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The Slanted Door
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Restaurant
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San Francisco
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Credit Cards:
MC, Visa
Open:
Lunch and dinner daily
Price:
Moderate
Score (/20):
14
Reviewed By
Sue Dyson and Roger McShane
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Phone Number:
+1 415 861 8032
Address:
1 Ferry Building #3
San Francisco, California, 94107
Country:
United States
Food Style:
Vietnamese
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The Slanted Door has moved location and we haven't had a chance to visit the new site yet. It is now open 7 days a week. We are certain, however, that you will still have a good food experience.===================================================================From the minute you walk into this bustling, busy, crowded and very trendy restaurant you will feel relaxed (it sounds contradictory, but it isn't).Everything about this restaurant is stylish from the plates, to the chopsticks - even the staff!But let's talk about the food because this is why people flock here! The food has those beautiful clean, sharp flavours that typify authentic Vietnamese dishes. Some of them are certainly influenced by local flavours and ingredients (we had lovely fresh jicama in one dish) but overwhelmingly the flavours are those of Vietnam.(Note: We have had correspondence with Lisa Lee from Vietnam, who disputed this statement and said that jicima was an authentic Vietnamese product found everywhere in the food markets. We were being too pedantic. It is a native of Mexico, and was brought to the Philippines in the 17th century by the Spanish. From there it quickly spread into Vietnam and southern China. It is now as authentic in those countries as tomatoes are in Italy. Thanks, Lisa)We normally don't eat spring rolls because they are rarely done well. Here we ate traditional fresh spring rolls with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce that were some of the best we have ever eaten. A green papaya salad with tofu and rau ram was also fresh, vibrant and a perfect combination of flavour and texture.Probably the least impressive dish was the spicy squid with tofu and bamboo shoots, but the meal was quickly rescued by a steamed fillet of sea bass with lily buds, shitake mushrooms and fresh ginger. We will have this dish again on our next visit!A side dish of organic spinach with garlic and fried shallots was the perfect accompaniment to the fish. The prices are very reasonable with the first courses at around $US7 and the main courses up to $US14.50.The wine list here is interesting. It is arranged for novices into 'types' - but there are some good offerings available. There is also an interesting selection of beer particularly the emerging 'abbey' styles from Belgian breweries. If you want something non-alcoholic they have a lovely dark superior aged Pu-erh tea and the 'monkey-picked' Tikuanyin oolong variety.We can thoroughly recommend this lovely restaurant and it is now on our list of must-visit places whenever we are in San Francisco.
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