Marlowe

Cuisine	American (New)
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	5/10
Last Visit	Oct. 31, 2019
Location	SFBA: San Francisco: Downtown + SoMa

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General Notes

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Marlowe is an interesting American restaurant in SoMa, right by the Caltrain station. The food here isn't the most outstanding, but it's generally prepared very well and incorporates creative ingredient combinations. I do feel that I made some suboptimal choices when ordering - they're known for their burger, and I'd also love to try their pork chop, baked oysters, deviled eggs, and burrata. Based on my experience at dinner, I might be more inclined to give this place a try for brunch, but nevertheless a good option in SoMa.

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Positives

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> The ingredient combinations for each dish seem carefully thought out. They complement each other well and provide a balanced and enjoyable texture/flavor profile.
> It's not terribly difficult to get a seat here - Friday and Saturday might be tough, but there was plenty of space on a Thursday evening for dinner.

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Negatives

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> I'm not quite sure how best to describe it, but at first glance the items and ingredients of the dishes on the menu simply don't look too exciting. Don't get me wrong - the polenta was a delicious and a pleasant surprise, but it doesn't sound as good as it tastes.
> The dining room is way too dark at dinner, which is a vibe I'm personally not a big fan of. Maybe come here for lunch when it's brighter.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Roasted Bone Marrow -- With salsa verde and fines herbes. Pretty delicious (the bread, salsa, and parsley pair beautifully with the rich, savory bone marrow), but there is so little bone marrow in relation to the amount of the other ingredients. It was also remarkably difficult to get the bone marrow out, compared to my experience at Au Cheval.
• ★☆☆☆ Loretta's Vacharin -- Coffee ice cream, meringue, toasted almond, and chocolate sauce. I rarely dislike desserts but this one felt very off to me. The coffee ice cream was watery, the chocolate sauce was a bit cloyingly sweet, and I didn't like the texture of the cracker-like object at the bottom (I can't tell exactly what that was).
• ★★★☆ Anson Mills Polenta -- Wild mushrooms, parmesan, truffle salsa verde, and poached farm egg. A very nice dish - I love the texture of the polenta - it's creamy but maintains a slightly gritty feel. The mushrooms, parmesan, salsa, and poached egg are prepared well and complement the polenta nicely. The acidity from the salsa and parmesan really lift the dish and are great additions.