Description: Lunch on the waterfront is was a far cry from our lunch the day before in New Chinatown. To start, Chinatown cost $20 for three, the waterfront was $53. The waterfront places are more elegant than an authentic local dim sum parlor, and the former feed tourists, the later locals. Like all the kitsch around Fisherman's Wharf, Scoma’s exterior looked like a New England clapboard. sea captain's house. Inside was attractive, a long narrow building with a bar on one side and long narrow dinning rooms with an almost decent view of the city and coast. Bright and cheerful, the table were set with fresh flowers, white linen, and the usual eating tools. Service was prompt, made no mistakes, and friendly. As we had been walking all morning on an unusually hot day, we were thirsty. The staff managed pretty well to keep our water glasses full.
We lived in Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay, for 20 years, and came to like crab cake sandwiches as one of our favorite lunches. There is a a rivalry between the coasts over which crab is best tasting, the west coast's Dungenes or the Eastern Blue crab, so, there was no question about what we would order– Dungenes Crab cake sandwiches for lunch for a taste off. The crab cake was very good but it was so different from the classic Maryland crab cake that they defy comparisons. It would be like asking which is better, a sirloin steak or a veal shank? One can have a preference, but that isn't the same as saying one is better than the other. Our preference is for the Maryland style crab cake, and it has more to do with the the preparation rather than with the type of crab (and, at our favorite crab cake restaurant at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, a crab cake sandwich is $4 less than at Scoma's).
The crab cake sandwiches came with very good fries, and it made a filling lunch. In short, it’s expensive, but if you must eat at the tourist trap that is the San Francisco waterfront, Scoma’s is good, safe bet, but be prepared to wait in season and pay top prices.
Scoma’s has an extensive menu, including four variations of San Francisco's most famous dish, Crab Louis; 13 pasta dishes, most with seafood; 12 shellfish; 10 items called "house favorites– Cioppino, Calamari, surf & turf, shrimp, and scallops; four steaks; 11 fish; and eight sandwiches– tuna, crab, shrimp, burgers, and steak. Prices start at $10 for soup or salad and go to $57 for lobster tail. Figure $12-20 for a sandwich, and about $30 for an entree.
There is also a three course prix fixe lunch menu (until 3:30pm) for $23 that includes choice of clam chowder or salad, choice of five entrees, and the chef’s desert of the day.
Close