Slanted Door

THE SLANTED DOOR, 1 Ferry Building #3, San Fransisco, CA 94111, 415-861-8032

I came with Angie years ago for lunch and remembered being impressed. This was my first dinner experience at The Slanted Door and at 5:45pm, it was already slammed. The four of us chose a side elevated booth hoping for less noise. What an extensive Riesling selection - NICE! We started with Rieslings for hubby and moi, Sauvignon Blanc for Roger and Michael stuck with cocktails.

WILD CALIFORNIA YELLOWTAIL with crispy shallots and thai basil, $16 - fresh, but needed something more.

CRISPY IMPERIAL ROLLS with shrimp, pork, glass noodles and peanuts, $10 - traditional style, very good.

SPICY TUNA TARTAR with english cucumber, ginger and toasted sesame, $17 - not at all spicy, the sesame shrimp chips added a nice touch (vs typical fried wonton chips), tuna was nothing exciting. I'm totally copying the chips with my next ahi app.

ALLSTAR ORGANICS' KALE with caramelized shallots, $11 - nothing Vietnamese about it, but delicious and so fresh fresh fresh!

WHITE & BROWN RICE - can't go wrong.

BANANA LEAF WRAPPED LOCAL BLACK COD with kaffir lime, cilantro and thai chili, $26 - not Vietnamese at all, but delicious.

CELLOPHANE NOODLES with fresh dungeness crab meat, $18 - interesting tasty take on glass noodles and crab, Michael's favorite, great flavors, slinky noodles.

GRILLED PRATHER RANCH RIB-EYE STEAK with garlic soy sauce and wild mushrooms, $34 - AMAZING... the marinade, sauce, grilled onion, shrooms, would have preferred it rare, but this was a winner!

RODINI FARM BRUSSEL SPROUTS with black trumpet mushrooms, $11 - again, so un-Vietnamese, but fresh and fabulous.

GRASS-FED ESTANCIA SHAKING BEEF, cubed filet mignon, sausalito springs' watercress, red onions and lime sauce, $34 - traditional, would have preferred it rare, but this was also a winner!

I don't think I've ever been to another high-end Vietnamese restaurant with such an awesome fairytale immigrant roots story before. Chef Charles Phan is the maaan. The Slanted Door is located in the Ferry Building with fantastic views of the San Francisco Bay, night lights, bridges, ferry boats - what a setting! The interior space designed by Olle Lundberg is modern, clean and chic.

Food was very good, but too Americanized for what I was expecting. Being so jam-packed, the dishes had no choice but to be served in a relaxed, no-fuss manner. We sat away from the crowd and still felt like we were screaming our way through dinner. When we were leaving, the bar lounge (even louder!) overflowed with people trying to get in. Wow, the hype! Very good, very clean, very expensive, very busy and very VERY LOUD.

The Slanted Door

(415) 861-8032

Located inside the Ferry Building at the Pier.

1 Ferry Building #3

San Fransisco, CA 94111 

Official Website for The Slanted Door