"Booked a reservation to take my parents to dinner ahead of a play at the Orpheum. At the beginning of the meal our server asked what time we would ideally like to finish dinner to make our play, which I appreciated. We chose the winter tasting menu for $45 a person (three appetizers, choice of one of three mains, and choice of one of two desserts). The portions were slightly on the smaller size (fine dining vs chain restaurant) but the quality of the food was excellent and we didn't leave hungry, so felt this was an amazing value especially for the city. I had a gin cocktail, Golden State City, which had hints of tropical fruit but was not too sweet, and was quite good. We added beef dumplings to our appetizers, but unfortunately the kitchen forgot this dish. We decided we didn't need the fourth appetizer however and we were not billed for it. Appetizers included milk bread with shrimp infused butter (added a rich umami flavor), ~12 leaves of little gems salad, and a delicious plate of fried artichoke balls that were quite unique and tasty. My mom had the sea bass entrée, which she said had delicious crispy skin. My dad had the Schezwan spiced pork shoulder, which was melt in your mouth, and I had the cavatelli. Dessert was either carbonated grapes, which was served in the form of an ice with some whole grapes included, and chocolate pudding, both with vanilla ice cream. Servers during the dinner were very attentive, even with a large Christmas party that came in after we were seated. We had finished dinner and the server brought the check, but told us not to take too long since the table was reserved. We still had 15 minutes until the time we told them we would like to finish dinner to make our show, so this was a unexpected, and I was a bit disappointed to end the dinner on a low note and to feel like my parents were being hurried out. Overall though I would say it was an positive experience with excellent food."
