Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio

Jenn A.
378 reviews
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Outstanding Gourmet Vegetable Restaurant

From reviews, I understand that this is a "vegetable" but not necessarily a "vegetarian" restaurant. Other reviews - SF Chron, I think - have hailed it as the best thing to happen on the vegetarian scene since Greens, 30 years ago. Millennium is still my favorite, but there's room at the top to add Ubuntu -- they have a more limited menu and many options include dairy or egg (but they emphasize that they can make anything vegan if requested).

The only shortcoming was that the server was unfamiliar with wines and we had some back-and-forth before finally getting a recommendation for a really great Italian barbera from Italy.

Dinner was just outstanding -- we started with a dish of marcona almonds seasoned with salt, sugar and lavender. Our appetizer was "Roscoe's delta Asparagus" -- tender asparagus, surrounded by curls and in a delicious lemon coulis with lemon zest. The "UBUNTU Garden Greens" were light, tasty and delightfully set on a bed of pear & almond chutney. For dinner we had the "fregola" or sauteed pearl pasta with black trumpets,arugula, green garlic and broccoli stem pistou -- it was so incredibly delicious.

Dessert was also outstanding -- brioche french toast went quickly and the vegan pineapple upside down cake was delicious.

Ubuntu puts a lot of work into being green: the flooring is made with recycled wood used and furnishings, decorated with reclaimed and salvaged vintage patio furniture, and featuring a mostly sustainable wines on their list of 200.

Jenn's keywords: vegetarian restaurant, vegan restaurant, gourmet