All week there had been discussion about renting a car. I have no credit card and B. did not bring his license with him, which meant that there had to be some bridge and tunnel coordination for the car thing to happen. We had wanted to take a ride down the coast, even though it would have been smoky, but since the coordination efforts were not happening, the plans had to be changed.
Early on Saturday morning it was still unclear as to what the day would hold for us. A car did not seem to be in the picture. So in chat I said:
me: ok, i’ve made up my mindB: okme: we’re going to spend our money on a great, great lunch rather than gasB: okme: we are going to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in town …B: ok
B.’s fairly easy when he’s in San Francisco, he does what I tell him to for the most part :)
The Slanted Door seems to have finally settled into one location, the latest one at the Ferry Building. For a few years everyone knew that they could eat at one of San Francisco’s favorite restaurants, but not everyone knew where to find it. It kept changing its location. But now, if you want to eat at The Slanted Door, you just head down to the Embarcadero.
When we arrived, we were told, kind of apologetically, that there was only a five minute wait for two seats at the communal dining table. Or we could wait for over a half-hour for a table of our own. We didn’t care, we weren’t there to have a private chat, we were there for the food! We waited and then were escorted down the middle of the restaurant to the communal table where we got two seats on the end.
For openers, we ordered a Biere de Miel and a Lychee Infused Iced Tea to keep us refreshed while we studied the menu.
Now on to the hard part. There were about six different items that each of us wanted to try and only two tummies, but we finally pared our choices down to something reasonable and did not over do it.
We started out with sharing a very tasty Vietnamese Crepe, made without the pork but with the Shrimp, Bean Sprouts, and Onion. These crepes (Bánh Xèo) were like a cross between a very light and fluffy omelette and a crispy crepe. We couldn’t get the art of wrapping bits of it in the lettuce leaves, so I’m going to admit that we ate them by spooning the sauce over our portions and eating this dish with a fork.
We both had noodle bowls, mine was Grilled Chicken Breast with Vegetarian Imperial Rolls, Cucumber and Mint, and B. had the same only with Prawns. I don’t know what it is about the noodle bowls at The Slanted Door, but I think of them as the ultimate in comfort food – like in a memory from a past life. The combination of the ingredients is perfection.
We also shared a bowl of Caramelized Tiger Prawns with Garlic, Onion, and Chili Sauce.
Caramalized anything is pretty good eating, but this dish was divine. The prawns were plump and fresh and even though the combined flavors were melded, the flavors of each ingredient were also distinct.
The last time I came to The Slanted Door for lunch I sat next to someone, at the counter no less, who had flown in for the day from Washington DC to eat there. It’s just that kind of place and no matter how often they move, or how often things change, The Slanted Door just keeps getting better. All of their food is fresh and local, and they have an excellent wine list as well as hard to find teas from China.
The Slanted Door now has a to-go counter called Out the Door, which is in the main hall of the Ferry Building, around the corner from the restaurant. On a nice day, you can order your food to-go and take it outside to eat at the tables overlooking the bay.
The Slanted Door
1 Ferry Building #3
San Francisco, CA 94111
T: 415.861.8032
ShareThisSimilar posts that you might like:
- >> The Slanted Door
- >> SF Travelbloggers Meet For Lunch
- >> Survey 4: Your Favorite San Francisco Restaurant?
- >> San Francisco Farmer’s Market
- >> Ripplewood Cafe
Tags: restaurants, san francisco, slanted door, vietnamese food
3 Comments
This meal deserves more than a simple “off the cuff” comment, but I’m going to do an off the cuff as a reminder to comment fuller (a reminder that I may well ignore).
The waiter was a gem. Finely honed sarcasm and wit, and his delight in finding customers who appreciated it. “This isn’t a Beer glass”. “How do you tell the difference between a beer glass and a wine glass, sir? …. the beer glass has beer in it”. *g* “But this glass is an EMPTY glass – bring my beer!”. *g* back. Service makes the meal as much as the food. The food was beyond excellent.
I still drool (sorry) as I think of those dishes. And still laugh as I remember that we both got stuck in before remembering that the dishes were supposed to be recorded before they were demolished.
I *am* easy when I visit SF. There are two reasons for that: the first is that K is a sublime guide. Everything she shows me, everywhere she takes me, every meal she suggests … all a perfect pleasure. So why choose?
The second reason? SF is the perfect city to visit: everything you see, everywhere you go, every meal you eat … all a perfect pleasure .
Go with the flow. And go to The Slanted Door. Eat Out or Eat In, you won’t be sorry.
San Francisco makes it easy to be a good guide. I could hardly go wrong in a city like this, I would think …
I keep thinking about this meal too … I didn’t want to eat anything else the rest of the day because I didn’t want the flavor memory to be replaced.
I had the opportunity to eat at Out The Door the other day. They have yummy cold noodle bowls, shrimp rolls, and other yummy delights. It was a nice day, so I got food to go and then went out back as sat near the water to eat.