V2 Malaysia Cuisine
518 Bryant St
(between 4th St & Ritch St)
San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 974-1922
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch
48 Reviews for V2 Malaysia Cuisine
So I decided I'd check it out for lunch today and it's been replaced by a Thai Restaurant. "Grand Opening" banner out front.
Caution if you want to go to V2 'cause it ain't V2 no mo'.
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This place is right next to my office. I've never gone in, because someone had told me it wasn't good. But, one of my coworkers had a yummy looking lunch special (only 7 or 8 bucks) the other day. So, i gave it a try. The restaurant itself is small and simple (not much ambiance). But, the service is fast and they are quite nice. And, most importantly, the food is delicious. I had stir-fried tofu with mixed vegetables with a side of coconut rice. I didn't get the 'special' because I didn't want 2 entrees; also, I didn't like any of the lunch special dishes. Anyhow, the tofu was reallly good and the coconut rice was heavenly. It was quite a lot of food for me, and I had it for lunch, dinner and lunch the following day! So, 8 bucks for 3 meals - quite a bargain.
Pro's - cheap, fast, nice interior, friendly accomodating service
Con's - food seemed a little greasy, weird tummy rumblings (??)
The food pretty good, but not totally authentic. Having tried over 20 different noodle dishes in Malaysia, some of the noodle dishes here tastes similar to some I've had in Malaysia. For those who have commented on it being similiar to Thai Food, keep in mind that Malaysia is right next to Thailand. Thai satay is originally from Malaysian cuisine. Some noodles dishes may have been "borrowed" from Malaysian cuisine.
And those that think that the food seems to be a mixture of cuisines from all over, it sort of is... But it's mainly because of the diversity of the cultures there. If you want to think about it this way, it's a fusion of flavors from different ethnic foods from the Chinese, Thai, Indian and Indonesia. Food in Malaysia also varies in taste from one city to another.
I've eaten here a few times and the owners are very nice. Just the service would bring me back to this better than mediocre food. Anything that closely resembles the flavors and spices of Malaysia will definitely have me back!
I've had far worse and far better food, but it was a fast, friendly, and relatively inexpensive SOMA lunch.
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I came here for lunch with a coworker and we both really enjoyed our meals. He had the lunch special with chicken curry and fried veggies, and I got the Singapore fried noodles. I had spent the past year looking all over the city for noodles that tasted like that -- like the Soy Sauce Fried Noodle in Hong Kong Style at the Old Teahouse in Davis. I'm glad I found it, and I'll most likely be going again, but I have to be honest: My stomach isn't feeling so hot right now...
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YES! I just realized this was in my neigborhood and I'm really happy, lah! Wah... so good! I have spent a lot of time in Malaysia and this place captures the spirit of the food they serve- pretty quick, inexpensive, and flavorful just like the street vendor version in Malaysia.
The people there were very nice and it seems like their take-out menu is a really good deal. I might start hanging out here a lot. Try the roti canai.
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Not sure if Malaysian dishes are SUPPOSED to taste like Coco Crispies and Captain Crunch, but V2 is somewhere in between tasting like almost nothing, and absolutely terrible.
Its only saving grace is that it is *almost priced too well to say no.
I think my co-workers away messages on instant messenger throughout the day can best describe the experience:
bigwilliestyle:
"quite possibly the worst meal ever, and I didn't even eat any of it"
Michael:
"stomach...hurting"
Brad Feldman
"dishsoap"
Yes, the soup tasted like dish soap. Bad news.
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quite an inexpensive lunch to be...
for $8, you get a wide variety of 12 choices with a side of rice and soup in which you can mix and match your foodie. soup tasted a bit tangy like thai soup... my sambal eggplant w/chicken and shrimp fuyong (basically tasted like scrambled eggs w/shrimp)was decent but given that it was only $8, i ain't complaining. my friend got their satay chicken w/chicken curry... the satay chicken was pretty tasty but they unfortunately forgot to pack our a side of curry to go, which was simpy forgotten -- a bit mind boggling but one of the ladies called and apologized numerous times saying that my lunch was on the house next time i came in. usually i'm not that trusting but i got her name and the fact she called me multiple times shows me that she's trustworthy.
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V2 is actually a pretty decent lunch spot. The food is reasonably priced and pretty tasty. Definitely worth checking out!
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Not the most traditional I have tasted, but then I guess I am more of a Kuching/Borneo guy. But shit is good, cheap, and the owners are super-rad.
I eat here a lot right now, as it is across the street from my work. The lunch menu changes somewhat, so if you can rock the pork balls, def. a good selection. Plus, I feel like an 8th grader giggling as I order the pork balls.
Only thing I don't like is some of the lunch choices do not have enough meat. Ordering chicken and green beans for example, well you get a plate full of greens and a bit of chicken. I guess that is one way to keep the price down.
Anyway, overall a solid lunch spot if you are in the area.
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A bunch of coworkers went here today. It was a lot nicer inside than I expected. A small place. A simple and clean ambience. Probably seating for 20 people max. We had 6 and we had to tie a couple of tables together.
Ordered the roti for an appetizer. Those things are always good. Who could mess up fried bread. V2 definitely did not. We devoured the thing.
Half of us with various versions of the Indian Mee Goreng noodle dish. A nice presentation complete with the chopped peanuts and fresh looking lime halves. But the spice (I ordered spicy) was a little too overwhelming and masked a lot of the flavor. Next time I'll go with a medium spicy.
Also ordered were the Lemon Chicken and Fried Tofu. Nothing mind blowing but somewhere healthily in the good range.
We'll go back. The service was great and the waitress was sweet.
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Hmm, I should've brought a printout of the Yelper's recommendations when I went here yesterday.
I ordered the lunch special (a fab deal I must admit): soup, 2 entrees with steamed rice for only $8. I got the OK short ribs and chicken with green beans. The green beans and rice were pretty much what I ate. The ribs were tough and the chicken looked unappetizing -- I couldn't tell whether they had left the skin on or not. The sweet red OK sauce was just that - okay.
The service was nice and fortunately there weren't many customers - otherwise it might have been a longer wait.
[I've been there twice.]
Small Place with about 6 tables.
One waitress.
Portions are good.
Roti appetizer is a definite buy.
Their signature Malaysian dish is good, sorry I forgot the name Nasi something.
Be careful about the other dishes as this isn't 100 percent Malaysian, it's Malaysian & Singaporean. I had the Singaporean noodles, which was bland. I am not a fan of it.
The fried bananas and ice cream dessert was a large portion and a great finish to the meal.
So, I decided that it was time to try another Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco Bay Area, and I decided to check out "V2 Malaysian Cuisine", which is on Bryant Street and 3rd Street in San Francisco.
The restaurant resembles a hole in a wall, but it is actually a jewel in the crown. The menu was simple featuring a variety of typical Malaysian dishes like nasi lemak, nasi goreng, kari ayam, mi goreng, roti canai, and others. The prices are definitely on the lower end, with the most expensive dish coming in at $10.
I tried the roti telur (fried egg in bread dish), nasi lemak (rice dish with curry chicken, shrimp paste sauce, and more) and mi goreng india (indian-malaysian style fried noodle). They were all excellent, and reminded me of the respective dishes back home in Malaysia. The service is excellent, with our amazing hostess, Joanna!
I encourage everyone to check out this Malaysian restaurant, as it offers great food -- an overall best value (especially compared to Betelnut on Union Street, The Straits in Westfield Mall and Palo Alto, and Malacca in Castro). Call me along, and I will personally introduce the various dishes to you as well... or Joanna would do it better justice on her own!
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Tried this place for lunch today. It was alright. Had the Char Kway Teow and the Roti Canai. I was asked how spicy I wanted my Char Kway Teow and I chose medium and they got that part right. Their soy sauce was ok only, but what I had expected as good dark soy sauce seems to be hard to find in the Bay Area. Their version used Chinese sausage which I wasn't used to, but it was ok. Portion was definitely enough and I could have had that all by itself. The Roti Canai definitely was a good sized helping. It was the thicker variety which is ok, but I prefer the thinner variety. The curry sauce to dip the Roti in was pretty horrible though. It had no taste whatsoever and I'm never going to order that dish again. I'll probably go back to try other things. Hopefully those will be better.
On my way to Whole Foods Market to grab a healthy salad, I stumbled on V2 Malaysia Cuisine on Bryant St. I pictured in my head a salad at Whole Foods or curry chicken at this Malaysian restaurant, and after deliberating for about ten seconds, I entered the Malaysian restaurant. The lunch special includes two items, soup, and rice for $7. I ordered the lemon chicken, curry chicken, soup, and rice as my lunch special.
I was excited about the possibility that I had found accidentally this great small Malaysian restaurant close to work. When the soup came out and was basically plain broth, I was in full out denial. I really wanted to like this place and tried to justify in my mind the plain broth soup. I thought to myself, "This is good soup; it's hot and quenches my thirst." The reality though is that besides the broth seasoning, there wasn't much more to the soup. Some vegetables would have made the soup a lot better because the broth wasn't bad.
I thought the lemon chicken was average. Honestly, it seemed like the equivalent of orange chicken at your local Chinese restaurant except lemon instead of orange flavoring. It was breaded and fried the same way.
I thought the chicken curry was average to good. I haven't had Malaysian food much but it tasted similar to curry at Thai restaurants. The curry chicken dish would have been better if the curry was more flavorful and less salty.
The service was excellent. The food was ready quickly and the waitress refilled my water three times which is important to me.
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V2 is definitely in a random place...and it would probably get a lot more traffic if it was located elsewhere. But then again...if it got too much traffic the service wouldn't have been as good as it was! The staff is extremely friendly, and the food came out quickly. For about $15, we got the malaysian curry rice plate and singapore fried noodles, both of which were really good and satisfying. They also deliver on the weekdays from 2p-8pm according to their menu.
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I would give a 3.5 if I could, but I don't feel it deserves a full 4 stars even though I've already been there twice in 2 weeks and I will probably go back again (hey, I live close, and it's on my walk from work to home).
I've tried the roti canai both times (a flour pancake with a spicy curry sauce) and it's VERY good. Also a very large portion: 2 nice big pancakes, which is twice as much as other restaurants I've tried. I definitely recommend it as an app.
For entrees, I've tried the Malaysian curry chicken and Singapore fried noodles. Like others have mentioned, if you're a flavor whore like myself, you will find the food a bit bland; like it's just missing that one extra "oomph" that would make it awesome.
Other than that, I'm a fan. The food is freshly prepared (even the roti sauce) and prepared quickly. The employees are extremely polite and prices are very reasonable for the portion ($12.95 for the roti and an entree). Decor is a bit divey.
In summary -- not a destination restaurant, but definitely a good neighborhood joint I plan to frequent regularly.
NOTE: They don't deliver anymore. I asked in person the first time, and noticed the second time around that "delivery" was crossed out on all their business cards.
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Here's a place where I find myself not completely sure if I should judge on the first time being there. My buddy and I came on a random Friday night and found the place quite empty. We were a bit skeptical but then we saw the dirt cheap menu and knew it had to be tried!!! We started with the potato pancakes and they were thin and delicious! Then I had the house special noodles and my friend tried the curry. Both were good but nothing extremely spectacular. When our bill came out to under $30, neither one of us could come up with a solid complaint. V2, you're worth another visit!
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This food is anything but bland!
Why didn't somebody tell me that I liked Malay food sooner? The noodle thingy was searingly hot and full of my favorite things. Bean sprouts, fried onions, potatoes, green onions, oil, chili, etc.
Counter lady was super nice, and thoughtfully asked if egg was OK when I ordered Veggy noodles. Egg's not OK, but the spiceness level was just right. I sweated, felt some pain at the end, and got a great dose of endogenous morphine. Usually it takes a couple bites before I taste any heat, but not when you tell them to make it as spice as people in Malaysia like it.
The noodles are cheap, but the other ingredients (black fungus!) make up for them.
Don't complain if you ask for no spice and you get bland food!
V2 took over what used to be one of the most unappealing Chinese lunch buffet spots. They've cleaned it up -- it looks nice now. Unfortunately, the food is either really bad or I'm just not a fan of Malaysian food. I suspect it's the former. V2's fare featured lots of greasy stir-fry, not much in the way of flavor, and lots of unpleasant rumblings in my belly when I got back to the office. I'm gonna pass.
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consistently good. the chicken curry and thai vegetable mix is a good lunch combo. the place is always clean and the staff is quick. what more could I want from a lunch place that is two blocks from the office?
So I hafta admit i'm not really sure what malaysian cuisine is about. it seems like they have a little bit of stuff from all kinds of regions around there..
the lunch special is a good value for 7 bucks.. i like being able to pick two smaller entrees, it gives a lot more variety and there seems to be an interesting selection of items on the menu. we got carryout and were in and out in under 10 minutes, it wasn't very busy although this was sort of early in the soma lunch rush like 11:45...
the soup that came with the meal was decent with a nice spicy aftertaste. i had the satay chicken which was good,..it's strange because at first i thought the sauce was a little too sweet for my preferences and the chicken seemed a tad dry, but when i started dipping it in there the matchup was perfect!!.. the curry chicken was good, and went well with the fried rice. it wasn't maybe as spicy hot as i'd like but it worked on clearin out the old sinus pathways a bit anyhow..(the soup probably helped..) thai iced tea was excellent. the portions weren't huge but they were adequate and i had a fair amount of rice left over that i was too full to eat.
my friend tried a bbq chicken thing which he said was really good with a bit of an unusual cinammon flavor to it, and pot stickers which he said "were good, but it's hard to mess those up really" so i dunno if that's a ringing endorsement but in general he seemed pretty psyched about it.
overall it was really tasty, i enjoyed it and am looking forward to trying more of their stuff..
btw, i don't know what the address is for this place (and neither did the original submitter i guess) but the map is showing it in kind of a wacky spot, it's actually a little ways west of 3rd street.
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I tried the Nasi Lemak which is this chicken curry dish with coconut rice. It's on the bland side but I think it's because they serve it in a way similar to when you're in Malaysia. My fiance used to live there and said they put all the spices and seasonings on the side and you add to your taste. Overall I thought it was a decent dish, a nice alternative to the expensive restaurants in this area. I plan to come back and try some of the other dishes.
VD sucks.
V2 doesn't.
Then again, I've never had VD, but I have had V2, so I can't speak with complete authority (and doesn't relating VD and food make you extra excited about this restaurant?).
Definitely not worth making a special trip, as Maylasian food ain't nothin' you can't more or less find at an Indian or Chinese restaurant (lots of rice and noodle dishes, as well as curries, etc.).
But for a local/neighborhood joint to grab some VERY inexpensive food (with outstanding service), V2's awesome.
It may not be the most exciting chow, but it blows away that overpriced SHIT they sell three blocks away at Whole Foods.
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Seems like every time I have Malaysian it's different from the last place I've tried.
I got something with mushrooms. I think it was a substitution dish because their lunch menu didn't have the same veggie options the dinner one did. Whatever it was was a bit sour. The staff was very nice and obviously accommodating. It's a little far for lunch and I don't know if I'd really go out of my way for it for dinner, but if people were going I'd not object. Not really my cup of tea though.
This place is solidly mediocre. The folks are super nice, and the decor is cute. I just got take out there, the lunch special with chicken curry and fried mixed veggies, for about $8.50 with tax. The portions are generous (I didn't finish it). The veggies were fried up as I watched, which was nice. But, in the end, I found everything rather bland. I dunno, for almost $9 I hoped for something a LITTLE more tasty. I probably won't go back.
I hate giving this place 2 stars but don't feel comfortable with giving it more..just yet! It's right next door to work and today was my first visit since its opening last week. I never had malaysian food but can see the indian/muslim influences.
I ordered the chicken satay which comes with fried rice, 2 crispy egg rolls & soup. Rice was in desperate need of salt, chicken satay was okay but I really enjoyed the egg rolls. I'm actually in the process of drinking the soup as I write this and it's a welcome relief to my throat.
I'm sure I'll be back before the end of the week to try a few more dishes..This place is a MAJOR improvement to what was there before..
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Had dinner here tonight. We were there about one hour, and we were one of only two tables so I guess people haven't found this place yet. Its very small, about five little tables. Cute and a big improvement over the previous dump that was here. They did a great clean up job!
We started with the Pancake appetizer stuffed with egg and red onion. It was very crispy and delicious with a satisfying homemade feel to it. Our favorite dish of the night. It came with a light curry sauce for dipping, but it tasted good by itself. The Malaysian iced tea (same as Thai iced tea) was great, and the Coke happlily came in a can, the way I like it. Prices were just right all around and service was good.
For the main meal we ordered the chicken curry over coconut rice. The rice was perfect, not too dry or too wet or too coconutty, just perfect. The curry was on the thin side as curries go, no complaint, I'm just describing the texture. The chicken consisted of the cheapest pieces of the chicken. I like dark meat, so that's OK except it had a few small shards of bone that maybe they should have removed.
We also had a fried noodle dish in some sort of Indian sauce. We chose the chicken over the prawn, but again the chicken quality was the same as the other dish, and really there was just too much of it. I know its rare to complain about a restaurant giving you too much meat, but I wish there had been less chicken and more noodles. The "Indian" sauce was different than any sauce I have had at Chinese or Thai restaurants, or Indian restaurants for that matter. There were pieces of fried bread in the dish, which were for me the highlight (very crispy and flavorful). Next time I'll see if they let me order the noodles with the bread and no chicken. I like the tiny limes that accompanied the dish for squeezing. Nice touch.
Finally, fried banana with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Four generous pieces of banana perfectly fried. I wish they had coconut ice cream instead of only vanilla. The waitress said "not yet". Even so, it was our second favorite dish after the pancake.
One annoying thing is they played the radio all night, tuned to some distracting mix of country and old seventies songs with lots of commercials and played much too loudly. I suggest switching to a instrumental or jazz station (maybe 103.7) and lowering the volume by half. Or better yet, play some CD's, Malaysian songs would probably set off the mood and be nice for patrons like me who have no idea what Malaysian food or culture is. I will definitely eat there several more times since I live across the street and I liked the homey atmosphere. If I didn't live so close, I probably would not go back, but I can say that about many many restaurants and I am sure V2 exists to serve the local crowd. I think they have succeeded well in that, and again, they have definitely improved this street greatly. Hopefully, they will attract more merchants to the area.
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Bland, Bland, Bland. Average is an understatement. The green rice really freaked us out too. Won't be going back.
OK these guys are super disorganized cuz its the first day. But the flavors are definately there.
The spring rolls are a def winner.
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This is a much nicer spot than the chinese place that was here before. Its a small spot but they did it up nicely. I am not real familiar with malaysian food but i enjoyed the couple items I sampled. The stuffed Roti and chicken curry were both very tasty and reasonably priced. I will be back. Just FYI they only take cash as of right now
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delicious and very reasonable. small place, friendly staff. when i worked in the area i came here once per week or more. i have a feeling it's not traditional malaysian... the waitress told me that some of the dishes are what you would find at lunch in a malaysian pub. make sure you order a "malaysian iced tea", which for all intents and purposes is exactly the same as thai iced tea.
This place is really a 2 1/2. Its cheap and close which is good (kinda), but the rice is dry... Rice should not be dry, it should be perfectly moist. If you have a Malaysian food restaurant, I suggest you figure this out...
Love you,
Andrew
A perfectly decent little SE Asian restaurant in a part of town without many other options. The lunch special is cheap and filing, with a good variety to pick from. The noodle dishes are quite tasty too.
They deliver after 2pm, but not during the lunch rush.
eh... not as impressed when I went back the second time. The soup was like jelly and they didn't offer brown rice!
it went down since the first time I went there... If you like fried food though you might like it more.
Great lunch combos -- I especially love them Pork Balls.
You should order the Roti Canai as an appetizer. It was much better that what I had in Manhattan. I got the Chicken Chops plate. It was good but the chicken was a bit tough. Perhaps it was fried twice too long or something. Still, the trip was worth it for the Roti Canai because the flat bread was so amazing.
They take Visa and Mastercard.
I had a really great lunch here today - you get two entrees, rice and soup for $7 which is great! The soup was delicious - had a nice spicey kick to it which I really liked. I went for spring rolls and sweet and sour chicken. The chicken was different to the chinese sweet and sour I'm accustomed to it - it was actually red in colour but far less sickly than I find regular sweet and sour can become.
The egg fried rice was also actual egg friend rice which is always a bonus (a lot of places claim to have egg friend rice but the egg is always noticeable by its absence). The service was fast and friendly and the couple on the table next to us also really enjoyed their lunch.
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