The Moss Room in California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco

Moss Room closed at the end of 2011. Charles Phan will be opening a new restaurant to replace it in 2012.

The Moss Room is located in California Academy of Sciences and run by the team of restaurant COCO500. It focuses on local, organic and seasonal ingredients. We went for lunch after waiting a couple months to give them time to ramp up. Their bar uses lots of top notch mixers.

Decor, Vibe – Downstairs in the new museum, modern beautiful room with moss on one wall. Lots of folks in their 30′s to 50′s interested in fine dining and not the upstairs cafeteria were eating. Not many kids.

Menu Pictures

Lunch Appetizer Menu

Lunch Menu

Lunch Dessert Menu

Dinner Appetizer Menu

Dinner Menu

Cocktail menu

Wine List

Picks:

House made pita bread ($10) with hummus, roasted vegetables, manouri cheese, lemon, sea salt was delicious. The pita was hot and fresh, and the hummus tasted very good.

House made Gravlax Salad ($18) with arugula, citrus (grapefruit), herb croutons had several delicious pieces of smoked salmon and a bunch of greens. Good balance with the tart citrus and the fish.

Sustainable Catch of day – Fresh Clams ($23) with andouille sausage had pretty good quantity of clams and a good broth. Sausage was fair, could have used more of a kick. Be sure to balance a soupy dish like this with their wonderful foccaia bread.

Philo Gold Apple Tarte Tatin ($9) with calvados ice cream, walnut streussel was very good. The tarte was dense and complex, while the wine based ice cream accented it perfectly.

OK:

Grilled Monterey Squid ($11) with chickpeas, swiss chard, tomatoes, Jalapeno pesto was more of chickpeas with squid. Not much squid at all, but the dish did taste good. Squid was fresh, jalapeno paste was super spicy.

Pans:
None

The Moss Room in the California Academy of Sciences had decent service that started to falter as the place got busy. We were surprised the food was of this quality at a museum, as the food in the upstairs cafeteria was so-so. A recent Bauer review confirmed this.

Eating a meal here would surely round out a nice visit to this state of the art museum. Lunch requires admission to the Academy, while dinner does not. This is definitely one of the top restaurants in this part of town.

Book The Moss Room Reservation

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

The Moss Room Overall Rating: (Very Good 2.5)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Excellent)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Dressy
Hours:	11am-230pm, 530-10pm
Parking:	Street, Paid Lot
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$18 - $29