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The Slanted Door
Categories: Restaurants Vietnamese Restaurants Asian Fusion Vietnamese, Asian Fusion [Edit]
1 Ferry BldgSan Francisco, CA 94111
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
(415) 861-8032
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 2:30 pm
Mon-Sun 5:30 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Trendy
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Akiko E. said: "I like the pho here, I used to drive here with my coworkers when I was working in Emeryville. There are a lot of pho places in the area but this was my favorite in Berkeley. I should be specific-- i like the pho ga (chicken pho) here.…" read more »
2892 reviews for The Slanted Door
Review Highlights
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"Shaking beef and crispy imperial rolls = heaven." In 118 reviews -
"The Daikon Rice Cakes were phenomenal." In 75 reviews -
"Pro: Fabulously fresh and crunchy green papaya salad." In 88 reviews
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- A Yelpy Insight: Vegetarians go nuts for this spot. See more places they like.
2890 reviews in English
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Review from Jonny S.
Los Angeles, CA
5/25/2012
I'm in the bay area a lot and this is one of my favorite spots yet. If you are a fan of Vietnamese food, get here fast! This is one of Charles Phan's amazing restaurants. (Dude was on Iron Chef and was a James Beard "Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America" recipient so he has serious chef chops).
This is one of the hottest restaurants in the Bay Area and trying to get in may be a challenge but once you do, you'll be in for an extraordinary meal! -
Review from Stephen C.
San Mateo, CA
5/24/2012
The food and service are impeccable but you're going to pay for the location.
Worth it if you're entertaining someone new to the city or for a date but if you just care about the food you can get the same dishes elsewhere for way less. -
Review from Clare H.
Cupertino, CA
5/23/2012
Had friends over from Singapore and as there's great food in Sgp, we wanted to pick a place with gd food, nice ambience n a scenic view. Slanted door met all criteria! We ordered an appetizer with an fried egg wrap that has pork, shrimp n beansproutrs (taste of the pork was NOT gd!) the pork chops (very well seasoned n yummy), fried beef cubes (hmmm... Did not like this much), transparent noodles (which was great!!), chicken curry (not memorable). For dessert, ordered the cotton candy (v well received by all 4 of us!) and guava sorbet??? (refreshing)
On d whole, loved the ambience n scenic views. Service was pretty gd too! Oh! D bathroom service which was a shared m/f is amazing! V clean n efficiently managed by 1 guy. -
Review from Joel C.
5/21/2012
Had my first experience at The Slanted Door last night when I had dinner with my friend Cameron to meet his mom who was visiting SF. I really love the interior and the view of the Bay Bridge is pretty amazing while you are having dinner. I think the most interesting thing about the menu is that everything is served family style. Totally different from most fine dining restaurants I've been to but it was nice to try a variety of foods that I would have not otherwise have chosen.
The favorites dishes within the group:
Chicken Claypot
Shaken Beef
Dunguness Crab Noodle
Grapefruit & Jicama Salad (My fave!)
Crispy Slanted Roll
The drinks were pretty amazing as well with the best going to the Moscow Mule and Vodka Limeade. My favorite of the night was the Orange Flavor Cotton Candy...not only was it a beautiful and a pretty cool looking dessert, it was delicious! Each bite of the cotton candy had a citrus kick to it that kept you wanting more.
I'd definitely come here again and maybe go as far as taking a date even though there are a lot of business dinners and tourists that were dining there. I could only imagine how awesome the patio dining would be once it's warm out. Definitely worth bringing out of town guests! -
Review from kara m.
Chicago, IL
5/22/2012 1 Check-in Here
Tasty! Interesting selection on the menu.
We started with Daikon Rice Cakes. I was looking forward to these based on the reviews. They are just ok for me. The flavor was good...was just hoping for something a little more magical.
We shared our meals and ordered the organic chicken claypot, cellophane noodles, asparagus, and jasmine rice. All of those were fantastic! The chicken was just super tasty, esp. with the rice to get some of that nice sauce. The asparagus was super fresh. The cellophane noodles could have used a bit more spice. I like things with a bit of a kick. They were tasty...you could certainly taste the fish oil.
Was only in town for a few days but glad we were able to eat here! -
Review from J R.
San Francisco, CA
5/20/2012
The food here is really good. The chef's cooking style is right up my alley; almost one third of the items on the menu incorporate shallots :)
I dig the Western-Vietnamese fusion style that he uses, and the ceramic plates and bowls (made by Heath ceramics) that are sold in the Ferry Building as well.
It is worth noting that almost everything is somewhat spicy. I was dining with people who were not accustomed to eating spicy food, and I myself don't regularly eat spicy food, but for me it was the perfect level of spiciness. If you can appreciate spicy food every once in a while, you will like the food here.
One thing I didn't really enjoy was the attempt to make the food served family style. I am usually a huge fan of sharing an assortment of large plates instead of individual portions. However it didn't really work in this scenario; the portions of most of the dishes were much too small, especially for the price; the filet mignon dish (which you have to pay $2 more per person to order) was overcooked; the tables are set up in a fine dining fashion; in other words, there is an assortment of various glasses and silverware to accommodate different beverages and aid in eating specific courses.
Also, some of the dishes are plated in a fine-dining-esque style, which makes it even more awkward to try and pass around the food. That coupled with the fact that you have chopsticks and normal silverware and tall wine glasses, it can become extremely cumbersome to try and serve yourself some food. For family style to work you have one glass for your drink, one fork, one knife, one spoon, and massive serving bowls full of entrees to split. It would work well for parties of 2 to 4, maybe 5 - at most 5.
Basically, this restaurant raised the usual issues that I would have expected from a contemporary fine dining restaurant; it seems to be trying really hard to be unique and creative, which gives the restaurant its appeal. It is a great marketing strategy, but the food sometimes suffers as a consequence. For the price you pay here, everything on the menu should be top notch. At least half of the items I ate were decent, but nothing special. I will give them credit for not having anything bad on the menu, but I expected more for a restaurant of its reputation. -
Review from pete r.
5/14/2012
If you had read my previous reviews from my Cali trip you will see I was sick for day from food. When I got to the Slanted Door my appetite was fully back and thank god for it.
This place is great. We got a reso for Sunday lunch, sat outside along the bay. We had the uni over cucumber and avocado. WOW check out my photos it was amazing. Then we had the roast pork and noodles and the shaking beef. It was incredible! Plus the lime ginger cocktails. -
Review from Kelly W.
San Francisco, CA
5/21/2012
over priced Vietnamese food. I can get the same dish for $6 less. Not worth the price. The ribs at Roys are way better.
-
Review from Helen D.
5/13/2012
Meh. Ok.
A girl friend and I shared two appetizers (the duck confit salad and the crispy imperial rolls - $12) and two desserts (the strawberry gaufrette - $8 - and the rosemary panna cotta - $8).
While I did enjoy the spring rolls (the sauce was tasty), nothing stood out.
The space is cute, and the view is nice, however I would pass this one up. -
Review from Brad H.
5/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
Another amazing dining experience in the city! My friend suggested this place for a group lunch and made the reservation. Even though he travels extensively throughout the world, is based in Chicago, and is only in San Francisco about once a month, he comes here a lot and apparently had no problem getting a reservation.
When you have a group of more than six people, the restaurant requires you to do family style eating and our waiter suggested that if we trusted him, he would bring us an excellent selection for our lunch. After asking how adventurous we felt, such as would we eat squid (the answer was yes), we placed ourselves in the hands of our waiter and let him choose our food.
Among the items he brought were spring rolls, yellowtail with shallot and thai basil, daikon rice cakes, grapefruit and jicama salad, duck confit, shaking beef (which is the house specialty), chicken and clam claypot, cellophane noodles, roasted arctic char, spinach, and both jasmine and brown rice.
Every single dish was delicious and brought an abundance of new flavors.
Everybody had different drinks. I tried the organic lemonade which was excellent and others sampled various glasses of wine.
For dessert, they surprise you with cotton candy made of organic sugar.
Service throughout the meal was unobtrusive but very well done. The space is very full, but clean and being in the Ferry Building you have an amazing view of the bay and the bay bridge.
This is definitely a great place to eat in the city! -
Review from karisa r.
Foster City, CA
5/17/2012
Party in my mouth!!! Delicious, fresh, & healthy! Yum!!!
Sensational menu choices; sensational service-not too much, nor too little; spectacular view; super easy parking on Washington-I mean literally on Wash we found easy, cheap parking on the street on a Saturday evening -Score! ; seating wasn't so bad fitting 5 adults into a booth-kinda fun & intimate especially since the dishes were family style; Geez what else can I say? Overall noise level seemed normal for a busy restaurant. Staff very knowledgeable on the wine selections-my family REALLY enjoyed the wine menu.
Food was cooked to absolute perfection!!!!!!! Desserts knocked it out of the park. Gotta try the cotton candy!!
Oh yeah the cost. Out of my league financially-Dad paid as a gift. Very expensive but worth splurging for a super special occasion -
Review from Derek w.
5/12/2012
This strikingly stylish spot combines stunning views of the San Francisco Bay and stellar people watching. Even on a Monday night, the packed dining room hums with energy, making it hard to hear above the din.
We led off dinner with the Slanted Door Spring Rolls and Vegetarian Imperial Rolls, tasty and very different choices. The spring rolls were especially delicious when dunked in the insanely good peanut sauce. We couldn't resist a second appetizer course consisting of the grapefruit and jicama and green papaya salads. Each were fresh, fragrant and flavor- and texture-balanced dishes, the former having sweet, crunchy pecans and the latter roasted peanuts and crispy shallots.
We then dialed up a diverse array of satisfying main courses, the best of which were the simple seared rainbow chard with garlic and shallots and the caramel chicken in a claypot. The chard was a revelation, cooked instantly over extremely high heat in a flame-kissed wok. The greens were firm and smoky, the sauce sweet and delicate. The chicken was tender and bathed in a lip-smacking stew of lemongrass and ginger. Alarmingly, caramelization remains an under-utilized cooking technique in most restaurants, though thankfully not here.
A third dish, the braised tofu and broccoli, coated with a glaze of Five Spice and chili, was also a solid choice. The renowned "shaking beef" was the only dish that got an average response.
All in all, Slanted Door is a lively scene and a certain crowd-pleaser, especially is you can score a coveted reservation. -
Review from Ava S.
Berkeley, CA
5/12/2012 2 photos
I came here to try the Dungeness Crab Cellophane Noodles that was featured on the 7x7 Big Eat. http://www.7x7.com/big...
I was not impressed. The noodles seemed to be missing something, and we ended up asking for some sriracha to spice it up/add flavor. I wouldn't say it was worth the $20. I did enjoy their Lychee Infused Iced Tea though. -
Review from Raina B.
5/8/2012
I am so surprised the average rating for the Slanted Door is so low! I absolutely loved this place - from the food to the service to the gorgeous views.
We sat at the bar which yay because we got a seat on a fully booked night, but having other patrons order over/around/in the middle of us got annoying pretty quickly.
We ordered:
Daikon Rice Balls -- by far my favorite thing we ordered. SO tasty. Not wanting to be the one that finished it, we kept cutting into smaller and smaller pieces so as not to rob the other by finishing the dish. Next time, we may just get our own.
Papaya Salad -- good, but nothing super special in comparison to many others I've had.
Spicy Broccoli -- I wanted spicier but still tasty. The mushrooms added a huge kick of flavor.
Yuba Noodles -- We liked these a lot. Subtle in flavor, light, and also had yummy mushrooms.
Chicken Clay Pot -- I didn't try this but the gravy was pretty good. They use white and dark meat, just a heads up.
We also had two types of wine: Picpoul (their May special) and Meulenhof (excellent with the spiced food). I know they are known for their cocktials but on a warm day, white wine just hit the spot.
Things get pricey fast but cannot wait to come back here for a nice meal! -
Review from Mike V.
San Francisco, CA
We made it into The Slanted Door on a friday afternoon at around 2:00p.m. WHOA was it crowded! It definitely seemed like we got one of the last tables available.
The waitress was helpful and accommodating. We started with the Vietnamese Imperial Spring Rolls. Delicious although slightly confusing on how you are suppose to put it together. Followed by some deliciously meaty pork spare ribs (which was a bigger portion then I expected for an appetizer.) We shared the pork and shrimp wonton soup --- which I found slightly salty for my taste. The gingered beef bavette was our last dish, and it totally rocked our world! The beef was tender, the noodles paired amazingly well, and the greens weren't overdressed or soggy.
We also had drinks --- ginger limeade for me, mai tai for my cuz --- the drinks were delicious and crazy strong! Win Win WIN!
The menu did seem a bit expensive, but we were able to stay within a reasonable price range, and left happy and full! -
Review from Suzy S.
4/18/2012
If you're looking for a cozy intimate dining experience, this isn't it! Loud, busy and the food is very good. Service was very good considering it was a packed house on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Our party of four sampled many dishes. The standout was the daikon rice cakes appetizer. Not something I would've order had my dining companion not raved about, but the praise was well earned. Nice texture and very yummy! Another favorite was the duck confit salad. Of the entrees, I thought the sirloin was ordinary, but I couldn't get enough of the cellophane noodles with crab. I'd return just to eat those noodles next time I'm near the Ferry Building.
I saw several disappointed faces as they were turned away. Make reservations well in advance, it is a worthwhile dining experience. -
Review from Lester W.
4/17/2012
Disgusting. I was in the restroom and saw one of the workers with his apron on finish using the restroom without washing his hands.
Not very sanitary! -
Review from Tony L.
4/23/2012 1 Check-in Here
I think the Slanted Door was booming back in its heyday but unfortunately has slowly declined over the years.
In fact, this spot used to be one of my favorite restaurants in SF but things have certainly changed. I remember coming here for many birthdays, catching up with friends, etc.
This place is also pretty nice for a date since it has a nice view of the Bay Bridge right next to the water and the location is fantastic. The ambiance is very modern and chic with dimmed lighting.
If you're looking for traditional Vietnamese fare, this is definitely not the right place for it. Instead, the menu is fairly similar to that of Le Colonial and Ana Mandara, which is basically termed Vietnamese French fusion.
Some of my favorites on the menu is the shaking beef and spring rolls. However, in general, I think the food is just okay here. It really is more about the ambiance and views.
The bar/lounge area is actually a nice place to park yourself for a quick drink and/or happy hour; I would actually recommend just grabbing a drink at the bar as opposed to sitting down for a full meal. -
Review from Aurora O.
Lake Worth, FL
5/19/2012
Yum Yum Yum!!! So good and Amazing views of the Bay Bridge!!! A top 10 restaurant in SF!!!
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Review from rosalyn m.
San Francisco, CA
4/16/2012
I was a loyal patron when they were originally at the Mission, where the door was actually slanted...or was it.... maybe, it's an asian thing just because we have slanted eyes??? what? that's messed up. well... Actually, the door did angle in a bit that made the entrance kinda weird, but I expected a more distinguished slant worthy of the morally questionable name. In any case, I was a fan when they used to have the local charm and attitude at their original site...SF's hippsters, cyclists, goofballs, etc were welcome with open arms along with the uptowners, tourists, and suits.
When they moved to embarcadero (not yet on the pier side), I was also there, chewing away at my super tender filet minion. Oh little did I know that it was the beginning of the end of it's charm. The worse yet was their move to pier 2, where their decorative swankiness was directly related to their snobbiness. I overheard the waiters talking smack, "how dare that costumer ask to buy the wine bottle and take it home"...okay that was me that they were talking smack about...I liked the dessert french wine and thought I might bring one home to my (ex)boyfriend's Mom - win me some brownie points. I understand why (because of alcohol licensing)... but was it really necessary to be so snobby about it?
another snobby time... a goup of cyclist come hungry and famished after a city and Sausalito bike ride and asked to eat at their restaurant. They were quickly rejected, no options given, and not even a look of empathic apology... okay that was me again plus some friends. we were really hungry and such rejection traumatizes a girl.
Unfortunately, the 5 star rating I had waiting for them died when they left the Mission District. -
Review from Brooke C.
Howell, MI
5/18/2012
Super delicious but super pricey. For $100 each we feasted on divine food, but it was $100 each. The scallops were amazing, but with all of the great places to eat throughout the city I did not think this was worth the extra $70 each for dinner. Had it been $40 each it would get 5 stars.
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Review from Julie F.
4/6/2012
I had heard about The Slanted Door years ago when a friend from NYC mentioned it. The place is definitely trendy and popular with a modern feel to it. The prices are certainly high for what you get, but when you are on vacation, it shouldn't matter!
I ordered a bowl of pho along with a half order of the fried Imperial rolls. The pho was good, but I prefer thinner noodles. The broth was pretty mild. The crispy Imperial rolls were recommended by the server over the Slanted Door spring rolls. Wow, $6 for three small pieces of fried goodness! Very tasty, but was it worth $2 a bite?!
If I had a bigger appetite, I would've wanted to try the cellophane noodles with crab. The bad thing about being on vacation is that it's hard to take leftovers! -
Review from William C.
Concord, CA
4/30/2012
Food was good but was expecting a lot more, in terms of quality. Wait staff was very friendly and upbeat. This is a great place to grab a drink and catch up with some friends during happy hour and to get a quick bite. Did not enjoy the full meal experience.
Has great view of the Bay Bridge, but requires the full meal to experience. Would highly recommend for a first date or for taking someone new to or visiting the Bay for the first time.
Had an on-hand bathroom attendant that cleans the bathrooms after every use. -
Review from N A.
San Francisco, CA
5/16/2012
This has a great bar area and a good view of the ferry landing, but aside from that I'm not really sure why they get such great reviews. I had high hopes because the place has a nice design, the bar area is great & the chicken noodle soup at it's lunch spot, out the door, was so good. Ultimately, the service was ok- nothing special and the food... well, it was good, but not great. For the high price of the meal I expected more not only in terms of quality but also in terms of execution, which generally fell short.
There were 8 of us so we were forced to do the pre fix menu (they force parties of 7 or more to do the pre-fix). I would never recommend doing this. The portions were way off and it had people at the table ration out maybe a taste of everything so that others could try it and leaving a bit hungry. As an example, there were two *small* pieces of fish for 8 people.
The arctic char with grapefruit & jicima came in as the best dish of the entire meal followed by the crispy imperial rolls as being good (not amazing by any stretch of the imagination). These were both quite good, but not good enough to return.
The lap cheong sausage rolls were just ok. The cellophane noodles with crab were meh....and a little on the dry side. The lemon cake was good because it's cake, but not a great cake inspired by a pastry chef or anything.
The ribs were not good- the sauce was *too* sweet and thick and the meat wasn't tender enough.
The shaking beef was a disaster. Shaking beef dry and flavorless?! Really??
The vegetable, which I cant remember was bland and flavorless.
Our service was mediocre. The waitress seemed to switch from having a bit of attitude to being pleasant. And there were a number of times we were looking for service. They did a good job at clearing the table.
The wine list was patently lacking a choice of California wine.
Overall, with so many other great restaurants in and around the ferry building, I would not plan on returning, except perhaps to have a drink at the bar. -
Review from j d.
San Francisco, CA
5/23/2012
The food combined with the view makes this a winner.
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Review from Ying F.
Beautiful restaurant! Very chic, romantic and modern decor. Huge space and a great location!
Came here to try the 7x7 item which was the Cellophane noodles with crab! Amazing! Very light dish. I see why this made the 7x7! Must order!
We also ordered the the spring roll (it was ok) and the Shaken Beef. I felt the other two dishes was a little too salty for my taste. I love salty food but it was so much that I ended up drinking a lot of water. I only remember the beautiful decor and the Cellophane noodles.
Definitely will need to come back to try other items on the menu. -
Review from Farrah A.
3/31/2012
First thing: Reservations are HIGHLY recommended. And it's not because it's SF's top-rated resto; it's only because Slanted Door is located in the Ferry Building which yields high traffic. It's one of the larger restaurants in the building - and it offers panoramic views of the Bay Bridge, outdoor seating, bar seating ... it's quite the pleasant treat.
You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but my go-to dish here (along with Out The Door, their sister resto) is the glass noodles with Dungeness crab. I literally crave this entree as soon as I land at SFO. The mussels are equally delish, as are any of the fresh veggies or tofu.
If you come for brunch, skip the bloody marys. And the $10 mimosa is kinda redic. I rec elsewhere for your Sundae Fundae buzz.
Again, I HIGHLY rec rezzies. If you don't, then you're left to sit at the bar which does NOT offer a wait-list, so you have to prowl the scene and pounce on the first available seat. Kinda annoying for other diners. -
Review from Maria G.
Fremont, CA
5/14/2012
Thanks Calder! You are a wonderful mixologist! We loved all of your recommendations.....the yellowtail appetizer, the artic char and the slanted door tira misu! Hope to see you again soon!
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Review from Rich T.
5/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
Vietnamese. My favorite cuisine these days. They have an amazing location, but it is super, super loud. It isn't so much about the food as the location and the very cool people. The quality of the food was great. The beef was wonderful and make sure to try that.
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Review from Rebecca L.
Philadelphia, PA
4/24/2012 1 Check-in Here
We made the mistake of not making a reservation for The Slanted Door before we arrived in San Fran for a 5 day vacation. Big mistake. We called 3 separate times trying to get in but to no avail. After realizing Oyster Swan Depot was closed on Sundays we jumped off the bus and headed toward the Ferry Building determined to stake out 3 seats at the bar come hell or high water... and what luck! We snagged 3 prime seats right by the door.
With such exclusivity when it comes to getting a table at this place I expected a much smaller restuarant. The place was huge and every single table was filled. We quickly ordered wine and champagne and set to browsing through the menu for a late afternoon lunch. I ordered, with a recommendation from the bartender, the Gingered Beef Bavette with rice vermicelli noodle, field greens, and roasted peanuts. Absolutely delicious, tad bit spicy (I like a lot of spice but this was still excellent). A friend ordered the Grilled Organic Chicken over rice vermicelli noodle with cucumber, mint and an imperial roll. Very good, slightly sweet and sort of bland, but we decided the beef was better. The vegetarian in the group picked the baby spinach with garlic and caramelized shallots and a side of brown rice. Simple yet delicious.
Perfect way to end our first, but not last, trip to San Francisco. -
Review from Nancy C.
4/29/2012 1 Check-in Here
I wanted to love it here considering how tough it was for me to even get a reservation, but the food was simply not worth the wait. After waiting a full month for a Friday reservation, I was hoping that the food here would be amazing. No such luck. I had the shaking beef and it was just okay. The quality of the beef was good but the preparation was not creative or innovative. It wasn't bad by any means but definitely not worth the high price and the long wait. The lychee cotton candy barely had any lychee flavor at all. Also, the service is lacking. The only impressive thing here was the bathroom attendant because I wasn't expecting anyone to be there. He scared me. Awkward! Lol. Skip this. It's just a tourist trap and all hype.
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Review from Jennifer A C.
Oakland, CA
5/22/2012
You know I went to this place in my early 20s with a couple high school friends when it was still on Valencia. The beef carpaccio was incredible. It was the first time I had eaten something raw. I hadn't tried sushi yet. Then when I went by it was closed for renovation. After several more times of trying to make it out there over the years I forgot about it until it showed up at The Ferry Building. I have to say it's lost the old charm it had at Valencia. Now it looks like any other loud trendy restaurant where you stand around in a crowded cafeteria like space where you gotta shout to be heard by your party even with them sitting right next to you. Really annoying. The food was okay but I was so disillusioned by the new surroundings I was just disappointed overall. I don't think it means you can't eat a great meal there and have a good time. I just wish it was back at Valencia.
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Review from Gary E.
My wife and I wandered in on an off time around mid afternoon. It was a gorgeous sunny day out so we decided why not chill at the bar for a while and go from there.
We ended up ordering their half-dozen kussi oysters on a half-shell which was perfect with my bru.
After sipping on several drinks, the ambiance even got happier when our mixologist Francisco whipped up these creations.
My request was "I need a strong one" and my wife got this uber-happy cocktail drink well beyond her expectations.
We were both floored how good these drinks were!
For sure we'll be back for more and then some... -
Review from Krystal H.
Berkeley, CA
4/30/2012 1 Check-in Here
Came here for a leisurely Sunday lunch and enjoyed it immensely! The service was spot on, the cellophane noodles were to die for, the beer selection was great and the dessert made my head spin with happiness (lemon pudding cake)... my favorite restaurant in the Ferry Building and quite possibly SF!
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Review from Alison B.
3/31/2012
I know how hyped up this place is, so I was almost expecting to be a little disappointed with the food. However, the food was amazing!! Everything was delicious. We had the duck confit salad, lamb sirloin and cellophane noodles. Every dish had great flavors and actually went really well together. There is a reason why everyone talks about this place. In my opinion, it is one of those places that deserves the hype, at least as far as food goes. I also don't think it was outrageously over-priced... I thought it was worth it. One appetizer, two entrees, one bloody mary each, and one dessert was ~55 per person including tip.
The only things I didn't like were that it is a little loud for my liking (practically had to yell across the table to my friend) and the service was not the best. It wasn't bad, overall it was fine. Definitely did not ruin the amazing meal!
So, even though this place might be a little over-hyped, the food is definitely worth trying! -
Review from Marleen C.
San Francisco, CA
4/4/2012
This is probably the best Vietnamese restaurant in the city. Great view, ambiance, cocktails and food.
The 7 course family-style pre-fixe was more than enough for our group.
Our menu...
Appetizers: pork spareribs, daikon rice cakes, green papaya salad - Mains: banana leaf braised whole red snapper, organic chicken claypot, shaking beef - Sides: baby bok choy & asparagus
The food at the Slanted Door is fresh and light. I never feel as though I've been loaded with MSG and oil afterwards.
This place would be a good intro for those new to Vietnamese cuisine. -
Review from Danielle R.
San Francisco, CA
3/12/2012
Overpriced, americanized vietnamese food.
It was just OK. Spring rolls were good, but its hard to mess those up. Steak tartar was probably my second favorite dish. I went with a group of 7 people and cant remember a single other thing we ordered. Probably wouldn't go back :( -
Review from Jeanne L.
3/24/2012 1 Check-in Here
You know a restaurant is classy when you have to battle a heavy velvet curtain to get inside.
And the location? Super touristy.
I came here because of the Cellophane Noodles, as advertised on the 7x7 list. They were good, but not quite 'worth it'. A tad bit too salty. I've definitely had better. The crab? It was fresh, but not plentiful, as I could have guessed from the pricing of it relative to everything else on the menu.
Also tried the Caramelized Wild Gulf Shrimp, which came in a really nice caramel chili sauce.
Everything is served family-style, and there are lots of big tables, so it's a very good location for group meals.
However, I won't be in a rush to come back anytime soon for a restaurant with average-quality food and slow service. -
Review from Joanna R.
Valencia, CA
3/29/2012 3 photos
The food is good, but nothing incredible and not worth the price.
We came here for lunch and it really is a beautiful restaurant with a great view. There was lots we wanted to try. We had:
Spring Rolls - exactly what I get at my local pho place but for 2.5x the price. The peanut dipping sauce here though is extra good - very spicy!
Grapefruit Salad - very light and crunchy salad. I didn't quite understand the grapefruit sections on it, but the nuts and the dressing were both very good.
Lemongrass Chicken - super spicy with lots of onions and jalapenos.
Cellophane Noodles with Crab - meh, I thought it was boring and lacked much flavor.
We went with tap water and skipped any desserts. Before tip, our bill still came to $74 for two starters and two entrees at lunch! At my regular Vietnamese restaurant that would have been probably half the price - although the view at that restaurant is of people parking and heading into 99 Ranch Market! -
Review from Ron H.
Danville, CA
4/10/2012
...ok this is a cool little swanky place where the food meets the swanky standards. you should look swanky/hip if you go....Living in the city demands that you eat here at least once...Oh yeah...make reservations a head of time too. You will not be disappointed in the taste of the food ( i've eaten here a couple of times). If you enjoy Vietnamese cuisine ( I love Vietnamese food!) you will enjoy it with a fusion twist. True to the culture, this place combines atmosphere with good food preparation.
Bottom-line -- I recommend it! Check it out! oh yeah.. call for a reservation first, this place is pretty busy.
Read more reviews for this business:
French (1),
Dutch (1)
