Hello there. It’s been a while since we had a restaurant review on Just One Cookbook. We want to share with you today one of the restaurants we enjoy around Union Square, The Rotunda.
When Nami and I were dating, we used to go to downtown San Francisco about once a week for dining and walking around. Near downtown Union Square, there are many restaurant choices and you could almost find any food you are in the mood for. One of our favorite restaurants in Union Square is The Rotunda restaurant located on the 4th floor of Neiman Marcus.
On Mother’s Day, we celebrated with our friends and their family by going to the Rotunda for lunch. We had made the reservation many weeks prior and were promptly seated when we arrived. Children were provided a fabulous coloring book and crayons. I was surprised on the last page of the children coloring book, Neiman Marcus actually shares their delicious popover recipe.
The meal started with a savory shot of consommé and cheese puff pastry. The consommé is very rich with the perfect amount of flavoring and definitely leaves you wanting another shot.
After the consommé, we were served the popover and strawberry butter. The popovers were a crowd favorite and kids absolutely loved the strawberry butter. See recipe here.
Since there were a few of us, we were able to order a variety of our favorite dishes, including soup, salad, and main courses. The soup we had was lobster bisque with crème fraîche, chives, and lemon oil. The tasty creamy soup is filled with sweet lobster essence. It’s a bit on the heavy side so I recommend sharing it with another person.
The seared miso scallop salad with marinated shimeji mushrooms, cucumber, carrots, wakame, in the yuzu-soy vinaigrette was very refreshing. The generous serving of scallops were seared just right and the light dressing didn’t cover up the flavors from the rest of the ingredients.
The only disappointing appetizer we had was the lobster egg rolls which is usually superb. Not sure if it was Mother’s Day and the restaurant was extra crowded, but the egg rolls feels like it’s been sitting there for a while. The egg rolls contain Maine lobster, glass noodles, tree ear mushrooms, and bean sprouts served with a sweet chili sauce dip.
The overall food presentation that day was not as great as they usually are plated. The children shared a burger and grilled chicken. The burger was juicy and loved while there was plenty of leftover chicken.
For the main course, we shared achiote and lime marinated flat iron steak sandwich, two orders of the lobster club, and grilled filet mignon. The lobster club is one of the primary reason we went there, the applewood smoked bacon, avocado, arugula, and lemon aïoli served on a toasted brioche is amazingly good. The presentation subpar but tasted just as great as before.
Both the filet and the flat iron steak sandwich were average and I would recommend trying something else on the menu instead if you are there. The filet was tender but not very flavorful, it was served with heirloom tomatoes, grilled artichokes, and chimichurri on the side.
We were too full for the dessert but couldn’t resist the special Mother’s Day complimentary chocolate from the Rotunda.
Overall, it was a fun experience for us celebrating Mother’s Day with our friends and children in the city. Even though the food presentation isn’t as good as it usually is, the service was great. Our server was very attentive to all our needs even though it was a super busy day. We’ll come back to Rotunda again to enjoy our favorite lobster club and popovers, but definitely not a busy holiday.
The grand architecture of the Rotunda reminds me of the lobby restaurant at The Peninsula in Hong Kong where they serve their famous High Tea. I would definitely go there for the lobster club and popovers – I remember when Nami posted those beauties. We generally don’t go out on Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day – it’s just too busy. Enjoy your visit to Japan, look forward to reading about your travels 🙂
I never be in San Francisco, the times I had opportunity to go the West side I was on San Diego or Seattle. But I always want to know SF, I love places near the Ocean Pacific. And if we can have food like this, in a lovely place,well…I need to start making plan 😉
The place looks spectacular! What a lovely place for Mother’s day lunch. Love the cute colouring book. Food looks fabulous!
Thats a really nice meal you have, even me I would be full with all of those.
Everything looks so delicious!
This restaurant looks absolutely amazing! A wonderful place for a Mother’s Day celebration!
Wow,
This looks like an amazing place to dine at. Perfect way to celebrate Mother’s day!
You know not that long ago I was walking around Union Sq with my partner. We went into NM around lunch and stumbled upon this place. We had no reservations so I’ll at least say that. But we asked for a table they said yes, 10 minutes. We waited 1/2 an hour and left. Now I regret our decision. I bet we were seconds away from a meal like this. GREG
Love your reviews and it would be so nice to have this caliber of restaurant here.
Going to a restaurant on a super-busy day can be an issue. What a shame it was a bit ‘hit and miss’. But it sure does look like it’s in a very lovely setting and I’m so glad the children were so well catered for – I’d like one of those colouring in books! I love the look of the chocolate too xx
I hear fabulous things about the Rotunda and now I must go. Everything sounds and looks delicious! Have a great weekend!
What a fantastic meal!! I would have loved to enjoy mother’s day there. 🙂
Glad you had fun on Mother’s day. We love the city, especially hanging out in the Union Square watching people walk by. San Francisco might be one of the most diverse cities in the world, and the food is great. I haven’t been to the Rotunda, thanks for the review, will go on our next drive up to the city. Thanks Nami.
Wow, what a great review! Looks like a great place to celebrate Mother’s Day – very elegant and the dishes look great!
Excellent review! And so sincere too. Everything looks so gorgeous… pity the food wasn’t perfect, but kind gestures and perfect service must have made your meal much more enjoyable. The scallop salad looks amazing.