335 Powell St
San Francisco, CA
415.397.9222
www.michaelmina.net
There are restaurants that offer vegetarian menus just to round out their offerings - Alex at Wynn, for example. And then there are those that understand that vegetarian cooking can be innovative, delicious and fulfilling. Michael Mina falls into the latter group.
The San Francisco restaurant offers a full vegetarian menu filled with creative and tasty offerings.
A recent dinner included the heirloom beet chop salad (above) with spiced filberts, fromage blanc fritters and Belgian endive. The combination of the sweet beets and bitter greens made for a nice balance, especially with the warm nuggets of cheese.The chickpea soup (below) was set off with sweet bites of onion.
The soft-boiled hen egg with green asparagus, chanterelle mushrooms and bernaise sauce made for a wonderful entree. The warm egg was cooked for 40 minutes so that it came out nice and warm with a perfectly viscous yolk. If only more places that made eggs Benedict took the time to make their eggs like this. The egg was atop asparagus that had been thinly sliced lengthwise, so they were almost like noodles.The German chocolate torte with pressed coconut and candied pecans was rich and flavorful.
While the food at Michael Mina is quite good, the service is somewhat lacking. Dishes were not cleared immediately between courses, it often took a reminder to get water glasses refilled, and instead of replacing a lint-covered napkin the waiter shrugged it off. The linens were wrinkled and the arm of my chair was coming apart. The restaurant could use some attention. To their credit, the kitchen did send out an extra course - a squash salad - to fill time while waiting for the egg to cook.
Michael Mina is not the most cozy of restaurants as it's situated in a large room just off the lobby of the Westin St. Francis. The restaurant does have a nice deal right now - a three-course pre-theater menu offered before 6 p.m. for $55 a person.
