Chez Spencer

The food is very bland — all 6 dishes I tried was cooked perfectly but tasted like cardboard box. Yes, I know what that tastes like so I have a frame of reference. Trust me, it’s not as good as dirt, either. Both were better than the meals here that needed lots of wine just to get down the pipes.
I had to fill our own wine glasses all night. I hesitate taking clients here unless I warn them it’s like a co-​op in Berkeley in terms of service.
It’s cramped and bright so you don’t know if you are on an operating table or in a slaughterhouse — or both.

We came here with friends (locals) while visiting the city. They had known that I am a Francophile and have an obsession with Chez Panisse. I don’t think anyone wanted to travel to Berkeley that night so we ate at Chez Spencer.
The ambiance was relaxing, as there was hardly anyone left there when we rolled in for our 10pm reservation, (yep, while in SF, that’s how we do).
Service was prompt and efficient.
We tried nearly everything on the tasting menu and I thought they did a nice job on the food.
Thanks Chez Spencer!

My husband and I were looking for something new for dinner and he suggested this place. I was surprised we could get reservation day of, so I was not expecting a great experience, usually have to book at least a week in advance for good dinners. This place has been around for 11 years as we found out, it’s not in an area we would ever walk, there is nothing around there and unless you were looking for it you would miss it, perhaps that’s how it should be.
The place is like a romantic French restaurant somewhere off the beaten path in Paris. It’s warm yet modern and touches of industrial, open kitchen and lots of wood and candles, definitely on the trendy side.
The menu looked delicious, my husband and I love to share so we ordered beet salad, sweet breads, quail and steak and of course a bottle of wine to enjoy our meal.
The service was good, but the waiter brought out the dishes two at a time rather than stretch it out French style and lets us taste the food and enjoy, so I was a bit annoyed. At the end of the meal we told him to go away so we can finish the bottle of wine before desserts. I thought it was clear we wanted to share everything and have multiple courses and longer dinner. One thing Europeans get is how to enjoy food.
The beet salad was good, but beets are not in season so they weren’t sweet, my advice is take it off the menu until they are in season.
The sweet breads were the biggest disappointment to me, they were oily, rubbery and tasted like chicken nuggets. They were also served with arugula, don’t really get that, not a good pairing at all. They should have melted in my mouth.
The quail was great, tender, full of flavor and nicely paired, also not a small dish even though it was an appetizer.
The steak was expertly cooked, tender, absolutely amazing. The sauce with it was creamy and didn’t do much for me though, and was a bit rich and overwhelming. It was also just served with some mushrooms. It would have been nice to have the waiter suggest a side dish or let us know.
For the finale we had the apple tort, which was sweet and not much apple flavor, could have skipped it. I wish restaurants would offer a few desserts but do them really well, a la mode is not a dessert, it’s an American invention of more calories. Try to be creative and put as much into the dish as main courses, last dishes do count.
All and all, we had a great time, loved the ambiance, the wine was great and not pricey, it was a $ 70 bottle that was well worth it, and the menu still had plenty on there left to explore for another visit. They also have a full bar so cocktails can be enjoyed, but the place did clear out by 11pm or so, not a late night location.

Patio would be a lovely place to dine, if not for the chilly San Francisco night air. Focal point of the room, the brick oven, warms the intimate space. We sat at a table on a slightly elevated platform. Completely & absolutely romantic in every way!
We chose the 4-​course tasting menu ($ 70):
– truffle mushroom veloute w/​parmesan crisp: salty goodness… soup was smooth & so flavorful! 5 stars!
– pan seared scallops w/​hearts of palm & a green sauce: cooked to be tender on the inside, but perfect seared on the outside. Sauce was nicely acidic.
– filet mignon w/​morels & truffle butter: loved the morels & truffle butter portion, but did not enjoy the steak itself. Must have been dry aged; the taste & texture did not appeal to me…
– molten lava pudding: light & sweet. A nice ending to our meal.
Our waitress was charming, funny, & readily available. She informed us that this space, in its former life, used to be an auto shop.
Tip: a little difficult to find on this less busy side of 14^th st, but chez spencer is just a few doors down from Nihon whiskey lounge.

I needed a nice restaurant for a celebration dinner, after searching the web I decided to go to Chez Spencer, as their web site says «classic French fare, excellent wine selection, and gracious staff will provide you with an elegant yet casual dining experience.» Plus it has great reviews!
Sadly Chez Spencer failed to deliver, and I found myself victim to hype. Here is my story.
Reservations 8:30, arrived at 8:22. Hostess took our name, looked around for several minutes, ran into the kitchen, and returned saying our table was not ready and told us, very nicely, to wait at the bar but we were assured that it would only be a few minutes. We waited at the bar, hoping to get a drink and relax. After 12 minutes the bar tender gave us the bar menu, after and additional 7 minutes he returned and we ordered drinks. Unfortunately they did not have all the ingredients for their House Martini. We did find a happy compromise and were promptly served. Several parties were seated as my guest and I waited. They had been at the bar before we arrived. Finally as 9:06 the hostess came up, verified our name, and said «you are up.»
We were taken to our table and water was brought over as soon as we sat. However it wasn’t until 9:15 that the waiter came up and said «I see you have made your selections.» Unfortunately we hadn’t as we wanted to explore the wine menu and had a question about the menu. The waiter did make some great suggestions and appeared to know the wine list fairly well.
The food: beet salad, veloute mushroom, filet mignon, venison, and warm chocolate pudding cake. Food was very good. Service was adequate after our order was taken. .
I really wanted to love this restaurant, it has great reviews, wonderful look and great food. But I have a really tough time getting over the fact that we had to wait over thirty minutes for a table and weren’t offered an explanation much less an apology. In a city as culinary rich as ours, why should we put up with such poor service? Chez Spencer, you have open table, please learn how to use it and how to manage your tables!

Location: meh
Food: awesome
Service: sometimes good, sometimes bad
+ filet mignon was probably some of the best beef I’ve had ever
+ appetizer plating was better than entrée
+ bread, oh the bread!
+ chocolate pudding cake was wonderful
— cookie basket was underwhelming, especially the meringue

Great service is always a joy, the server we had knew what good service is, never interfering or being over bearing. That alone made for a enjoyable casual dinner amongst friends.
It’s on a higher level. The ambiance is also calm and grown up, very relaxing.
I had the opportunity to try a bunch of different items. It was
all amazing. The Truffeld Mushroom Veloute & Parmesan, amazing.
The Green Asparagus Shaved Parmesan & Truffle Emulsion was delicious,
and it had a somewhat mysterious flavor. The Wood Roasted Sturgeon (considered to be a signature dish of the chef I was told) was so full of flavor and cooked perfectly, juicy and rich with flavor. The Parmesan Risotto was so smooth and rich, I think it was my favorite second to the Truffeld Mushroom Veloute & Parmesan. Those are the things I would get again in a heart beat. I also tried the Sauteed veal sweetbreads, so good they caused my meatless friend to cross over to the dark side, just for a taste.
I had the Wood Grilled Filet Mignon and it was nothing short of perfection. Cooked perfectly and absolutely grade A quality.
The Service staff is very professional, its worth recommending for that reason alone.

Wonderful, Wonderful and once more «Wonderful». Spent my actual bday dinner here =]
It felt like we went back in time when life was a tad bit ‘mellow’. The entrance of Chez Spencer is a cute little house. You walk through beautiful waves of hanging lighting and cute tables on heated patio. Then you walk through another door to be greeted by friendliness. The patio feels intimate but then you entered into a huge cabin-​like home. They gave us the ‘step up’ level seating. Somewhat private and romantic. The aroma of the fresh bread fills your hair (and it was def warm to the touch and crunchy on the outside). Superb!
Ordered
Escargot Lollipop Puffs
Moroccan Eggplant
Red/​Gold beet salad
Wood Roasted Squab
Wood Grilled Filet Mignon
Wood Seared Venison
pretty plate of warm cookies and bday card =)
Everything was tasteful, warm, and yummy. I don’t need to go further in depth. It was just that ‘wonderful’…

Lovely ambiance and delicious truffle. I would recommend anything with the word ‘truffle’ in it because they did such an amazing job at accentuating the flavor.
Highlights:
Truffle mushroom veloute soup
Pan seared sea scallops
Filet mignon with truffle butter
For dessert, my parents and I shared the warm chocolate cake which was good but nothing too special. The tasting menu (4 courses) was $ 70 or $ 110 with wine pairings.
There’s a cute outdoor patio (sheltered and with heaters for the winter) and the restaurant isn’t very big so the ambiance is not too fancy but still romantic. The location is sort of secluded… not really in the happening area of the Mission but still a cute date spot!

I remember coming here late for our reservations one night due to traffic. We had called it in but when we got there, it was packed and so we had to wait a while. Then we sat at the bar. The entrance is non descript and I didn’t think a happening place like this would be in the area. Im a sucker for classic well executed French cuisine so this was right up my alley. Looking over the menu we ended up with:
–Pan Seared Sea Scallops Hearts of Palm, Sauce Verte
–Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads Watercress, Parmesan Crisp & Truffle Vinaigrette
–Wood Roasted Sonoma Duck Corn Crepes, Wild Berry & Duck Jus
–Wood Seared Venison Jabron Potato, Juniper Berry-​Peppercorn Jus
Everything was delicious. Prices are certainly on the higher side, but expect very good execution. Service at the bar can be slow if their swamped and it was indeed that night. Im not sure what would be the slowest day but Id recommend going then so that you dont feel it when they’re in the weeds

I came here with a few friends and I wasn’t impressed at all. I had the tasting menu (which was extremely affordable) and it consisted of a mushroom truffle velouté, scallops, sturgeon, and chocolate bread pudding. I also had a few drinks. The Chardonnay I had was superb, but that was probably the only superb thing about the meal. The velouté lacked flavor and the infusion of truffles was almost indistinguishable. It was average. The scallops were good and the sturgeon was ok. It wasn’t a great cut but the sauce that accompanied it helped a little. The pudding was very average. The service was very slow, as well.
I do think the ambiance was cute; it resembled a more casual version of Saison. Overall, I had an okay experience.

«Be ready by 7:30PM and dress nice» was all I was told about my dinner the other night.
The neighborhood is a little sketchy at night and we almost passed by the restaurant without even realizing it. We ended up parking near the local «food co» around the corner… We were seated right away in an elevated section of the restaurant but the longer we sat there, the hotter it got, and no it wasnt because of the romantic ambiance the place claimed to have.
We had the tasting menu and each had a glass of white wine (which I embarrassingly dont recall the name of).
Mushroom soup was rich so I got tired of the taste pretty quick.
Appetizers:
I realized I didnt like foie gras that much so I dont have much to say about that.
The scallops were really good and cooked well; not overcooked like some other places…
Main courses:
Filet Mignon: eh. standard. nothing to call home to mom about.
Sturgeon: I dont normally order fish when I’m out (except when I’m eating sushi) but OMG. this was the best dish the night and the best fish I’ve had. They also had these crumble stuff on top that had the consistency of potato chips that gave it a nice crunch.
Dessert:
Champagne Grapefruit granite: tasted like a grapefruit icee with whip cream on top. It was bitter/​sour and it was paired off with this ginger cookie that I thought was a bit odd.
Chocolate pudding cake: Since my friend doesn’t like too sweet dishes, I had to basically eat this myself (taking one for the team, aw man… ;)) and it reminds me of molten chocolate cake but thicker. This is the better of the two desserts but so sweet and rich, that I was craving something salty after.
Overall: 4
The sturgeon and scallops were the best dishes but for 230ish bill I dont think I’d come anytime soon. I didnt read the a la carte menu to see if it was cheaper or not but since I only liked a few of the dishes out of the tasting menu, this may be a better option. The service was nice, I like places that have crumbers (lol), and in my failed attempt to split the bill with my friend, I dropped my credit card and drivers license out of wristlet and they called us when we were on the way home to tell us that they have it and will hold on to it for me until I come in. A waiter also left the restaurant to help us take a picture outside the sign (yeah my friend and I are quite the camera whores).

A romantic hideaway for those with a taste for rich food; I recommend Chez Spencer for a nice date if you don’t mind shelling out the $$.
Foie Gras app was satiable, smoked duck a la lyonnaise very nice as well and the filet mignon *muah* se magnifique!

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed a week before Valentine’s day and the road to recovery was painfully slow.
Alcohol is usually my drug of choice, but I was high on Vicodin and if there’s anything I’ve learned in my years studying Biology, it is NEVER ever to mix the two.
I know … #classyproblems.
There was much anticipation on my part before dining at Chez Spencer because this was my first day eating solid food after my surgery, so we decided to go for the 4 course tasting menu: servings were generous and appropriately priced at $ 72.
The truffle mushroom veloute with Parmesan crisp lived up to its French meaning: the soup was velvety smooth. The lightly seared sea scallops were soft and divine. I was excited for the foie gras torchon but besides the unsightly ring of fat around it, you’ll find it satisfyingly creamy and rich. I just wish they gave me more of that vanilla blackberry compote it came with. It was a very happy Valentine’s day in my mouth indeed!
Then, there was a lull. A very looong one.
It gave me a chance to focus on my Josephine Baker cocktail, with vodka and rose essence, this was made pretty by a single rose petal garnish. Judging from the promising cocktail menu, I was hoping for a balanced floral flavored martini, but what I got was too much vodka. Opt for the Kir Royale instead.
When our entrees finally arrived 30 minutes later, we resumed the fattiness. My wood fired sturgeon with lots of nameko and chanterelle mushrooms was to die for! Let it be known that I’m a mushroom kinda girl. (no, not THAT kind) The centerpiece was a moist, delicate hunk of fish doused with bernaise sauce. This made my week’s worth of eating nothing but soft foods WORTH it. I couldn’t fully open my mouth yet (let the TWSS comments begin!) and chewing still took a lot of effort, but I trust the bf when he said that the honey roasted lamb loin was done right.
You should definitely make room for desserts at Chez Spencer: their champagne grapefruit granita was a refreshing palate cleanser, while the addicting warm chocolate pudding cake kept my fork constantly wandering over to my partner’s plate.
The ambiance is tres fine! The moment you push back the heavy white canvas curtains separating the patio from the street, you’ll be transported into an artsy loft space with a wood burning oven in the center of the dining room. The lights are turned down just a notch and the single tea light candle on the table is enough to give you that glow. Its a sophisticated ambiance but you can definitely feel the hustle and bustle of the place.
Although we received good service, Chez Spencer needs to improve on the timing of their dishes. But it’s fair to say that the excellent French bistro food with California flair and romantic ambiance left me on a high that even Vicodin can’t duplicate.

The food, definitely a solid 4 stars.
The comfort level and service brought it down a couple of notches. It was a teensy bit cold sitting in their covered outdoor section last night, but others in the party had decided on that area. Since it got pretty hot inside as the main dining room filled up, it was a good choice.
Except, our table was wobbly (I fixed it by putting some paper under one leg), the chairs, modified versions of slatted French outdoor chairs, are wildly uncomfortable (the standard green teensy chairs would be better, imho).
After we arrived, it was a very long time (7 – 10 mins) before a server approached us. Annoying, especially as there weren’t many guests there yet — we had come preternaturally early since the seating choices were either 6:30pm or 8pm, I called them, no bending on that. At least not on a Saturday night.
When the restaurant got busy, there was a line of up to 5 people waiting for the sole toilette, which even the kitchen staff has to use. Since Chez Spencer seems to be pretty popular these days, maybe they could invest in a second hole?
I guess I’d go back mid-​week and give it a try. The food is certainly way better than Le Charm or L’Ardoise, which I suppose are more «bistro» and less expensive, but that might be useful info for you if you’re in a Frenchy kinda mood.

Review #500: I was saving it for something good, and Chez Spencer hit the mark. The restaurant is in a great space: wood beamed ceilings, a spacious but somehow cozy interior, well-​heated on a cold winter night. I don’t know how they managed to do it, but it’s casual, upscale, trendy, and intimate all in one fell swoop.
The service was top notch and relaxed, the cocktails were outstanding, and the food… well, I thought I had died and gone to venison heaven (so perfectly cooked and seasoned that I was able to ignore how bad the accompanying potatoes were — and man, those potatoes were pretty bad!). I tried the duck and the risotto: same story, everything was amazing.
I would race back to Chez Spencer in a heartbeat — this may be my new favorite restaurant in the city… How did it take me so long to find it?

Another delicious birthday dinner…
RESERVATIONS:
My friend made reservations for 6 of us for last Wednesday at 6:45pm. We tried to make the reservation for 7pm, however they didn’t have any available. I find that a bit odd since there were maybe 2 – 3 other parties at most during the time we were at dinner.
SEATING:
We sat on the patio. You don’t have to worry about getting cold, there are heating lamps. The host (or possibly manager) told us the table we sat at, right next to the concrete wall, was the most requested table since they were featured on Bay Area Check Please.
FOOD:
I opted for the tasting menu — $ 70 (Note: the entire table does not have to participate)
*Lobster Salad — Good. The lobster was big and tender, however the orange vinaigrette and bitter leaves slightly overpowered the overall taste of the lobster.
*Pan Seared Scallops — Good, however the scallops were overcooked. The sauce verde added a nice light flavor to the dish and the hearts of palm added a somewhat tart taste.
*Wood Grilled Filet Mignon — DELICIOUS! I’m not normally one to rave about meat, but hands down, this was one of the best filets I’ve ever had. Although my filet was cooked a bit rarer than a medium rare, the filet was delicious and perfectly grilled on each side. The perfect addition was the delicious morels a la crème and truffle butter sauce that accompanied the dish. Simply delicious which had me craving another filet for days! No doubt I’d be back for another one of these!
*Warm Chocolate Pudding — Delicious, but rich. The pudding was similar to a warm brownie with a dollop of whip crème on the top.
SERVICE:
The host or possible manager was great. He checked up on us and recommended my friend a couple of wines. When my friend couldn’t decide, he brought out both wines to have my friend sample.
I wish I could say the same about our waiter. Our waiter was not attentive, not friendly, and I don’t recall him checking up on us. He first came over and asked if he could take our drink orders. Since usually one menu containing the drinks and wines are left at a table, I asked the rest of our table who had the drink menu. Instead of waiting, our waiter said he’ll be back later. It was some time until he actually came back to our table to take our orders. Oh yeah, we were also one of few tables so there should have been no reason why he wasn’t more attentive.
PARKING:
Street parking

I WANTED TO LICK MY PLATE CLEAN!
Not exactly the way I wanted to start off my review for such a refined restaurant like Chez Spencer but I can’t stop thinking about the Filet Mignon with Morels a la Crème and Truffle Butter. DELICIEUX!
On Wednesday, 9.21.11, my friends and I (party of 6) came to Chez Spencer for dinner at 6:45 PM. They kindly called me twice to confirm our reservations and the day of, asked where we would like to sit (outdoor patio or main dining room). For a more casual dinner, I requested the outdoor patio.
F O O D
TASTING MENU — $ 70
*LOBSTER SALAD w/​Orange Vinaigrette — 3.5 STARS
As a refreshing start to dinner, the generous portion of lobster was tender and sweet and was lightly dressed with the citrusy sweet vinaigrette. I wasn’t keen on the arugula though because the pepperiness took away from the delicateness of the lobster.
*FOIE GRAS TORCHON w/​Vanilla-​Scented Blackberry Compote, Pain de Campagne — 2 STARS
The ring of fat around the foie gras torchon was very unappetizing and caused the foie gras in its entirety to taste like lard. The country bread was over toasted and was more like croutons. This was such a shame because the fragrant vanilla blackberry compote was amazingly delicious with the perfect balance of sweet and tang.
*WOOD GRILLED FILET MIGNON w/​Morels a la Crème & Truffle Butter — 5 STARS
MIND-​BLOWING! Every component worked in perfect harmony with each other producing a mouth-​watering and tantalizing dish that enticed every one of my taste buds. The rare filet was so succulently moist that it melted on my palate like butter while the meaty morels added a toothsome woodiness. I normally prefer my steak bare as sauces tend to hinder the natural rich beefiness of the steak, however, the morel a la crème and truffle butter sauce was AMAZING! It was luxuriously rich, earthy and full of intense, complex flavors that complemented every morsel of the filet. I literally wanted to lick my entire plate clean and truth be told, if no one was watching I would have.
*CHAMPAGNE STRAWBERRY GRANITE w/​Champagne Sabayon — 4 STARS
A refreshing end to a rich-​laden meal, the granite was fresh and fruity with just the right amount of sweetness. I loved the sabayon (thick whip cream) which added a creamy and decadent dimension to the dessert.
S E R V I C E
If it weren’t for the maitre d’ and the busboys, this would be a 3 Star review. The maitre d’ was incredibly welcoming, genuinely friendly, and accommodating. He gave excellent wine recommendations to my friend and even brought out samples for him to try. My friend and I had commented that we wished he was our waiter. The busboys quickly took away our empty plates and never left our water glasses empty.
Our waiter, on the other hand, was inattentive, aloof, and pretentious. He took our orders, gave us our bill, and that was it. There’s a level of expectation one has when dining at upscale establishments which was not met by our waiter. I’m not the type that expects to be waited on hand and foot but I do appreciate being checked on periodically. Mind you, we were the ONLY ones in the outdoor patio area aside from one other party that arrived later on.
A M B I A N C E /​D É C O R
Chez Spencer is perfect for celebrating a special occasion or for a romantic date. As you walk through the steel gates, you’re led through the courtyard leading to the outdoor patio dining area. Adorned with a stream of hanging lights, rustic wood furnishings and heated lamps with 20’s jazz bellowing in the background, the outdoor patio dining area is causal and low-​key. The inside dining area with wooden arches, skylights, abstract art and crisp white linens makes for a sophisticated dining experience.
P A R K I N G
Street parking.
With all the mixed reviews about Chez Spencer, I walked in without any high expectations. Though part (s) of the meal and the service was lackluster, the pièce de résistance otherwise known as the Filet Mignon with Morels a la Crème and Truffle Butter was SO incredible that it’s…
JE NE SAIS QUOI

One star for the service I got from Laurie and the ambiance. It was superb, romantic, and well designed.
That was about it. Everything was downhill from there. We came here for a private party/​birthday celebration and was greatly disappointed. Sharing the blame with the restaurant was also with our coordinator. She apparently had insisted on the private dining room even though we didn’t have enough people to make the minimums. They charged us for 10 prix fixe menus when we only had 8 people which is find since 2 people cancelled last minute, but they could have served us 2 extra settings so someone could take it home. We already paid for the food so I don’t understand why didn’t just give us the food we had to pay for.
Given that this is a «fine dining» French restaurant, our wineglasses had lipstick stains on them from the previous diner. That is EXTREMELY DISGUSTING. I do NOT want to be drinking out of a glass that has someone’s old lipstick smeared on it. My soup spoon was dirty. I got up to find myself another spoon. (Minus 1 star for not cleaning the glassware and utensils.)
Service wasn’t the best. Our server checked in on us occasionally but my water glass went empty for 40 minutes. Since we were in the private dining area, I felt that we were neglected since we weren’t in the main dining room. Also, the busboy that we had was NOT helpful at all. He threw attitude and never refilled my water when I requested it. (Minus 1 more star)
I had the bouillabase soup, filet, and pudding cake.
Bouillabase was «pureed» and obviously was NOT strained. I found 4 large fish bones in there after one lodged in my throat. Major dockage of points! What isn’t clarified is that this is just liquid soup. When I saw «bouillabase» I was thinking that I would get a seafood stew/​soup dish. There wasn’t a single piece of seafood in there. It tasted of seafood but none existed. I hate tasting seafood when I can’t verify how fresh it is.
Filet Mignon was done very well. They got my steak spot on at medium rare. It was served on a bed of morel mushrooms and per the menu «shaved truffles and truffle butter.» I definiutely smelled the truffle but did see any truffle shavings. The morels were also cold and soaked in some sort of cream since they oozed white liquid when I cut into it.
Chocolate pudding was served with a little scoop of crème fraîche/​whipped cream. It was scooped like ice cream which was disappointing and deceiving. I immediately scraped it aside and dug into the rest of the cake. The dessert was decent, but not worth the a la carte price of $ 8.
In terms of private dining, it wasn’t worth it. They did the coordinator a favor but cutting down the normal minimums but even with doing that, it wasn’t worth it. Stick to the main dining room.
Ironically, I called the restaurant back prior to writing this review and they transferred me to the owner/​chef who proceeded to berate me and bitch me out saying that why I would call him the following day vs speak up the night of. The point is, that I did speak up to our server, nothing was done. And it was at an event that SOMEONE else was hosting for a birthday. I wasn’t going to blatantly complain at someone’s birthday where I was a guest of. I wasn’t asking for anything from the owner but wanted to let him know the issues we faced and he brushed me off rudely.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Yes, I had my first valentine’s dinner with my valentine (yes redundant) at Chez Spencer last Friday.
First of all, why do all the nice intimate restaurants always have to be in the creepiest neighborhoods of the city? It was a piece of cake to find parking though even though the area was a bit iffy for safety. As you are looking for Chez Spencer, try to look for a gated, dark lit area. The signs of the restaurant are hung up on each side of the gate with lights. As I was about to enter the premises, I couldn’t see a thing! We were both iffy on where we were walking into, but as I opened the curtains, a total different warm atmosphere appeared in front of us.
We were seated outside and was greeted with delicious sweetbread and butter and drinks. (Best part of sitting outside: Seeing everyone’s faces as they enter the curtains of the restaurant!!!) I loved our waiter’s french accent. He was very soft spoken. What we ordered:
Appetizer:
Asparagus and Lobster Bisque
— Lobster was fresh! you get 2 full meat claws. good enough for an appetizer. I liked the mixture of the asparagus and bisque flavors. They have an appetizer or entrée portion for your information!
Entrees:
Wood grilled sturgeon
— simply the most flavorful and delicious fish I have had at a French restaurant! In the past, whenever I ordered a fish dish, it always tasted bland to me! I loved the combination of potato chips to décor the plate with its sauces on the side. I wanted more of it since it was so rich in flavor! This was my favorite entrée out of the 2 I tried!
Wood grilled filet mignon
— this was ordered as medium. not medium rare. i wish the bf ordered medium rare because it would of tasted so much better!!! Very flavorful also but I preferred the sturgeon!
Desserts:
Warm Apple Almond Tart
— I thought the desserts here were mediocre. Maybe we ordered the wrong ones. This was normal to me. The almonds gave it a good kick of flavorful but that was all. It came with glacé au lait, which is not quite ice cream.
Hazelnut A La Neige
— Egg whipped topping of the hazelnut chocolate was a bit too much for me. I didn’t quite get a good taste of the hazelnut because the expresso was stronger.
Champagne for 2 to celebrate vday– a bit too dry for my taste
Minus 1 star– for the SUPER heated outside patio! My boyfriend had to lean forward most of the time since the heat was burning his back. We did tell them to turn it down but since there were so many heaters around, it didn’t matter! But great job in making the ouside patio toasty for girls to take off their coats and wear something nice for their loved ones! lol Also, the service was a tad slow when it came to our drinks. I had to remind the waiter about our drinks a couple of times. Other than that dishes and etc were quick and prompt. Best advice: Just order a bottle of wine for the rest of your dinner to not worry about the minor service!
A romantic, dark restaurant! Definitely a *coupley* place! Just a bit too cramped for the patio area to be more intimate with your loved one. I think the inside is a bit more privacy and more spacious. I felt like I was too close to the other couples around me.