Though dinner can cost quite a bit, you can find different lunch specials that are much more affordable.
The best bet is the lunch special found Monday through Friday. For $13.95, you are served Vanilla Prawns with Raisin and Melon, Sesame Chicken, Four Flavored Fried Rice, a glass of wine or soda, and your choice of either Tomato Bisque or Potstickers.
However, gourmet dining does translate into tiny portion sizes here.
In the lunch special, there are only two potstickers. There’s too much ginger and not enough pork.
There’s only a small handful of vanilla prawns, but they’re so amazing that it’s worth it. The fruit on the side provides a bit more substance to the dish though.
The Four Flavored Fried Rice is what’s most filling. There are different types of meat found here like pork and beef. Though they’re only tiny morsels, you can tell the quality of the meat is high. The white wine is not the highest caliber, but considering the whole meal to $13.95, it’s a pretty good deal.
You can also order the daily executive luncheon. It’s $22.50 and the menu changes daily. I ordered the Minced Squab “Imperial,” Grilled Jumbo Tiger Prawns, Cod with Pineapple, Wok-Charred Medallions of Beef and Four Flavored Rice.
The Minced Squab “Imperial” consists of a lettuce wrap with finely chopped squab. It’s so finely chopped it’s hard to tell the distinction between squab and the more commonly used filler of chicken.
Instead of the two vanilla prawns you get with the lunch special, you’re given three jumbo prawns. The vanilla ones are tastier though.
The cod is really fried so there’s not that much meatiness to the fish itself. The pineapples it comes with taste better anyway. And finally, the Wok-Seared Medallions of Beef with garlic, wine, and rosemary round out this combo. Great cuts of tender, juicy meat are used in this gem of a dish.
— “cheap eater”
Want a fine dining experience where you can be fussed over? Tommy Toy’s is one such place. They showcase what Cuisine Chinoise is all about.
For the cost of admission (an expensive meal), it’s practically expected you will receive tip-top service.
Yes, it’s located in the Financial District, but once you walk by, you are greeted by a doorman as if you’re about to enter a luxury hotel.
When you walk through the large wooden doors, you truly feel like you’ve stepped into a royal palace. The establishment transforms into a walking garden that takes your breath away.
The hostesses are friendly and seem to have been trained to use a very pleasant-sounding voice to greet customers.
Diners are separated into spacious dining rooms. Each table has a beautiful setting of a bouquet of flowers atop a glass embankment with scattered glass marbles.
The candle also sets a romantic tone to this darkly lit and sound-controlled dining area.
You feel like you’re dining in the middle of a ballroom with large vases and a wait staff ready at your service.
Water is constantly retouched and empty platters are evacuated immediately.
Food is decorated beautifully with gorgeous tableware and you can’t help but feel a bit like royalty.
Our waiter was quite personable and knew English, which was a plus.
He checked up on us frequently and made sure we were enjoying everything.
They seem to monitor every movement because once I took the last sip of my drink, our waiter rushed over to take it away. That was the best service I’ve ever experienced in my life.
— “service sensitive”
Just finding Tommy Toy’s can be a bit of a challenge, with its tucked away location on the corner of Montgomery and Washington.
But once you step inside and taste the food at this popular San Francisco fusion restaurant, you’ll be sure to remember how to get there the next time.
For an appetizer, I sampled the Minced Squab “Imperial,” which came with lettuce for wrapping. Though this was not your ordinary lettuce wrap. The squab had a deliciously gamey taste to it, richer than pork or chicken, yet not so rich as to be considered heavy. The Seafood Bisque was an incredible follow-up, with a flaky French pasty puff covering the bowl containing the warm soup within.
Pairing a bite of the pastry with each spoonful of soup provided the perfect complementary flavors. The bisque definitely helped to showcase the restaurant’s French-Chinese fusion menu.
I followed this up with the restaurant’s famous Peking Duck, which was definitely a signature entrée. The duck skin was crispy and flavorful, and it went perfectly with the juicy and tender duck.
Wrapping the duck and skin in the lotus buns they provided, I savored every bite of this dish. I also sampled the Sea Bass en Papillote.
The sea bass is wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed to lock in the flavor. This fish was flaky and soft, practically slipping off the fork every time I tried to pick it up.
Rounding out my meal, I ordered the Peach Mousse, which, to be honest, was a bit of a letdown from the appetizers and entrées.
Although it was a perfectly fine dessert, it didn’t have any of the flair of the main courses. And although the mousse itself was creamy, with a nice, fresh taste, I wasn’t particularly impressed.
— “taste tester”
Fusion cuisine is a relatively new phenomenon, believed to have begun as recently as the 1970s. Most consider California to be the birthplace of fusion cuisine, although the actual restaurant where this trend began is a topic of debate.
Some attribute fusion cuisine to Wolfgang Puck, who first began combining traditional European and Asian ingredients. San Francisco food critic Michael Bauer declared Crustacean restaurant the birthplace of fusion cuisine in the U.S. in 1991.
In general, fusion cuisine involves taking traditional dishes from one culture, but using certain ingredients from another culture to create a unique dish. For example, taking a traditional European sea bass and poaching it in a soy sauce base.
Fusion cuisine is particularly challenging as it involves combining ingredients that traditionally have never been paired before. This can result in innovative and delicious dishes, and ingredients that have no business being served together.
This delicate balance requires the chef to take great care of assessing the degree to which different ethnic ingredients complement each other. Especially since the palates of those who enjoy each of the individual cuisines that are attempting to be fused may not be compatible.
Nevertheless, the resulting dishes that arise from proper fusion cooking can often make experimentation very worthwhile.