08/11/08

Great service, yummy crabs

by patchan

After reading reviews about how horrible the service was but how they had awesome crabs, we went prepared for bad service. We went a little early, 6:30pm, before the crowd got in. We got seated promptly and had fantastic service all evening. I dropped my crab fork on the floor. I picked it up and placed on my table not knowing that anyone saw and one of the waiters replaced it in a flash.

The shrimp soup was delicious with a fantastic balance between sweet and sour. Both the pepper crab and roasted crab were pretty good. A little too much garlic in the garlic noodle.

02/18/08

My MOST horrible dining experience!

by mmcfoodie15

What ever happened to customer service?Keep in mind that I was not asking for a discount or for anything free.I was surprised by the proposed bill for 40 adults,$1000.00 (food, tax, gratuity).They charge $8 for a 2 liter soda!Nonetheless,I made the deposit and left.I asked the restaurant if I could bring food in for kids.A woman said it would be OK but they would have to charge me $20-30.I thought it was reasonable & thanked her.Two days before the party,I called to ask if I could drop off the food so it would allow them time to prepare and serve it on the day of.The woman said it was too busy & said to bring it in when they open (11 am) ON the day of the party (party time 11-2 pm).She had another line ringing so she put me on hold before we could finish & never got back on the line.I went in the next day to drop off the food & this is where it all blew up.I met the woman & gave her the food.She changed her fees after looking at it (3 boxes of frozen food) & said it would cost me $40 per item.She stated it ?was a very cheap amount to charge .?I argued that that?s not what she said on the phone & $40 per item was outrageous but she claimed that she had no idea what kind of food I had & that they didn?t know how to prepare it,it would take extra labor,etc.In the end,I paid an extra $30 for each item after speaking to another man.

On the day of my party,I wasn't greeted by anyone,only dirty looks.Up in the party room,there were dirty dishes on one table & all along the back counter.

There was all of ONE person setting up & bussing the tables.There were times when the buffet table was unattended& we served ourselves.So much for ?lots of labor, extra help.?They also put out a stack of dirty ?clean? dishes for us to use.

Our ONE server took awhile to bring the cake out too.He was the one to present us with the bill,which showed yet ANOTHER, undisclosed charge (for falling below the ?minimum? to rent out the room) & they neglected to deduct my deposit.

• Pros: food was decent
• Cons: Not big on customer service, parking, beware of hidden fees when using party room

03/12/07

Great food but lacking SERVICE!

by rotu2002

The food is good; very good - no complaints and only praise. The wine list, however, is tired; the staff know nothing about wine and the choices aren't paired for the cuisine. The wine offered is likely chosen at the suggestion of the distributor who talks to an owner who knows nothing about wine... and/or for the value. Either way, it's a real pitty, because a good white wine with the crab would have made the meal all the better - and there was not a decent bottle on their list.

The Service is just plain bad. Starting with walking in the door; the expressionless hostess reluctantly cleaned a table herself, after keeping our party waiting... the waiters were nowhere to be seen after bringing the food. They servers were friendly, it's just they seemed to have no concept of how to provide good service or any formal training. The bathrooms were also messy and lacked soap.

Then, on the way out, the diservice to customers comes from this restaurant NOT accepting American Express - unfortunately, lack of card aceptance is somewhat a trend for low-budget asian restaurants -- only because the owners don't understand that the fractional difference in merchant fees (when calculating the tru difference btwn visa and amex costs) is easily made up by customers who wil frequent the establishment because of the Card, instead of see it as 'low budget' diner and wonder if the owner also buys produce 'one day old,' just to accomplish the same di minimus "savings"

• Pros: Food
• Cons: Service and Cleanliness

02/14/07

fresh food, terrible service

by fusionsecret

cons; food is fresh: imperial rolls are good. Galic source Craps are great.

Cons: service is unacceptable. Take 30-40 mins waiting for the food. Waiters are even worse. We asked them for the bill, it took them 15 mins and another half an hour for them to come back...good luck...

I was there for valentime dinner, they increased the price from $45.xx to $68.xx (just for valentime I guess) extra 2 wine classes.

11/24/06

Drool drool

by yemag94114

Don't wait go. Just go. Had the roasted spicy crab. Loved it. Garlic noodles. Amaizing. The wait was a little long because people were just sitting there happily enjoying their crab bloat. The host took our order before we were seated so the food came right away. Wonderful crabby experience.

• Pros: Crab, Garlic noodles, Crab bib
• Cons: None

11/14/06

Roasted Crab... Garlic Noodles... Favorite Vietnamese

by spiketop

The Dungeness Crab specialties cannot be beat... Roasted Crab with garlic, Peppercorn Crab with garlic, Drunken Crab simmered in wine... it's all great. You must order the House Garlic Noodles -- a dish you will forever dream about once you've had it. Other favorites: Lemongrass Prawns, Caramel Catfish in Claypot, Sizzling Beef. The place is packed on the weekends so call ahead. They also validate for an hour of parking in a lot a block away on Clement.

• Pros: Delicious Crab and the best Garlic Noodles on the planet, Parking Lot a block away

11/13/06

Food is great

by super1668

Nice atmosphere, and good food. Peppercorn crab and a bottle of chardonney is the way to dine. Parking is a little difficult, so arrive early. Must try.

• Pros: food
• Cons: parking

11/06/06

food, food and food: excellent!

by arashbabaki

Excellent Vietnamese food. Neat place and reasonably priced. try the crab. Parking can be a problem.

• Pros: food
• Cons: parking

08/14/06

Think Thanh Long and Crustaceans minus the ambiance and 1/2 the cost!!!

by nancysee

If you're okay with forgoing ambiance for just good vietnamese food. Think PPQ. CRAB, garlic noodles, green beans - this place is so delicous and so fabulously priced. Think crustacean or thanh long minus 1/2 the cost! Seriously, this place is great place to eat at. One of my San Francisco favorites since they've just been so consistently great over the past 3 years.

• Pros: clean, fast, tasty food
• Cons: parking

08/12/06

Good food BUT...

by colbybrown

I went on a friend's recommendation. The promptness of seating could have been better. There were vacant tables waiting to be cleared and reset--not enough wait staff, maybe? My biggest gripe is that service was bad. We waited at least 20 minutes for the appetizer, and another 15 minutes after they cleared the appetizer before the entrees arrived. MUCH too long of a wait. The crab was excellent; I'll give them that. And I liked the garlic noodles alot, but I've had better. Sea bass with shitakes were the day's special. Good but not spectacular. Oh. And the bathroom was nasty! No clean paper towels, empty soap dispensers, and discarded paper towels on the floor. Overall, go for the food, which is good but not earth shattering. If the staff paid closer attention to the niceties, they could probably justity the moderately expensive prices a little better.

• Pros: decent food, dining area appeared clean
• Cons: bad service, dirty bathrooms