Butterfly Embarcadero   

Pier 33
San Francisco, CA 94111
415-864-8999
www.butterflysf.com

Directions   Email   Send to Cell   Make a Reservation

To tourists who wander in from Pier 39, Butterfly is a gorgeous Bay view. To the after-work crowd, it's a huge, club-like spot for music and drinks at the bright-blue bar. To foodies, it's an innovative trip through Asia via California. Reserve a view table after 7PM or during lunch, and your meal's likely to be serene and solo -- the better to appreciate the deft menu. Start with appetizers like pristine, Japanese Hamachi sashimi with grilled asparagus and shiso, or messily sweet and tender hoisin-glazed baby back ribs. If you're here for cocktails, small plates like crunchy duck confit spring rolls and bloody mary oyster shooters make for great bar food. Inventive entrees are delicious, though rich. Silky kalua pig pizza and a sophisticated take on Cobb salad with Vietnamese shaking beef and blue cheese show up at lunch; for dinner, Liberty duck may be roasted Peking-style with scallion crepes, while filet mignon with bleu cheese, potatoes, mushroom sauce and port-thyme demi glace is only "fusion" because of a macadamia crust. Desserts also shine: look for sweet, thick Vietnamese coffee or tart lumpia rolls with pineapple and honey.