group of 7 of us. I was able to taste good deal of the menu. Though highly rated, this restaurant is badly under-rated by Zagat and other. Food was exceptional. In general, I find that when a dish has too many elements, it requires editing. Not here. There were few dishes that did not work harmoniously together. The Spanish octopus and squid ink cavatelli was particularly brilliant among the first courses. The tender octopus and squid, sublime pasta and confit of poblano and black garlic paired perfectly with thin slices of pork terrine. All of the main courses were outstanding, but high marks go to the duck breast (though the wild rice arancini balls, while tasty did not cohere with the rest of the dish) and the pork chop (the butterbeans cooked in a fennel pollen and pork jus combined with small chunks of nduja, a salami, was unctuous, comforting with just the right amount of salt. All of the deserts were home runs. The coffee ganache in the cannoli, the intense raspberry of the sauce that accompanied the red velvet cheese cake panna cotta, the horchata ice cream that accompanied the bite of the dark chocolate and chili tart were highlights of elaborate and impressive deserts. One of the top 10-15 restaurants in SF and very much worth...