Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
118
Value
Bar gain Alert!
For $9.50 and a one-drink minimum each, you can feed the kids at the Fairmont
Hotel's Tonga Room during happy hour from 5 to 7pm on weekdays. Polynesian
appetizers, including pot stickers, chicken drummettes, Shanghai noodles, fruit,
and crudités will fill 'em up, and the tropical storm cued to thunder on the half-
hour will provide entertainment. There's nothing else like it.
4
NOB HILL
EXPENSIVE
Laurel Court
AFTERNOON TEA The F airmont H otel's lo vely Laur el Cour t
restaurant, with ivory pillars surrounding lighted domes and a low ceiling that makes the
space feel quite intimate, is open for meals almost all day long. Taking the California
Street cable car from the foot of Market up to Nob Hill for breakfast sounds like fun to
me, but you'll spend a small fortune on your waffles or eggs. Afternoon tea is dear as well,
but seems more fitting given the surroundings, and will be especially appreciated by any
girls in the family . The kid 's tea menu isn 't exactly to code: The cr ustless sandwiches
include peanut butter and jelly and tuna salad, and hot cider and cocoa ar
e non-tea
alternatives.
Fairmont Hot el, 950 M ason St. (at C alifornia St.).
&
415/772-5259.
w ww.fairmont.com. K ids' menu ,
highchairs, boosters. Reservations recommended. Tea service $34-$46, children's tea $30. AE, DC, DISC,
MC, V. Breakfast daily 6:30-10:30am, lunch daily 11:30-2:30pm, dinner Tues-Sat 6-10pm; afternoon tea
daily 2:30-4:30pm. Muni: No. 1-California bus or California St. cable car to the Fairmont Hotel.
5
5
CHINATOWN
MODERATE
Great Eastern Restaurant
CHINESE The specialty here is seafood, which you can
observe swimming ar ound in tanks against the back wall. D inner doesn't come fr esher
than this, so if y ou're in the mood for steamed whole r ockfish, crab ser ved in a doz en
ways, shrimp, lobster, or whatev er's in season, G reat Eastern is the best choice in the
'hood. Just don't let the waiter steer you away from the fish tanks toward more “typical”
Chinese-American fare; you'll get the same food you could have gotten for less at a corner
Chinese takeout joint. That's what happened to us some y ears back when we were tour-
ists in San Francisco—now we know better. Like the vast majority of Chinatown restau-
rants, this one has big tables for extended families. The basement dining r oom is
comfortable, but w e prefer the upstairs. O ne of the nice things about eating in China-
town is that you're almost expected to have kids in tow.
649 Jackson St. (bt w. Grant and Kearn y sts.).
&
415/986-2500.
Highchairs, boosters. Reservations rec-
ommended. Main courses $11-$30. AE, MC, V. Daily 10am-1am. Muni: No. 15-3rd St. bus to Jackson St.
