We were staying in the hotel so we had breakfast here - staff was slow, food was expensive and nothing special. the interior is pretty and clean but overall it's best if you are in a rush and staying at the hotel and can expense the food.
Bill B.
We had breakfast. Waitress was quick with the coffee and menus after five minutes she took our order, My wife ordered Cinnamon Brioche French Toast, I ordered The Orchard Combination Breakfast " Bacon and Scrambled Eggs, hash browns, fruit and English muffin. We waited about thirty minutes before I inquired about our meal. The waitress went in the back and in three or so minutes she came back out with our meal. The French Toast (Not on brioche bread and no cinnamon) was cooked on one side and raw egg on the other. We sent it back and my wife grossed out by the raw egg opted for wheat toast. I ate a piece of my bacon and one half of my English muffin then tried the eggs. Cooked on one side and folded over the inside was liquid. My hash browns were under cooked on one side and black on the other. It was obvious to me our meal hit the grill when the waitress went in back to ask where it was. I forgot about the fruit ! One dehydrated slice of orange, one blackberry and one quarter slice of a strawberry. It should have said fruit garnish. Needless to say I had words with the manager. He was very apologetic and comped our meal if he hadn't I would have charged it to my room and insisted the hotel comp it. Props to the manager for recognizing a problem and fixing it for me and to the waitresses for trying to help.
Jennifer C.
I was a little disappointed to say the least. I made reservations at Daffodil for these reasons: 1. They are located in Union Sq 2. my friends from Australia were staying nearby 3. It had deceptively good reviews on Open Table 4. It was a 1,000 pt reservation on Open Table. My biggest compaint is the whole time we were there, not one other table was sat (there may have been one woman eating at the bar, and a few people who looked like guests from the hotel stopped by for drinks). Also, the decor is nice and upscale looking, but the lights were so bright, there was no ambiance at all. The food was a little on the pricey side, but t was good. American choices with a fancy twist. Anyways, I was embarrassed to have taken my Austrailian tourist friends here, because they expected me to know some cool places in SF and trust me, this did not look cool. I have learned my lesson: check Yelp reviews before Open Table. I guess the only good thing that comes of this is my 1000 pt reservation.
Jeff J.
Charming, well lit interior... not sure what kind of food to expect just going off the menu. For appetizer, I ordered the spinach salad with roasted beets, smoked mozzarella, and roasted tomato vinaigrette. Big mistake. A big massive pile of baby spinach leaves straight out of the supermarket pack. The beets were not roasted (they tasted like the ones you get in the cafeteria). The smoked mozzarella tasted like small cubes of cheddar cheese. And the roasted tomato vinaigrette tasted like dressing from a bottle. The entree was a big bump up. I ordered the salmon with roasted fennel, brussel sprouts, bacon, and smoked tomato sauce. The salmon was just the way I like it. And the bacon with fennel and brussel sprouts was a perfect pairing. The sauce was also a good element, and together... we had a good turnaround. Cue the dessert. A supposedly delicious granny smith apple cobbler. CLOYINGLY sweet. And it didn't seem right... almost like baked apples with some cookie crumble sprinkled on top. I couldn't finish. It was that sweet.
Ken E.
Forgot to write a review on this place. This place was just a few buildings over from my friends apartment. We went here a few times and the menu changes, the times we were there we had shared a meatloaf and a starter. Its very odd, but most times this place is empty but thats okay. Its nice and quiet so you don't have to yell when talking. We basically had 1 to 1 service. Go if you like quiet place and food good.
Deb T.
Food was ok. Ambiance was super quiet and stuffy. I don't think I'd go back, but only because there are too many other restaurants to explore in the City.
Glenn H.
Great service, well prepared and presented food. With so many choices for restaurants in San Francisco and near the hotel, I found this a convenient alternative. Not a wide choice of entrees, but I enjoyed the short ribs and a spinach salad. The dessert was great, a fruit cobbler. The night I was there it was quiet, and I had a great conversation with the staff about San Francisco. That made it special.
Luis C.
Update: The hotel had announced in June, that they'd close the restaurant on 6/30/11, to renovate the place. But apparently they simply replaced the management and staff. Don't know about any renovation plans. ******************************* While it's true that this expensive hotel restaurant cannot compare to newcomer Sons & Daughters restaurant, just a block away. The real reason for its demise was poor and unreliable service. I had avoided writing this review for a long time. The kitchen is very slow but food was usually decent and well presented. For example, the mache and beet salad was simple and delicious. The short rib over buttercream mashed potatoes and veggies (half order entree) was very popular. Although I think the menu had more variety and was a better value long ago, before executive chef J. Wheeless took over. Menu prices match local pricey high-end restaurants, but service left a lot to be desired. I never understood why they always hired inexperienced waiters that get overwhelmed and disappeared for long periods of time. Often not familiar with the menu, can't remember a drink order, made multiple mistakes on my bill, and once I was overcharged after I had already signed the receipt.
A C.
I came here with two of my friends and had the most amazing meal! We had arranged for a 6 course taster menu, and were surprised at every turn! The creativity and perfect flavor combinations the chef uses makes it obvious that he is very skilled and knowledgeable in his job. Everything was perfect from the service, to the lighting, to the amazingly delicious food! What a turn around from a few years ago!
Robert P.
Decent room service steak frite. Chef went a little overboard with the garlic salt.
I came here for Dine About Town. The ambiance was so bad that the food could not save it, even though the food and service were both equally solid. Daffodil is in the lobby of the Orchard Hotel, and since there was no music, we listened to the conversations of the four other occupied tables and someone taking room service orders. Really, the lighting is awful, and it feels exactly like a crappy hotel restaurant that you would only end up in if you had food poisoning and just wanted some soup. But, there is no way I would ever recommend someone dropping $100 on dinner at this restaurant.
Kathy S.
To quote David F "Well, not horrible but not phenomenal either". Went here on a Tuesday evening. We were the only guests at the restaurant! There was no music, it was really quiet and uneventful. The food: We went here for Dine About Town. The appetizer was decent: beer battered calimari but it was definitely nothing out of the ordinary and I had to ask for another sauce as the buttery sauce it came with was too rich. The main wasn't impressive either. The risotto was very rustic looking and didn't have much going for it. The steak had no "spark" aside from the blue cheese, and the fish dish was definitely overcooked and the brine was not a good move (I would have gone for a nice creamy sauce) The dessert was some type of custard with a syrup. It came in a martini glass and I swear it was half filled with strawberry syrup! As I didn't eat most of the first two dishes, I indulged in this and well lets just say my dentist isn't going to be very happy now. Service was minimal.
Gwenyth K.
First, the good: The food was excellent. Both their caprese salad and the mache salad were unbelievably GOOD. I had great risotto as an entree and the chicken pot pie bite I had was awesome. Once again, THE FOOD IS REALLY GOOD. Probably better than most places in Union. Alas, Three Stars, gentle reader, because the ambiance of this restaurant is akin to eating in SFO. It, in no way, feels like anything except a low budget hotel lobby with very bright lights. We joked that the service was so slow because our server was also the bell hop and janitor. Also, review your bill before paying. We were one of three tables filled in an empty 25 table restaurant on a Tuesday. Not busy. The server charged us for drinks he never brought us, brought us orders meant for other tables, brought the soup out last, and told us there was a 20 minute wait for a cheese plate - weird since cheese requires only slicing. In this case it was a $12 desert platter with mache from the salad, crumbled blue cheese and feta from the salad, one sliced apple and strawberry. So weird. The point of this review? To hope the management reads this and gives their chef a raise...Ohhh...and maybe installs dimmer switches on their lights. I don't really need to see the pores on my server's face while he is serving me someone else's food and then charging me for it.
Greg F.
We were going to be in the neighborhood, I had a coupon, so we decided to check it out. We got there just before opening and the bartender was sort of helpful in seating us, but then left us alone for 15 minutes without getting our drink order. That and the price/portion ratio cost the last star. Otherwise it was a great meal. We started with the beer battered calamari. It is served with a jalapeno fraiche and is wonderful. Would definitely order that again. Complemented it with a half bottle of Ventana Chardonnay. Excellent wine and reasonably priced. We then shared the Risotto as an appetizer. That was probably my favorite dish of the night. My wife had the Red Wine Braised Short Ribs for her main course and loved them. I had the Chicken Pot Pie, primarily because I've never ordered it in a restaurant. It was very good. We complemented our main dishes with a bottle of Ventana Rubystone, which we knew we liked and was one of their least expensive bottles. Our server was great. She didn't bug us, but was always around if we needed her. They were not busy, so we just enjoyed the meal and took our time. All things considered, we will definitely come back.
David F.
Well, not horrible but not phenomenal either. Sauteed green beans were the best feature of the pan-seared scallops and rice pilaf. What day of the week is seafood the freshest? Not sure it's Sunday. Iced tea made with English breakfast tea, but was never refilled throughout the meal. I'll pass on Daffodil next time, sorry to say - environmentally it had so much going for it. The background music, the decor, the location - but not the most important part of being an outstanding restaurant. Two stars for courtesy and environment, and great sautéed green beans.
We were staying in the hotel so we had breakfast here - staff was slow, food was expensive and nothing special. the interior is pretty and clean but overall it's best if you are in a rush and staying at the hotel and can expense the food.
We had breakfast. Waitress was quick with the coffee and menus after five minutes she took our order, My wife ordered Cinnamon Brioche French Toast, I ordered The Orchard Combination Breakfast " Bacon and Scrambled Eggs, hash browns, fruit and English muffin. We waited about thirty minutes before I inquired about our meal. The waitress went in the back and in three or so minutes she came back out with our meal. The French Toast (Not on brioche bread and no cinnamon) was cooked on one side and raw egg on the other. We sent it back and my wife grossed out by the raw egg opted for wheat toast. I ate a piece of my bacon and one half of my English muffin then tried the eggs. Cooked on one side and folded over the inside was liquid. My hash browns were under cooked on one side and black on the other. It was obvious to me our meal hit the grill when the waitress went in back to ask where it was. I forgot about the fruit ! One dehydrated slice of orange, one blackberry and one quarter slice of a strawberry. It should have said fruit garnish. Needless to say I had words with the manager. He was very apologetic and comped our meal if he hadn't I would have charged it to my room and insisted the hotel comp it. Props to the manager for recognizing a problem and fixing it for me and to the waitresses for trying to help.
I was a little disappointed to say the least. I made reservations at Daffodil for these reasons: 1. They are located in Union Sq 2. my friends from Australia were staying nearby 3. It had deceptively good reviews on Open Table 4. It was a 1,000 pt reservation on Open Table. My biggest compaint is the whole time we were there, not one other table was sat (there may have been one woman eating at the bar, and a few people who looked like guests from the hotel stopped by for drinks). Also, the decor is nice and upscale looking, but the lights were so bright, there was no ambiance at all. The food was a little on the pricey side, but t was good. American choices with a fancy twist. Anyways, I was embarrassed to have taken my Austrailian tourist friends here, because they expected me to know some cool places in SF and trust me, this did not look cool. I have learned my lesson: check Yelp reviews before Open Table. I guess the only good thing that comes of this is my 1000 pt reservation.
Charming, well lit interior... not sure what kind of food to expect just going off the menu. For appetizer, I ordered the spinach salad with roasted beets, smoked mozzarella, and roasted tomato vinaigrette. Big mistake. A big massive pile of baby spinach leaves straight out of the supermarket pack. The beets were not roasted (they tasted like the ones you get in the cafeteria). The smoked mozzarella tasted like small cubes of cheddar cheese. And the roasted tomato vinaigrette tasted like dressing from a bottle. The entree was a big bump up. I ordered the salmon with roasted fennel, brussel sprouts, bacon, and smoked tomato sauce. The salmon was just the way I like it. And the bacon with fennel and brussel sprouts was a perfect pairing. The sauce was also a good element, and together... we had a good turnaround. Cue the dessert. A supposedly delicious granny smith apple cobbler. CLOYINGLY sweet. And it didn't seem right... almost like baked apples with some cookie crumble sprinkled on top. I couldn't finish. It was that sweet.
Forgot to write a review on this place. This place was just a few buildings over from my friends apartment. We went here a few times and the menu changes, the times we were there we had shared a meatloaf and a starter. Its very odd, but most times this place is empty but thats okay. Its nice and quiet so you don't have to yell when talking. We basically had 1 to 1 service. Go if you like quiet place and food good.
Food was ok. Ambiance was super quiet and stuffy. I don't think I'd go back, but only because there are too many other restaurants to explore in the City.
Great service, well prepared and presented food. With so many choices for restaurants in San Francisco and near the hotel, I found this a convenient alternative. Not a wide choice of entrees, but I enjoyed the short ribs and a spinach salad. The dessert was great, a fruit cobbler. The night I was there it was quiet, and I had a great conversation with the staff about San Francisco. That made it special.
Update: The hotel had announced in June, that they'd close the restaurant on 6/30/11, to renovate the place. But apparently they simply replaced the management and staff. Don't know about any renovation plans. ******************************* While it's true that this expensive hotel restaurant cannot compare to newcomer Sons & Daughters restaurant, just a block away. The real reason for its demise was poor and unreliable service. I had avoided writing this review for a long time. The kitchen is very slow but food was usually decent and well presented. For example, the mache and beet salad was simple and delicious. The short rib over buttercream mashed potatoes and veggies (half order entree) was very popular. Although I think the menu had more variety and was a better value long ago, before executive chef J. Wheeless took over. Menu prices match local pricey high-end restaurants, but service left a lot to be desired. I never understood why they always hired inexperienced waiters that get overwhelmed and disappeared for long periods of time. Often not familiar with the menu, can't remember a drink order, made multiple mistakes on my bill, and once I was overcharged after I had already signed the receipt.
I came here with two of my friends and had the most amazing meal! We had arranged for a 6 course taster menu, and were surprised at every turn! The creativity and perfect flavor combinations the chef uses makes it obvious that he is very skilled and knowledgeable in his job. Everything was perfect from the service, to the lighting, to the amazingly delicious food! What a turn around from a few years ago!
Decent room service steak frite. Chef went a little overboard with the garlic salt.
Restaurantji Recommends
I came here for Dine About Town. The ambiance was so bad that the food could not save it, even though the food and service were both equally solid. Daffodil is in the lobby of the Orchard Hotel, and since there was no music, we listened to the conversations of the four other occupied tables and someone taking room service orders. Really, the lighting is awful, and it feels exactly like a crappy hotel restaurant that you would only end up in if you had food poisoning and just wanted some soup. But, there is no way I would ever recommend someone dropping $100 on dinner at this restaurant.
To quote David F "Well, not horrible but not phenomenal either". Went here on a Tuesday evening. We were the only guests at the restaurant! There was no music, it was really quiet and uneventful. The food: We went here for Dine About Town. The appetizer was decent: beer battered calimari but it was definitely nothing out of the ordinary and I had to ask for another sauce as the buttery sauce it came with was too rich. The main wasn't impressive either. The risotto was very rustic looking and didn't have much going for it. The steak had no "spark" aside from the blue cheese, and the fish dish was definitely overcooked and the brine was not a good move (I would have gone for a nice creamy sauce) The dessert was some type of custard with a syrup. It came in a martini glass and I swear it was half filled with strawberry syrup! As I didn't eat most of the first two dishes, I indulged in this and well lets just say my dentist isn't going to be very happy now. Service was minimal.
First, the good: The food was excellent. Both their caprese salad and the mache salad were unbelievably GOOD. I had great risotto as an entree and the chicken pot pie bite I had was awesome. Once again, THE FOOD IS REALLY GOOD. Probably better than most places in Union. Alas, Three Stars, gentle reader, because the ambiance of this restaurant is akin to eating in SFO. It, in no way, feels like anything except a low budget hotel lobby with very bright lights. We joked that the service was so slow because our server was also the bell hop and janitor. Also, review your bill before paying. We were one of three tables filled in an empty 25 table restaurant on a Tuesday. Not busy. The server charged us for drinks he never brought us, brought us orders meant for other tables, brought the soup out last, and told us there was a 20 minute wait for a cheese plate - weird since cheese requires only slicing. In this case it was a $12 desert platter with mache from the salad, crumbled blue cheese and feta from the salad, one sliced apple and strawberry. So weird. The point of this review? To hope the management reads this and gives their chef a raise...Ohhh...and maybe installs dimmer switches on their lights. I don't really need to see the pores on my server's face while he is serving me someone else's food and then charging me for it.
We were going to be in the neighborhood, I had a coupon, so we decided to check it out. We got there just before opening and the bartender was sort of helpful in seating us, but then left us alone for 15 minutes without getting our drink order. That and the price/portion ratio cost the last star. Otherwise it was a great meal. We started with the beer battered calamari. It is served with a jalapeno fraiche and is wonderful. Would definitely order that again. Complemented it with a half bottle of Ventana Chardonnay. Excellent wine and reasonably priced. We then shared the Risotto as an appetizer. That was probably my favorite dish of the night. My wife had the Red Wine Braised Short Ribs for her main course and loved them. I had the Chicken Pot Pie, primarily because I've never ordered it in a restaurant. It was very good. We complemented our main dishes with a bottle of Ventana Rubystone, which we knew we liked and was one of their least expensive bottles. Our server was great. She didn't bug us, but was always around if we needed her. They were not busy, so we just enjoyed the meal and took our time. All things considered, we will definitely come back.
Well, not horrible but not phenomenal either. Sauteed green beans were the best feature of the pan-seared scallops and rice pilaf. What day of the week is seafood the freshest? Not sure it's Sunday. Iced tea made with English breakfast tea, but was never refilled throughout the meal. I'll pass on Daffodil next time, sorry to say - environmentally it had so much going for it. The background music, the decor, the location - but not the most important part of being an outstanding restaurant. Two stars for courtesy and environment, and great sautéed green beans.