We came in as guests of the hotel for breakfast. The service was prompt, and the food was good. The only negative I would say is that the eggs were cooked on really high heat - you can always tell from the taste. The interior of the restaurant was clean and as nicely decorated with some pretty cool artwork. Overall a good spot for breakfast. read more

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This is such a spacious, lovely and inviting restaurant. I luv the yellow and warm earth tones against the white linen table cloths. It "brightens up the place." The service was impeccable. We were immediately served. The wait time for our food was minimal and we were checked on often by our server. The portion of our breakfast was very generous. I had the oatmeal and my family member had the pancakes - more than filling!!! Both were very yummy. I'll be returning to this establishment!! read more

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For reasons I can't quite explain, I like this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyNjwff1gkE&feature=related ...it's a rap version of William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", though it's better known as "The Daffodils". I wouldn't bet the farm, but I think that's a dancing squirrel. So what does that have to do with Daffodil the restaurant? Not a hell of a lot except the single daffodil in the bud vase at each table of this place....this very empty place as Jamie W. and I were the only ones dining in the restaurant portion for most of the hour-plus we were there. The bar was hopping with what I assume to be some awfully loud patrons of the adjoining Orchard Hotel. Even though we were there for the Dine Around Town deal, it appears others have concluded it' may not be worth the trek off the beaten track to get to this place at Bush and Powell. But the quiet, as the other reviewers have alluded, is somewhat unnerving because you actually spend most of the evening wondering if they are going to make it to the next payroll for their staff. It's a nice albeit generic space, dimly lit and not terribly memorable. The waitress was great, very open and helpful without being intrusive. I imagine she had to have been quite bored, but I credit her for keeping a very positive attitude throughout our meal. Ah, the meal. Well, for the $32 D.A.T. deal, we were given the choice of a hearty-looking butter bean soup and an arugula salad with pear slices and goat cheese. Neither bowled us over nor were they offensive. I'd identify my salad as hotel banquet quality. Interestingly, the D.A.T. Web site promised a duck prosciutto with frisee and an organic egg as the appetizer, but it was nowhere to be found. Better was the Braised Short Ribs with pickled parsnips and baby carrots, all on top of a mere dollop of a potato puree. The meat was tasty though the red wine reduction sauce was a bit too dominant for my taste. It was served on the oddest dish I've ever seen...it looked like a ceiling lamp fixture - the square, smoked glass kind you see in condominium rentals - and the fork and knife would scrape most gratingly on the rough surface. My dessert was a mini-apple cobbler with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and droplets of caramel sauce. Looks 10, Taste 5. I really wish I could state that I had something mind-blowingly wonderful here, something that would make bounding up the hill on Powell a pleasure with gleeful culinary anticipation...but I can't in good conscience. If you want quiet and a decent meal you can get pretty much at any upscale hotel, this is the place to go. For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. FOOD - 3 stars....on the generic side for such fancy eats...oh and that weird ceiling fixture as a plate...perhaps they wanted me to change a bulb AMBIANCE - 3 stars...just a hotel dining room really SERVICE - 4 stars...a great server in a pensive place TOTAL - 3 stars...I'm actually hopeful the owners figure out a more distinctive identity for this place (they've been open only since September 2007) so the climb up Powell is worth it for this SoMa-ite read more

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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 http://s3-media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/VWVfy40K3S2e7ec3z4YKsw/l.jpg was simple and delicious. The short rib over buttercream mashed potatoes and veggies (half order entree) http://s3-media2.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/HN7Vw9fgLiprj_HNCF5c7w/l.jpg 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. read more

Daffodil - beet salad - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

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If you walk past the crush of touristy Union square, up Powell to Bush, you will find a very quiet restaurant in the Orchard Hotel in Nob Hill. Definitely a bit off the beaten path, we came to find a completely empty restaurant. I'm always a bit worried when there are no customers at all but this place hasn't been open that long and we were told by our server that they just had a party of twenty five before we showed up. With that party of twenty five there were a series of hors d'oeuvres that we got sample while looking over the menu. First was an eggplant,caviar, and baby arugula spread while the second being olives and goat cheese both on mini toasts. Very tasty bites to start and that eased our worries about what to expect. After picking up a glass of the wonderful Rioja we decided on the following: - Panzanella/wilted spinach salad - Butternut squash "hash" with bacon - Seared dayboat scallops with grilled endive - Fingerling potatoes with fleur de sel - Grilled lamb chops - Short ribs with whipped potatoes and wine reduction The restaurant focuses on small plates and this was shared across the two of us. We were pleasantly surprised that this seemingly random spread of dishes were all very tasty. The only pick I thought wasn't extraordinary were the potatoes, which reminded me too much of something I make on my own. The hash won as the most surprisingly tasty, with the contrast of bacon and squash being an excellent combination. Our server Sean was a super fun and friendly guy and since we were by ourselves there was no other focus except for us and setting the room up for breakfast service the next day. The space is somewhat typical hotel restaurant and with the location right by the lobby we were at one point inundated with a bunch of loud tourists looking for drinks. It's a little bit out there and there's no hard focus on what they serve but if you're looking for variety, solid execution, and fairly reasonable prices, this place is definitely worth checking out. 4.5 stars. read more

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. read more

First things first, San Francisco Twins [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Twins] sighting! I was baffled, to say the least. I had never seen them before nor had I heard of them. So it appears that for most of my life, I've been living in a box! The fact that the year they won second place as "Best Local Character" [2000], I was away for school, MIGHT be a reason why I didn't have any idea who they were. They weren't dining inside Daffodil, but they were trekking up the hill along Powell St. between Sutter and Bush. Their steps were in sync, and they wore identical outfits - hats and purses too. While I am quite certain that my experience at Daffodil last night couldn't possibly be mirrored unless you also have the hook-ups OR you have $$$$ tattooed on your forehead, I am going ahead and writing my biased review. You're the reader. You know what you're getting into. Daffodil is located in the Orchard Hotel, one of San Francisco's "greenest" hotels. So essentially, it's a hotel dining room. The furniture has a flower print that looks like it hasn't been changed in a very long time. Meh. It is sister restaurants with Roots at the Orchard Garden Hotel several blocks away, which from what I heard, is a little busier. Okay, on to the food. Ingredients are fresh and local. We were served a tasting menu, so a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Starters [in order of appearance]: - Pizza of the Day [mushrooms and bacon, crisp, cheeeesy] - Soup of the Day [corn chowder with potatoes, bacon, corn] - Mache Salad - Endive - Chive Blossom - Strawberry Vinaigrette [fresh strawberries were a nice touch] Mains: - Scallops - Morels - Fava Beans - White Corn - Pluot Sauce - Arctic Char - Butter Bean - Fennel - Spring Onion - Peas - Mache Vinaigrette - Red Wine Braised Short Ribs - Potato Puree - Miniature Squash Dessert Platter It was a 7-course meal that left the three of us stuffed and struck with food coma, and it was fantastic. Everyone working was super nice. Daffodil is not very large or busy. It offers the perfect setting for a private party [they cater!], an intimate date, or maybe just a 7-course [or fewer!] meal to catch up with old friends. Nestled somewhere between "A-OK" and "Yay! I'm a fan," but closer to "Yay! I'm a fan." read more

Horrible. Honestly, probably the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. I'm not going to waste time going into details, but read the bad reviews below, then roll it into one evening and that basically describes our meal. Menu confusion, SLOW service, entire entrees were forgotten, the waiter claimed he had to lie to the chef to honor the menu they'd promised us when we made reservations...I could go on and on. The best part? We were the ONLY party in the place on a Saturday night!!!! We seriously considered simply leaving when we could not find anyone to give the bill to. We should have - they definitely did not deserve the 18% gratuity they tacked on. There are so many good places to eat in the city - do yourself a favor and avoid this. Chef Jeremiah Wheeless - who the hell do you think you are? Our waiter claimed you were responsible for our menu confusion, poor service, and entrees coming out in 15 minute gaps, and late or completely missing desserts. Seriously, consider a new profession if you are unable to accommodate less than 8 customers at a time. Avoid Daffodil at all costs. read more

I just came back from dinner at Daffodil. I didn't feel like cooking, it's raining and this place is a block away from home, and they're participating in Dine About Town. Seemed like 3 pretty good reasons to check it out. This place was alright, and because it's so close to my apartment I'll probably be back, but I was unimpressed. I'd give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because the servers were pretty nice. The D.A.T. menu is quite different from the one on the D.A.T. site, although I guess you can't expect them to have the same stuff every day. First course was choice between soup or an arugula-blue cheese-asian pear salad. Main course was between petrale sole and short ribs. Dessert was between pecan-crusted chocolate tart and whiskey-caramel ice cream. I started with the soup - I think the soup they brought me was actually different from what's listed, but I would need to see the D.A.T. menu again to be sure. It had fava beans, some spinach, and little chunks of butternut squash. It was ok, nothing special. Then for the second course, they were out of the braised short ribs and were substituting the pork loin (they wouldn't do the steak for me, even though it's only $1 more than the pork). The pork loin was very tasty, although it wasn't a huge portion. The side salad it comes with, consisting of celery root and apple compote, was interesting but could use some work. For dessert, I went with the ice cream, which was a bad choice. You know how sometimes you leave ice cream out too long, or don't get it home in time, and a lot of it melts but you put it in the freezer anyways and forget that it happened until the next time you pull it out and it has that gross texture and altered taste? That's how this ice cream was. The flavors seemed like it had been good ice cream before, but I couldn't eat this shit. I was really disappointed. I didn't bring it up with the wait staff because I didn't care much about dessert tonight and I came right before closing time so I didn't want to keep the servers there longer than necessary. Oh, and to drink I just had sparkling water. They don't have S. Pellegrino, instead they have Saratoga brand water, which comes in bottles that were I think 16 oz, and cost $4 each. That definitely annoyed me. I can't comment on the wine list because I didn't look (and because I don't know shit about wine), but they do recommend pairings on the menu, which is cool. All in all this place is ok. The decor is not bad for a hotel restaurant, and the service was pretty good. That pork loin was great, so there is at least potential for a really good meal here, but they need to get some consistency in their menu. The portions are small, even on the "large plates", so after the D.A.T. 3-course meal I'm still hungry and have been debating whether or not to indulge in a frozen pizza. read more

Mediocrity, thy name is Daffodil. We had plenty of things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving eve, but our meal at this place was not one of them. The pumpkin soup was bland and covered in pepper to mask its dull flavor. The main course of oven-roasted herbed Cornish hen lacked herbs and was served with a rather strange-tasting apple stuffing. And the chefs were completely inflexible when it came to dessert - I don't eat fruit and fruit was the only option. They had nothing else available and refused to be creative and whip something up, so dinner sadly ended without even a cookie to sweeten it. This place only gets two stars for the rockstar waiter who was the only staffer manning the floor. He was apologetic about dessert and graciously took our wine off the bill. But all in all - $55 a head for this "feast" really was a scam. Next year we're going back to our old faithfuls instead of experimenting. I am truly disappointed and should have heeded the negative reviews on Yelp, which I did read before coming. But hey, I wanted to give the place a chance. Not the brightest idea. Oh, and if you're looking for ambiance, this place lacks sorely in that department too. read more

This place can't close soon enough for me. And anyone who writes a review over three stars has got to be either severely mentally impaired, stoned or paid. Look at 5 star reviews critically--WHY does this restaurant have so many bad reviews? Why? Because they ARE BAD. Friends from out of town made reservations--otherwise, after seeing the reviews here we never would have gone. I was completely dreading it because SF has so MANY excellent places to eat why waste time on bad places? Anyhow, like it was mentioned below, he was told the 7pm was full only 645 was available, and lo and behold we got there and there were NO PEOPLE. WTF??? However, we quickly used our bat senses and figured out WHY there were no patrons-- What made this such an awesome experience was that they said they had a limited menu that night because they were short-staffed. Then, they handed us a LUNCH menu! LOL. I would give it 0 stars if I could because when he made the reservations they should have told him then!!! (However, I was secretly SO glad they had no food--we left). read more

Daffodil was a pretty great experience. My expectations were low... reading the reviews here... it seemed a gamble taking a business client here for dinner, but I had a groupon in my hand and needed a place that was in Union Square serving local and organic foods. I was impressed... it fit the bill exactly as I needed. The server we had was pretty nervous to be frank... he didn't want to interrupt us, seemed like he wasn't comfortable talking, but he was very knowledgeable when it came local and organic foods... even offered us some gluten free items... really? cool! Salad starter = YUM! Built my own burger - loved it... Onion rings rocked! no, it wasn't busy - but was perfect for us to have a serious discussion... worked out very well. read more

We had a party of six for the Dine About Town dinner at Daffodil. When we arrived, the maitre d' was no where to be found. After standing around for 10 mins, one of the waiters finally took notice of our group and came over to ask whether we would like to be seated. There were only 4 other parties there so I can't even give them the excuse that it was a busy night so therefore service was slow. ORDERING Waiter #1 handed us the Dine About Town menu. Each entree had 3 items, on the DAT website it said we can select from a variety of items on their menu. We all happily made our selections and was ready to place the order. Waiter #2 came around and started snatching away all the DAT menus. He didn't tell us in advance but just started taking the menus. We looked on with confusion as the menus flew out of our hands! Waiter #2 told us sternly that chef just decided they are no longer serving the DAT menu because they don't have some of the items. One of us asked, are all the items on your regular menu still available? Yes. Ok, all the DAT items ARE OFF THE REGULAR MENU, so if all regular menu items were available, why isn't the DAT menu available? This definitely put a bad taste in my mouth as I put my head down and went back to square one to decide on what I wanted. STRIKE ONE. When the food arrived waiter #1 served it to the wrong people. It was like musical chairs with our food. STRIKE TWO. FOOD APPETIZER AND MAIN I had the Beets Salad and Arctic Char . My hubby had the Lentil Stew and Chicken Pot Pie. Beets Salad - 6 slices of yellow and red beets along with a healthy portion of greens. For the portion it's way overpriced at $11 a plate. It was well made and fresh. Arctic Char - Tasted like salmon. Generous portion. Nicely flavored. The japanese turnip and couscous sides were very good, generously flavored with butter. Lentil Stew - Very well seasoned. Mixed with mushroom, veggies, and very tender beef chunks. It was very lumpy and thick with little liquid. Small portion. We both liked this. Chicken Pot Pie - Sodium overdoes. It was definitely on the salty side. Portion size moderate. The crust was flaky. Nice healthy chunks of chicken breast meat. DESSERT By the time dinner was over we were too full for dessert. This was probably a good thing because, yes, they ran out 3 ouf of the 5 items on the menu. Or rather they substituted that it might as well have been another dessert. ATMOSPHERE/SERVICE The restaurant is small and quiet. It was definitely nice to not have to shout over one another to have a conversation. Everything was clean and the decor was your usual hotel restaurant style. Kind of bland. The staff never came by to check on us and towards the end they left us with 5 bottles of water to pour ourselves. Waiter #2 was unattentive and rude. Overall we though the food was pretty decent for the price. Service was nothing to write home except on YELP. I gave it two stars mainly because of the poor service. read more

WOW... this place is completely dead... absolutely no one in the restaurant, granted it was a Tuesday at 6pm... but geeze, it feels weird to be the only people eating at the restaurant. It's nicely decorated and has a large private room. The only 2 reasons why I chose this restaurant was 1) 1000 points on open table, and 2) restaurant.com gift certificate. The prices of the food are actually very affordable given it is a hotel restaurant. Flat Iron steak = $20, short ribs: half =$15, full = $22. I got the short ribs since it is a house favorite and everyone else on yelp was raving about it. When I got it though, it was kind of dry and didn't have much flavor. The meat was tender, and fell off the bone, but DRY. DIsappointing. I was more interested in eating the steak! The steak was cooked PERFECTLY to a medium rare, had a good flavor, and was actually a big fatty steak! As in, it was huge! Steak for $20, floats my boat! =P We also got the white peach cobbler with a creme biscuit or something on top with house-made honey ice cream. The dessert was unique and tasty, but I'm just not a big fan of cobblers. Our waiter was cool, around our age, so he was pretty 'lax with us, cracking jokes and what not. Service was good, i mean... how can it not when you're the only people in the restaurant? =P Overall, I would come back here again just because I have the restaurant.com gift certificate. Our meal without the dessert would have been $18.66... but the cobbler itself was $10 (!)... still, pretty good price for a pretty good meal. Oh, forgot to mention that the bread sucked. It was cold and not quite the freshest. read more

We tried Daffodil this past weekend with a group of friends, hoping to avoid the holiday mayhem down below in Union Square. We're very glad we did so. It's not often that locals choose a hotel restaurant, but the reviews on Yelp and CS caught our attention. Is Daffodil really that empty with decent food? And is the service as mediocre as people say it is. Well, yes. The dishes are very solid and the prices are something you'd expect in this area of town. However, the service and business is very surprising. The wait staff is on the young side (as are we), but it was surprising to see how green (no pun intended) they were. We originally thought our water boy was our waiter (he asked us if we had any questions) and so we asked him about the pizza. It was like watching a deer in headlights. Aww, c'mon now. However, since we knew the service was questionable going into this place, we let it slide. The real waitress was perfectly fine. We had the watercress salad and ahi tuna appetizers. Both very good. The watercress did seem a bit strong-- there wasn't anything to balance out the overpowering watercress flavor. The ahi tuna was a safe dish that hit the mark. Very good. For entrees, we had the lamb ragout and short ribs. The lamb ragout was prepared really well-- not too gamey and the fettuccine noodles were fine. The short ribs were probably the best dish. The meat just slipped right off the bone. In sum, a great meal if you want dine away from the standard Union Square eateries. We hope they get more reviews on here to give a more well-rounded perspective. One last note: this place skews on the older side (35+ years old). read more

Ugh, we really must have gone here on an off night. Actually had a reservation at Roots, at the neighboring hotel, but a nice guy called us and told us they had to shut down for the evening because of a grease fire, but they would send us over to "their sister hotel" Orchard and the restaurant there, Daffodil. Maybe they're used to being very empty judging from the other reviews, so when the place was HALF full because of the combined bookings from Roots and Daffodil, all hell seemed to break loose. The pizza-of-the-day appetizer, which sounded really fancy -- "Salumante and tomato, takes 15 mins to prepare" -- looked and tasted like a frozen DiGiorno's pepperoni single-serve. Last time I checked, you can microwave one of those puppies in 3 mins or so. Green bean sides in garlic batter tasted like nothing. How does ANYONE screw up garlic butter? I'd eat my 4 year old well-worn Havaianas if they were sauteed in garlic butter. Main course took 1.5 hours to arrive, at which point our server -- about the only positive aspect of the whole experience -- apologized profusely and gave us 20% off. Ribs were very dry. Give me Chinese pepper-salt ribs any time. We were so put off we walked out without dessert, and if you know my wife, you'll know that this never happens. read more

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. read more

Always reluctant to give a perfect rating on the first time out, but it was surprisingly tremendous and I feel they deserve it. I'll definitely go back again and hope that they are repeat offenders of deliciousness. To put this out there, I am in NO way affiliated with these folks -- we just found them on OpenTable.com and honestly, they were in the neighborhood where we wanted to be and their menu looked good. After my experience there, I just want to sing their praises! They're in kind of a wacky residential area between Union Sq and Nob Hill, but there are also a number of hotels there (they're actually IN the Orchard Garden Hotel, one of SF's great "green" hotels), but I can't imagine that visiting clientele would want to dine in their hotel rather than go out. Well, listen up, visitors: you're in great hands at Daffodil. We were a party of two and ordered the following: APPETIZER: Halibut Ceviche (perfect combo of hirame sashimi and spice, citrus and tang) MAINS: 1.) Scallops with Morels, Fava Beans and Summer Squash in Pluot Sauce. (scallops were truly perfectly cooked -- pretty much seared -- and i had to mop up the sauce with the bread, it was so tremendous) 2.) Ragout of Braised Lamb over Fettucini (went very well with our cocktail, was not heavy at all, and again, needed to mop up the sauce). Needless to say, they didn't have to clean the dishes that much when we were done. Their motto is "Organic, Delicious, Artful," and they live up to it. We were just looking for a casual dinner and between the service (Krystal was super attentive and extremely friendly, great with her advice on dishes and personable), the bar (Curtis made us a tremendous cocktail with Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, Bookers Bourbon and lime juice, and it was his first attempt at using Canton!) and the food (see above), we were both pretty blown away. Can't wait to go back and recommend it to friends. I don't know why I'm so excited about it, but everything was terrific and I just want to make sure more people know about it! read more

My girlfriend and I live a block from this place and were walking by and saw an advertisment for a free app with two drinks so we decided to give it a try. WOW! Amazing drinks and fantastic food. Dj the bartender and Jerimiah the executive chef are one-of-a-kind. Gf and I had the sorbet, pizza with chorizo, some Anchor steam beef stew washed down with some cucumber gin gimlets. We are definitely going to spread the word and become regulars! See you guys soon. Adam and Sara read more

Good food. Servers were very nice, but the service is awful. The kitchen must be around the corner and down two blocks, judging on how long it takes to get anything as simple as a glass of water (after 3 requests). The check had to go back 3 times before it was accurate. No spoon with the coffee. Caf when I asked for decaf, knife taken away & not replaced. Etc. Etc. Also, we were there Valentines and they had a very young, very talented, and very LOUD violinist, so conversation was impossible. WHY DO RESTAURANTS THINK LOUD IS GOOD????? Please, Daffodil, get your service act together and I'll gladly go back & give you more stars. read more

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. read more

I went there last Sunday for my 21st birthday. We were staying in a hotel down the street and googled local restaurants. It was fairly slow when we arrived, we ended up being the last party to leave. The menu was difficult to read [I blame the font] but the choices sounded delicious. Each item seemed basic, but with a twist. The food was amazing. Our waiter was funny and sweet. My birthday dessert was by far the BEST part. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. :) read more

Daffodil - daffodil - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - San Francisco, California

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. read more

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. read more

The reason we chose this place was the focus on organic ingredients, but on a recent Saturday morning we should have gone elsewhere. Although the place was nearly empty, the service was agonizingly slow. 20 minutes til we were greeted with water, another 15 until our order was taken and coffee arrived (by the way, waiter had no clue what an Americano was). Food wasn't bad, we both had omlettes and they were light and fluffy. What ruined it for me was the waiter had a cold and was constantly sniffling and wiping his nose with the sleeve of his jacket. This on top of the slow service did it in for me. Would not return with so many other great options. read more

First time eating at an organic restaurant that sources most of their ingredients locally. I'm surprised, there aren't more SF restaurants like this! Just imagine Whole Foods having a californian fusion restaurant sourced with grass-fed goodness! Anyhow, had dinner here on a Friday dinner. Had a full rack of the braised short ribs. It wasn't mind-altering at all, I'd say it was average. What I found more entertaining was our server. He looked like he had just smoked some medicinal-grade cannabis. His facial expression, body language and the way words rolled off his tongue all pointed to the fact that he may and will have the munchies soon. You was very nice, but sorta just said 'everything is good, everything is fresh...I think you'll like it." Uhhh...I asked for your personal recommendation sir. In a nutshell, come here and try it. But I wouldn't say go make reservations (we did and the server looked at us like no one has made reservations since 2003)! read more

Hmm I had to mull this one over a lot. As someone who was staying at The Orchard Hotel (which I'm a huge fan of) I decided to try their own restaurant on the first night I arrived in town since I was too tired to go out hunting for local places. My initial impression of the restaurant was that the decor was pleasant and things were clean and upscale. The bar was a reasonable size as well. The food itself was fine and the ingredients seemed to be of good quality but the portion sizes were severely lacking. It was the only time during my trip I had to order a third dish to feel satisfied and I'm a very skinny guy. Either the prices need to come down a bit or the portions need to go up a bit. What killed the restaurant for me was the awful service. Overly casual and uninterested waiter and bartender who needed to be flagged down since they never actually asked if I wanted or needed anything. Food delivered without silverware, condiments missing with the appropriate dishes, glass never refilled, etc. There were 4 people in the restaurant eating-that's it four. Where the "waiter" was most of the time I have no idea. I should have known I was going to be in for it when I first set foot in the restaurant and my request for "A table for one please" was met with "Uh, why don't you just sit at the bar." Um, Ok. Did I walk into a fine restaurant or an Irish Pub? In summary the food is fine and the desserts appear quite good. The pastry chef apparently has his act together. However, the service is unacceptable, the prices a bit high and the portions a bit small. Can't see going here again unless I hear they've made radical changes. This is a borderline 3 stars and I really should be awarding two, but the salad was superb and the general quality of ingredients was solid here. read more

The date loved it. Me, not so much. The ambiance is...interesting. Very much a hotel restaurant. There was a live jazz trio which was really cool. But the lighting is a little too bright, the carpet a little too old... The food, in my opinion, sucked. We shared the crispy green beans. Nothing terrible but just average. He had the shortribs which were amazing. It seems like it's literally the only thing that is good on the menu. My fish, a sorry thin little fillet, was supposed to be seared, LOL. It was pan sauteed, greasy as hell, and nothing to write home about. And certainly not worth $20. The peach sauce was a thin, insipid smear on the plate... Dessert was likewise pathetic. We had the blueberry bread pudding. Very dry, overly sweet. I ordered a glass of the bourbon milk from another dessert...The entire dessert that came with the bourbon milk was $6. But we were charged $7 for just the milk....okayyyyyyy. Our waiter was very sweet, but clueless. He comped our wine because we got it after I was done with my entree. But he seemed to be totally baffled as to orders, etiquette, everything. But still a very likeable guy because of his cluelessness.... read more

On a Saturday night, and arriving at dinner prime time of 7PM, we entered this now hotel owned (previously Vignette) that is both pleasing to the eyes, and deprived of customers. As we arrived early, and was awaiting friends to join us, I expected to wait at the bar. We were directed to our table instead. The bar had a good handful of people, but I found it disturbing to be ushered into a deserted, yet nicely decorated dining room. In reading the other reviews here, this seems to be a commonly noted issue. The restaurant seems to be trying to fill their restaurant earlier by way of OpenTable points, but I would have to say try harder - its not working yet. On to the food. We started with the Manila Clams, and the PEI Mussels. Both were great, and I would give the nod to the clams. Brussel Sprouts with Persimmon. WTF!? I ate this hated vegetable and loved it! Flank steak. Flavorful. Little more rare than I wanted, but it was still good. By the end of the meal, I noticed that the dining room was full. I guess they get a late crowd here. In the end, I was satisfied with the meal, and experience. The wait staff was attentive, the food delicious, and the environment was pleasing. read more

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. read more

sooooo....a few years back me and the lady went here for V-day. Daffy was having a prix-fixe and we got there just at the time of our reservation. We ended up waiting 30 mnutes, but the maitre-d was cool about it and gave us some comped bubbly to sip on while we sat in the lobby. when we did finally get a table we got the worst waiter in the world. My girlfran used to raise ducks, and always had a soft-spot for water-fowl. It turned out that there was foie gras on the prix fixe. this might have been my fault for not noticing that and skipping this place entirely, but they may have also just added it to the menu last minute (I'm not sure which it is since it's been a couple years.) Since that could have been my fault for not noticing, I won't hold it against them. HOWEVER, I specifically told the waiter not to give her the foie gras, I even told him why. I even said it twice. Of course...what did he do? he gave her the foie gras. To make matters worse, the main course was quail. It was almost completely uncooked, and I'm pretty sure that was what the chef was aiming for. Eating raw bird is a little disgusting unless you're a cat but to make matters worse it was served in a red sauce that I'm pretty sure was just the quail's blood mixed with sugar. Disgusting! Not for nothing, but after that experience we both decided to become vegetarians. read more

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. read more

This restaurant is located in a hotel, and it is definitely a "hotel restaurant." It is not fine dining, but not bad. Just don't expect it to be fine dining and you won't be let down. The service was good, but the restaurant completely lacked enthusiasm and vibe. I had the flat iron steak and it was pretty good. My husband ordered the chicken pot pie and it was not so good. Not even real chicken pot pie. They just put some bread over a chicken soup dish and called it pot pie. The wine was good, but overall everything was just OK. read more

i brought a girlfriend (and by girlfriend i mean woman friend) here for valentine's day during our singledom (just this past v-day, actually). yeah, even though i'm sarcastic, blunt and sound bitchy sometimes, i'm actually pretty nice and like to do things for the people i care for....thank you very much! it was pretty new at that point and there were maybe three other tables that were seated. considering the lack of customers we weren't sure what to expect. but to our surprise, the food was really good. i can't remember everything that we had but the braised short ribs were SO good. since it was the big V-day they didn't offer any desserts except a heart shaped chocolate cake meant to be shared between two. we got that and it kinda sucked but the other stuff made up for it. i returned another day for the Dine About Town thing and got the same entree. but the corn chowder with bacon was also more than satisfying. read more

We arrived here from marin after having opentable reservations. Not at all crowded for a wednesday night. I ordered an entree while my friend and me sipped on some of the best sparkling wine we have ever had. The food was delicious and the service definitely unrushed. The palce had a very calming tone to it, with a lot of wood accents. Among many other hotel restaurants where one can go try, this place definitely deserves a visit. read more

My sense is that the chef would be better featured in a more upscale restaurant. The food was better than the ambiance and the service. The ambiance is similar to many better chain hotel restaurants -- not downscale, but nothing imaginative. Our waiter seemed new and unsure of when to pour wine. It's a close location to Union Square, which is handy, but I wouldn't race back for another meal. Valet parking is hugely expensive: $40. Better to park at Sutter Stockton or Union Square garage. read more

Three star food at four star prices gets two stars. Everything was ok, but not great. Artichoke dip was rather bland. Dinner bread was poort. Short ribs were not bad. Pizza was just normal. No problem with the service. read more

I really didn't have high expectations going into Daffodil (after reading all the previous reviews here), but I was glad I was able to finally make some judgement of my own here. Classic and clean decor. A yellow daffodil set on each table. We ordered the cheddar and swiss gruyere mac and cheese (was a bit bland for me), the chicken pot pie (yummy) and the red wine braised short ribs (quite tender). I thought the food was just average to me (still pretty good), but the bf thought it was above that. He loved every single dish that came out. The service was wonderful. Our waiter was attentive and was super friendly and personable with us. Quite empty still (even on a Sat evening), but we'd definitely want to try this place again. The prices are definitely a bit on the high side, but it's really not as bad as some of the reviews here are saying. Daffodil - you're alright in my book! I'll be back. read more

Unknowingly, I had been walking by this place up to four times a day for three months. It took a gift certificate to motivate my patronage. Daffodil has a mission that is very important when it comes to serving food to the public, however it is priced as any hotel restaurant is. Too expensive unless you get reimbursed for business reasons. Very good food. All of the food was very fresh and the preparation of the dishes were great. Risotto was a bit oily, but very flavorful. Pork Sandwich was cooked very well served with larger than necessary onion rings - still edible. The French Fried Green Beans were the highlight of the evening. Both the sangria and martini were very good. Overall the food was very good (4 stars), With the lowly response from the servers and bartender/host, the service was almost comedy worthy; the waiter seemed so overwhelmed in a not even quarter full restaurant. For that reason they get two stars, that coupled with the price for the meal having been $70 without the gift certificate. (tip included) Eat there if you have a certificate, or are on business. And after reading all of these reviews, I think its time to fire someone..... and it's not the cook. read more

Never eaten here but stopped by their bar for 2 drinks. I was at a magazine launch party @ Cantina. Took a friend 25 minutes to get one drink. When I arrived we booked it over here. There was no one at the bar (which was nice considering the place we came from). The bartender was extremely friendly, struck up conversation with my friend and I, and to boot they had Family Guy on TV. How much better could this place be? The drinks were pretty good too! Their menu looks very interesting so I would love to go back to try this place out for dinner. read more