Betelnut

06/28/10

Delicious Asian Fusion

by Lauren Hannah at Citysearch

Betelnut is another one of my favorites in the San Francisco area. The Szechuan Green Beans are to DIE for. Everything else I've had there has been really good, too. The calamari combines the perfect amount of spice with sweetness. Definitely a good recommendation!

• Pros: Green Beans, fun atmosphere
• Cons: crowded, noisy

09/19/08

Way Over Rated

by TrishaandTodd at Citysearch

We decided to try this popular restaurant, and we were extremely disappointed. Our appetizer, a Mongolian Hoisin dish was innovative and extremely tasty, but the main courses just could not compare. The Indonesian noodle dish was essentially a overly greasy chow mein with unimaginative ingredients. It tasted like it was something from panda express, maybe a bit worse. The Malaysian Curry dish too was pretty awful. There was no seasoning in the curry; it was bland and watery. In fact, the ingredients in both were the exact same, down to the noodles. Lastly the shrimp in both dishes was so overcooked it was almost chewy.

As for service, the wait staff was generally friendly but tried to slide one past us by doubling the rice order on our tab.

Betelnut matches the area. A trendy restaurant with a hip and cool atmosphere that covers for the food.

• Pros: Cool Decor
• Cons: Food Quality

08/22/08

Go here!

by foodieSS4K at Citysearch

I?ve been here before and each time, I have had a very pleasant dining experience. On top of that, did you know this restaurant is teaming up with StreetSmart4kids? It?s actually really cool what they?re doing. I just heard about how SS4K is a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged teens stay healthy. They are running their ?Dine Out and Donate? campaign here (as well as approx. 70 other restaurants in SF) during October and early November. After having a fabulous dining experience, just fill out the donation form when paying the check (minimum donation $3). This is perfect for people like me, who love to eat out all the time and also like to give back to the community. Check it out for yourself on the StreetSmart4Kids website!

06/09/08

Ruined my birthday dinner!

by kob83 at Citysearch

Boo urns! My boyfriend wanted to take me some place fancy for my 25th birthday and had heard great things about this place. We make early reservations so we can enjoy a nice long meal before going out. So we show up at 6:30 I get all dolled up (new dress, high heels, the works). They seat us right when we got there and we were finished with our meal by 6:55 (including dessert). We ordered mojitos which i know take a bit longer to make, but they arrived halfway through our meal. the waiter had a look of defeat on his face took our order and left. when he returned he came with my bf's main course then the appetizer and then my main course. I have never seen any place do such a poor job of putting out the food. We were rushed completely when all I wanted was a nice romantic dinner on my bday. I would go to this place again but I would order 2 entrees. one for me and one for the guy holding the gun to my head. I have had better service at Arby's.

• Pros: nice ambience
• Cons: over priced food awful awful awful service

02/10/08

Wow this place is all around terrible

by aforonda at Citysearch

Wow talk about horrible dining experience, I made reservations for a party of 13. I called weeks in advance and requested the room they have to be held for us, they agreed to make it so. They call a few days before to confirm, I tell them we are still on and look forward to having the room. The day of the dinner they call twice, the first time to confirm, the second time because they forgot to notify me the gratuity would be included in the final total, I'm tell them i'm fine with both.

We get to the place and they put us in a table in the middle of the back, I tell them there must be a mistake, they say they have no "note" of me requesting the back room. They say there is nothing they can do but I can talk to the manager if I want, I can see this is going nowhere fast but i take them up on the offer. The manager makes me wait for a good while and he tells me there is no guarantee on the room, I tell him I was told by the person who took my reservation told me I was getting the room. He says there is a larger party coming in the next hour but to take his card so we can call him personally to get the room next time. Yeah I know this is just getting worse and worse. The waiter almost never came around, and when I finally got to order a drink it took forever, our waters were not filled without hassling someone.

So all that aside the place is a zoo, it's really loud and they pack people in like lemmings. The decor is cheesy, the service is slow, the food is mediocre, it's obviously awful for large groups and it's over priced. I give it a big thumbs down.

• Pros: None
• Cons: just a terrible experience