Address: 657 Harrison Street, b/t 2nd at 3rd, SOMA, SF
Phone Number: (415) 328-0900
Cuisine: New American
Date Last Visited: January 22, 2009
Dining Partner: Star, Cuzzin Sin-D, and Ate Di
So I have this cousin and her name is Sin-D. I wasn’t able to make it to her birthday dinner, so I made it up to her by taking her to dinner. I wanted it to be a place that we would not forget. supperclub came to mind because they serve you on BEDS…sexy. Perfect place for a grown lady to have her 27th birthday. We decided to come on a Thursday, and luckily for us Dine About Town (DAT) was still in play. DAT is a 2-week “event” where particular restaurants offer a 3-course prix fixe for $21.95 lunch and $34.95 for dinner. Usually dinners at supperclub can be around $65 for a 4-course meal, so for me this was a good deal - the only thing you miss out is one less course, one less hour, and one less performance. Saving $30 is worth it especially in the crisis we are all in right now.
The façade of supperclub is pretty plain. All you see on the outside is the sign in a red-ish outline, and double doors with a circular window, which you can’t really see through unless you’re tall enough. You can’t even see the dining room unless you’re inside. Once we did get inside, we were greeted by a gender illusionist host, and you need to give up a credit card to hold the table. Why they do that? I have no clue. We were early for our reservation, so we kicked it at the bar. BTW, they only do one seating each night at 7:30 p.m.
They have a nice cocktail list going on with sexy drinks such as the “Sutra” and the “Glittery Nipple.” They seem to want you to turn you on in this place. I mean, c’mon, you eat on giant beds. How much more blatant can a place be about sex and intimacy. Well, you know what though? Whatever they’re doing works. I saw an Asian couple, and they could look like one of my aunts and uncles and they were kicking it in the same bar we were. Everyone has a freaky side. Haha! Anyway, our bartender Chris was awesome. He had a cruel sense of humor which was sexy and intriguing. The drink I had was the “Passion.” It was sweet but had a bitter undertone to it. In it floated a basil leaf. Star and Sin-D ordered one “Blush” each. This was the best cocktail - it tasted like gummy worms. So good. Ate’s was “No Heels” and it tasted like unsweetened cherry lemonade. Great cocktails - fun and flirty.
They gave us beds 31 and 32 which is the bed immediately to the left as you walk into the dining room. I realized a little later that this bed and the other bed on the other side of the door was probably the best beds in there. We were able to see everything from the open kitchen, all the performances, and the DJ. We even got our food first. I began to wonder why. Let me tell you what happened earlier that day:
-at work-
Fuego (my coworker): Is Opentable accurate?
Jo: Yeah, I haven’t had a reservation lost before. That reminds me, I have to call supperclub to make sure they have a vegetarian menu for Star.
*Jo calls supperclub*
supperclub gal: Hello, supperclub, this is *****, how can I help you?
Jo: Hi, I have a reservation for tonight, but I was just wondering if there was going to be a vegetarian option tonight.
supperclub gal: Of course, the chef will always accommodate those with allergies and dietary restrictions.
Jo: Oh that’s great.
supperclub gal: What name did you put the reservation under again?
Jo: Joanne Boston. I made it on Opentable.
supperclub gal: When did you make it?
Jo: Liiiike three days ago.
supperclub gal: It looks like our Opentable system didn’t put you on our list.
Jo: But it’s still cool for us to come…right?
supperclub gal: Oh yes, of course we can accommodate you!
Jo: *sigh of relief* Thank you.
-to Fuego-
Jo: To answer your question again - NO, OPENTABLE IS NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE.
So THAT’S why I think we had the best bed. My chickas said that maybe they did that to make up for losing our reservation.
Carrot Ginger Soup
with Local Crab Meat and Chives Crème
That’s right ladies and gentlemen, you are not going crazy. They really served our soup in, yes, dog bowls. Talk about presentation. I was pleasantly surprised with how I enjoyed the soup. I usually don’t like cooked carrots and pureed carrots remind me of Gerber baby food, but this soup was very nice. There was that slight hint of ginger which was not overpowering at all. That little ball you see there in the middle is a concoction made with fresh crab meat and seasonings. The crab lent some saltiness to the otherwise sweet soup. The breadstick absorbed the soup beautifully and by the time I went to bite the end off, it was soaked in the flavorful bisque. Awesome and perfect portion.
One thing that disappointed Star was that she did ask for the meatless version of this soup. As she was eating, she realized that there might have been some of the crab ball in the bowl. I found that to be disturbing because if that was the case, what if Star had a REAL allergy to shellfish? Should would have been dying. It seemed like they just pulled the crab out instead of preparing a fresh bowl of soup for her. That’s really irresponsible. Good thing she really didn’t have the allergy because there would have been chaos if she did.
What I really liked about supperclub is that they have performances in between each course. This performer was a cute opera singer who sang while taking doll parts - hair, heads, torsos, out of a sack. I don’t know exactly what she was singing about and if it even remotely had anything to do with the dolls, but it was very entertaining. The singer was very talented! They don’t hire William Hungs here. They make sure that each performer is gifted and can entertain the diners. I thought that the act was cute in the beginning, but when she started to take those doll corpses out of her sack, I started to feel a bit…disturbed. If that was the point of the performance, then it worked.
I think this was favorite color scheme. Throughout the dinner, the lights were switched from an orange and then to this beautiful blue. Because everything in the room was white, from the beds, pillows, walls and chairs, whatever light they turned on bounced off all things white and caused what you see above. BEAUTIFUL. It really reminded me of PURE in Las Vegas. Again beautiful.
I didn’t get to taste any of Star’s entrée, but she really appreciated that they did have a vegetarian option for her. I actually liked how they made sure to ask everyone, not only the one who had the constraint if they wanted to have a different menu due to allergies and restrictions.
Seared Supreme Chicken
with Brussels Sprouts, Potato & Parmesan Jus
I read a lot of reviews saying that the food at supperclub was not great and they people should only come here for the experience, so I was ready for mediocre food. With the soup being great, I thought it would be bad after that. I was so wrong. This is probably the best chicken I have had in a while. I am so not kidding you. What I liked about this was that the dish was incredibly simple. I had my wonderfully tender and juicy chicken BREAST. Yes, they used white meat. The skin was perfect and tasty. The chicken sat on a bed of mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are a little bitter, so I let Ate Di eat some of them off my plate. Don’t worry, I ate most of them. Granted I am not a Brussels sprouts person, they were actually very good. Everything in this dish was great. My plate was clean when it was taken away. Some places make their entrées so complicated, but I tend to enjoy the simpler plates more. This was a winner - to my surprise. Well, now that I think about it, the only thing I can complain about is the size of the dinner plates. They were huge. It was hard for two of us to set our plate on the table. Either the plate was too big or the table was too small. Kind of awkward to eat with not enough room.
Talk about being Cirque du Soleil-like. The act started with the woman in a business suit carrying a suitcase. She walked from one staircase to another and descended down the stairs. She opened her suitcase, stripped to her undergarments, brushed her teeth, and then just so happened found a long sash-looking rope hangning from the ceiling. Soon she was twisting her arms and legs around the sash, and made the audience gasp when she made some dramatic drops toward the floor. It was beautiful. She made it look so easy. Of course I wanted her to stop because I didn’t want to see her fall to her death, but it was great to watch. Where else can you watch this while in bed?
French Toast and “Eggs”
When this was brought out to us, I chuckled to myself because the presentation was genius. How does French toast and “eggs” sound for dessert? The eggs are actually a pool of vanilla bean crème anglaise with puddles of lemon curd. INCREDIBLY CUTE!!!!! I loved it!
I would have appreciated more than one piece of French toast, but I guess since we were eating off the DAT menu, they had to be cheap. I thoroughly enjoyed dessert. The French toasts were still a little warm and custard-y in the middle. You see those charred edges? Loved them. While I love citrus, I liked dipping the French toast only in the crème anglaise. The lemon curd was delicious but maybe with a scone or something. With French toast, I like to let the vanilla shine. Only complaint - portion too small. I loved the interactivity, and we really didn’t care about double dipping.
The night ended with a racy striptease by the hostess who checked us in. My only response is: I wish I could dance like that…AND where did he get those glittery nipples? They’re awesome! You just need to come here and watch it yourself. Amazing.
So what did I think? At the end of the night, I had a big bill to pay. (grrr.) BUT, it looked like Sin-D had a great time. I think I accomplished what I set out to do: plan a dinner that none of us will forget. I actually thought that the price wasn’t bad - you get the beds, ambiance, food, unusual characters, and extraordinary performances. $35 isn’t bad at all. We just had to deal with the tax and tip, but don’t come here broke on an ordinary day. Normally, the tab per person can be $100, so this is not a cheap place. Aside from that, I enjoyed my evening and am glad everyone else had a great time. I really wouldn’t mind coming back, and I wish there were more restaurants as fun as this in the City.
