The Third Floor

The Third Floor is a solid late-night FiDi dinner option - Review - San Francisco - The Infatuation

"The Financial District needs more restaurants open after the streetlamps turn on—it's almost mythical to find a place serving dinner past 8pm in the area. While The Third Floor, a swanky restaurant on the third floor of the Jay Hotel (not to be confused with Prelude on the ground floor), won’t blow anyone away, its later hours and upscale dining room make it a solid option for hotel guests and anyone stranded in the neighborhood looking for an evening meal that isn’t a Subway Footlong. video credit: Patrick Wong There's usually a free table for walk-ins. But if you've got on a t-shirt and jeans, you may look out of place at the restaurant, what with its gold-plated lamps and $10 spiced cashews. People here dress up at least a little bit. There will be at least one duo of suited-up business folks having hushed conversations over mezcal cocktails and a group of friends who specially requested one of the marble tables by the giant bay windows for optimal lighting. The menu—a little bit of a lot of things with pasta, burgers, and yakitori-style skewers—is less impressive than the decor. The fried cauliflower’s coating is too thick and the burrata salad needs pizzaz or at least a little bit of salt. Stick to the skewers, which are are perfectly caramelized, and the duck noodle soup that has a nice balance of spice and sweetness. Food Rundown Pumpkin And Burrata Salad Beautifully plated, but bland. We suggest skipping. photo credit: Patrick Wong Sweet & Spicy Cauliflower Thick breading aside, the sauce on the cauliflower is great. We’d eat a birthday cake in this flavor. photo credit: Patrick Wong Skewers Focus your attention on the skewers when you’re ordering—they’re the best things on the menu. In particular, the pork belly is charred so that each piece of meat is a topographic map of crispy bits, and there’s an added lime sauce that balances out the piggy richness. photo credit: Patrick Wong Liberty Farm Duck Soup Our favorite entree. Sure, there are a few tough pieces of duck in the broth, but the dumplings are so good we’d risk a mouthful of third-degree burns and ditch the chopsticks to bob for them like apples. PlayMute video credit: Patrick Wong Black Cod This has a similar issue to the burrata salad. All of the components—the crispy maitake mushrooms, potato dauphinoise, and clam emulsion—are done right, but the flavors are muddled. It won’t ruin your dinner, but the duck soup is better. photo credit: Patrick Wong Hazelnut Panna Cotta Solid. There aren’t a lot of places to get a decent dessert in the neighborhood, so order one while you can. photo credit: Patrick Wong" - Patrick Wong