This past weekend, GameBoy, M, and I went up to San Francisco to attend the UC Hastings Admitted Student Day. To maximize out dining experience, I did some quick research at work. Since M could only get off work at 2 pm, we ended up leaving Orange County at around 3. Not surprisingly, we hit a lot of traffic getting out of LA. Thanks to GameBoy’s efficient driving, however, we were able to roll into the Hotel California at around 10 pm. While GameBoy handled our check-in, I ran to the hotel restaurant, Millenium, in an attempt to make our 10 pm reservation. Leaving M to hold down the table, GameBoy and I raced upstairs to our tiny hotel room to drop off our bags, then joined him for dinner.
We were seated in a large booth near the bar area of the restaurant. Since the Hotel California’s building dates back to the turn of the century, it had high ceiling and nice, dark wood. The restaurant area was a curtained-off section of the lobby near the bar, but the high ceilings made it seem much larger than it was.
Though the hotel had provided us with frosted tequila shots at check-in, GameBoy and I opted for beer- an Ommegane Witte for me, and some sort of pilsner for GameBoy. M, less of a beer drinker, ordered a French 75, which proved to contain currant seeds. M was very excited about this, since apparently it’s an ingredient that’s hard to find. Mostly, I was just puzzled as to why it was so different than the French 75 at French 75 restaurants in LA and Orange County.
M was really eager to try the four course tasting menu, and one could only order it if the whole table did so, so GameBoy and I somewhat hesitantly agreed to do so. The reason for our trepidation was that Millenuim is a highly regarded vegan restaurant, and the tasting menu cost $48 per person, before tax and tip.
Our first course was a strawberry salad, which, while yummy was basically a salad with nuts, topped with strawberries, something one could easily do at home. We were so hungry from the trip that this was scarfed down quickly. Once we realized how unfilling it was, M and I started to get worried.
The next course was a tiny triangle of mushrooms over polenta. The presentation was nice, but it was too small to be filling, and again, we had questions about the monetary value of the ingredients.
For our main course, we had a choice between an Asian-influenced black rice cake or artichoke over risotto. M got the rice cake, and GameBoy and I opted for the risotto. Both were good, and the rice filled you up. The waiter made much ado about the seitan sausage, which, in my mind, does not taste at all like sausage. We were very hungry, so we cleaned our plates, but I think I just don’t like still feeling hungry or ripped off.
I don’t normally finish desserts, especially rich chocolate ones, but I devoured my chocolate brownie sundae. It was decent, but the strawberry banana sorbet was a bit too sweet, and it lacked the creamy goodness of non-vegan desserts.
The food was not bad, but I don’t think I’ll go back here unless someone else is paying and I’m very full already.
Date of Visit: 3/30/07
580 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: 415-345-3900
Fax: 415-345-3941
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