The Slanted Door - “Hi, I’m Jo! Nice to Meet You!”

Restaurant: The Slanted Door
Address: 1 Ferry Building #3, The Embarcadero, SF
Cuisine: New Vietnamese
Date Last Visited: January 8, 2008
Dining Partners: My Foodbuzz Folk

The Slanted Door. The #1 restaurant on OpenTable. The restaurant that is always recommended when someone asks, “Where do I go for dinner if I am in San Francisco?” The restaurant that is so friggin’ hard to get into if you do not have a hook up. The Slanted Door. Some people think that it is overrated and overpriced. Some people think it’s beautiful, delicious, hip, and a place not to be missed. What was I going to think? Read on to find out.

I had dinner with my Foodbuzz folk on a gloomy Tuesday evening. The sky was grey when I got to the City and the air was so cold. Blah. I neglected to eat anything that day in preparation for the meal. In the morning, I had half a mug of hot green tea and a fork-twirl of My Sweety K’s chicken noodles in a cup and in the afternoon prior to leaving the city, I had a piece of Ghirardelli milk chocolate. By the time I got there, I was ready to G-R-U-B. I was there promptly at 5:55 and I checked-in. The hostess said I was the first one to check in. Ha! How hilarious. That made me feel like a square for some reason. Anyhow, I chilled outside, watched the water, and made a few panic-induced phone calls because waiting around like a loner with nothing to do made me feel like I had a fat “L” on my forehead. After a few minutes, I walked in and the hostess said that they were already seated. Great! Now I’m the loser who is late. Geez.

I got to the table and sheepishly I say, “Hi, I’m Joanne…” Wow, everyone was so warm. Awesome, I knew this would be a great dinner. After the introductions, my stomach was yearning for food and Piece of Asch hooked it up! He had some connections. Good connections. Fo’ real. Now let’s get to the grub! You will notice that some of the dishes have a couple pics to go with them. The first of the pictures is one I took with my “ghettro” camera phone (on night mode with no flash) because the camera I brought unfortunately had a dead battery and the other photo (of much nicer quality) was taken by eatingplum on a much nicer camera.
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The first dish was the grapefruit and jicama salad with red cabbage and candied pecans. I do not usually do the red cabbage, but I dug this. Before I knew it, I killed my portion. There were wonderfully juicy wedges of grapefruit on top and the salad consisted of julienned jicama, red cabbage, cilantro, and candied pecans. It was on the sweet side, it was on the spicy side, and above all it was on the delicious side. If I was given the menu and was asked to pick out an appetizer, this would not have been my first choice, but now that I have tried it, I would order it.

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The second were the New Zealand cockles with thai basil, crispy pork belly and fresh chilies. Good Lord have mercy. Tell me why by the time I was done with my apps, I had 6 or 8 shells on my plate. If I had the clamshell receptacle next to me, I would not have looked like a total glutton. These were so good. The clamshells were sweet and tender. The spiciness of the ginger and chili-infused broth paired so well with those little guys. The aroma of ginger (especially in a broth) fondly reminds me of Inang. She put ginger in almost everything. =) I loved the addition of the pork belly. If someone asked me, “What do you think they eat in Heaven?” I would say, “Freshly baked Toll House cookies, steamed jasmine rice, and crispy pork belly.”


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Crispy Rice Cakes with Maine Sweet Shrimp, Mung Beans and Scallion Oil. These were an apparent “hook-up.” Good Lord have mercy part 2! I only had half of one, but they should have given me a whole plate of these for myself. The texture on the outside was crispy, though a bit greasy. I tasted a bit of shrimp, but other than that there are no words. I would go back just for those, but I don’t know if they are on the regular menu. =(


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Then there were the barbecued Niman Ranch pork ribs with honey-hoisin sauce. I love ribs. Who doesn’t? The meat was so tender and the sauce was BOMB. Sweet ribs are my favorite ribs, so this was lip-smackin’ delicious. Again, I wouldn’t mind eating these all day.


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How can you have a Vietnamese meal without crispy imperial rolls with shrimp, pork, glass noodles and peanuts? These are a classic Vietnamese specialty and I ain’t mad at them. We had both the rolls for carnivores and one for herbivores. I only sampled the pork ones because I ain’t no vegetarian, but I’m pretty sure they were tasty. They come with lettuce and noodles, but I prefer the rolls straight up.


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I was most excited about the cellophane noodles with fresh Dungeness crab meat. Why? Well, I’ve been cellophane noodles in the Filipino-style for the most part, so I wanted to try it out in a different execution. The concept was so simple: noodles and crab, and the flavor was subtle. There were big chunks of sweet crab in it which was enjoyed.


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Meyer Ranch shaking beef cubed filet mignon with garlic, watercress and red onions. Okay, not the best picture, but just deal. =) Was it beef? Yes. It was real tender and cooked to a perfect doneness where the middle was a pretty pink. Was it shaking? Kinda. I liked the flavor with the watercress and onions, but I wasn’t shaking in a climactic frenzy. It is so simple, so much so that I almost was not that impressed. I make a Filipino dish called “bistek” with almost the same ingredients, so I just thought this was okay. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but maybe for someone who hasn’t had this combination of flavors and textures.
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Brick Oven Roasted Whole Fish w/ Spicy Gingered Fish Sauce. I’m going to have to admit. When I see a whole fish, I get scared. Call me lazy, but I would rather have a fish de-boned and filleted for me. I know, you’re probably thinking I’m spoiled and whatnot, but when I was a kid, I had to pick out the bones out of fish myself, but I had a bunch of times where I had one caught in my throat. Not nice. So since then, I’ve been afraid to order fish with bones. I wasn’t going to let this pass me by on this night though. It looked too good. I think what I liked most was the skin believe it or not. I enjoyed the charred flavor from the roasting and the sauce was awesome. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t shy away from bone-in fish anymore.


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Catalan Farm Broccoli w/ Honshimeji Mushrooms and Pressed Tofu. I love me my broccoli and this was a great example. I wouldn’t call it mind-blowing, but it was very tasty, and a great addition to an otherwise meat-dominated meal.
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Who would have thought we would have brownies, macaroons, and mini cheesecakes topped with lemon curd at a nouveau Vietnamese restaurant? It was a huge mistake to put these in front of me. Seriously. If I were with people I had known for years, I would have scarfed them all down, but I had just met these folks and I wasn’t about to embarrass myself.


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And I ended the night with a nice pot of hot green tea. I made a resolution to drink less soda and to drink more tea. I think I’m doing good on that resolution. What a perfect way to wind down the evening. The food was great, and I really want to come back with friends and maybe mingle over some cocktails at the lounge. I do have to say that it is a bit too noisy. I had to kind of scream to the people at the table just to speak to them. Other than that, it was such a great opportunity to meet SF Bay Area foodies like myself and I cannot wait to get together with them again. The Slanted Door brings a smile to my face. That’s another “check” on my “Restaurants I Want to Visit Before I Turn 30” list.