Cafe Claude
| Address: | 7 Claude Ln, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-392-3505 |
| Site: | cafeclaude.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 5:30–10:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
IV
Ivo Braunschweiger
I came here spontaneously with two friends. Staff was friendly and spoke French. I assume that speaks for a French restaurant. There is outside seating available. The restaurant is located in a small alley. There is a covered outdoor area in that alley. Inside, there was some live jazz playing, to which I was skeptical at first. Im not a huge fan of jazz, but it was not to loud and gave the place a good ambiente. The wine list is composed by mainly French wines (probably 50-60%). Some others are from California, and 1 or 2 from other states. We decided to go for a white wine from Washington, because we never had one from there, and the wine was excellent! (44 USD) Foodwise the menu is not too big. As a vegetarian your choices are limited to the salads and 1 main course (and the soup of the day, depending what it is) - I went for 6pc of oysters (oysters just arent my thing, that I can tell now) and the vegetables and lentils out of the oven. I found that a bit too boring and would have expected something more refined and complex in taste. It was good, though. My friends had the soup of the day (carrot-ginger I believe), chefs salad, Steak Frites and another main course. According to their opinion it all tasted very nice. I can only tell that the French Fries were excellent. Nicely thin cut, crispy, not too salty. We also had Valrhona Mousse and Creme Brulée for dessert, which were very good. Overall, it is a nice restaurant serving good French cuisine. From my own point of view, it should serve more vegetarian fare (How about Couscous and Ratatouille?). Its also not overly expensive. You can have a prix fixe dinner for 45USD with 4 courses.
JE
Jennifer D
I LOVE this place! You pay for quality and you get nothing less! I came here for a business lunch and it was absolutely delicious! I defintely reviewed multiple reviews before deciding to come here. I ordered the trout with almonds, fingerling potatoes and green beans. Trout was flavorful and there was plenty of it! The potatoes went well with the trout, and green beans were simple but it all went so well together, I was in food heaven. My co workers got the steak frites, seafood risotto (special of the day) and a sandwich. They all enjoyed their entrees and we even ordered dessert! Two dark chocolate mousse and two creme brulees. CHOCOLATE MOUSSE was so so so DELICIOUS! You must try it for yourself! Its a very cute place and also cramped but if you have ever went to Paris, things are much smaller there. I loved the decor inside. It made me feel like I was in Paris again, its romantic and the paintings were pretty. The waiters come evey now and then to refill your water. Although one downfall is, service takes long so make sure you have time to spare! I came here for lunch and I look forward to coming here for dinner when the jazz band is playing! CHEERS!
AM
Amy de Lorimier
Despite rave reviews we were unimpressed. Maybe we got the B Team in the kitchen today but for $85, thats not acceptable. My grilled fois gras had to be sent back as it was cold in the middle. Eating cold raw liver might be enjoyable to some, but frankly it turned my stomach. After a re-sear it was scortched on the outside and gelatinous on the inside. Ugh! The side crisps tasted like they were cooked in the fish fryer...faintly fishy. The only thing good on that plate was the mango chutney. Hubs cod croquette was ok but the flank steak was tough and overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. Tarragon potatoes were good. He had an apple cobbler that was ok, while I had the creme brulee that was awful. The sugar was about 2mm thick and scortched while the custard was just ok, nothing special. All and all we were quite disgusted. Im not a dine and dasher, but I seriously considered just getting up and walking out. The waiter was nice though, so we didnt, but frankly, we should have.
ST
Steven Baker
I didnt have a real meal here because I went alone. I had an exhausting day at work and happened upon the restaurant. Its really cute inside. It was a small restaurant that was quite busy, even on a Monday, so I sat at the bar since I was alone. The bartender was super nice in a shy sort of way. I started with the french onion soup, which is almost always a winner and was here. Sometimes bad restaurants put crappy cheese into french onion soup, but this cheese was great, even as it started to cool. I got the steak tartare. I dont normally eat raw meat, but this was extremely tasty. They mixed up a sauce that was mixed into the steak tartare right in front of me. The sauce seemed to have spicy mustard and something else in it, and was great. After I ordered the tartare I was worried I wouldnt be able to finish all that raw meat, but it was so delicious I ate it down really quick.
SO
Sophia Yuen
Feeling fancy during lunch! I started with a Sparkles in the Sky cocktail which was a sparkling wine with lavender. I actually enjoyed it as the lavender was just a hint and it didn’t taste like soap and the drink had a good amount of sweetness. We started the meal with the Foie Gras Au Torchon and it was delicious! It was rich and silky and went amazing with their walnut raisin bread. That probably could have been my meal. As my main course, I got the Steak Frites with bone barrow butter and port shallot sauce. I ordered it medium rare, but it seemed more like rare to me as there was a lot of pink and a lot of parts that weren’t as cooked as I would like. The steak itself (or the parts I ate) was really good though and I like the butter and the sauce. Overall, it was a good meal. I felt very rich after eating it.
PA
Patrice Delanty
I have been to Cafe Claude several times before, so taking a business colleague in town for a visit (in August) was something I was confident in doing. While the food was great as always, the server spilled wine all over my colleague. At first we felt badly for her (the server), and didnt make an issue of it. But when the bill came, there was no discount or anything else applied to the bill. The wine was an expensive bottle, and an entire glass was spilled. Regardless, some token gesture would have been appropriate. I called it to the attention of the host, but nothing other than a hasty apology with no other gesture was done. I clearly said I would never be back, and I wont. A restaurant of this caliber should - and could - have done better.
A
A Private User
A Saturday night in the city can be an experience, and Cafe Claude was definitely that. It was helpful that they had someone to give advice on wine, as the French selections were quite good. Service, as it was Saturday, was a bit slow and the interior of the restaurant was very noisy with a jazz ensemble and regular clientele. It was difficult to see the menu with poor lighting and the high ceilings made the sound amplified. Conversation for a party of more than 2 is difficult. The salads were ample and intersting. The specials were nice, escolar with polenta, and the coq au vin was quite good. Overall, I thought the food was pretty good, though I dont believe I would come back - it just didnt deliver to the expectations I had.
