On my first lunch visit, Slow Club justified both their name and their good reputation. I arrived at noon on a Wednesday glad to see I had beaten the rush. I ordered a cup of heirloom tomato and fennel soup ($3.5) and the salmon ($13) from my Mission-charming waitress. The bread that came out was soft and fluffy and better than most. It would probably have been better served by butter than olive oil though. The tomato fennel soup came out quickly and was very tasty. It had its fair share of butter/cream but the fennel contributed a lot of the flavor to make this soup better than the many similar ones I’ve had. But with a few apologies in between, it took forty minutes to get my salmon. While this was disappointing since it meant a reasonably quick lunch may not be possible at Slow Club, the waitress was very apologetic and said this day was way too long because of a slew of to go orders and that it was on the house. While I ended up leaving a $6 tip, the final bill for both items was technically only $4.

The salmon was wonderful. It was on a bed of sweet corn that was somewhat like polenta and was soft, succulent, and salty. It was basically unadorned leaving just the taste of the meat and the melty mouthfeel. The most noticeable thing about the salmon flavoring was that it was saltier than most, but I think this made it better as opposed to covering up flaws.

I had come here previously for brunch and had one of the best french toasts I’ve ever had and a great spinach salad.