Quan Bac

Stopped by here about a week ago because the parents had always seen their advertisement in the Chinese newspaper. And I guess unsurprisingly enough, all the employees there seemed to know how to speak Cantonese.

Ordered three things. 1. Banh xeo - I'm not sure how they are traditionally made so I can't judge. All I know is that this one is totally filled to the max with bean sprouts, which is not my favorite thing in the world. I only like them if they are cooked through the whole way and these were not of course. Comes with a side of veggies, some pickled and some not. 2. Chicken salad - kinda bland, not tangy enough for my taste. 3. Curry beef stew w/ bread - All right. Beef was tender enough and I enjoyed dipping the bread into the sauce.

One thing that bothered me were the wooden chairs. They are not the most comfortable. The back and the seat of the chair makes a perfect 90 degrees. The seat pads are thin and I looked over at the next table where someone had stacked three pads up to make themselves comfy. lol

3 stars for A-okay.

It's difficult for me to rate this restaurant, because I have dined in all the previous restaurants at this location, so I can't help but compare them. The previous places had a more upscale decor than this one, so expectations were dashed in my mind. It claims to be a French-Vietnamese restaurant. http://static1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/M0fl_LUunOFvI1KsrSyCAA/l

The remodeling was minimal. The giant fish tank remains and it has been restocked with new fish. And the right wall in the dining room has a nice Asian plant decor. Those are the only details I liked.

The bar area at the entrance was repainted, and the sushi station in the main dining room is gone, replaced by a stage. Would be a nice feature for parties, live singers/bands or other celebrations.

The new owners inherited all the old tables and chairs including the fancy dinnerware and Japanese plates. All the chair's backs have a crack in the middle and the tables could use a coat of paint.

It was odd for me to recognize the plate and cup that were used for tempura and sauce in the past, now holding imperial rolls and fish sauce.

But the chopsticks and spoons are new, I know that because part of the price sticker was still stuck to the bottom of my spoon. I just peeled it off and rubbed off the left over glue before using it.

The modern bathroom from the old place is intact, but the liquid soap dispenser was empty. The staff are helpful although a bit inexperienced.

I guess that family, friends, and acquaintances were dining that first night too, because many children were running around screaming and playing loudly.

I tried to put all those minor superficial aspects and opening day mishaps aside and focus on the food. Otherwise they wouldn't get as many stars.

I ordered basic items - cha gio (imperial rolls) and beef pho. This is Northern Vietnamese style pho, so you get no side garnishes, and they use ho fun noodles. I think that their frying oil was too hot because 2 pieces of the rolls looked like it had exploded, taste was fine. It comes with lettuce, rice noodles, pickled veggies, topped by some yummy garlic chips and crushed peanuts. http://static1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/kWq8GgcZGkSYNnWzMKw_hw/l The beef pho was okay, rare beef was good quality and meatballs also tasted good, but broth was average. http://static1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/CffISFVHapyJ0E-2eNJvkw/l

The menu is super extensive (also posted on the window, in case u want to check it out). The noodle soups (under $7-8) and rice plates (around $8) have reasonable prices, but entrees are $10-12 (can't tell which ones are the French-Vietnamese dishes). The one surprise was banh mi sandwiches priced at $7.25 (don't know what justifies that price), that's high since you can buy them for $3.50 half a block away. And the best ones in this area from Y&Y cost $3.20 (my opinion).

The stickers near the entrance (Visa/Mastercard accepted, People love us at Yelp) are all from the previous place. I don't know why they didn't scrape them.

It's CASH only.

All weekend long my aunt was RAVING about this place especially their two person meal deal.

So my mother and I decided to go and try it. The two person meal consisted of a choice of egg rolls or chicken salad (we went with the salad), a garlic and butter crab, garlic noodle and a fried banana with ice cream as dessert.

The restaurant looked really nice and they had this cool looking aquarium with plenty of dorys and nemos floating in there. And I did noticed they have blue moon on tap (which is a plus!). But on a Sunday Night there were only two other groups there besides us yet it still took them a good 40 MINUTES OF WAITING before they even served us the appetizer :(

The salad was pretty good, except it did not have enough fish sauce to my liking. The crab had plenty of garlic and butter flavor but it was SUPER oily and was so meat-less I gave up completely after two pieces. As for the garlic noodle, i couldn't even taste the garlic at all! It just tasted like normal chow mein to me. My favorite part of the dinner was the fried banana with ice cream. Small pieces of banana are wrapped in egg roll wrapping and fried until crispy then served with a side a ice cream, this is by far the most interesting way i've seen fried banana served.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this place. We were there with a fairly large group. Each person got something different, so we were able to sample a little bit of everything.

The Five Spice Garlic Chicken Noodles is probably my favorite dish. The flavors married very well together, and the chicken was tender and juicy. That was the first dish to disappear on our table.

My favorite soup was the Crab Meat Tomato Soup. Sadly, I didn't really taste the crab that much. The "crab meat" in my soup looked more like ground pork or ground chicken... However, the dish still looked and smelled wonderful despite the lack of crab-taste. Still, I was thoroughly satisfied.

We also had this egg crepe thing... according to the pictures, it's called 'banh xeo'? If you're not a veggie person, you might not like this so much. There were a ton of bean sprouts inside.. yum :)

One dish that I really wasn't a fan of is actually one of their most famous signature dishes. I wish I caught the name, but there was a hint of lemon grass in this noodle soup. The flavor was just much to pungent for me, and it masked the natural flavors of the broth. Yet, it's still one of their best sellers.

There were a few other dishes we had.. They weren't too memorable though. From what I remember, we didn't care much for them.

Although they claim to be a Viet/French restaurant, I don't really see the French influence. However, they do have more unique dishes in comparison to your average pho joint.

Overall, the food was either a hit or a miss. I loved the Five Spice Noodles and the Crab Tomato Soup. That's about it. However, the decor is worth mentioning. I loved the elegant and modern designs that flowed through the space. They even have a beautiful banquet room with bamboo to tie the whole theme together. Very well done in this aspect.

Oh yeah, they also gave us complimentary fried banana ice cream :)

Good service. All dishes were passable on par, but did not find any to be extra special.

bun rieu was huge on the large order. i liked the light flavor of the broth. could of added some spiciness but good as it was.

beef stew curry also wasn't spicy or too sweet. a bit runny but had nice flavors and the meat and tendon was cooked well, soft.

garlic noodles needed more garlic.

bun thit nuong, clean and lots of lettuce. looked healthy...

I came to try Quan Bac because it is one of the few vietnamese restaurants I found that make banh xeo. But was sadly disappointed because it was very oily. Once I tasted it I knew the BF and I would not be back. That is his favorite Vietnamese dish and he was not happy with it either.

i found the food to be ok, somewhat on the pricy side. I will stick with Yummy Yummy.

Get:
Supper Value Meal Set. $30 feeds two.
I attached a photo of the 4 different combos. Lots of food.


Okay:
I got the Bun (Dry Noodles) with Grilled Pork and fish sauce.

To get the final cuisine of my desired triad of Mexican, Thai, and Vietnamese food while in California, a friend suggested Quan Bac for Vietnamese.

Quan Bac is just another of dozens of restaurants along Geary, across from the Kaiser Permanente building, painted in eye-catching garish green. The interior is dark, pleasant enough if somewhat forgettable, and the seating roomy enough, if worn; also a big bar on one side. Our waiter was friendly and pretty eager to serve, but a bit too eager to sell certain items on the menu (notably an expensive lobster dish). Not that I didn't want lobster, but he needs to work on subtlety or he ends up making people NOT want to order it.

Enough with the service, onto the food. My friend chose this particular place primarily because it offers a menu with more regional variety than the usual. Sure enough, I recognized many things I saw for the first time while having Vietnamese in Orange County California last year. Until I had Vietnamese in Southern Cal, I never had bun bo hue before; I was only familiar with pho bo.

We tried Quan Bac's bun rieu, a bun bo hue of crab meat and tomato, in a rich, earthy, tangy, sour broth with fluffy meatballs and loads of vegetables, herbs, and egg swirled in. I actually think what I had in Southern Cal was better, but this was tasty. We also had bun thit nuong cha gio, cold bun served without soup, topped with grilled pork, yummy deep-fried Vietnamese rolls, and herbs, crushed peanuts, and sauces. Not so unusual a choice, but also good.

I definitely like the opportunity to eat Vietnamese food I don't have easy access to, so I enjoyed the bun rieu. The food was solid, but also not comparable to what I had in Southern Cal. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to come here again, unless I'm craving bun bo hue.

Total fan!
If you are looking to take your family to an inexpensive yet fun meal in the inner richmond on the always heavily attended Geary Street then Quan Bac is the place for you! I recommend the Chef's special (#80) brilliantly sautéed beef served with Vietnamese bread and fries. Unique! The garlic noodles are awesome and the fried rice totally worth it. It is an affordable place served by a warm family serving good Vietnamese food among an array of Asian themed restaurants. Worth the visit if you're in the area!

We ordered the French Styled Seafood Set Meal for $29.95 + tax. The chicken salad came first. I have to say, it's not bad because it was crunchy and tasted sweet and salty. We were able to split the appetizer three ways. Then came the crab (whole) and the fried rice. The crab was somewhat big. It was fried and had a crusty crumb-y bread-like taste to it. The fried rice was pretty amazing since it tasted oh so good (soft, chewy, lots of egg). At the end, we were served dessert: fried bananas and a scoop of ice cream. I thought it was pretty small but then again, the meal was for two people, not three people.

I really like this place. I've been here a few times already too. Service is not bad but could be better because on our last visit, they forgot to bring us our iced water. As for the authenticity, I can't really guarantee anything but that you should go and try it out. The tv is also a plus since the Olympics are on right now but even when it's not Olympic season, they probably show stuff on tv from the Viet channel. If you want to learn some stuff about Vietnamese culture, you can eat while watching it.