A restaurant with nothing but souffles? Sign me up pronto! I said that to myself about 5 years old and finally made it out to Cafe Jacqueline. The restaurant's Crab Souffle is #61 on 7x7 Magazine 100 Things you must try before you die list in San Francisco. I called right at 4:30pm to make reservation since I've heard Chef Jacqueline do not return messages.

A small restaurant on the narrow area of Grant Street, quiet and dimly lit with two waiters. A middle aged gentlemen who is rather irritated with everyone and everything and a younger man who is more accompanying. There is a selection of soups, salads, entree and dessert souffles. The entree souffles includes vegetarian toppings and fancier ingredients such as lobster and crab.

Our meal began with the Endive and Roquefort salad dressed in a mustard vinaigrette. The endive were very fresh, fat juicy crunch to the bite.

The $30 8 piece escargots were the most expensive snails I've ever ordered. The parsley butter was divine to slather with my bread but I can't justify the price for 8 pieces.

The $9 French onion soup is by far the BEST I've had. The cheese crust was baked to a tone of brown to black spilling all over the bowl. The cheese to bread ratio was just right. The French onion soup was seasoned enough to bring out the caramelized sweet onions. Every French Onion soup I've had is extremely salty or without depth tasting like hot water mixed with grilled onions. I would come back just for the soup.

The $55 Crab Souffle was definitely the star compare to the "Special of the Day" which was a Parmesan Black Truffle. The Crab souffle had ample big chunks of snow crab leg meat. The menu only notes it as Crab meat but as I was passing the kitchen to use the restroom I saw snow crab legs in a bowl. Every bite had a visible and sweet crab meat. The souffle was baked thoroughly with enough cheesy crust.





The $65 Parmesan Black Truffle was the special of the day and a "Special" let down. The souffle barely had any truffle bits or flavor (at least sprinkle some truffle oil to sike me out) and overwhelming tasted of only Gruyere cheese. Sixty-five dollars and not a whiff of truffle.

We ended the night with the $35 Strawberry Souffle and a $3 personal size pot of French Mint Tea. The Strawberry Souffle was slightly more wet than the entree souffles. The hot fluffy airy eggy-ness was a good contrast between the fresh strawberries.

I needed the mint tea to help me digest the meal as I needed to be rolled out of the restaurant.

A lot of patrons came in solely for dessert since each serves 2-4 people ranging from $30-$40. I would like to come back for the Grand Marnier Souffle.



Tips:

♥ Call right at 4:30pm for reservation since that is when Chef Jacqueline arrives.

♥ Use the restroom so you can walk by the kitchen to see Chef Jacqueline in action and the 100 point health inspection kitchen.

♥ Opened until 11pm every night so come just for dessert.

♥ The older waiter is actually Grumpy to everyone so just shrug it off.

Cafe Jacqueline (no website)
1454 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 981-5565