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Category: Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow HollowMon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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Betelnut does a variety of Pan-Asian fusion dishes... I generally don't stray from the ones that keep me coming back:
firecracker shrimp - I'm certain these were part of "The Last Supper" and MUST be a dish in heaven
spicy green beans - even if you HATE veggies.. these are delish.
"little dragon dumplings" - Put it in my mouth. Now.
And to wash it all down: Mai-Tai! (not sure if the Italian bar tender is still there- but he did them best!).
I also tried the coconut lemongrass chicken tofu soup last night... I'm hoping I can get it in an I.V. drip set up to continuously drip into my mouth while working... tasted soooo good.
Sit outside or in front if possible. It gets a little stuffy in back.
xoxo Betelnut. I'll be back...
People thought this was:
Asian Fusion Food in an Exotic Setting
I like the concept of this restaurant, pan-Asian cuisine inside an exotic movie set with bamboo fans, red accents, and chefs cooking in an open kitchen. It was my birthday so I requested a booth in the back of the restaurant away from the noisy front room. We were led to a plush dimly-lit booth with a low-hanging lamp. We ordered the following dishes and ate family style.
Hoisin Pulled Pork
I am a sucker for anything labeled pulled pork and this dish did not disappoint. It reminded me of mu shu pork gone upscale. I painted hoisin sauce on the grilled pancakes and filled it with shredded pork, garlic, and scallions. We were off to a good start.
Shrimp Dumplings
Shrimp dumplings arrived in a flavorful broth. The portion was small but tasty; I could have easily eaten another order by myself.
Javanese Shrimp
Large shrimp with their shells on were placed on a fragrant and flavorful red Thai curry. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the curry was spiced perfectly and filled the air with the scent of Kaffir lime leaves.
Penang Noodles
We really should have sent this dish back because it was too salty. It was my birthday and I did not want to make a scene so we just left most of it untouched. The noodles were bathing in a dark brown sauce and the crab and shrimp were overcooked; a hot mess.
Coconut Pudding
The coconut pudding was made with large tapioca pearls and red adzuki beans were hiding on the bottom; a delicious way to end the meal.
The service was impeccable and we never had to ask for a new plates or silverware. I thought the portions were on the small side for the price.
A good place to have drinks and a couple of appetizers but not all dishes are successful.
People thought this was:
This place does sort of have that P.F. Chang's vibe too it. It isn't a fancy fine dining establishment with a high-end Asian fusion meal, so don't expect that. If this food is fusion then it is Asian-American. I definitely wouldn't be taking a first date here, but it is a good place for a group of people who want to drink, have fun, and can't all agree on one type of Asian food.
My experience with the food was pretty much just very average, and I think most of it was just poorly executed the night we were there, or so I hope. Everything just seemed heavy and oily.
To start we had the Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Chicken was a little too oily for me, but the crisp cool lettuce really cut the fat and made it quite tasty.
We also ordered a special which was a savory and sweet cold salad of diced asian pear and various spices. It was pretty good.
The five-spiced edamame soon followed the rest, and it was very delicious at first -- great flavor, warm, tasty. But again, it was just too oily.
Dinner was the seabass, thai chili, and noodles dish presented table side. Both my girlfriend and I agreed that it was a little pointless, as they were just heating up what was already cooked in a pot. The dish was pretty good, but again it was sort of heavy because of the oil.
Overall, the food was just OK, but I think some people may have different experiences with how the food is executed based off who is in the kitchen that night. For what its worth, whoever is saying they don't give you enough food must be insane -- every dish we ordered came out with more than enough food.
Now, maybe I am being nice giving 3 stars after all that about the food, but I had an overall decent experience. The waiter was fun and service was good. The sake flight was awesome, I would have gotten both for myself, but I wanted a beer for the spicy dishs coming up. Actually the drink menu was all together very good and they had some unique cocktails.
This place is good, but for pan-asian/Asian fusion cuisine, this can't compare to E&O.
Betelnut reminds me of an asian fusion version of the Cheesecake factory. It's just the kind of vibe I get. On top of that, it's similar in that everything is pretty good, but nothing amazes you.
The green beans are very good.
The salad we had was pretty tiny.
I was a fan of the mee goreng (noodles) but it was something I feel like I could've made out of a package. Tasty, but not special.
Things are definitely overpriced, too. But maybe that's expected of a restaurant on Union...?
I would go back, but if I had the option of driving (or taking the bus, taxi, etc.) to E&O, I would.
People thought this was:
When will yelp allow half stars. This would be a 3.5 for me.
I heard a lot about beetle nut, seemed like everyone in sf had eaten there at least once.
Four of us went, on the recommendation of someone else and it was pretty good but probably not quite worth all the hype. Im sorry beetle nut lovers. However, I will say that those green beans were almost worth going just for them.
Alot of yelpers suggested the mojitos. They were ok but really sweet.
I will put a disclaimer, apparently beetle nut is considered family style. You are expected to share! Yippee, I love sharing. However, one of the people in my party was allergice to shell fish. Doesn't seem like that would be too big of a limitation but it was. Did you know this place puts oyster sauce in everything!!! Their chicken and get this, their green beans!
What we did get was pretty good, but I may have to go back to give a full, unlimited try of the menu. But my consensus, pretty good, sort of overpriced for what you get...but i'll most likely be back. hmm, wonder if you can get their green beans to go...
I've been recommending this place for a while now, but oddly have not been here yet, until recently. It was crowded, and we sat at the small counter right by the kitchen where we could see everything they were making.
We started with the Hoisin Pork with Grilled Pancakes and they were very tasty. Then we chow on the Shui Jiao Dumplings, which were spicy and very good. After that, we had the Springrolls which were also very good. But we thought the best thing was the Roti, served with some yogurt sauce and something else. It does not compare to the Balada at Mandalay, but it's an acceptable substitute.
For our entrees we had the Bein Pow Firecracker Chicken, and it lacked a bit of the POW, but it was good, but I don't think I'll order it again because it's Americanized ... battered and fried. My friend had the Lemongrass Beef, and that was the better of the two.
For dessert, we shared the Tempura Banana, and that was also good. Everything we ordered was the servers favorite, oddly. Course he was just saying that. For the two of us, it was about $120 with tax and tip.
To quote Spartacus U, who said it best and since it's right there ... white people serving fancy Chinese food, cooked by Mexicans.
People thought this was:
I really love coming here. It's become the place to mention to friends to get them to come to lunch when they're reluctant. Betelnut has their own beers, which are very good (recommend the blonde). They also have dangerous mixed cocktails that will knock you on your ass. You've been warned.
Highly recommend ordering the firecracker shrimp. Three of us each ordered this once and they were going to bring the three orders in one big bowl. We had to tell them we each need a separate order or there would be a fork stabbing at our table. The sauce that comes with the shrimp is key - it is AMAZING. The lettuce wraps are also a solid choice.
As another note, the service is always consistently good and the waitstaff is the perfect amount of chatty, but not to an annoying degree. They're chill enough that I never feel uncomfortable going there alone.
People thought this was:
This place is TERRIBLE! Horribly overpriced, cheezy decor... if you're Asian please walk away from this place if someone tries to bring you in. We went for a late dinner on Friday night mainly because we were wandering and were just happy to see a place open that was still serving food - wish we had gone across the street to Osha instead!!
COMPLETELY overpriced, $2.10 for a bowl of jasmine rice? Are you kidding me? We had one of the specials - the miso ramen... YUCK! I would have preferred boiling a pot of hot water and making myself a bowl of ramen in a cup - WTF. The "miso flavored" ramen tasted like grass!!
The boys got the lemon grass beef noodles and the curry - neither looked very appetizing either. The appetizer we got, the shrimp was probably the only decent thing about this place.
It's a wannabe "NYC chic" place that caters to what I'd imagine to be the white folk, bc it's (a) horrific food (b) overpriced and (c) cheesy decor that I imagine the only people who would appreciate would be someone looking for "asian" cuisine in a "trendy" restaurant. YUCK!!
I don't care if this place isnt authentic. It was delicious! We were just walking down the street looking for dinner and came upon this place. We were immediately seated on what seemed like a fairly crowded Thursday night.
The green beans and firecracker (i think?) shrimp were amazing. I forget the name of my main dish but it was so good. Our server was incredibly friendly and wonderful (even though I had to ask a few times for water) They make a very interesting bloody mary too (in a good way!)
The two stars are almost all earned by the pear kimchi. Although I'm not sure it can be called kimchi as there was no actual pickeling involved in the creation of the dish, the combination of the sweet and the spice, the cold and the hot was inspired. This balance of flavor and texture is quintessential south-east Asian cooking. Bonus points for having nice, crisp pears, which have a tendency to be the consistency of mushy baby food.
Sadly, the rest of the menu is disappointing and characterized by small portions with high price tags and a quality of flavor that does not quite match the aforementioned high price tags. I get it. It's supposed to be fusion. The end-result, however, is less "fusion" and more successful packaging of Asian qualities for a timid American palette. With a mostly non-Asian wait staff dashing around with Mandarin collars in a highly exoticized interior setting, I feel like the whole experience was this extreme form of Orientalism; almost to the point of fetishism. Sadly, the hyper-realized interiors were only backed-up by watered down versions of Asian favorites. Very disappointing.
An example would be their green papaya salad. Although usually very spicy, green papaya salads are crisp and refreshing even in the most sultry and humid of summer afternoons along the Mekong River. The papaya salad here tasted like it might have once been that refreshing dish of unripened fruit, until they decided to rinse it in the sink.
With very few exceptions, Betelnut's menu tends to work with fare that would be considered stock dishes in their respective countries. Betelnut then presents these dishes to seem like they will be these extreme dishes, but when you take a bite, all those promises of briny sea breezes of faraway beaches kind of just crumble into brackish disappointments of flavors "tamed" to the point of obscurity.
Might as well go to PF Chang's or Elephant Bar. Same flavors with bigger portions and smaller bills.
People thought this was:
An eclectic collection of Asian dishes delivered American style.
That about sums up this place. Definitely an asian fusion type of restaurant. There's Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, etc. The dishes are full of flavor and served a la carte style. They have an interesting drink menu. I had the Tiger Lily and that was good. It's white wine and tonic basically. The white wine they used was very good.
For two people we ordered:
-calamari (very good! has a spicy kick to it. it's a sweet and sour type dip instead of marina)
-asian pear salad (delicious!)
- beef noodle dish (careful the sauce/dip is very salty!! I thought you were suppose to pour it over the noodles, but apparently just suppose to dip your beef in it. They were very nice and made another plate for me.)
- seabass (excellent!)
- fried banana (this is my absolute favorite dessert. I grew up with this and brings back fond memories. I asked for no caramel and peanuts on it.)
The waitress, Katherine was extremely nice and accommodating to my food changes.
We didn't make reservations prior to coming, so they had us wait for 30 minutes. However, it didn't take that long. They sat us down in 15 minutes. We were put in the back corner with 4 other large parties. So I recommend making reservations here!!
People thought this was:
You can't fault a good restaurant for the neighborhood it's in, and Betelnut is in the Marina- so bitching about the ambiance of the crowd would be asinine. If it ain't your thing, it ain't your thing. That said...
I am a carnivore that went with a veggie for a delicious dinner. Had some cocktails and samosas at the bar while during our short wait for a table (we neglected to make reservations, doh!) The dipping sauce was a nice cilantro sesame oil mixture (and do I detect ginger?) scrumptious!
Our next appie was the Buddha Dumplings- you don't even notice that it's tofu because it's so well seasoned. They are light and flavorful. My date got the edamame- not that much bang for your buck...very standard I got the spare ribs for myself (gotta have a little meat) they were really saucy and delicious but I really only needs of few of these bite size morsels- I took the rest to go.
Finally, the star dish- Emerald Fire Noodles!!! It was the rockstar of our dining experience, hands down! Noodles, sprouts, mint (ah how refreshing), basil and Thai chilies don't even feel the heat until a few seconds after you eat it. It's not unbearable at all, it's more like a heated surprise for your taste buds. You can split this as a side dish or order it as your main course and be happy....this dish gets five stars.
Dessert (why not?) my date got the chocolate lava cake with homemade strawberry ice cream and I got the tapioca. The chocolate cake had him making yummy noises- I liked the ice cream because it wasn't packed with tons of sugar...the tapioca- I will pass on next time.
I wish our server was as friendly and attentive as the bartender- I felt like we were a little on our own. Everything arrived in a timely fashion, so not a huge deal.
Benihana meets Marina chic. The sine-wave paddles are swank and the wait staff crisp and demure in sharing the menu options of the day. Prepare for a stiff tab by ordering a stiff drink, and bring friends to order up the plates (and a few more bar rounds).
The table-side prepared fish was a kick but star points go for the pear kim chee, by far the stand out dish of the lunch.
A fun time.
People thought this was:
This place serves a solid Malaysian Laksa in SF! This is a bowl of curry noodles with tofu, chicken and shrimp/prawns.
Their version, great as it is, is a fairly basic version of the dish, and at $12 a little pricy. I wish they would do it Singaporean-style (like at Shiok Singapore Kitchen). If they did that, this would be a five star review!
People thought this was:
Looking for a quick bite to eat before our night of relative debauchery. Theres a bar up front with the dining area in the back. We didn't have a reservation but there was room for our party of 5 at the counter. It was neat to cozy up to the counter and have front row seats of all the action. You hear the chef yelling orders; you see line cooks nodding, taking their orders and preparing their dishes; you hear the servers in their broken spanish tell the cooks how great of a job theyre doing as if cheering them on like a trainer would to his prize fighter. I missed out on the heirloom tomato salad with reduced balsamic vinegar dressing, garlic chips, thai basil, and this indian cheese made in house (their take on bruschetta), but it was cool to watch the cook make it in front of me.
We ordered pork belly, roasted whole suckling pig (lechon), lamb curry skewers, vegetable dumplings and something else. The lamb was spiced with a heavy hand but was cut nicely with the pickled vegetables. I could eat roasted pork all night. Perfect lechon. nuff said. Other than that, Asian Fusion doesn't mean better Asian food. It means Asian Food for non-asians.
Someone also ordered the scorpion drink to share. It came with fruity umbrellas, plastic leis, and meter long straws you could use to build scaffolding. Kinda embarrassing but we were in a celebratory mood anyway.
If I ever want to go on a diet, all I need to do is invite a bunch of my seafood eating friends out for dinner and meet them here.
My friends are not sensitive to my seafood "allergy". They could care less that I haven't eaten all day and am starving! Go ahead and order your grilled bass and calamari I'll just have some of this fried rice! umm wait, the fried rice has shrimp in it??? DAMN!!!
I agree with Alexandra and her what she said about the uniforms, they are rather silly but then again that may be part of the tradition right? Doesn't mean I have to like them though.
My wife and I arrived early for a birthday dinner and had enough time to sit at the bar and chat up the bartenders. They were super friendly and totally knew how to make a good drink. My wife ordered a Bulleit Bourbon martini and I went with a Caprihina. My Caprihina was perfect with not too much simple syrup and loads of lime. My wife throughly enjoyed her martini and even got a lesson on Bourbons by our super cool bartender. Give the guy a raise cause he was awesome!
Our friends finally arrived and we were seated near the back. There were six of us and I figured with that many people there would be plenty for me to eat. Who would have thought that everyone (but me) would be in the mood for seafood??
The first four courses were all fishy! So there I sat, with nothing on my plate. But finally after what seemed like hours a pork dish appeared! I was so excited to finally be able to taste something. I was quite impressed as the pork ribs were super yummy. I would definitely make a return visit just for this dish.
Then came the green beans! They might have been the hit of the night! Not overcooked and still a little crunchy and the sauce was sooo good. I wish I had a little extra to pour over my white rice.
The two steak dishes were good with the rib eye being the better of the two. Cooked to a perfect medium rare, but I will say for some at the table it may have been too pink. But this night was about me and I LOVED it.
All in all, the restaurant exceeded my expectations and would not hesitate to make a return visit.
People thought this was:
A nice amosphere, fun, busy place for our party of four last night. The drink menu is very good if you're into sake and mixed drinks with guava and pineapple etc. The food is not bad. We had the chicken lup chuong lettuce cups and the glazed pork ribs followed by the roti. All of which were very good, particularly the lettuce cups. The entrees we had were the
Little Dragon dumplings (aka Shanghai style dumplings) = okay had better
iron sizzeling ribeye steak = not bad either, tender flavorful meat (reminds me of kalbi in Korean restaurants) with a light sauce
Penang rice noodles = basically shrimp and chive chow fun
Lemon grass chicken with those almonds = very good.
Desserts were the chocolate lava cake and sweet banana with ice cream = familiar selections for many places and these were very good as well
Overall, a nice fun place with Americanized asian food with some twists. Safe and very good = you'll never have a bad meal here, but very pricey for the entrees. A step up from your usual chain of asian fusion places. Great wait staff too.
People thought this was:
I used to love this place. But, the last few times I have been here, the food just tasted sweet all the way around. It didn't matter what we ordered - and we ordered a lot - the food simply tasted too sweet. The satay, the shrimp sauce, the ribs, the string beans - they just had that sweet ponzu sauce like taste to them. Even the miso soup, which was a little too dense for my taste. I really like the atmosphere here and the drinks are good, especially bloody mary (ask for extra spicy with olive juice and olives). And, of course, the tapioca pudding - back by popular demand. But, the rest of the food, I am just kind of tired of it by now. And wish there was a little more variation in taste.
People thought this was:
Minus 1 star for being SO pricey. $$$$$$
But so good.
The waiter claimed they had the best calamari in the city.
I am not arguing.
I also love the firecracker shrimp. AAHHH MAZING.
Sake samplers? I loved them both.
However.... I can pretty much only go here on payday (or the day I get my tax returns in the mail!)
People thought this was:
Chef Alex Ong knows how to keep his regular customers (of which I'd like to consider myself sort of one!) salivating. While certain classic dishes always remain on the menu - like their oven-smoked seabass and Sri Lankan claypot fish - Ong and his team literally takes trips to East Asia to discover new items and flavors to test out in his kitchen. For example, we sampled a grilled Hawaiian kaku with Japanese eggplant that was a delicious fish. A watermelon salad with citrus-mint dressing was perfect for these summer days. We also tried some fiery fried salt and pepper gulf prawns, which came wok tossed with chilies, jalapeños, garlic and ginger, which could become my new favorite in the spice department.
Yesterday was Dash's (just turned two) first experience at Betelnut, and he just ate it up. Quite literally, from the garlic green beans to the roti prata to the veggie dumplings. He even tried a special, the braised tumeric goat belly, and demanded seconds! This stuff is more addictive than bacon, so I hope it makes it on the regular menu rotation.
Since we had a party of about eight people, the food just kept arriving in waves. Our last two items, interestingly, were both the most crowd-pleasing: the Hanoi "Cha Ca La Vong" is a preparation (done tableside) of seabass served over rice noodles. Mix in fish sauce, scallion, dill, cilantro, Thai chilies, and it's positively scintillating on the tongue. To overindulge wholeheartedly, we closed out with the Beggars Chicken (not on the menu unless you ask!), a whole chicken brined and marinated overnight. It comes to your table wrapped in a lotus leaf, inside a clay shell, which you get to crack open. It's a thrill to watch and of course eat, and many in our party wondered if they'd ever had a chicken so tender.
Everything is meant for sharing in true banquet style, which just adds to the hustle and excitement of all the flavors and their sensory interplay. The restaurant is loud and social, and I suppose you could come on a date, but it's really a place to gather and socialize while enjoying good food. I've been coming to Betelnut for almost 10 years now, and here's to another 10 more.
People thought this was:
I always go here when my parents are visiting, nice convenient location on Union Street, surrounded… Read more »
I always really enjoy dining here when I visit SF. Can't say I'm an expert about its menu, but the quality of the food and service and the pleasantness of the experience will keep me coming back.
I write reviews about unique travel destinations in the Los Angeles area. See my columns here: http://www.examiner.co...
Kind of disappointed by this hopping Marina hotspot.
I don't venture Marina-side often, and when I do, it's typically for a good reason: friend's birthday party, entertaining city visitors with a college throwback experience, getting the world's most expensive cupcakes and pedicures. Or, a trip to a neighborhood food gem with good friends and parents (theirs, not mine.)
While a glance at the menu had me excited, the food that arrived at our table reminded me of a glorified PF Chang's meal. The flavors were not particularly original and, judging by the headache and significant bloat I endured the following morning, I'm suspecting the food was laced with salt and MSG. We had a few passable dishes (okay, the calamari was more than passable) and a pretty tasty dessert, and polished it off with a pretty reasonably-priced Sauvignon Blanc, but overall I was pretty whelmed by my dining experience, and felt that it wasn't worth the Marina trek.
It's not as pricey as I thought it would be, though.
People thought this was:
I had some friends in town at the weekend, so I made a Saturday evening reservation at Betelnut. I hadn't been there for many years (and I rarely go to Cow Hollow) so I was not sure what to expect. But, upon arrival, we were immediately impressed by the welcoming bar area that opened on to Union St. There was buzz of activity but the place wasn't too crowded. The restaurant has a sort of Colonial-era Asian theme that verges on kitchy, but is fun & matches the pan-Asian dishes they serve.
We ordered several appetizers, and they were all excellent, and very tasty. We all shared the dishes "family style" and got a variety of different starters. The spicy, flash-fried cauliflower dish, in particular, was very interesting (and fresh!) The different dumplings, samosas and spring rolls were a bit more conventional, but also very good. We also shared several entrees. The Lemongrass Beef dish was outstanding - and it's worth a return trip just for that. We also got the special stir-fried fish dish, prepared in a sizzling wok at table-side. Good fun!
Our waitress was friendly and very knowledgeable, and the environment was very comfortable. Surprisingly un-crowded for a Saturday night (though the restaurant is large, and seems to stretch back into the bowels of the building.) Enjoyable and delicious, the best meal I've had for some time. Highly recommended...
People thought this was:
This was one of the last places I ate in SF before taking a brief hiatus to the east coast. I have to say, I kind of wish my friends would have picked a different restaurant. I was a bit disappointed, especially after hearing all the hype surrounding this place.
Our table ordered the chicken lettuce cups, fire noodles, and Korean pork. The dishes are served family style, so they come as moderate-sized portions meant to be shared. The chicken lettuce cups were amazing.. but the noodles and pork were a bit too salty for my liking. You could probably find something of similar quality at Osha or Hunan Homes for a way lesser price.
Otherwise, the ambiance is great, service is consistent (with wait staff dressed in fun Asian outfits), and they have nice outdoor seating for people watching. Worth a try if you're down on Union Street.
People thought this was:
I just don't think I get this place. I went with a large group of friends and the food was okay, not fantastic. The service was okay, not fantastic. I guess the upside is that you can go with a large or small group...but honestly I thought that the food and drinks were overpriced and not all that good. I'm willing to pay for good food, this just wasn't it for me.
I used to really like this restaurant when it opened. Lately, it has lost it's appeal to me. Is it me, or do most of the dishes started tasting like they have a ton of sugar added in the sauce? I still like coming here, but there are only a few things on the menu that I get. I like the dim-sum items they have, and I love tapioca pudding. Sitting in the bar area is nice, and I prefer it to the rest of the restaurant.
We went specifically for the Pig Out Tuesdays. The pork was ... "a-ok" it wasnt bad but it wasnt great. Texturally, the meat was perfection, tender and juicy, although underseasoned. The skin should have been magic, but it fell short. It was not so much crispy as..chewey. Like a hard candy that gets jammed in the grooves of your teeth. Flavorwise, it wasnt the pinnacle of flavor like pork cracklins should be. More like pork skin candy, which sounds better than it tastes.
The broth provided with the pork was interesting, def. helped to season the pork some, but in my opinion, still lacking salt.
It was accompanied by green beans which were delicious and jasmine rice. We also had the crispy calamari - good, would order again, and lemongrass beef noodles. The gals loved it, our one fussy guy wouldn't touch it. the lemongrass flavor was indeed a bit strong, but not offputting for me.
We skipped dessert, too full.
Hostesses were pleasant and polite, and no nagging when we called to say we were running late. Our server was slow to greet us, but other than that, service was good.
I would go back for the pork, the meat was pretty good, just not crazy about the texture of skin.
Parking was a bit of a bear, but its the marina, so ya, what'd you expect?
People thought this was:
eight excited girls coming together for a renion dinner at Betelnut...ooooohhh yeah!
EVERYTHING we ordered was insanely good. LOVED the rib eye steak dish and the sea bass noodles. I have a new fav drink now...it's called the Pink Lotus...how can you go wrong with guava juice? mmmmmm
People thought this was:
ok....but i wouldnt come back and here's why. Its pretty pricey and the portions are itsy bitsy. Our waitress said it's sereved family style meant for you to shre. There were 4 of us- we asked how many dishes we should order- she said 2-3 would be good. UH.....i left there still hungry and i'm not even a big eater. I suppose i could have ordered more but the food just didn't wow me. The tikka masala was was tooo smokey and spicy to take more than a few bites.
The ribeye was good- a nd we got a noodle bowl w/ crab and shrimp- decent but like i said..nothing i would come running back for.
cute little place though...
People thought this was:
I love this restaurant! Whenever I'm in town, I always stop here for dinner. Its usually packed, and a bit of a wait (they don't take reservations), but its totally worth it! We go with a few people and split a bunch of dishes like shrimp, beans, lettuce cups, etc. Its so tasty and I've never been disappointed. Great atmosphere too! Definitely recommend!
People thought this was:
Went with the cousins during the summer and totally forgot to yelp it! First of all, it had a really nice atmosphere; decorated with bamboo, china silk and dim lighting. Also, had friendly waiters who knew what to suggest. Food choices of the day: Little dragon dumplings and fire cracker chicken. Delicious! (But it would've been nice if the portions were a little bigger to accommodate the actual prices.) Some of the drinks were tasty too! I forgot what they were called but feel free to check my photos! By the end of the meal, I was content and a bit tipsy!
Asian food for people who don't eating at Asian restaurants. Decent sidewalk and bar set up to watch the beautiful diners. Clean bathrooms. Chic colonial nostalgia.
People thought this was:
Not sure why people like this place. Had dinner last night with a girlfriend of mine. We started our dinner with fried calamari. Not too bad.. huge portion for just appetizer.. but I had better. For dinner we ordered the Penang Noodles. Pretty much sea food chow fun. It was a bit salty for my taste.. Then we had the rib-eye steak. I think they mixed a bit of Korean BBQ sauce and Teriyaki sauce... lastly the steamed rice...hm was exctra dry....
Overall this place is overrated and... don't think I will go back...
People thought this was:
Heard great things about the place and finally tried I last week and had a fairly good experience. Food was tasty, ambience was cute, my only issue would be that it's a bit overpriced. Considering it's in the marina, prices are actually typical, but you can def get the same asian food at Chinatown for 1/3 the price...esp their signature green bean side dish!! In fact, make it yourself with the recipe here, LOL: http://www.grouprecipe...
I ordered:
Oven Smoked Sea Bass ($21): Divine!! Just one piece which I thought looked small, but it's missleading and definitely filling! Super moist and fish has a great creamy flavor, seared to perfection!
Chicken Tiki Masala with Tomatoes ($17, Daily Special): Not amazing to me, but my date thought it was good.
Green Bean ($10): Delicious as promised! Overpriced for a plate of veggies, but sauce is just so damn good!!
Green Tea Vodka ($9): Light and refreshing cocktail, would def recommend
Had fun here, if in the Marina area would def return, but if not, I prefer the authenticity of Chinatown :)
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I've eaten here numerous times and have grown to like this place the more I visit. A chef friend of mine has uttered nothing but praise for this place...in fact, he got loads of inspiration from this place while on a food tour to do research for his restaurant. The best way to summarize it is this way: if you aren't familiar with most of the dishes, you will love and praise this place. They really do a good job with the menu items. On the other hand, if you know most of the dishes you will get a good version. With that said, the stuff that is a bit unfamiliar is great. I shared some goat belly + turmeric the other day which was stellar - super tender and pan seared crisp. Apparently they serve a special whole chicken in salt crust that you need to order off menu which I need to try.
Bottom line, yes it's busy for a reason. I prefer sitting at the kitchen bar so get there early if you like to be entertained.
i've been a few times now and i just can't fault the food.
the service is fabulous. i'm allergic to chilli's which is never easy in an asian place, but they really were great finding out what i definitely couldn't have and what could be cooked without those little red devils.
however, whenever i try to book a table for more than 2 people it's a choice of 6.30 or 8.30 or you sit at the counter because that's where walkins invariably end up. it's fun to watch them cook but some people can't talk to each other.
i'd love to see a 7.30 sitting as well. then i would happily go up to 5*
good food, nice beer, decent price and a very friendly waitress. the special chicken was a whole… Read more »
3.5 -4.0 Stars. Score lowered for the 30 minute waiting time even with reservations. The waiting area/bar was a bit crowded with patrons and restaurant staff.
Overall good food and great staff. Our servers, Katherine and Dave Rocked! It was a Saturday night and a bit chaotic, but the staff had a great attitude and they wanted their clients to have a great time. They succeeded!
Great recommendations from our server:
Melt in you mouth, glazed pork short ribs! (Automatic 2 orders, please)
Chili Calamari
Green papaya salad
Laksa
Mongolian Hoisin Pulled Pork
Lively place, great for group dining and good food. Will be back...
This is a very lively place that can appeal to a mass audience. Great for groups - portions are small enough that you'd want to get a little bit of everything for everyone to sample. This would be a difficult place to take someone who does not like spicy food though. There are chilis in virtually every dish!
Some stand out dishes come to mind:
Green beans - Perfectly tender crisp, loaded with garlicky flavor
Wok fried edammame - I've never had edammame like this. It was delicious and smoky with a bite.
Fried curry cauliflower fritters - simply delicious and very different
Braised Short Ribs - huge portion and down right delicious. Loaded with sauce though - you would need to alternate with bites of rice
Firecracker shrimp was tasty - portions small
The lemongrass beef on noodles dish had a very nice kick to the dressing with some heat.
The spring rolls are awesome - stuffed with veggies that you may not normally see and are perfectly fried. Comes with 5 huge rolls!
We got a dessert special which were creme bruleed figs with a vanilla ice cream - it was so simple and amazing!
The Jasmine Green tea was simply the perfect ending
Overall, all sauteed dishes are loaded with garlic, ginger, shallots, chilis and soysauce/hoisin sauce - a bit one note. Soon you may notice that everything kind of starts tasting the same which is a bad thing. I would skip the Beef dish or firecracker chicken. The shrimp dumplings with garlic vinegar has a great dumpling but it's messed up with all the bits of fried garlic and onion that surrounds it. You'll go home stuffed and stinking of garlic....but quite happy :)
Monday night on a empty Union street, but Betelnut was happening. So happening that we had to wait 20 min for a table for two, or sit at the bar. Sit at the bar we did, but on the far end away from the chefs frying away. Sitting there, we had a great birds eye view of everything that was happening. 6 chefs stir frying away...
The waiters were so helpful. They must have a protocol that everyone helps everyone. We had three different people fill our water, get our rice, serve our dishes, take our order and take away our plates. Talk about service!
We had the buddha dumpling which had pea sprouts, tofu and something else, which tasted so delicious and so healthy!! We also had the sri lanka fish curry with eggplant and string beans and the fire noodles with basil and bean sprouts. All of our dishes came out super fast. They were all tasty as well.
The people who give it so so stars because it is not authentic are retarded. Hello. You don't go here for authentic Asian food. You go to R&G or Yank Sing or somewhere else. You go here for the fusion of Asian food and the scene!!!!
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Hmm... I can't decide whether or not I love this place. On one hand, all the food is great, the atmosphere is fun (if a bit cheesy), and the service was good. On the other hand, it's pretty expensive for what it is and I can't keep thinking about how San Francisco has such a great variety of other Asian restaurants that seem just a tad more authentic.
For starters, the food was really great. The group I went with shared a few dishes including the famous string beans (which are really awesome), firecracker chicken (which was spicy and flavorful) and lemongrass beef (which was more refreshing and presented nicely). They have their own brews of beers of which I had the wheat and that was good too.
The service was friendly and our waiter was really chipper (although wearing some sort of Asian outfit, but not Asian, so this adds to the fact that I believe this is the T.G.I. Friday's of Asian restaurants). The atmosphere with its booths and generally campy decor is along the Friday's route, but that's not necessarily bad.
As I mentioned, it's sort of overpriced (I never really thought of Chinese food as something that should be expensive, so perhaps you understand where I'm coming from with this?), but not to the point of being prohibitive. Overall, I'd say this is a good choice if you're in the area, but don't go expecting anything really authentic or you will be disappointed. I can see it being a lot of fun for a group, and I'd recommend it for that.
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Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Category: Thai
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