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Savory - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
873 Castro StMountain View, CA 94041
(650) 691-9999
- 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
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
98 reviews for Savory
Review Highlights
"The favorite dish hands down was their Shaking Beef."
(in 35 reviews)
"The fried banana with ice cream."
(in 3 reviews)
"The basil tofu was unique with fried basil."
(in 8 reviews)
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98 reviews in English
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Review from teena y.
San Carlos, CA
Updated - 5/13/2011
This is one of my favorite restaurants in Mountain View because the service is great - the waitress always remembers me and saves me the window seat.
I like how it's a pretty quiet restaurant but lately I've been trying to make reservations on Opentable and it says that this restaurant is currently offline - PLEASE DON'T BE CLOSED. I came here on a Monday during lunch and the doors were locked and no one was inside. =/ I called about a month ago and talked to the owner there and she said they needed a vacation so they closed for a few days... but now I don't even know if they even opened up after that. I sent the restaurant an email to see if they would respond - no response.
I like their chicken in a clay pot and their pork chop with vermicelli.
Well, I really hope this restaurant is still in business bc I liked it! :)1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/19/2010
I tried this restaurant for lunch on Wednesday for the first time and thought it was good. The… Read more »
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Review from Anna K.
Milpitas, CA
3/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
I wanted to have gourmet Vietnamese food for my birthday dinner.Xanh was booked out for a month so I decided on Savory after reading some reviews on Yelp.
The restaurant is cozy and had modern decor. I really liked the blue color scheme and feel of the restaurant. Some of our friends were running late and we were hungry so my husband ordered some appetizers to tie us over until they arrived.
- 2 Savory Samplers which includes beef papaya salad, fresh rolls, spring rolls and temple rolls.
- 2 orders of the salt & pepper calamari
- 1 bottle of Riesling
The sampler was tasty. Hubby and I really enjoyed the beef papaya salad. The calamari was okay. It was soft and not crunchy. I like crunchy calamari.
When the rest of our party arrived we got down to business and ordered dinner...
- Arnold Palmer
- 2 Shaking Beef
- 3 Jasmine Rice
- 1 Brown Rice
- 1 Large Combination Fire Pot
- 2 Tumeric Chicken
- 1 Small Combination Fire Pot
- 1 Vietnamese Chowmein
- 1 Coconut Rice
I enjoyed the shaking beef. The meat was soft, tender and flavorful. My favorite has got to be the salad that it was served with. I loved the dressing they used. I had a few bites of the fire pot, Vietnamese chowmein, tumeric chicken and coconut rice. All were pretty tasty. Service was good.
I bet you're wondering why the 2 stars and it's for over charging us. On the menu the shaking beef is listed for $16 but we were charged $18. Brown rice is listed for $2 but we were charged $2.50 and Jasmine rice is listed for $1.50 but we were charged $2.
My husband paid using his debit card and signed for it but it didn't clear until a week later. It's not a big deal cause the money was there but I thought it was odd that it took that long for the money to clear. -
Review from Joe A.
San Jose, CA
1/24/2011
This is a smallish, upscale Vietnamese place towards the end of Castro street. We went on a Saturday night and were surprised that there were still lots of empty tables at 7:30 pm.
The quality of the food is solid, but the place is kind of pricey and a lot of the dishes seem to lack that little bit of imagination that separates a fancy restaurant from a run-of-the-mill establishment.
I probably wouldn't come here again, and if you haven't been here before, I would advise you to spend your money elsewhere because you wouldn't be missing anything.
Crisp Spring Rolls - 4/5 Stars - These were really good. Almost as good as what you get at the nice Vietnamese places in Hong Kong. Only complaint was that they charge $7 for 6 tiny spring rolls. I feel that four bucks would be more appropriate.
Shaking Beef - 3/5 Stars - Most of the items on the menu are about $12 so I was expecting this $18 dish to be at least 50% better than the other items! It wasn't. It was ok, and unlike some of the other sparsely garnished dishes, it came with a little pile of raw baby spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes. The beef itself was a decent quality cubed fillet mignon, but overall it didn't compare against some other renditions of this Vietnamese classic found in South San Jose or San Francisco.
Lemongrass Chicken - 2/5 Stars - Maybe a bit harsh, since the chicken was tender and the flavor was alright, but I felt this dish was completely out of balance. It was literally a heap of boneless chicken meat with no veggies or garnishes or anything else.
Chargrilled Beef/Chicken - 2/5 Stars - Again, a bit harsh, but the version here is pretty much identical to what you can get at a $6 per plate pho restaurant. Except that they charge $12. And that they don't give you any rice, noodles or garnishes.
Basa Fish in Clay Pot - 3/5 Stars - My only complaint was that they went really cheap by using Basa (a.k.a Swai fish. a.k.a the stuff that nobody ever buys at Ranch 99). I felt that even something relatively inexpensive like a catfish would have made this dish a lot better. -
Review from Laini K.
San Mateo, CA
3/9/2011 Seated via OpenTable
i first went here in 2010 and it became my new favorite
FOOD that stood out:
Shaking beef - i knew it was going to be good based on other reviews i read, but holy crap! I vowed to order it for myself next time and not share. seriously.
Beef papaya salad - Yum!
Fish in clay pot - ditto
coconut rice - an excellent compliment to the other dishes
Fried banana - ho yeah...
Tres leches - totally missed the mark for me
SERVICE: very good
they took my husband's peanut allergy seriously
they turned down the air conditioning when i couldn't escape the icy blast
they put up with our ruckus at the table
they boxed up our rice with our leftover curry sauce without batting an eye
ATMOSPHERE:
not a huge dining room so they keep it simple, modern and uncluttered
i like it, but i can't escape the feeling that it needs something more...
no biggie, i'll be back for sure -
Review from Rohan D.
11/23/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Decent lunch specials, under $11 for a good lunch.
I've never had an issue with service but I usually come in when they have like 1 pair of customers. I've never seen more in there.
RIce is bullshit expensive, $2 for a tiny amount of it? WTF? While I can appreciate curry and other food I got, adding almost 25% of the cost of of the meal in rice is super expensive. Honestly, I don't understand places that charge more than $1 for a white rice (rice really should just come free with the meal since it's so cheap and it's considerate). But yeah I'm taking off a star for the rice. Otherwise 4 star place. I just don't appreciate pricing schemes like that, in order to reduce lunch prices you make the rice more expensive. This is more of a pet peeve than any argument against the restaurant, I highly recommend a visit regardless.Listed in: Food on the Castro
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Review from Mary R.
San Diego, CA
10/9/2010
This is more of a fusion type. I normally order soups for Vietnamese cuisine for this restaurant, we ordered something different for a change: Savory Sampler $14 (good for 2 but we're 3 sharing good enough for Asian stomach), Combination Fire Pot $14, Shaking Beef $16, Lemon Grass Chicken $12
Pros:
Ambiance is really nice
Food is great especially the Shaking Beef. It is very tender and has very tasty flavor. The seafood claypot is good but the beef is way to go.
Good Service.
Good Parking Spot. As this is the end of Castro, the parking is way much easier. Not competing with other densely parked spots in the heart of MV downtown.
Cons:
Be patient for the order needs a little time to arrive.
A little pricey but worth it. -
Review from Elizabeth N.
San Jose, CA
1/6/2011
*Read the fine print on your http://restaurant.com certificates. Ended up paying $50+ for a meal that was just okay. I would have rather spent $80 at Xanh down the street and would have gotten a better meal with better ambiance.
The appetizer sampler was good. I have to admit, I would have come back for that. (would have...but will not). The crab glass noodles were horrible. Bland, dry, minimal crab, and what the heck were the carrots doing in there? Shaking beef was okay as well. I've had better and for cheaper.
We were literally the only people in the restaurant on a Wednesday night until another group came in later on. Its just weird to eat at an empty restaurant.
Service was fine, but in a normal situation, not deserving of the full 20% that is required with the certificate. I guess that's the turn-off....we walked out of this place feeling ripped off.
Sorry I will not be returning. -
Review from Jane M.
Mountain View, CA
1/15/2011
Pros:
A high three-star, a low four-star, but I gave it a four star.
Intimate ambiance, contemporary decorations are always a plus.
Service was good, the portions were just right (not too huge or small), the food is good.
Cons:
I know it's supposed to be an upscale Vietnamese restaurant, but it is a tiny bit over-priced for what you get. Most dishes do not include rice/noodles, so you have to order them separately. This means a meal will come out to be about $18-$20 for a bowl of rice and a meat dish.
Overall, I will go again, not everyday though due to the price, for date nights with my husband or lunch with friends. Convenient location with parking in the back, sophisticated atmosphere, intimate setting - they've got everything you need to have a feel-good lunch/dinner. -
Review from Angela W.
Stanford, CA
9/25/2010
I came here to reunion with a friend after Savory had just finished up their renovations. A quiet, intimate setting, especially after the remodel.
Echoing the other Yelpers: service was slow. We arrived shortly after the kitchen got blasted with a 12 person group, so needless to say we were drinking water for a good 40 minutes before any food arrived at the table. The skewered pork and basil tofu were delicious though.
The small restaurant fills a nice niche on the less crowded end of Castro street. Parking is abound and no worries about traffic on this end. -
Review from Nancy D.
Los Altos, CA
5/25/2011
Charming, sophisticated, warm and friendly. This is my favorite Thai restaurant. Service is wonderful mirroring the quality of the food. The owners pride show through in every aspect from presentation, food and service. I look forward to my next visit. Also, BYOB ensures a wonderful experience at a reasonable cost.
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Review from Eme L.
Mountain View, CA
Updated - 6/6/2011 2 Check-ins Here
CLOSED! Bought 3 http://restaurant.com certificates a few months back (hadn't used them yet) - I probably jinxed them. Already seems like another restaurant is remodeling in it's place - the windows are covered in paper, but construction noise can be heard from outside . Since this will be the 3rd or 4th restaurant in that space in the last 7 years, it will need to be out of this world to survive that far down Castro. Too bad for Savory as I really liked their food.
Listed in: My Neighborhood, Top Restaurants
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/13/2008
I've been observing the build up of this restaurant over the last several months. We decided to… Read more »
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Review from Scott F.
Mountain View, CA
4/29/2010
The Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk) is very good: the flavor has strong notes of dark chocolate: it's $4.37 including tax, but better than the other pho places in Mountain View, and better than any coffee drinks at Starbucks across the street.
Because they are way over by El Camino, parking is easy and they are never crowded. -
Review from Johan S.
Mountain View, CA
7/18/2011
Rather enjoyable. The gastronomical and visual experience of food and tasteful, calm decor match each other superbly. The neighbourhood is on the quiet side of Castro Street; the air conditioning, not so.
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Review from Amy K.
6/11/2010 4 photos
OVERALL:4.0 FOOD:4.5 SERVICE:3.5 AMBIANCE:4 VALUE:4
If you're seeking trendy, hip, lively Vietnamese, go to Xanh. If a zen, spa-rejuvenating culinary treatment is more your speed, go to Savory!
This place is like one of those spiffy geode crystals, where the lumpy rock exterior opens onto a treasure trove of pretty sparkles. The building & entrance are shabby at best, but wait til you see the soft paint accents, Oriental-mod sconces, and tasteful monochrome wall art inside--gorgeous! Food is less flashy than Xanh, but extraordinary AND a few dollars cheaper. Would be nice to have a fuller winelist, but the food's where it's really at.
SAVORY SAMPLER ($14 - 4 stars):
Beef Papaya Salad + 3 types of rolls (2 ea)....salad was crisp & proportionally dressed in a gingery, sweet, fish sauce base, not the typical lime & topped w/sliced charsiu-type jerky. Favorite roll were the light, flaky fried eggrolls...fragrant & super fresh! Great way to try a little of (almost) everything.
SHAKING BEEF ($16 - 5 stars):
WOW. I have no idea how they get it so tender, moist, and flavorful. I've had bleeding rare meat that wasn't even close in texture perfection, so this is MAGIC, as far as I'm concerned. Sauce had fabulous balance of sweet-savory, rounded out by the grilled portobellos. Absolute favorite of the night.
CLAY POT BASA FISH ($12 - 3.5 stars):
Nice flavor (mm, pepper!) & temperature, but texture was strangely steaky-firm AND flaky-soft -- just a bit distracting.
Pleasantly surprised! Definitely best for a quiet, low-key, intimate meal. -
Review from J L.
Sunnyvale, CA
8/28/2010
Service is nice but really slow, portions sizes are random, food is just okay.
I ordered the fresh roll and tiger prawn lunch combo - $12.
Salad: Tiny, but a nice surprise, because it wasn't mentioned on the menu. Unfortunately, it was totally overpowered by the overly sweet and sour dressing.
Fresh Roll: Fine, but the peanut sauce was flavorless and watered down.
Tiger Prawns: Came with four small under-seasoned shrimp and some rice. That was it. The plate looked naked.
My coworker got the Beef Lemongrass lunch combo plate (she liked it) and the portion size was almost 3 times the amount I got. Bitter? Maybe. Food envy? Definitely!
At the end of our meal, they gave us a complimentary 'dessert'. It was a cube of watermelon topped with a drop of balsamic(?) and a mini sprig of mint in a little spoon. It was cute and another nice surprise. Refreshing and good.
It's obvious that they put thought into ambiance, menu, and service. Unfortunately, they failed w/ execution. There's nothing to hate about Savory, but everything falls short especially for the price. I doubt I'd return. -
Review from Michelle T.
San Francisco, CA
6/8/2009
Unlike Minh's where the fantastic service totally trumps occasional slip-ups in the food department, this place is just meh.
We came here for an early dinner a few nights ago after passing by this place numerous times. There is a statue of a portly Caucasian chef posted outside the entrance that always caught our attention because it has a thumb missing on one hand and tape keeping the other fingers in place on the other hand. We all studied the poor guy again before we walked through the door.
Once seated, this is what we ordered:
- Savory sampler (serves 2): beef papaya salad, fresh rolls, spring rolls, and temple rolls
- Shaking beef
- Carmelized basa fish in claypot
- Baby bok choy
- Jasmine rice and one brown rice
- Vietnamese iced coffee and lemonade
The Savory sampler was a nice way to try the different appetizers on the menu. None of it was extraordinary but it was all fresh and presented nicely. My hubby really liked that they offer brown rice and the baby loved the white rice. The claypot fish was overly salty eaten alone but okay if eaten with the rice. The shaking beef was tender but over-cooked to the point of being kind of powdery. Ick. That being said, our four-year old gobbled it up. In contrast to the beef, the bok choy was really undercooked and super crunchy. Maybe we misordered, but as my hubby always says, if the place is good you can't misorder.
Our server was very nice and well-meaning but he appeared a little frazzled since a bunch of tables were seated in his section at the same time. He didn't seem accustomed to serving tables with young kids but he was very accommodating when I asked to have the lemonade placed in a to-go container for my four-year old and he made a point of placing the hot clay pot far from the baby. Not the most kid-friendly place since the tables are small and the glassware tends to pile up on the table.
Overall our experience was okay but I am not itching to come back anytime soon.Listed in: You can bring your kids here?
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Review from Ede S.
7/8/2009
During our one hour dinner night at Savory, we were the only two customers in the restaurant the entire time. It'll be great for a proposal dinner since the place was completely empty, but erm, I guess I'm past that stage. Anyway, the service was okay overall. The lady pretty much kept out of our way the entire night unless it was to give us our food. The menu prices were a bit over the top, with those prices, we were hoping that the meal would be just the right amount of filling... however, that wasn't the case. Our finished meal felt like an appetizer (at the most) and we had to walk over to KFC around the corner and pay $3.99 for their chicken and corn meal to satisfy our hunger craving.
Shaken beef: the beef said it was filet mignon, but it sure didn't taste like that. It tasted more of a ribeye to me, the meat was not tender and meat in your mouth juicy good. The mushrooms with it tasted a bit undercooked, the best part of that dish could quite possibly be the onions. There was a mouthful of spinach and tomato cherries on the side which was just meh.
Crab rice vermicilli: again, meh. It just tasted like fish sauce with crab pieces here and there, something extremely simple which I think I can make in my own kitchen. The portion were TINY... when it first arrived, I starred at it in disbelief.
FBI (Fried Banana Ice Cream): I believe this was probably the best part of the meal, but $7 good? Meh, me thinks not. I did like the vanilla bean with caramel and coconut flakes on top though.
Overall, the place was extremely overpriced and extremely empty. I felt bad for the owners, but oh well... not all restaurants succeed.
Oh, this restaurant is NOT opened on Sundays (personal experience). -
Review from Lolly F.
Mountain View, CA
5/24/2010
I've been here a handful of times with my company for lunch and every time it is delicious and the staff is very friendly and accommodating! The restaurant itself is on the smaller side but it's very clean and I like the decor!
For lunch I usually order the Fresh roll and either the Grilled Chicken or Skewered Pork. I also hear that the Tiger Prawns and Special Rice in Clay Pot are good!
The salad you are given before your meal is amazing, I love the house dressing that they use. Also, if you like spicy food ask for their hot sauce on the side! Super yummy! -
Review from kim n.
11/17/2008
New Vietnamese place taking over the cursed space that has housed many a restaurant. Billing itself as contemporary, the space has been overhauled and looks very elegant. Upon looking at the menu however, we didn't see anything that looked to out of the ordinary as Vietnamese food goes, so we went with:
-Grilled short ribss
-Seafood soup pot
-Lemongrass chicken
The ribs and chicken were pretty tasty, but again, not out of the ordinary. They were solid choices. The seafood pot was only of and I think for the money it wasn't worth getting. I think for the price, there are definitely tons of places in SJ that you could score better, but since this is MV there aren't that many choices, and it's good to have a new decent place.
Since they're on the El Camino side of Castro st, there's not a lot of foot traffic so the opening only had a third of the place full. Hopefully the menu gets extended a bit as there weren't a ton of choices. We'll see what happens in the months to come. 3.75 stars. -
Review from Jenn L.
7/8/2010
I really wanted to like Savory as I am a big fan of Vietnamese cuisine. Armed with a http://restaurant.com coupon, the bf and I decided to give it a try on a Thursday night for dinner.
We arrived at about 8pm and there was only 2 other tables. They were not busy by any means. This explains why they only had 1 man running the place -- he seated us, took our order, and brought our food. Even though the restaurant wasn't busy, the service was very slow.
Presented with the wine list of 4 different reds, bf chose something that they didn't have. Then he chose something else and they didn't have it either. SERIOUSLY?? of the 4 wines on their list, they didn't have 2 of them. WTF.
The food was okay -- they were flavorful and the portion sizes were decent. However, nothing stood out to me. we ordered:
-crispy shrimp roll
-combination fire pot
-shaking beef
-crab & garlic glass noodle
The combination fire pot was pretty cool, the pot was brought out on a flame so the soup remained pipping hot until we finished it. The shaking beef was tender and cooked well. However, Xanh and Tamarine also make a good shaking beef.
I don't see any reasons to hate this restaurant but also no reasons to love it. I'd maybe come back if I got another http://restaurant.com certificate and want guarantee seating. However, with the number of other vietnamese restaurants close by, I'd gladly pay more to go to those restaurants to satisfy my palate. -
Review from Wendy T.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 5/6/2011
Apparently they do not serve lunch anymore. That doesn't bode well for business. Not expecting Savory to be around much longer.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/18/2009
I'm tempted to give Savory 4 stars because the food is so good, but here's why I'm taking 1 star… Read more »
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Review from Cheryl P.
San Jose, CA
11/29/2009 1 photo
Walking in, I felt like I had entered the HOME dept of Macy's. The decor is blue w/gray accents and quite modern. We came for lunch last week and I think we were the only people there. Strange for a Tuesday afternoon. Then again, it could've been due to the holiday week. We both ordered the lunch special which came with either 1 spring roll or egg roll. I chose the lemongrass tofu which came out on the sweet side. Not being a fan of sweet foods, I didn't exactly enjoy my dish. My coworker liked her grilled beef & rice. The saving grace? Dessert! Fried bananas with coconut ice cream was delish!
Service was nice but I'd prefer to drive further down Castro St. and dine at Minhs. -
Review from Jasmine L.
San Jose, CA
1/13/2009
If it wasn't my first time there
If it wasn't because my Shrimp Spring Roll was only about 30% COOKED...
If it wasn't because I only had two pieces of dried BBQ chicken for my entree...
and only because they refried our shrimp spring rolls and comp'ed us dessert...
and the fact that they have some positive reviews...
I'm giving this place 3 stars until I go there again.Listed in: Food from the International…
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Review from Lis B.
3/18/2010
I love the ambiance here. Very Zen-like, with cool blue tones, stretched-canvas photographs of rocks and flowers on the wall, and crisp, clean linens. It is like stepping into a spa - a food spa!
I've only been here for lunch, so will speak to their lunch menu. The lunch combo is $12, and is a decent deal. You get a salad, a starter and an entree. The portions aren't huge, but they're nicely composed.
I've had the lemongrass beef (delicious), the grilled chicken (dark meat, very tender), and the prawns (all right, only 4 served with the entree), as well as the rice and vermicelli noodles. Vermicelli is a much better deal - the portion is quite large, while the rice is delicious, but is served in a small pyramid. The fresh rolls with shrimp, vermicelli, and mint are excellent, and the salad is just fine.
Service is always excellent.
I love the fact that this place is located on Castro, but very close to El Camino. It's never crowded on this side of the main drag, and parking is a breeze (unlike in the true downtown area). The negative is that it's a long walk to anything else downtown!
Two thumbs up (or four stars!) for Savory. -
Review from Cynthia C.
Alameda, CA
7/27/2009 4 photos
Savory is very QUAINT compared to the other contemporary Vietnamese restos in the area.
Food is prepared very simply and tasted healthy:
-Shaking Beef, SUPER tender and the flavor was spot on.
-Wonton soup, solid, I would have liked some veggies in the mix.
-Savory Sampler, nice variety of spring rolls, but the BEEF in the papaya salad was just wrong, it was like they opened a bag of beef jerky & shredded it.
-Lemongrass chicken, generous portioning and flavorful.
-Crab glass noodle, light & savory, crab tasted like it was canned or just plain old.
Four glasses of vino, 5 dishes + brown rice totalled a mere $98 and a doggie bag for a mini lunch for two the next day.
Sure not perfect, but the food was clean & comforting, service was friendly but not too eager. I really appreciate the small biz owners making a true effort.Listed in: In the know with the 6-5-0, AZN Fusion, Love me a bowl of bun!
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Review from Hooria T.
11/7/2009 1 Check-in Here
If you're in the mood for a relaxing and intimate contemporary vietnamese experience, Savory is the place for you. We came here on a Friday night for dinner and ordered:
Dessert:
*Marquise au Chocolat ($5) - this was really good, I would definitely order it again (it says it's dark chocolate but it's more like semisweet)
*Fried Banana ($7) - meh, we've had better, the outer shell of the banana was way to crispy and portions were not really worth the $7
Entrees:
*Shaking Beef ($16) - pretty good, comparable to other places, served with mushrooms and a spinach and grape tomato side salad
*Basil Tofu ($8) - well, that's what it is, Basil and Tofu. What's special about this dish is the sauce, it's delicious! (it's some sort of a light soy sauce but tastes more sweet than salty). I recommend putting the sauce on top of your rice (ordered separately - $2 for brown and $1.50 for white)
Appetizer:
Temple Rolls ($7 for 4 small rice paper rolls filled with tofu, carrots, lettuce) these were pretty good, all ingredients were fresh and the peanut type sauce that they serve with this is light and amazing!
Pros:
*Lots of vegetarian options
*Beautiful atmosphere, nicely decorated, very zen, candles, etc.
*Servers are very nice - they actually brought us complementary dessert because of the long wait
*Didn't feel rushed while eating
Cons:
*They say they serve sprite but it's really 7Up
*Service was a little slow since there were only two servers
*Location, it's at the very end of castro (near El Camino)
*They don't have a full bar so no chocolate martinis here :(
Tips:
*Can get a bit crowded - reservations are accepted on OpenTable
*Kitchen is small so be patient while waiting - def. not a get in and get out type of restaurant
Bottom line, this place is probably 3.5 stars to be honest (bumped them up to 4 instead of down to 3 because of the nice waitress who gave us the complementary dessert!), nevertheless, it's definitely worth checking out and pretty certain we'll be returning here at some point in the future -
Review from Gloria H.
2/15/2009
3.5 stars
Met up with friends and were supposed to eat at Xahn but no luck with reservation and wait list was going to be a late dinner. Friends from the area suggested going to Savory. It is located at the far end on Castro near El Camino, a much quieter stretch with a lot less traffic. It was the only restaurant still opened on that block, luckily, it was easy to spot as it was very bright.
The interior is brightly lit, too bright. The walls are mostly white except for one that is with horizontal lines of two mute colors of light blue and green.
There were only two other tables when we entered. After walking blocks to get here, we were hungry and ready to eat. Service in general was friendly but not very fast.
With 6 hungry adults, we were quick to order:
shrimp spring roll - 2 - $7 - good. it was just like a shrimp tempura except this is wrapped in the eggroll wrapper. the sweet and sour sauce was a bit light.
fresh shrimp roll - 2 - $7 - ok, the peanut sauce was not so good, a bit watery and tasted more like soy.
beef noodle soup - $8 - ok, not a lot of meat. I thought the chicken was better.
chicken noodle soup - $8 - good. some shredded white meat with cilantro on top.
2 shaking beef - $15 each - tender cubes of beef, tangy and sweet sauce, baby spinach leaves, crisp romaine lettuce and cut cherry tomatoes. great over rice.
lemongrass chicken served in clay pot - $12 - ok
basil tofu - $9 - crispy basil - chewy tofu, not very crispy. sweet and tangy sauce.
comination fire pot - $15 - it's basically seafood with some veggie in clear broth served over flame, comes w/ bowl of rice noodle that was overcooked and stuck together
bottle of Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc - $30
jasmine rice - $2 - small porcelain jar
desserts - $5 each
dulce de leche dome
banana chocolate
triple chocolate
dulce de leche teton
18% gratuity for party of 6 and more. -
Review from Hugh D.
San Antonio, TX
11/28/2008 5 photos
My partner and I are already big fans of Xanh, the Vietnamese fusion powerhouse at the other end of Castro. (Review available.) Savory, however, is a welcome alternative: closer to home, quieter and a fair amount less expensive.
For our first outing tonight, we had the Wonton Soup (Hoanh Thanh), the Spring Rolls (Cha Gio), the Wok Pho Noodle (Pho Xao Bo) and the Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac). Each dish was nicely presented, arrived piping hot and met or surpassed expectations.
At $5, the cup of wonton soup, served in a covered dish, consisted of a flavorful chicken broth, seasoned with chopped green onions, and brimming with five or six plump, tasty wontons stuffed with pork and shrimp. A yummy warm start to dinner on a chilly damp night.
The spring rolls were $6 and the plate held three deep fried rolls (stuffed with pork, mushrooms and glass noodles), nuoc cham dipping sauce, and lettuce and mint leaves for wrapping the rolls.
For $8, the wok pho noodle was a dish piled high with beef and wide rice noodle, wok tossed with egg, garlic and vegetables. Of particular note tonight were the fresh and tasty slices of asparagus tossed in with the dish. My partner couldn't get over how good and how flavorful that addition was.
At $15 the shaking beef is a bargain! Served with a mound of watercress and cherry tomatoes, the beef itself is almost melt-in-your mouth tender cubes, seasoned with black pepper and garlic, with chunks of onions that were mellow, but with a bit of a bite, and mushrooms. Very, very good and I'll be back for more!
WIne and beer are available, and the dessert menu looked good, but we didn't sample any tonight. Next time, though, as we look forward to another visit soon.
SECOND VISIT 12/11/08: Another fine experience. Tried the ginger chicken and the crispy shrimp rolls. Also tried dessert, the banana temptation. Posted photos. -
Review from Victoria G.
San Jose, CA
6/24/2010
I feel bad, because I really wanted to like this place. The ambiance and decorations are very nice. It reminded me of Z Gallerie. It's a bit on the chilly side so bring a sweater if you get cold easily.
I ended up getting the Lemongrass chicken with rice. It was so delicious that I scarfed it down. I had one more bite to go and as I'm scraping the rice to stuff in my mouth, my fork was intertwined with hair in the chicken. The waiter was really nice and immediately took it off the menu though. -
Review from Jennifer C.
Cupertino, CA
9/22/2009
vietnamese fusion, good flavors...regarding the price, I think you pay for the style. The food did hold its own though. The decor was really nice, it was comfortable and relaxing with a very nice window view.
We ordered the lunch special that came with appetizer of spring roll, a mini green salad, and the entree itself of grilled shrimp over vermicilli. For $12, I thought it was decent.
I would go back again. -
Review from Dan S.
Santa Clara, CA
7/8/2009
Over priced. Small portions. Food is just okay at best. Most people can cook these dishes at home quite easily with a trip to Ranch 99. You're better off going to Xahn's on the other end of Castro street.
Unless you're looking for an Asian restaurant where no one can find you and your date (aka Sex and the City episode of bringing dates you're ashamed of to a particular hidden Chinese restaurant)....there's really no reason to come to Savory. -
Review from Sally E.
Mountain View, CA
1/8/2009
I would have given 5 stars except there was a lack of people so it lacked some atmosphere. That being said, I would definatley go back even if nobody is there. Hopefully more people will go soon but because it is at the other end of Castro (near Amici's) nobody really walks by.
Food - great portions, delicious and cheap for what it was.
Compared to Xhan the food was SOOOO much better. Xhan tries to look good with their food but misses the mark on taste. Savory looked good and tasted better!
Decor was great. Goregous.
Can't wait to go back soon. -
Review from kaela h.
6/22/2009
This is a great place for a small gathering of friends and family. The atmosphere is nice enough for some type of celebration. The decorations are very modern and inviting. The restrooms are clean and modern.
We ordered the appetizer sampler, which was absolutely delicious. The presentation of the sampler was eye-catching in that the rolls were arranged around the plate in 2s with the beef papaya salad in the middle. The only thing I didn't like on the plate was the papaya salad. I liked the salad portion, but the beef on top tasted like strips of Chinese fruit beef jerky. I guess I didn't expect that. It was a little too sweet for my taste.
Our main entrees were shaking beef and crab glass noodle. The kitchen was nice enough to accommodate our preference of low sodium diet. The beef wasn't too salty, but it would've been better with brown rice. We didn't order brown rice, because our starch choice was the noodle. The glass noodle in itself was a little dry in attempts to accommodate our taste of low sodium (probably didn't add that much soy sauce). We really appreciated this, and I still enjoyed the noodles. I didn't like the crab on top of it as much, because it tasted a little too close to the imitation crab. The crab on this plate was real crab. Maybe it wasn't fresh? Not sure.
The shaking beef was excellent. The filet they used was tender and slightly rare in the middle... the way filet should be cooked. It went perfectly with the glass noodles, which needed a little more of the savory taste.
We shared a fried banana with vanilla ice cream along with some decaf premium green tea. The bananas were addicting with the ice cream. They were crunchy pieces of banana and not very greasy. The ice cream was definitely not low fat -- meaning, it was creamy and delicious!
Overall, I really liked the restaurant. Only couple of things didn't suit my taste. -
Review from Susan L.
4/9/2010
super empty on friday for lunch but I guess if you are looking to get seated quickly on castro it's a good choice
The lunch specials were around $12 which is a bit on the pricey side for mountain view lunch but not too bad. I really liked the chicken clay pot but the chicken didn't taste like it had been marinaded long enough.. it was bit tough.
overall this place is decent but i don't know if i would choose it over the xahn buffet for $2 more. -
Review from Dennis V.
San Francisco, CA
2/27/2009
Good food and stylish interior. I just don't understand why they call it "Vietnamese cuisine", as there are only a few vietnamese dishes on the menu. Most of them are French-ish. But that doesn't mean it tastes any less.
Price is OK, and the desserts are absolutely superb!!! -
Review from Rhoda G.
3/24/2009
I came here with a dinner group where someone arranged a Prixe Fixe menu for only $20. What a bargain for a six-course meal!
Vietnamese Chicken Salad - Shredded green cabbage, carrots, mint, roasted peanuts with chicken and sweet chili vinaigrette. The salad was okay and similar to a Chinese Chicken salad.
Special Rice Clay Pot - Rice cooked in a claypot with mushrooms. I would say that this was their version of fried rice.
Shaking Beef - Cubed filet mignon steak seared with garlic, onion, and black pepper along with baby spinach and cherry tomatoes. OH MY GOD! I should say this is the best dish of the night. The steak was so tender that I could cut it with my fork and it was delicious.
Lemon Grass Chicken - Chicken simmered in a clay pot with lemon grass and caramelized sauce. I didn't really pay attention to this dish. It was good, but the Shaking Beef was better.
Combination Firepot - Soup with shrimp, lobster meatballs, and mixed vegetables. They also served it with noodles. I really enjoyed the soup especially the lobster.
Grilled Eggplant - Grilled with onion oil, scallions with soy sauce. This was easily the second best dish of the night. I'm not the biggest fan of eggplant but this was good.
Overall, my first experience with contemporary Vietnamese cuisine was good at Savory. When I first came here, I didn't know that there were restaurants on this side of Castro Street and parkng is less of a hassle over here.
I'm definitely going to come back here to try the dessert and have that Shaking Beef again! So come here for dinner and then head to the bars down the street. -
Review from Yuan W.
Santa Clara, CA
4/2/2010
What a pleasant surprise!
B and I wanted to go out on a Friday night and picked this restaurant out of the OpenTable listing. The restaurant has nice modern decor and is quite understated which we both liked.
Reservation was for 7:30pm. We showed up at 7:20pm and didn't have to wait at all. Water was served a few minutes later.
We ordered five things:
- Salt and pepper calamari: this is not the thinly sliced Chinese kind. The calamari was actually calamari steak which B really liked. I prefer the thin Chinese kind tossed with salt and pepper, but this style was nice since it came with a savory sauce.
- Crab glass noodles: the one served at the Slanted Door in the city is better but hey... This wasn't bad but a little bit on the expense side for the amount of noodles you get.
- Basil tofu: tasty! Good sauce.
- Grilled pork skewers: B couldn't stop raving about it. He said it was like "buttah". He absolutely loved it. Since I don't really eat meat, I didn't try it. I'll take his word for it since he's usually pretty picky.
- Brown rice: run of the mill.
We really liked the ambiance, the fact that it was a bit away from the main down section, so no problem finding parking. It was also great that the restaurant wasn't too loud so we can hear each other without screaming.
We definitely plan to return and soon. -
Review from Christina J.
San Francisco, CA
8/20/2009 8 photos
Dinner in an empty sterile ikea environment with the a/c audibly whirring at full blast while spa music breathes at you = a bit strange and very uncomfortable. On the upside, service is absolutely fantastic.. but really couldn't combat the frigid atmosphere and unbelievably overpriced food.
++ | Beef Papaya Salad |
It's GREEN papaya! Crisp and firm like daikon/jicama. Totally not what I expected at all; what a novelty. I just wish the beef on top was more than just strips of beef jerky.
-- Savory Sampler
Takes "pre-made" to a new level. The rolls taste like they've been sitting in the fridge for 2 days: flat, dried-out, and flavorless.
-- Combination Fire Pot
Put bagged seafood in canned chicken soup, heat to a boil, serve.
-- Crab & Garlic Glass Noodle
Dried out scrunchy bits of crab dropped on vermicelli noodles w/sparse bits of julienned carrots/celery... I don't get this one.
-- Char Grilled Aubergine
The eggplant LOOKS great, but tastes like someone ran it through an ashtray. Leaves a terrible smoky flavor in your mouth.
Might be worth try:
Shaking Beef - meh, boring flavors but stir-fried to medium rare!
Caramelized Basa Fish - buttery soft & flavored with a sweet soy sauce base
Fried Banana - think banana tempura, quite yummy
Way way waaaaaay too expensive for what it's worth (quality/quantity):
Dinner for 5 = $149 -
Review from Megan L.
3/9/2009
I'm really struggling whether to give this place four or 5 stars. I try to be very selective with my 5 star ratings because it's pretty rare in life that I am completely wowed. I definitely enjoyed my dinner at Savory though. I'll give it a well-deserved 4.5 stars.
The restaurant is towards the less-traveled end of Castro street and I think that is the only reason it doesn't get more customers than it does. The interior is tastefully decorated and the lighting is welcoming and cozy at the same time (none of this too-bright stuff people wrote about previously). We went on a random weekday night so the place had few customers and the waiter provided great service. Whether that was simply the way service is there or because he had so few other customers competing for his attention, I don't know.
We each got a glass of wine which was nice, although I can't remember at this point exactly what it was. We shared an appetizer of veggie spring rolls which were good but not unlike spring rolls you can get at many other restaurants.
For the main course we had blackened spicy eggplant and the shaking beef dish which has been much talked about on Yelp. The eggplant was interesting, different, and very much enjoyed. It had fried bits of what must have been shaved onion on top which was interestingly spicy. The beef was very flavorful and tender and came with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and onions. We had brown rice with the dishes.
Overall I was impressed at the flavor of the food, the interesting use of spices, and the quality of ingredients used. Everything tasted fresh and the items we had were creative. This is a great place for dates and I look forward to bringing my SO here soon! -
Review from Jen P.
San Francisco, CA
4/6/2009
This place is yummy. Came here on a Monday night, not crowded, attentive service, and overall good food.
We got the fried spring rolls, shaking beef, and seafood fire pot. Everything was flavorful and well portioned.
I recommend this place and really encourage people to check this little gem out. It'd be a shame to lose this place because of an unfortunate location on Castro.
It's a bit inconspicuous from the street, they should really invest in a lighted sign. It's across the street from Amici's Pizza near the end of Castro. Even if you don't want to dine in, I think it makes for a good takeout place.
