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Red Lantern - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants Asian Fusion Asian Fusion [Edit]
808 Winslow StRedwood City, CA 94063
(650) 369-5483
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
375 reviews for Red Lantern
Review Highlights
"...ribs, lumpia, sea bass and crab fried rice were all winners."
(in 44 reviews)
"The food is family style, in true Asian style."
(in 33 reviews)
"Rangoon Clay Pot (sea bass) is excellent."
(in 38 reviews)
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375 reviews in English
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Review from Jay J.
San Jose, CA
11/8/2011
restaurant is now located at
211 s first st san jose,ca
it is now at the mosaic restaurant @ the four points by sheraton
they are open all day! -
Review from Jennifer L.
Belmont, CA
12/5/2010 7 photos
I took my husband to Red Lantern for his birthday and we both liked it a lot. I'm always excited when I can find a good Asian restaurant that doesn't add MSG to their food. This is one of those places.
I found confusing and amusing the flowery and delicate wording on the menu:
Soup = "Heavenly Mist"
Salad = "Tropical Harvest"
Appetizers = "Delightful Bliss"
Entrees = "Taste of Paradise"
Out of character with the language on the rest of the menu, side dishes are called "Side Dishes." I suggest something more euphemistic and puzzling like "More Pleasure," "Carbohydrate Ecstasy" or "Bite of Rapture." And perhaps "Wines by the Glass" could be called "Dionysian Libations" or "Grape Goggles."
While we're at it, may we call the dessert "Happy Ending?" I'm just trying to help keep the language on the menu consistently vague and mysterious.
We ordered neither Heavenly Mist nor Tropical Harvest, but we did get the following:
* Martabak $10 - Singaporean Griddled Pancake Stuffed with Madras Spice Lamb Served with Mango Chutney. This was probably our favorite dish. I'm not sure if we've ever had Singaporean food before. The "Delightful Bliss" tasted like Indian food to us, and it had fabulous sweet and savory flavor combinations. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
* Cambogee Beef $24 - WokTossed Cubes of Beef Tenderloin Seasoned with Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime, Galangal and Fresh Herb Salad. This was a fine dish, but seemed overpriced at $24 and didn't measure up to Tamarine's Shaking Beef. On its own, the beef was tender and tasty, as was the salad. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
* Oseng Oseng Buncis $11 - Javanese Wok-Tossed Green Beans with Kaffir Lime and Palm Sugar Soy. We enjoyed it, though we weren't blown away. It was fresh, just not a standout. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
* Brown rice - Carbohydrate ecstasy, well rice - it was good. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
* Singapore Sling $10 - Faaaaaabulous! Went down like tropical fruit juice with a kick. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
* Chocolate Dessert - I forget the name of it, but it tasted to me like dark chocolate butter and wasn't the most inspired dessert. I suspect their other desserts are stronger. Next time we'll ask for a recommendation. It was thoughtful that they put a candle in it in honor of Mr. L's birthday. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Ambiance: 4.5 stars - Gorgeous, romantic, dimly-lit. Oh yeah, they've got red lanterns here too! Table are close to other tables. We were seated near another couple and could hear their conversation, so that was a little bit of a bummer.
Service: 5 stars - I love that when I asked our server what he recommended, he told us without hesitation. We chose from the most popular dishes. Service was friendly and quick.
Food: 4 stars - Overall really excellent. Our chocolate dessert was our weakest dish. Mr. L didn't ask what they recommended for this course, which may have been our mistake. They kindly comped it for his birthday (so sweet when restaurants do that - thank you!).
Drink: 5 stars - We had our first and second Singapore Slings ever. Yummy!
Value: 3.5 stars - Without the Groupon, it would've been fairly expensive.
I'd never heard of Red Lantern until a Groupon was offered for it, so I did my usual Yelp research. Ken K. gave it 4 stars, so I thought I'd definitely like it. As usual, Ken was right on. This is a very solid 4 star rating, and if we hadn't been to Tamarine in Palo Alto, we might've even given the food a higher rating. Still, on its own, Red Lantern is a lovely restaurant with tasty food and top-notch service.Listed in: MSG-phobe
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Review from Jennifer C.
Redwood City, CA
Updated - 12/17/2010
I'm downgrading my first review for them. I came here last night with a couple of gals and I was disappointed. The menu is still awesome and the ambiance is still nice BUT the service just went downhill. To be specific, I felt that we didn't receive proper attention nor did we get our food in a timely manner.
When we ordered our food, my dish came out first. More than 10 minutes later, the 2nd dish came out. The 3rd dish came out several minutes after that. The strange thing about that was the 3rd dish was the appetizer. I would be much more understanding if the restaurant were packed but it wasn't. Before the 3rd dish came out, a server came to ask us "is everything ok?" I think that's rather appropriate if all of us have our food and our water glasses were full but that wasn't the case.
I'm not saying that the server wasn't nice because he was but it still doesn't change what happened.
I sincerely hope they step it up. For the cost of the meal and ambiance, they should have a better system for service.
If anything, I am embarrassed because I recommended this restaurant to my friends and I raved about it. Luckily, they enjoyed their food and mango lemon drops.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/18/2009
Great ambiance and pretty decent service. The prices are on the higher side but the food is pretty… Read more »
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Review from Tarra R.
San Jose, CA
1/14/2011
How sad this was my 300th review
My co-worker and I decided to go to an early lunch to celebrate her birthday. She had seen this place and wanted to give it a try. I am always up to try a new place :)
We walk into the joint to find it so dark the chairs were hard to see. I wonder if they were trying to save on electricity?
The service ruined my experience here. Our waiter smelled badly of cigarette smoke so we never asked him to refill our waters and were relieved to have someone else bring out the lunches.
The dish i tried was the something that looked like shredded pork but I was told it was beef. I am not sure what the name of it was but it was not appetizing at all. When I told the waiter he just shrugged.
I will not be back to this overpriced fusion place. -
Review from jun k.
1/5/2011
So, I came here despite reading the reviews because I was thinking http://restaurant.com coupon+ 3.5 stars, not bad!
The surrounding of Redwood City was SUPER cute.
When I came in, there was no hostess (we had a reservation at 7p). I actually walked inside the curtained off dining area and it was pretty empty.. and no hostess. So i went back outside to wait for my friend A; when we came back, then a girl from the bar came over.
It *is* really dark inside.. and i was starving.
We ordered the calamari appetizer, some sort of manila short ribs dish, and crab fried rice.
I decided to keep an open mind, even though the waiter was on the slower side in taking our order and didn't keep my water refilled (I drink a LOT of water.. and the food was salty).
The food came a little slower than I'd like, but when the calamari came it was SO GOOD! The sauce was interesting, but yeah, I was starving and there was a LOT in a little box.
Then the other 2 dishes came pretty quickly. Okay, i have NO idea what people mean when they say the crab fried rice is amazing - it is NOT. the rice is soft and overcooked, i don't know where the crab is, and as A so aptly put it, "It needs.. more.. taste..." I think they forgot the salt.
When the manila short ribs came, it was like this soupy, peanut thing (I think they should mention that on the menu..) .. and I figured that I could remedy to fried rice blandness with the sauce. The sauce was .. interesting. Good, even. It was just realllllly peanut-buttery... and the beef was soft... and the eggplant was good. Just the flavors were strange. I didn't eat much of it.. (also there were huge hunks of fat.. that i accidentally bit onto.. bleh).
I just went back to the calamari.
But anyway, the dishes were all in these medium sized bowls. Kinda small for the price.. (although, of course, it was pretty deep, but honestly, like.. it didnt look good).
Halfway through dinner, I just felt queasy. And we decided to skip on dessert and leave..
I REALLY tried to keep an open mind, but this place is not very yummy, the service is a little slow and neglects you.. and yeah.
http://restaurant.com definitely helped out in the bill department, but even that didn't help a bad dinner.
In Summary:
Yummy calamari+overcooked mushy colorful rice+mysterymeat in peanut butter = not my cup of tea. -
Review from Liz V.
Redwood City, CA
1/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
OVERRATED.
Been here 3 times, twice for dinner, once for drinks.
As for the party scene here (which we unexpectedly stumbled upon- one night after dessert at Tartine we decided to have one drink)- after a certain time they take away the normal drink glasses and have everyone drink out of RED PLASTIC PARTY CUPS!?! Talk about high school all over again. And the scene is FILIPINO AUNTIES wearing upgraded forever 21 apparel, on weeknights, taking millions of PICTURES to add to their facebook profiles. You aren't 25 anymore auntie, who is watching your children? Anyway, that was unexpected.
As for dinner, we ordered lumpia of course, beef short ribs, and some other dish- obviously not notable enough to remember.
Lumpia was 2 pieces cut in half to make 4 (5 dollars for 2 pieces of shanghai lumpia?!- outrageous)
Here is where I was really confused- BEEF SHORTRIBS is KARE KARE, and I had no idea that I was really ordering KARE KARE. So I told the server, this is not beef short ribs, this is Kare Kare and if I had known I never would have ordered this because of course- no one makes it better than my grandpa (Kapapangan of origin). Also if you are filipino you know Kare Kare is made of Oxtail not beef (only when you don't want to pay for the pricey oxtail, you make it with beef). So $20 dollars for Kare Kare that is not even Oxtail is a rip off.
Probably wouldn't ever go here again. -
Review from Kelly M.
Mountain View, CA
Updated - 1/1/2011
The first time I came here was great. I have all good memories of that experience. This time, not so much and here is why.
Made reservations through http://www.opentable.com a week in advance for our dinner. For some odd reason the restaurant didn't have any record of my reservation even though I received a confirmation from opentable. Luckily there were 3 open tables upon our arrival so we didn't have to wait. Moving on.
We arrived early and had drinks at the bar. There were about 5 people working behind the bar and only one competent bartender. She was the only one who knew what alcohol was in stock and how to make a Lychee Martini. I suppose they thought they were going to be busy so they had extra bar-backs. My martini was OK but wasn't made frothy or with the real lychee fruit. Disappointed but I overlooked it. My guy wanted a 7&7 but they were out of Seagrams at 7pm on a Sat. night - super lame.
We ordered the:
Chicken Satay - this was really good but it's hard to mess satay up.
Lumpia - I can tell they tried to do a unique take on this dish but it would be better if they left the original recipe alone.
Roti Prata - I was excited about this but it was just a boring tortilla.
Banana leaf wrapped Prawns in a very heavy chile sauce. I like spicy but this had just way too much kick.
The service was disappointing, slow and dull. Tables are too close together. I felt like I had to watch what I said because the people sitting next to us would have heard me loud and clear. I think at one point my bf and I texted eachother just because if our neighbors heard us we might have been kicked out.
Besides the ambiance there isn't much else to rave about. I'd recommend someone wanting Asian Fusion cuisine to go to Straits.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/17/2009
I'm loving the decor. Tall bamboo and lush red curtains as soon as you walk through the entrance.… Read more »
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Review from Adam K.
Santa Clara, CA
8/25/2010
Highly recommend the rack of lamb.
But beware, the portions are family style. -
Review from Kimberly C.
Palo Alto, CA
12/16/2010
Came here with coworkers last night and Happy Hour was on point! Drink special were ok..$10 a drink, not really happy there, but the food was really good and portions were amazing!
The only neg- they ran out of 2 things..we ordered the pork adobo ribs but they were out and we also tried ordering the pineapple upside down cake but they were out of that, too. I guess that just means we have to go back.
Awesomeness to share with 4 people:
HH all $5 each!
1. Calamari- gives you a lot. Perfect breading and seasoning and the sauce was amazing.
2. Chicken satay- pretty good..3 big pieces but a little heavy on the coconut curry sauce, otherwise, deelish.
3. Lumpia- They give you a good amount. Not bad..your typical veggie egg roll with light wrapping paper and good sauce.
4. Roti- was pretty good..sauce was good..roti was thicker than usual, I am used to the singaporean roti, where its pretty thin.
Salad- Shared chicken apple salad..pretty good..Great portion for sharing
Dessert- Chocolate fudge thingy..really good..very fudgey for those chocoholics..very yummy finish..
Ambiance and decoration is very very cool! -
Review from Lisa M.
8/2/2010
This place was cool- nice decor!
The ahi poke was delicious and so is the murtabak!
They had chicken rendang. I prefer beef, personally, but the chicken was tasty- I just would have used all white meat and would have taken the skin off, but then again, I am not the chef.
I liked this place and I am happy it is there! YUM -
Review from Jen H.
8/6/2010
Eh, not the greatest.
I try my best to avoid "American" Chinese restaurants because why go eat at these restaurants, when you can have home-cooked, authentic Chinese food right at home!
This place is a quasi-upscale "Chinese" restaurant. The decor is beautiful and great service compared to other Chinese restaurants. We came here for lunch, and the lunch specials were decently priced.
If you order anything outside of the lunch special,be prepare for a pricey meal.
Average per person for lunch special : $13 -
Review from Adam G.
Palo Alto, CA
11/15/2010
Well, 2.5 stars really, but I round to take the score in the right direction :-)
Went here since it sounded interesting enough to get a $25 gift cert for $2 from http://restaurant.com. If it wasn't for that, I'd have been even more disappointed. Two of us for dinner, two appetizers, two mains, and two drinks: total $65 after the coupon.
Low-lights: the "curried noodles with chicken" were shockingly bland. Come of folks, it's curry! The "house specialty" braised lamb was also only so-so, with fairly bland flavours. The lamb filled flatbread was also shockingly greasy. My wine glass for $10 had no more than 2.5-3 oz of wine in it. For that price, I expect at least a 5 oz pour. Service was spotty at best - we were rushed to make menu/drink selections but then were completely left alone after the food arrived, including water refills and asking if the food was any good.
High-lights: Despite the greasiness, the lamb flatbread was very very tasty. The duck and mushroom "samosas" were more like triangular spring rolls, but when they're as yummy as they were that's quite alright. Actually, that's preferred since I like spring rolls better than samosas anyway. My date's mixed drink was very tasty and not shy on the alcohol either...far better value than the wine.
I doubt I'll be back, but there is so much potential on the menu and a few tweaks could bring this to a 4/5 star rating in no time flat. -
Review from Catherine W.
Redwood City, CA
8/8/2010
The food was ok but the service was terrible.
One of my biggest pet peeves at a restaurant is when they don't bring all the food at the same time. I went here with three other people on a quiet Wednesday night. By the time the last person received their food the first person was already finished. It took that long.
They took forever and still messed up our check at the end of the night (an entree was added that no one ordered).
The food wasn't good enough to make up for the service. -
Review from Lisa R.
9/2/2010 1 Check-in Here
Great atmosphere, walking distance from RWC caltrain, and a great, romantic, dimly lit, cool bar.
Good drinks, I got the Shanghai Surprise...friends got the something something girlie drink (it was pink).
I am trying to go completely vegetarian but couldn't turn down the crab fried rice...delicious and delicate.
The Phuket noodles, not so good. Creamy, but the tofu was super uber soft. Gah.
Nice lumpia, good green papaya salad, nice folks who took care of me when they found out it wAs my birthday. -
Review from Robin B.
Redwood City, CA
1/25/2011
This place is CLOSED!
I went here for GNO on 12/30/10 and it was great. The cocktails were yummy and the Adobo Short Ribs were to die for.
I was so impressed that I wanted to take my hubby here for dinner last Saturday but it was closed. Their website is still live, so I called but couldn't get an answer on the phone so we drove by and saw the sign was gone and a dumpster in the parking spots in front. Don't know if they're remodeling or what. If they went under that's too bad. It was a good place. -
Review from Sarah H.
Newark, CA
9/23/2010
I'll admit I wasn't expecting much (the Yelp reviews are largely "meh") and I was pleasantly surprised :)
Like many others I had a Groupon here that I needed to use up. My boyfriend and I work in Redwood City so we dropped in last night.
We ate the following:
Sarawak Samosas (duck and mushroom) - good, but really greasy. We were fumbling with the chopsticks so we ate them with our hands and a lot of grease leaked out. Tasty, but probably wouldn't order them again.
Crab Fried Rice - very nice. My boyfriend's aunt makes this a lot so he's picky about it, but he praised it at least three times during the meal. Winner!
Adobo Eggplant - I love eggplant and this made me happy. Boyfriend isn't big on vegetables, but he liked this. I brought the leftovers (the portion was hearty) to my mom, who also enjoyed it :)
Rangoon Clay Pot - Pricey at $25, but very tasty. Not a Burmese fish, but it did remind us of a Thai dish we love("Fish going to market"). The fish was cooked well and the flavors were spot on. Very, very tasty.
Ginger Crème Brulee - Really tasty. I couldn't ever decide if I really liked the candied ginger with or not, but I feel like it was necessary (without it this would just be crème brulee, and not asian fusion crème brulee...)
Everything was really tasty! We were happy :)
I do agree they are kind of pricey (the Rangoon Clay Pot was awesome, but I probably wouldn't order it again at $25)
I'll probably come again and check out their lunch specials. -
Review from Christine M.
San Francisco, CA
1/9/2008 ROTD 5/14/2008
Red Lantern has brought me out of Yelp-hibernation to sing its due praises.
I think dining in Redwood City, I think $2 slices of greasy pizza. But Red Lantern, though it might seem out of place, is perrrrfect.
Food: seriously amazing. No, really, the flavors and texture... everything. Drool.
Service: They're new, so you can see the enthusiasm in all of the waiters. Even the man who filled our water was friendly and chatty. And everything was very prompt.
Ambiance: This particularly makes Red Lantern the black sheep in Redwood City, but in a good way. Like, um, chic black. It's really nicely done inside and not what you'd expect.
I can't express how much this place rocks. I really, really hope they stick around for a while. -
Review from giggler E.
San Francisco, CA
1/29/2008
So sad, so sad...The reason why this palce recieved mostly 5stars is pretty simple. These people aligned themselves with "Eliters" and well...how honest are they?
OK, for an honest opinion by some pretty "Joe Blow" tastebuds. I only had their Thai food and their Filipino food. I had better food at "Nursing Potlucks" (you nurses know what potlucks I'm talking about). The food was bland at best (all of what I tried and I'm not writing this to be difficult). The portions are just big enough to feed a 7 year old. The prices are just cheap enough for MDs, lawyers, etc. making $250K + a year.
I'm so tired of these types of places, charging so much for so little.
"Hey look honey, they have uncomfortable bar seats! Let's spend $150 to be unsatisfied and fill up on popcorn later..."
Redwood City is number 1!!
Hey, does elite=sheep? -
Review from John L.
Mountain View, CA
Updated - 7/16/2009 5 photos
I went back here for lunch the other week. Since it was early the restaurant was empty and we were seated promptly by the window.
We started off with Nha Trang ($9.00) which is their seasoned calamari. It was served in a nice weave type basket and I was surprised at the generous portion size. The calamari was tasty as it was seasoned with curry giving it a nice yellowish color. (http://static2.px.yelp...)
For our entrees we ordered Gulai Ayam and Papes Ikan both off their lunch menu. Their lunch entrees are $10 and include jasmine rice, pawon salad, orak arik, and shrimp crackers.
The Gulai Ayam is a spicy chicken curry served with cardamon-yogurt sauce. The chicken was moist and tasty but there didn't seem to be enough as it was dwarfed on the plate by the side dishes and crackers. (http://static3.px.yelp...)
The Pepes Ikan is their fish of the day sauteed in sambal chilies and thai basil. The fish ended up being sea bass and it was moist and flaky. The chili and basil sauce was superb with complex flavors and mildly spicy. (http://static3.px.yelp...)
They also have the following beers on draft: Hoegaarden, Lagunitas Indian Pale Ale, Leffe Blonde & Brown, Trumer Pils, and Deschutes Black Butte Porter. $5 for a pint
Overall I was satisfied with the food and will definitely be back for future meals here.Listed in: Peninsula Lunch Spots
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/15/2009
My company had our holiday luncheon here recently. All the food was pre-ordered. Upon arriving I… Read more »
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Review from Jennifer G.
Foster City, CA
Attended the soft opening, then the grand opening of this fabulous new event type restaurant in...wait for it....Redwood City!!!
Great mix of south east asian inspired dishes, the chef is fabulous, and the owners have done a great job with the concept for this restaurant.
Imagine a cross between Ana Mandara's movie type setting, and your favorite local asian restaurant...what you get is spectacular food, a striking setting and excellent service. I love how the chef has managed to introduce filipino food in a more upscale manner. I think that Luneta Bistro in San Mateo tries to do this but may be missing the mark in terms of location and ambiance.
Here's a break down of some of the dishes you have to try:
Kabogee beef - I'm one of those pain in the ass people that enjoy their steak well done...these tenderloin pieces are cooked medium and melt in your mouth...
sea bass - i had this one evening and spent the next day thinking about it...a perfectly cooked piece of seabass that sits atop the most flavorful, well done mushroom ragout I've ever had.
fois gras - i'm not a big fan of fois gras...however, this is a perfect portion sitting on a little cake of cocunet flavored rice that's been toasted, with just enough mango(?) marmalade to bring the whole thing together...worth every penny of the $14 price tag. order your own, you won't want to share
poke - again, i'm not a big fan of raw, but will eat tuna from time to time if it's seared or cooked somewhat in a marinade - i've made an exception for this poke. perfectly balanced seasoning, not too much soy or ginger, and they're served on freshly made garlic shrimp chips, the flavors combine to cause tastebud orgasms.
kare-kare - hmmm...the traditional filipino dish is usually too pungent with shrimp paste (bagoong) and too much ground up peanuts for me to be a fan. this dish however is targeted to an american palate, with a perfect balance of peanut and shrimp to flavor the dish, but not overwhelm, and the beef shortrib is cooked till it melts in your mouth. peanut allergies? no problem, they don't add the fresh ground peanuts till the last moment and can serve it without.
crab fried rice - large chunks of what i think is snow crab - this has to be a staple when ordering here.
haha...does it sound like i ate alot? that's cuz i DID!!!!
Considering they've just opened I was really surprised at the quality of the service and consistency of the dishes. Says a lot about the thought and preparation that's gone into the opening of this place. If you're out on the peninsula this is definitely a place to hit for afterwork drinks and dinner! -
Review from Dan B.
9/10/2009
I'm glad there's now an upscale Asian restaurant in Redwood City, though I've had no first-hand experience until recently. That's because the place has been so popular that every single time we've tried to make a reservation here, we've struck out. Cold. Granted, it was usually the same day (which would explain why there was muffled laughter on the other end of the phone). OK, OK, so we're last-minute planners.
The first solution was to stop by after dinner for late night drinks and appetizers. That was 6 months ago, and I don't recall much except the cocktail list was pretty good, but the staff was noticeably unfriendly. The final solution was to make a ressie for the Sunday night on a recent 3 day weekend...Finally - we were in! We brought friends with us, ordered piles of food, and proceeded to share everything in sight without getting our fingers caught in the whirlwind of chopsticks.
FAVORITES:
-- Chicken rengang (entrée): Very tasty; in dense, flavorful sauce (almost a paste)
-- Martabak (app): Pancake stuffed with spiced, ground lamb; nice mango chutney on the side; very rich and delicious! Seemed almost Moroccan if you ignore the chutney.
JUST SAY NO:
-- Manila Short ribs (entrée): this may have been a mis-delivery, since it looked more like a stew than short ribs; strange, fatty texture; overly chewy; I tried one piece and wanted no more.
-- Garlic chips (app): I normally love garlic, but these must be an acquired taste; seemed like something you would get out of a bag
NOTHING SPECIAL:
-- Cambogee Beef (entrée): Passable; Almost the same price as the "shaking beef" at Tamarine, but not half as good, so kind of a ripoff.
-- Calamari (app): Your basic fried calamari; Please pass the no-doze.
-- Pawon Salad (app): I don't remember because it was completely unmemorable
-- Roti Prata (app): Dull; Seemed like store-bread that was placed in the oven; It turned to cardboard in just minutes (The homemade, multi-layered roti from Straits completely blows this away)
-- Phuket noodles (entrée): Phuket dude, it's just your standard Pad Thai
Service was terrible: We waited over 10 minutes to order our drinks, then the drinks took another 10 minutes to arrive; We had to signal our waiter to order; Then the wrong dishes started showing up, meaning we had to quiz the servers on each one that arrived. At the end we had to flag down someone to pay the bill.
Prices were high. $70 per couple seemed mildly outrageous for the bad service and un-amazing-ness of the food.
Ambiance was attractive, urban, sexy, DARK. There seems to be an ongoing game called: "Let's see how dark we can make it before our guests can't see their meals." The score is currently Red Lantern: 253, Guests: 12Listed in: Dinner Date in the Red-hood
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Review from Larry C.
San Francisco, CA
1/16/2008
This is my new Monday-night-dine-alone spot
Why: I work out in RWC and am starved by the time I get to sundance... I then eat all bread and gain back the cals I just burned.
If you're there, you'll see me at the bar: eggplant - tofu - noodle dish
Observations:
1- the bar's nice and separate
2- Park at the WaMu cuz they're big wussies and they don't tow. Plus if they do, I'll help you dispute the credit card charge if you produce an ATM withdrawl slip with the right time day stamp.
3- I am fully cali-FORN-ified. all veggie, no meat on an effen Monday night -
Review from David P.
12/7/2008
It was a really tough call to decide between 2 and 5 stars. The struggle is all that much more painful considering the 4+ star perspectives of Asia-phile favs Lolia, Ken and Ang.
On the ambience front: 5 stars and a thousand kudos for its contribution to making Redwood City downtown a date night destination. Exotic, mysterious, big city-fied vibe. A nice potent set of exotic sounding cocktails.
On the food side though, it was hit or miss, mostly miss. Most dishes I tried had little connection any SE Asian food stalls I ever hung out at. I wasn't looking for an exact replication of padang or Nonya cuisine in RWC: a variation on a theme would have sufficed. Phuket noodles were just pad thai. The eggplant didn't have much of a kick, garlic or otherwise. For the most part, the menu was attempting to sound exotic over descriptive. it didn't help that some of the dishes were served in bowls meant for grinding pastes.
I'm sure this all makes me come off as some kind of SE Asian food snob. I just wish they paid more than lip service to the cuisine it was inspired by in its preparation and presentation.Listed in: Broadway (RWC) Bound
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Review from Krystel B.
Hayward, CA
6/25/2008
Red Lantern is by far my (and my family's) absolute favorite restaurant. It is also the only restaurant where the cost is my frugal parents' least concern. Though the prices are on the high-end and the portions, eh.. quite small =(... Believe me when I say this: "You will encounter one of the tastiest food adventures in your entire lifetime!" Dramatic much?
Our top 3 preferred dishes:
1) Cambogee Beef ($24... but more like $48, since you will be tempted to order another one): Mind you, I'm not a huge fan of steak/beef -- not that I'm a vegetarian or anything, but I've always been more of a 'chicken' kinda girl. Any who, this beef is perfect... almost orgasmic! I cannot eat it without closing my eyes and saying "Mmmm..." I am not kidding. The beef is cut up in cubes, and is sooooooo juicy. And the marinade is just right - it's not overbearing like other salty or garlicky steaks I've tried in the past; instead, they give it a fresh taste with lemongrass, lime and herbs. I HIGHLY recommend ordering this.
2) Chicken Rendang ($16): Man, oh man! They really know how to cook their meat! It's made with all white meat, but for some reason, every single piece is as moist and juicy as the first, no matter how long it stays on the plate. HOW DO THEY DO THAT!? The mild spicy coconut sauce is really good too. Even my mom, who utterly hates any type of spicy food, loves it!
3) Nha Trang Muc ($9): Their fried calamari, is truly appetizing and gives the perfect amount of crunch. The portion is also well more than enough to feed 4-6 people. The dipping sauce is not bad, however, it's one of those "love it or hate it" kinda things. It has a sweet and sour kind of taste, which is only preferable to some, while others are more partial to a buttermilk/ranch-like dip or simply just salt and pepper with their fried calamari.
Don't get me wrong, their other items are nearly just as good, but those are the three that we always make sure to get, simply because... we can't enough of them!
Of course, I did not forget about dessert. When do I ever? Haha. And yes, their desserts are also superb =) Although I do wish they had a larger selection. The Chocolate Lover is obviously very rich and chocolatey, so puh-lease... order it at your own risk! Or, if you truly are a "chocolate love-ahh." The Putri Nanas which is their version of upside-down pineapple cake, is unique with a tempura'd-like cake infused with small cubes of pineapple and cinnamon rum sauce. My favorite, however, is their Banana Twist =) simply because fried banana with vanilla bean ice cream always go well together, though it gets even better with the crunchy peanuts and caramel drizzle! Mmmm...
The red decor of the restaurant is beautiful with lots of dim and dramatic lighting. OH! And on every table, they place these uber cute green chopsticks for those who prefer to use them instead of the typical utensils... and I, being obsessed with the color green, will at times be tempted to snatch a pair home with me. Lol. Or! Kindly ask if they have any unused ones in the back =)
The service can be a bit inconsistent. At times we'll have a waiter who is pleasurable, very nice, funny and attentive... at other times, we'll have one who is dull, yet is straight-forward and gets the job done. Nonetheless, I have not yet (hopefully never) experienced bad service here, and the food always arrives quickly and at the most suitable times.
Overall, Red Lantern is without a doubt a staple for all of my family special occasion dinners. It's also perfect for dates!!! -
Review from Lolia S.
San Francisco, CA
12/8/2007 1 photo
After months of preening and primping, is the most stylish restaurant in Redwood City and luckily the food matches the lovely, soothing, mysterious Asian interior dominated by red lanterns, bamboo and dark wood. Every detail seems to have been thought out including testing the menu, staff training, furnishings, lighting, etc.. They even grow their own herbs on the rooftop. It's a place that's clearly run by seasoned restaurant veterans. I can easily imagine a restaurant of this caliber in SF (Mission, Marina, Cow Hollow) or downtown Palo Alto but it's unusual for RWC.
Start in the spacious bar area with a signature drink and perhaps make your way upstairs for a better view. You are in for a treat.
The menu is different from Betelnut but similar in spirit: South Asian fusion, small plates meant to be shared family style. It's the type of cooking I like best - fresh, flavorful, not too oily, bright, plenty of veggies and herbs. Every dish was attractively plated and many were slightly spicy. The food tends to be very flavorful but the flavors are complementary, so the spicing works. I noted Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino, and Thai dishes on the menu.
My top pick: Martabak, a crispy and chewy roti paratha (thin pan fried flour pancake) brimming with savory curried ground lamb. The accompanying mango chutney was too sweet for me (I wouldn't like any fruit chutney though, I would prefer a mint chutney) but it tasted amazing on its own. Sooo good.
The poke appetizer featured a lovely soy-ginger sauce and crispy shrimp chips. I found the calamari had too much breading but the breading was light and a bit crunchy (not at all greasy) and the lemongrass dip it came with was superb. The tender Cambogee beef was topped with ample amounts of fresh herbs, delicious. I loved the mushroom ragout that accompanied the lovely sea bass clay pot.
My least favorite dish was the wok tossed spinach with tofu. It wasn't spicy, just seemed boring, and it didn't come with much tofu. It also seemed too salty.
I'm told that they'll start serving lunch on Monday, 12/10. Very exciting. The menu is not very large and I can't wait to try just about everything on it, especially the quail and the noodle dishes. Okay, I heard that they have lunch specials and lunch is $8-$10/person. Can't wait to go back this week. Also, I don't feel sympathy for someone who shows up without a reservation and expects to be seated.
Update: (12/12) I had the Malaysian lunch special. They offer 6 different lunch platters, organized by country, and you can order off the regular menu as well. The lunch wasn't nearly as good as the dinner. The calamari was still very good but didn't come with the dipping sauce I liked. The broccoli and green beans were extremely, extremely salty and the BBQ chicken was too salty and not spicy at all (it's supposed to be spicy). I really can't stand oversalted food. On a positive note, the portions are generous and the prices are reasonable for the lunch specials.
Update (1/29): Returned for lunch and had the Vietnamese plate. The food wasn't oversalted this time around. Thanks, Red Lantern! -
Review from Pumpkin See D.
Redwood City, CA
5/1/2009
I've been going to this restaurant for about 6 months but after my last visit, I will NEVER EAT THERE AGAIN.
Sometimes, even the best food can taste awful when served by very bad waiters, weird bartenders and a really shitty attitude overall.
The last time I went in, the bartender specifically was wearing a v-neck *undershirt*, dirty and probably smelled like ripe cheese, unshaven, greasy hair and no apron or any other marker denoting that he actually worked there. What a mess. I questioned the contents of my beverage.
He served a drink, which was just *off*. I said, "This drink does not taste as yummy as I remember the last time I ordered it". He started to argue that "I've been working here for years and I'm telling you THAT is how it is supposed to be made, so maybe YOU just don't remember how it's supposed to taste." I said "I'm sorry, but this drink taste like floor cleaner. I will not drink it." He started to argue, with his cheese scented, unshaven face with about 4 wait staff eying me from across the bar, staring like a bad high school fight.
The "bartender" (like the other poster said, I agree it needs "") went back to the bar, shook me up another drink brought it to my table and INSISTED that he watch as I drink it, saying "I want to see how you like this, take a drink!!!"
I was uncomfortable and felt bullied.
To make matters worse, I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that he wanted to watch me drink his spit filled cocktail.
I will NEVER go here again. No SPIT-tinis for me, what a disaster of a restaurant. -
Review from Christy L.
San Francisco, CA
3/14/2008
I'll admit, I was a bit excited about trying this place out - reading the mixed reviews on here I wasn't too sure what to expect. Needless to say, we had a very "interesting" time!
My gal-friend and I decided to try the place out - you know, "girls night out" and all that hooha... At any rate, we were semi impressed when we walked in, the decor is nifty - very "theme-y." The hostess was very accommodating - we were about 15 minutes late for our reservation, but they sat us right away at a quaint little window table (we both commented on how we felt like we were on a date).
Then, our waiter entered the scene. I wore a top that accentuated my natural assets ("the gals"), and you would think that this dude had never seen a set of ta-ta's before!! I kid you not, the guy did not look at my face once - just the gals. I couldn't tell you what the specials of the evening were, but my tits could!
After a very uncomfortable time ordering ( I literally used the menu to cover my cleavage), we relaxed and took in the surrounding atmosphere. Great place for people watching!!
Next came our food - it was brought out by a gal that I could only describe as someone clearly lacking social skills, coordination and tact. She literally dropped the plate on the table and ran off. My friend and I just sat there stunned. As additional dishes came out, we were treated to the same obnoxious delivery. The piece de resistance was when her and another server gal brought two dishes to our table, and they were too preoccupied with gossiping about how one of their boyfriends was cheating to figure out how to place the two dishes on the table. My friend and I had to clear a space for them because they were lacking the brain power to do so. So very lame.
As far as the food is concerned - it was okay. Nothing that I would rant and rave about. I've had better Asian fusion at Slanted Door, Bong Su and Ana Mandara. For the prices they charge, they really should think about hiring a wait staff that has a decent set of social skills. Seriously!! -
Review from Ana B.
San Francisco, CA
4/30/2008
Ok, so I'm not feeling particularly funny or cool today, but maybe a little useful?.........just a little?
The idea behind Red Lantern and their fusion of flavors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and other Asian countries is a delectable idea. However, I think they miss the mark on some of their dishes, at least the ones that I tried.
FOOD:
A friend and I shared three "Delightful Bliss" small plates: fried prawns with a mango sauce, poke, and Balinese scallops. The fried prawns were simply ordinary. They're not even worth writing about. The poke was marinated with ogo seaweed, sweet onions, cashews, and served with rice crackers. The ahi tuna was fresh, but the marinade was bland and did absolutely nothing to compliment the ahi. The Balinese scallops were served over crispy coconut rice and dressed with a caramelized shallot reduction. This was the best of the three dishes. The scallops were cooked perfectly. The crispy coconut rice was a unique touch. The caramelized shallot reduction was bold, but it was a welcomed flavor on the palate after having the dull prawns and poke.
SERVICE:
The overly attentive service was rather annoying. We barely put the last bite of each dish into our mouths and a different random server was immediately at our table clearing the plate. Maybe that wouldn't be so necessary if they had BIGGER tables for two! Oh well, none of the plates were worth licking anyway.
AMBIANCE:
As for ambiance, Red Lantern is decorated beautifully and has so much potential, but the feel of it all simply misses the mark. The hanging red lanterns and the heavy red curtain that shields the dining area from the sunlight are a romantic touch. However, the tables were WAY too close together. Being assaulted by the walking bottle of eau de toilette next to me was nasty and did not contribute to a pleasurable dining experience. Too bad, 'cuz she was actually a cutie, but damn, she smelled like my grandmother. Anyhoo, Red Lantern is not the best place to take a date who you want to get all cuddly with, or a friend who you want to chitchat with about how your night of HOT steamy BDSM at the Citadel went. -
Review from Nara Y.
Belmont, CA
1/8/2010
I have given this place a high rating in the past
IF YOU ARE PAYING VIA CREDIT CARD, KEEP THE CHECK AND SEE IF THEY CHARGED YOU RIGHT WHEN YOU GET YOUR MONTHLY STATEMENT!!!!! I can't stress this enough.. My main low rating this time is because of this issue.. They have the tendency to latch on another TIP after the tip that's already been added to the total.. This displeases me A LOT... This has happened three times already, and now I'm just disgusted that it happened again... Waiters.. It's NOT that hard to read.. When we put in the TOTAL at the bottom... Customers PLEASE notify them if this mistake is made... They need to learn that this is NOT ok... It might be just 7 to 10 dollars so you might let it slide.. I did and when it happened the 2nd time, I was on the ball about it. It's disgusting that it happened the third time.
Food is generally Good here. Used to be REALLY good. My personal favorite was the Adobong Pinoy, however for the past 8 months the meat quality for this dish has dropped drastically. Used to be very tender and right off the bone. Now it's very chewey. The Greenbeans are REALLY Great. I also love to get the Phucket Noodles (despite how it sounds when you order it lol)
PLEASE teach your staff some math Redlantern... Or atleast how to read the numbers next to "TOTAL". -
Review from Shari D.
4/5/2008
Two words: DEE licious.
Oh my gosh... the beef tenderloin dish is freaking AMAZING!!!! The sea bass claypot dish was ALSO wonderful. I was kind of all over that beef, though. Let me put it this way, when I've lost all my teeth because I'm 95 years old, I will be here eating this dish because YOU DON'T NEED TEETH, it's SOOOO TENDER!!! And flavorful!
Hubby and I came out here with two other couples and we tried about five different appetizers, including a couple of the specials. One was oysters on the half shell with this tangy sauce, and it was yummy! The other was duck samosas, and since I don't usually like duck, I was surprised that I liked this.
Our friends brought a couple bottles of wine, plus a dirty martini, and I was pretty lit by the end of the evening, but even so... the service was very good and the food was fantastic. I thought the chicken rendang was yummy! Chunks of white meat and some dark meat, but dark meat is tastier, HELLO!! That's why it's more fattening!
The Chocolate Lover's dessert was the perfect topper for my evening. The banana thing looked really good, but I was all about the chocolate for some reason. Maybe it was all the red wine? I don't know.
Plus, I love the jewel toned decor inside, and the lovely square asian plates and green chopsticks. It's all very artfully done. I can't wait to take my mom here! She loves Thai food, and asian fusion, plus she loves cool dishes, so this will be a great Mother's Day dinner!! I just have to find someone I can pay to roll us out of here afterwards. My hubby didn't like getting the stretcher out of the car again due to my over indulgence. Hmm.Listed in: Exotic & Hypnotic....
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Review from Cristina I.
San Jose, CA
1/23/2008
Came here for the Yelp Event along with everyone else...so won't go into much detail as I agree with most...
My hubby and I were definitely impressed! Great ambiance, tasty food (I have NEVER had Filipino food at such an upscale facility!)... overall a place to come back to over and over again!
The only downside, it is VERY easy to overeat, which I did! -
Review from Jennifer P.
Redwood City, CA
3/29/2008
There is no one who wants this place to be great more than I do. As a Redwood City denizen I have been thrilled to have a sophisticated restaurant open right down town. I've eaten here twice since it opened. In my opinion though, the restaurant has got to address some service issues if they expect to remain popular.
The decor is terrific -- elegant, sophisticated and a bit sexy. Much nicer than the usual mid Peninsula fare. Great place to meet some friends for cocktails.
The food is wonderful. Lots of strong flavors and perfectly cooked. Good menu with a wide variety of dishes for both meat and seafood loves and vegetarians.
However, both time I've eater here the service has been sub par.
During my first visit, the waiter was so unfamiliar with the menu that not only could he not answer any questions about the dishes, he also could not understand what dishes we were ordering when we named them so we had to point at them on the menu. He also couldn't answer questions about the wine. I was willing to overlook this, however, because the restaurant had only been open for about a month and he was very pleasant and attentive.
This week, however, the service was frankly appalling. The restaurant has been open long enough that newness is no longer an excuse. Our waiter was a cute young thing -- and perhaps this is why he was hired. However, the NCAA tournament was on in the bar and he seemed much more interested in that than in taking care of us.
The first problem was that when he took our drink order, he took orders from only three of the four of us before he hurried off. I wasn't given the chance to order my drink until he came back with some of the drinks fifteen minutes later. When my friend asked about her missing drink that had been ordered earlier, he told her, "It's coming. Don't worry." No exactly the response she was looking for.
But the worst part was that our $60 bottle of Chardonnay was WARM. We told him that it was warm and rather than offering us a different choice that was properly chilled, he took another 5 minutes getting an ice bucket to try to cool it down. It hadn't sufficiently cooled to be enjoyable by the time we left so we had to put ice cubes from the ice bucket into our glasses to make it drinkable. We should have sent it back, but didn't because we felt bad since he had already opened it before we identified the problem.
Finally, another major issue was that one of our friends was a vegetarian. When she ordered, she said that her order was separate i.e. that she wouldn't be sharing with the rest of us. Instead of bringing her dishes out at the same time as the meat dishes, he brought out the dishes one at a time, waiting until each was finished until bringing out the next, and unfortunately her veggie dishes didn't come out until last so she was just sitting there watching us eat through three courses before she could eat anything.
Our waiter was inattentive, never bothering to refill water glasses until he brought out our check -- I guess he was worried about his tip at that point.
To have that kind of service and pay as much as we did for dinner is inexcusable. We left a 10% tip to reflect our displeasure, which I have never before done in my life. But this restaurant has a serious service issue. I sincerely hope that they can get it figured out because I love the food and atmosphere. But frankly I'd be nervous to go back at this point.
I struggled with how many stars to give this place. In the interest of being supportive and on the quality of the food/atmosphere I thought about giving 3 stars. But frankly, given how bad the service was it really took away from my enjoyment and frankly I wouldn't recommend it at this point. -
Review from Susan D.
Updated - 11/21/2008
Finally, I got to go back to The Red Lantern and try their Sea Bass claypot.
It was worth the wait!
It was cooked to perfection on bamboo skewers and placed in a bed of mushrooms. This is now one of my favorite sea bass examples from restaurants.
Unfortunately this is were the 'great' stopped. First off, the noodle dish my boyfriend ordered was not so good, it was too sweet. Next, the restaurant was busy when we got there so we sat at the family table, which was no problem... except that our server couldn't seem to keep track of us. We had to get drink refills from the hostess and rice that was not delivered with the sea bass, from the bartender. I think the bartender could have easily and better handled our entire order. That combined with the raise in prices has to take away a star... or 2. :(
I'd still go back for the sea bass but, won't rush back.
See ya there!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/18/2008
I've been converted, I am now an eggplant lover! I don't know what happened, I've been firm in… Read more »
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Review from Frank C.
Belmont, CA
9/26/2010
I really wanted to like this place. It has one of the coolest interiors on the whole Peninsula with a bamboo theme that extends from the front entrance all the way into the bathrooms (where the sink fixture emulated a bamboo). Also, the premise is great: pan-Southeastern Asian food which stretches to including the Philippines, which most restaurants of this type skip. But alas, neither the food nor the service matched up with the attractive decor or the promising concept when we visited on a Sunday night.
All our dishes were fatally flawed in at least one way: the Singaporean noodles were way too salty, so much so that I seriously considered sending them back (which I've never done in my life before). The carrot slaw that came with the chicken satay was way too sour. The beef ribs--which should have just melted away given the slow cooking--were just too chewy. The Singaporean lamb pancake appetizer was probably the best of the lot, but its mango sauce was more sweet than mango-y. The wok-fried green beans were ok (with strong hints of sugar and lemongrass), but at $11 were pretty overpriced.
Service was slow and especially dragged towards the end of our meal. It probably took us 15-20 minutes from time time we got our check to the time we could leave. And there were only 7 other tables being served (with at least two servers). When you are waiting that long to pay, you count all the tables.
If you're reading this because you are contemplating the restaurant-dot-com coupon, I'd wave you along. There are better choices nearby (try Karakade Thai, for instance). But definitely do not come planning to pay full price. You will walk out disappointed. -
Review from rm c.
San Francisco, CA
1/6/2008
Art and I came here last night after playing poker with our friends in RWC. We didn't have reservations, so I thought it would be highly unlikely that we'd get a table. Fear not, but we were able to get a table for 8 with no wait. Score!
Three large red lanterns hang over the main dining area. I've never heard of this restaurant until last night. But, I couldn't help think of the Gong Li movie where they would hang red lanterns in front of the wife's room that the husband favored that night. He had four to choose from...
Well, to me, this restaurant plays on whatever your stomach is favoring that night. It includes cuisines from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam - just to name some to choose from. Dishes are served family style and I would say that most of the dishes could cover four people with no problem.
We started off with the scallops, lumpia, poke, and adobong pinoy (pork shortribs). The scallops were my favorite. They were topped with a flavorful fishy relish and laid on a bed of coconut-flavored rice. Note: One serving only comes with 3 scallops. I didn't think the lumpia was anything spectacular. In fact, I thought they were rather bland. The tuna poke was fresh and finely cubed. It had great color and very little sinews, which is my visible test of great tuna. The poke was accompanied with homemade shrimp chips which was a nice added touch. The adobong (pronounced AH-DOH-BOHNG since our server butchered it) ribs were said to be tasty.
Time for some entrees. We ordered the crab fried rice, phuket noodle (pad thai). pepes udang (shrimp), and gulai kambing (lamb shank). The rice was good and I was able to taste the crab with every bite. However, the pad thai was softer than I like since the noodles were not carmelized to my liking. But, in its defense, it did come with tasty and large-sized shrimp. The pepe shrimp was outstanding (although it does sound a little kinky). If your stomach can't handle a dose of spiciness (shame on you!), don't try this. It's potent. At first taste, the coconut is what you taste, but these shrimp have a definite kick after you sink your teeth into them, and I loved it. I didn't try the lamb, but it was gone quick, if that is any indicator of "shall I order it" worthiness.
We also ordered a few desserts - the pineapple cake, fried bananas, and a chocolate cake. I only had a nibble of the fried bananas. They were served warm with a brown sugar sauce and topped with ice cream. Not bad. Art liked the chocolate cake and he's not one to usually opt for something too sweet (aside from me of course! ;)
In summary, Red Lantern is a welcome addition to the downtown RWC scene. Our bill ran just a little over 2 C-Notes for what we ordered and some drinks. We'll have to come back and try some of their other dishes (the clay pot fish sounded delicious). -
Review from Bani S.
Santa Clara, CA
4/18/2008
Thanks again to the Yelp community for helping us find another great restaurant just in time for lunch. Recently built, Red Lantern has a very cool ambiance that is probably better for a nice night out for dinner and drinks than it is is for lunch but either way the food was delicious.
I'd recommend getting one of the lunch plates since the portion size is just right.
The service here was great too. They were very helpful with describing their menu, which is surprisingly unique with options, and were very attentive with drinks etc.
I can't wait to go back and try something else. -
Review from jesiree b.
Daly City, CA
4/29/2010 1 Check-in Here
Came here for dinner the other week. Ambiance & Food are both Asian inspired. I thought it was a little TOO dim inside but I guess some people like it that way. I got a headache trying to read the menu. Service was okay - I thought our waiter was being too comfortable with us; felt a little pressured.
Red Lantern serves Asian Fusion type of dishes - influences from all over Asia. We ended up ordering...
- Rangoon Clay Pot (sea bass): very good; melts in your mouth; our favorite dish of the night
- Pepes Udang (banana leaf shrimp): just o-kay
- Nonya Bakmi (Singapore wok tossed egg noodle): did not taste authentic at all!! ugh
- Crab Fried Rice: pretty good
Overall, this place was just too OVERPRICED!!! People shouldn't be paying this much for the type of food that's not even all that - not even for the sea bass (which was the yummiest dish we had). It's really not worth it! The only reason I would want to come back is to try their lunch specials. Hopefully it's more worth it - for sure there will be more lighting.
FYI: Our waiter told us the place turns into a nightclub after hours. I was like "what? where? how?". I wonder how that's like. -
Review from nicole c.
San Carlos, CA
12/20/2007
The interior is really beautiful and all the food we ordered was excellent. The cocktails were good, but I warn you... they add up at $10 each. It was one of those, "how did our bill get so high? Oh. right. the drinks." All was well worth the money though.
We arrived early, and while the restaurant was fairly empty the service we got was great. In fact, we kinda joked that the attention we were getting was almost a little overboard. But once the tables filled up, our server disappeared for some long stints which was a little bit of a bummer considering it had been so good until then. Anyway, it wasn't ever "awful", but just seemed like they had a little trouble keeping up once they got busy.
Overall, I thought this restaurant was very good and I definitely plan on returning. -
Review from kim n.
1/16/2008
Maybe the most upscale and interesting joint in all of downtown RWC. Been tracking this place for months and had given up for a while there. They finally opened and for the first stretch, only for dinner. Once they finally opened for lunch a group of co-workers and I dropped in and took on a significant portion of the menu.
When you walk in you realize that this place is really dimly lit. There is a huge contrast walking in from outside during the day into the cave like lighting here. When you're seated in the back booth, it is REALLY freaking dark. However the front door opens regularly and those flashes of light help you read the menu. The place is much larger than I expected and they went to town on the decor. A mish mash of Eastern art and furniture is spread throughout. There's a decently sized bar with a tv that's in the left side of the restaurant with the rest of the first floor being dining area. There's a second level that seems pretty expansive but since it was so dark, we couldn't really make out the details.
So after four hungry pairs of eyes perused the menu we ended up with:
- Martabak - Griddled Pancake stuffed with Madras Spice
Lamb served with Sweet Mango Chutney
- Rangoon Clay Pot -Fillet of Chilean Sea Bass, oven roasted in a clay pot with Wild Mushrooms, Leeks and Fermented Black Bean Relish
- Gulai Kambing - Chef Sudar's Award Winning Spicy Lamb Shank
Curry served with a Cardamom-Yogurt Sauce
- Chicken Rendang - Slow Braised Chicken in Coconut Milk, Chilies,Galangal and Candlenut.
- Manila Shortribs - Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs with Eggplant, Napa
Cabbage and String Beans
- Adobo Eggplant
- Crab Fried Rice
As I said, we kind of went to town on the menu. Everything was delicious. Everyone left stuffed except for our wallets for this was a bit expensive as lunches go. But no one really complained either. The only gripe we had was the fact that they didn't have refills no soda. I mean $2.50 a pop? $2.50 with refills is already like 2000% profit. Guess I'll just go for a regular iced tea next time. Definitely worth it for the food however and I'm already going to be returning for the first Silicon Valley Yelp event is happening there! -
Review from Seong P.
7/14/2008
I stopped in for a drink before the Mandaloun event. Lately, my motor skills are kind of off so I'm clumsier than usual. Therefore, I managed to spill a lot of my drink picking it up from the bar. It was tasty. What a waste.
A friend ordered a glass of wine and the bartender poured wine from an already opened bottle and a new bottle. Odd and not good but he replaced it.
The food I saw looked interesting so I'd go back to check it out.
