Millennium Restaurant: Upscale vegan/vegetarian food in San Francisco

I noticed that I have cut down a lot on my restaurant blogs of late. A couple of reasons: I have not been to newer restaurants and the ones which I have already been to, I don’t have photographs of the food plates so have been holding off on putting them up. I always feel that being a vegetarian, most of the restaurants have 3-4 options to choose from starting from appetizers to main course. So this time around while I was deciding on picking a place for our anniversary dinner, I decided to pick a strictly vegetarian restaurant to try out. Millennium in San Francisco is an absolute delight for non-meat eaters. And I am sure, even carnivores won’t regret a visit to this classy vegan place.

I don’t like vegan food a lot, but I had read so much about Millennium that I was looking forward to trying out their pre-fixed menus. We went to Millennium on a weekday and it was quite crowded for a weekday. Though, the restaurant’s decor is not very appealing. Maroon and brown walls with a few drapes here and there. For a restaurant that is known for its upscale and high-end dining, the decor is a let down. Once our server seated us, I started wondering if I should have picked a Michelin star instead.

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Thankfully, the food did not disappoint. We opted for the 3 course pre-fix menu. There are quite a few options that you can choose from for appetizers and entrees and then there is no restrictions for desserts. For appetizers we ordered Keanne Fries that came with a cucumber-yogurt dressing and a seared broccoli dish seasoned with bell peppers, olives and basil. The dressing with the fries was delicious and so was the broccoli. For our main course, I ordered Molasses and Thyme-glazed Tempeh with broccoli, jicama salad and candied walnuts. There was a barbecue dressing with it. I have never eaten tempeh and I was pleasantly surprised that I loved the dish. The tempeh was yummy and so was the jicama salad. My husband ordered the pumpkin tamale with beans and it came with a green chutney which balanced out the dish. Nevertheless, there was no taste of pumpkin in the dish. If you are used to eating food with a lot of spices, you might find Millennium a little bland for your taste buds.

No meal is complete without dessert and we had one order of Chocolate Almond Midnight which had almond cashew crust, mocha chocolate filling, raspberry sauce, white chocolate mousse and another order of a warm apple pie with bourbon ice-cream and coconut cookie. Total bliss! The warm apple pie made up for the above average pumpkin tamale. The service at Millennium is great. It takes time between courses, so go with people you like talking to!

To summarize, Millennium’s veggie course is not at par with any of the Michelin veggie tasting menu’s I have had, but hey it is not a Michelin star. You get excellent quality food for the price you pay. If you don’t want to spend a lot and still experience fine dining, try out Millennium. Also, if you are vegetarian, you have an entire menu to choose from not 🙂