04/26/09

Great food for a small group or large party

by kate_carroll

"YUM!

I wanted to have a dinner party for my husband's birthday for about 12 of our friends & family. From my first communications with the staff @ Poleng, it was a positive and professional experience. Chris & Ryan followed up in a timely manner with every detail of our reservation, of which, there were quite a few...date changes, party size changes, bringing in our own birthday cake, etc.

The food was GREAT! I'm not sure where the PF Chang comparison comes from...I have eaten at that chain and it's really boring, really salty, really not fresh. Poleng was none of those things. The spicy crispy friend smelts were so yummy I had to remind myself there were other people around me. We had PLENTY of food, and I really like the fact that they brought out each course in 5 separate bowls and dispersed them throughout the table. Often times, I find family style means 2 biggish platters of food at each of the table. That makes serving cumbersome and often the food itself suffers. Crispy fried things get soft and the like. Not so here. Portions were ample - we went with the Buddha Bliss menu - and by the end, my sister commented to me that she felt she needed a wheelbarrow for her belly.

"The food was so good I took bigger portions than I should have and it just kept coming...every 5 minutes or so...there was a new course, just as good as the last but different".

So, we'll be back. The staff was so accommodating...they turned down the music when we asked, they split the bill 6 ways to Sunday for us, they made everything so fun and relaxed. Great value at any price and the price was really reasonable."

• Pros: Service, food i.e. dilicious, ease of parking
• Cons: pretty young crowd but that's my hang up?

10/15/08

Lovin it!

by ksjjj

This place is super cool and the food, to die for! Went there last night and had such a great experience. The staff was attentive and fun and the whole feel of the place is pretty relaxed with a funky hip vibe. We had martini's to start and then ordered a bottle of unfiltered sake. All of the food menu is small plates and we had a hard time deciding and ordered just about everything. The delish crab noodles (this is a must), the kalibe ribs, sweet potato fries, ahi poke...oh and the best thing on the menu, the must try was the ceviche...hands down the best I have ever had. I will be back soon Poleng Lounge!

• Pros: Um, everything...
• Cons: None, I loved this place!

10/08/08

Great food in a really cool atmosphere

by retrocarmel

We shop weekly at the Lucky across the street and have wanted to go in to the Poleng Lounge for sometime now and we finally did last week. I'm glad we did!

What's cool about Poleng is that the food is great but at night it turns in to more of a club vibe with live music. Something that I wasn't expecting, but was very cool.

The Asian inspired menu had so many choices we stuck with what we knew we liked and were super happy with our choices. We had sweet potato fries with this really interesting banana catsup. I know we thought it would be gross, but it was soooo delicious. For our meal, we split the short ribs which came with a vegetable side.

We will definitely be back.

03/30/08

Great Food Great Service

by a3puttdude

My girfriend and I live in the neigborhood and consider Poleng to be the best restaurant around. The only other neighborhood restaurants that come close are Cha Cha Cha, Little Star Pizza and Nopa. Poleng's small plates are packed with flavor and the prices are fair. My favorite is the Adobo Chicken Wings: crisp, sweet and delicious. I love them. Their calamari is the best I've ever eaten. I read some of the other reviews that state service is an issue. Our experience has been the opposite. We are politely greeted and the staff has always been pleasant. Many times I saw a cheerful young Asian fellow wearing a baseball cap and a apron chatting and laughing with the guests. I always thought he was just a friendly talkative busboy. I was surpirsed to find that this "busboy" was actually the owner/ head-chef, Tim, making sure everyone was comfortable.

• Pros: Food!

12/11/07

Don't go here

by todd13

The owners of this place have no morals whatsoever. My company of 130 people had the place booked for our annual Christmas party and then three days prior to our big event they told us we couldn't have our party there. Not cool at all. Boo on them.

07/18/07

Excellent small plates & great cocktails, also great wines by the glass list

by rewsf

We went in and sat at the bar and were greeted by Brett the bartender. I wasn't sure what to make of him at first, but them this great personality came out and the guy was excellent at making really good cocktails as well as being conversational and friendly in just the right amount. We shared our small plates, and let me tell you, the small plates were not too small at all. We chose 4 items and we are two very big guys, and we were both stuffed!! The meal started with Lumpia and Chicken wings. Yes the Lumpia was good; the Chicken Wings-"Succulent deep-fried wings with a sweet adobo garlic glaze" were phenomenal! If we were still hungry we had immediately decided to order more of those. Then the beef tenderloin w/ marrow "Seared pepper-garlic filet cubs with poached marrow, coconut breadsticks, and mango salsa." dish was melt in your mouth and the crab noodles "Garlic Crab Noodles - A.Q. Pan fried egg noodles with garlic and fresh crabmeat" came out.

Everything tasted so good and the bartender Brett was cool, the drinks were excellent - Margarita, Iced Tea, and Martini's. Then we shared some glasses of wine. It's a small winelist, but creatively put together and well chosen. Excellent job. I'm definitely going back. Thank you!

06/12/07

Happy Hour=perfect

by teastburn

Poleng has great happy hour specials ($3 beers and well drinks, plus .25 cent chicken wings that are to die for)...

Happy Hour is mon. -fri. from 4-6

I have yet to eat dinner there actually but the night life can be a lot of fun too. Friday and Saturday evenings are great.

04/01/07

A great way to spend the evening

by dofusteak

Poleng Lounge seems to have a lot to offer-- a lot of food, drinks, music, dancing-- so when I came by a couple weeks ago on a date I was really expecting to get two birds with one stone (to use a cliche phrase...).

I had a really great time.

We had reservations for around 8pm, sat pretty promptly. Food was pretty good-- noodles, satay, salad-- some pretty tasty small plates-- it filled us up just right. Eating this way really is the how you're supposed to do it-- don't stuff yourself and enjoy each plate for their distinct individual qualities. Prices weren't too bad, I would say maybe $20/30 a person for dinner. After dinner, we just chilled at our table with a few drinks while the place slowly turned into a night club (the music gets way louder, the crowd changes, the lights dim down). After getting fairly liquored up we danced up a storm in the back to some live Djs.

A pretty good night in my book.

So words of advice-- don't get there towards the end of the night, or else you'll have to eat fast. Same goes with drinks... it's just easier. The places seems like it gets pretty crowded. Come on an empty stomach and ready to have a good time.

• Pros: Tasty food, nice hip atmosphere, a lot packed into a small package
• Cons: crowded, not a formal dining experience (for those who are expecting that)

02/17/07

THIS PLACE IT JUST AWFUL

by oxtail

Why do people go to Poleng? Why? I have lived in SF for a year ( I am a NYC transplant) and I have been impressed by many bars and restaurants in this city. But this place is god awful. The food is poorly executed and the atmosphere is super cheesy. I felt like I was in a bad bar in Staton Island and if you know New York, you know just how bad that is...feh. And PS you don't need two bouncers and a rope... no one is "waiting to get in" @ Poleng. It's not Studio 54! Give it up...Please, the place is across from an Albertsons. Ugh, so pathetic.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: gross

01/25/07

Straddling NoPa and USF, this restaurant-lounge serves Asian cuisine and cocktails in a DJ-friendly atmosphere.

by Contributor

The Scene
A twisting log hangs above the black steel bar, which is accented with metal juice squeezers and glasses filled with fresh-fruit puree. Two flat-screens flash a slide show of international travel photos, and fashionably dressed groups huddle at tables of varying heights. As the evening progresses, some of those tables may be removed to create a dance floor, and the larger backroom opens to host out-of-town DJs or rap acts.

The Food
Approximately 20 Asian-influenced small plates make this a nice place for groups to share fresh bites. The signature sesame-soy salad combines shredded chicken, crunchy teriyaki almonds and mandarin oranges. Thinly rolled lumpia are stuffed with shrimp and pork and then sliced into bite-sized nibbles. Sweet-potato fries paired with tangy banana catsup is another finger-food winner. Larger portions include the pleasantly addictive garlic crab noodles and the sparkling seared-beef tenderloin boltered with pepper garlic and diced-mango salsa.