La Folie

2316 Polk St. (and Union)
(415) 776-5577

French in Russian Hill

I am uncomfortably full and $85 poorer. Oh, but it was worth it. The restaurant was much smaller than I had imagined - very intimate with warm colors, like most date-ish places. The location is also great - prime Russian Hill area. Service was also very attentive, and our waiter humored my party's silliness and wasn't snotty.

The menu is very flexible - you can choose from a 3-, 4-, or 5-course menu that you arrange yourself, based on lists of appetizers, seafood/meat, and desserts. Don't be fooled - 3 courses is already A LOT! They brought us complimentary extras aside from the bread - high quality raw hamachi before our appetizers, a double shot of melon cream/smoothie to cleanse the palette after our entrees, and additional mini desserts after dessert! SO MUCH FOOD.

Appetizers: foie gras soup (very rich and creamy), foie gras & squab "lollipops" (REALLY GOOD), crab napolean with pineapple chips and apple gelee (the sweet and fishy combo didn't quite work... but it was refreshing in a strange way), goat cheese tartin with roasted vegetables (ok), scallop (yes, singular. i've never had it not fully cooked. was not a fan).

Entrees: sea bass (the corn was realllly good, pea-truffle gnocchi was ok... could really only taste the truffle... the skin of the fish was delightfully crispy, but the taste was a little too fishy for me), veal wrapped in some kind of mushroom (ok... the mushroom was kind of cheesy, which threw me off), lobster with ginger ravioli (ok... beautiful plating though, i must say... amazing colors), rabbit trio (one part looked like sushi and it was a bit dry. the good part was the leg - very moist, unlike most rabbit you'll find), quail&squab (very good. truffles did get a little tiresome, but the flavors were all there, and the surrounding potatoes gave nice texture).

Desserts: coconut tapioca with passionfruit sorbet & basil sauce (the basil totally threw me off. it tasted kind of foul by itself, but altogether it actually worked) and frozen lemon cream torte with fresh fruit (honestly, i like anything lemon). I must say that the best part was the assortment of mini desserts when we got our check. One of them was this bite of chocolate ganache with a hazelnut something... so rich and soooo goood. It was like eating a tiny ferrero rocher but ten times more rich.

I haven't had good food in awhile, so this meal was definitely a welcome change of pace. I must say that this is one of the best (and most expensive) restaurants I've been to. Lots of foie gras and truffles which can get old, but even though I tend to be attracted to creativity and uniqueness, nothing beats high quality classics. Very solid. =)