The Harlequin — Restaurant in San Francisco

My office is just around the corner, so I hit up Annabelle's pretty often. It's kind of our "after work" spot. I highly recommend it for drinks, food, or both, whether you're casual or a little more updressed. The atmosphere is great; dimly lit but not too dark, not too loud but not too quiet, good mix of folks usually, TVs if you want to watch the game, etc. It's a really good, quiet place to chill out and enjoy some good fare.

Their menu is standard American bistro stuff, but very well put together. Definitely several steps above "bar food," if that's what you're thinking. Beef carpaccio is great, caesar salad is solid, highly recommend the fried green tomatoes. The steaks are good cuts, cooked accurately. Their sides are great, too. Portions are generous, but not ridiculous. You won't leave hungry.

Everything is very well plated/presented and the service is outstanding; I'd bring a date here if I was looking for someplace impressive, but not stuffy or ludicrously priced. It also seems to be somewhat overlooked for the area it's in; maybe that's because it's attached to The Mosser (a hotel), and hotel restaurants are avoided like the plague. Use this to your advantage, because people are ignoring a real diamond in the rough.

The bar has a great selection of liquor, including my favorite gin (Plymouth). Bartenders know what they're doing and they're friendly.

Prices are on the high end, but not insane. $20-25 for a meal and $5-10 for drinks. This isn't the kind of place I can go every day, but I go once in a while, it doesn't completely empty out my wallet, and I'm always happy (and a little drunk) when I leave.

If you're in the neighborhood and you're looking for a drink or some food, go here. You...

I ventured here after trying to go to KSM and Shelby's. We were in the mood to share some food and have a cocktail or two to get the night started.

Popped in right before 8 and our host took us to a 2-person bar top seating by the kitchen. After getting situated we noticed the table was a bit wobbly but we're fairly low maintenance so we decided not to say anything. The restaurant was maybe 70% full and we looked at the menu via a QR code.

Some guy brought us water and a lady took our entire order. We ordered a Disco Nap, Old Fashioned, Bone Marrow and the Steak Frites. It all came out together which was nice and perfect for what we thought would be a quick and easy dinner.

This is where it all went down hill. The bone marrow was overcooked. The cook was definitely an amateur because the marrow can easily liquify if you leave the roast too long. There was nothing to scoop onto the little toasts they came with. Very sad. The Steak while the cook looked good as I requested medium rare was flavorless, unseasoned, not a good temperature and kinda tough to chew. Boring chimichurri the better thing on the plate sadly was the french fries. Cocktails were good so props to the bar

The service was non existent. After ordering we were not checked up on once. Not for a reload on the cocktail which we wanted or when we literally had empty plates signaling we were done. We had to flag the host to get our server to close the bill. Watching the service none of the workers looked like they communicated to each other and it showed.

$90 for 2 cocktails, an entree and an appetizer. Just don't see the value for this place in a city with stellar service elsewhere for less. I will not be returning here and wouldn't recommend this...

The food was good (deviled eggs, Caesar salad, rib eye & garlic fries) but we had two major problems with our experience.

I made the reservations 1.5-2 weeks in advance for a Wednesday evening dinner. No mention was made of any time limit for the meal. I received a call the day before to confirm our reservation and I was rudely told that I would need to vacate the table in 1.5 hours. At that time, we were on vacation, it was the day before, and I really didn't have the time to look up someplace else in an unfamiliar city for dinner so I agreed. I guessed it would be enough time, but I did not want to feel rushed or that I was on the clock, and as a diner, some of this is outside of my control as it depends on the staff and kitchen. If their timeline is this tight it should be clearly stated when you make the reservation. (Note - On closer inspection last night, in the fine print on my Open Table reservation, it says the restaurant allows 1.5 hours for lunch and 2 hours for dinner per table. NOT the 1.5 as the rude hostess told me on the phone.)

I ordered a Taylor's Fladgate 10 year Tawny Port to go with the chocolate cake (just ok - a bit dry and would be better warmed). I don't know exactly what I was served, but it was not a tawny port, probably some type of ruby. It lacked the characteristic amber color and caramel flavor. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a tawny and definitely not what I had ordered. Yes, I should have mentioned it to the server immediately, but he seemed to have made himself quite scarce and remember, we were being held to a tight time line (see above). In the future, I think I will need to request that the drink be poured in front me to prevent accidental or...