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This Gary Danko Restaurant Review is from our recent visit to this 1 Michelin Star restaurant.
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Gary Danko Location and Reservations
Restaurant Gary Danko is located at 800 North Point Street, at Hyde Street, in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood. This is a residential neighborhood, and we didn't have too much trouble finding parking early on a Friday night. The restaurant is open for dinner only Thursday-Sunday and accepts reservations within 60 days of the dining date via Resy. As per San Francisco's mandate, all diners must provide proof of full vaccination by showing the vaccination card, a legible photocopy of the card, a photograph of the card on your cellphone, or a Digital COVID-19 CA state vaccine record QR code.
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Gary Danko Menu and Food
Given all the challenges of the pandemic, we were happy to see so many of our favorites still on the menu, which we think is very fairly priced given the cost of high quality ingredients and labor in the Bay Area. There is a 6% surcharge for employee mandates in addition to taxes, which we find entirely fair.
One of the things we love about Gary Danko's course menus is that it's possible to mix and match: you don't have to select an appetizer or dessert as part of a three-course menu. You can select all fish courses, for example, or all meat courses. I selected two seafood courses and a meat course, while my husband selected a seafood course, meat course, and cheese course.
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The team started us off with a lovely amuse bouche of butternut squash soup, which all of us enjoyed.
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Since our son had selected a seafood course, cheese course and dessert course, our server asked if he'd like his cheese course first (our server no doubt had astutely noted the hungry look in our teen's eyes, which brightened at this suggestion). With over a dozen choices from which to choose, cheese lovers shouldn't miss this course.
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My first course, the Seared Sea Scallops with Parsnip Pear Puree, may have been my favorite. My only criticism is that I'd have quite liked a third scallop, to be able to share a little more of my dish with my husband and son, but it was otherwise a wonderful autumnal first course, with the parsnip and apple in the dish.
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Both my son and I ordered the Roasted Maine Lobster, and I overheard other tables ordering this too, so it's clearly a favorite. If you think the lobster in Singapore First Class is good, it doesn't hold a candle to this dish. Perfectly tender lobster is complemented with buttery potato puree with tarragon and finished with matsutake mushrooms and edamame.
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For our final savory courses my husband and I each ordered the Quail stuffed with sweet potato, cranberry and grain pilaf, with a piquant pomegranate sauce. While there's not a lot of meat on small game birds such as quail, this was a stellar rendition.
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Only our son ordered a dessert, the Baked Chocolate Souffle with Two Sauces. He adored this dessert, which he said was like “eating a chocolate cloud.” The dark chocolate and vanilla sauces are poured tableside.
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Additionally, the team brought a lovely complimentary birthday dessert for us:
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The Verdict
We last visited Restaurant Gary Danko 5 years ago, and as is always the case when we visit a favorite venue we haven't been to in years, we wondered if it would be as good as we remembered, especially with all the havoc wrought by the pandemic. We needn't have worried. We were warmly welcomed by each team member we interacted with, and all of our dishes were just as excellent as we remembered. An allergy in our family that we'd noted was carefully catered for, and the birthday we were celebrating was commemorated. This is one of our very favorite 1 Michelin star restaurants worldwide, and we highly recommend planning well in advance to secure a reservation.
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