Eaten The Cellophane Noodles With Crab Meat At Slanted Door

"The bank wouldn't even give me a loan because they thought it was such a stupid idea."
--Charles Phan on starting the Slanted Door

We thought today would be a great day to take our friend Jing to the Ferry Building so she could see the Saturday market. J made a reservation at the Slanted Door for when they open at 11, so we could get there, eat, and then check out the wonderful shops and booths.

When the Slanted Door was just starting out on Valencia Street (between 16th and 17th Streets), it quickly became a huge success. Eventually, they moved to a bigger location at the Embarcadero and then later to the Ferry Building. It's a popular restaurant, so having a reservation is always a good idea. It is well known as "a modern Vietnamese restaurant that showcases the abundance of produce as well as ecologically farmed meat, game and poultry found at farms around the San Francisco Bay Area." The dish I wanted to try here is #8 on the 7x7 Big Eat List.


Before we decided what we were going to eat, we all started with some Vietnamese coffee.


Because the other dishes we ordered would overpower it, the cellophane noodles with crab meat came out first, and they were very good. I enjoyed this dish quite a bit. The crab and green onions paired very well with the soft but substantial texture of noodles.


Next, we had a mesquite grilled Niman Ranch flat iron with wild mushrooms and garlic soy dipping sauce. This was a well cooked piece of beef, and I thought the mushrooms were quite good as well.


This gingered beef bavette over rice vermicelli noodles with field greens and roasted peanuts had a ton of interesting components to it, and they went together well. A very solid dish.


The lemongrass chicken with red onions, jalapeños, roasted chili paste and peanuts had a good amount of spice to it but was not overpowering.


One of the best dishes we had today was the japanese eggplant with coconut milk and roasted chili paste. This was pretty much a hit all the way around the table. The eggplant was not too chewy or too soft and the flavors went well with the vegetable.


Finally, for dessert, our server, who was both accommodating and hilarious, gave us an order of spiced sugar beignets, and we decided to also try their lychee cotton candy as well.


We got there when it opened, so there weren't too many people when we were seated, but by the time we left, it was packed.


I enjoyed all the food that we were served today, and I think our guest had a good time too. I would definitely come back, but probably not without a reservation. I would definitely recommend checking it out. The view isn't bad either.

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