Ana Mandara Restaurant

12/27/06

Where the locals go.......

by latina415 at Citysearch

There was great live music which was romantic, the food was great although it was overpriced, and the service was great as well. I had their version of a filet mignon which was juicy and just perfect. My date was not much into asian food, but he enjoyed the seafood he had as well.

• Pros: Great Service
• Cons: Expensive

09/18/06

disappointing

by caite at Citysearch

I frequent the cham bar on the second level of Ana Mandara, which is beautiful with excellent service. Last Friday, my husband and I ate in the restaurant for the first time. The atmosphere is beautiful but my table was seated ridiculously close to another table. There must've been only 2 inches between us! I could hear every single word of our neighbors' conversation even though they weren't loud talkers. To be fair, it seems we had the worse table in the building since none of the other tables were set up like ours. We had the lobster and beef tenderloin, both of which were delicious. Our waiter was gruff and practically ignored us the entire time. For the amount of money they charge, I expected better service. We were so put off by the lack of service and being forced to listen to our neighbors' conversation that we cut our meal downstairs short, and had cocktails and dessert upstairs where the service is unfailingly excellent. Appetizers and dessert is served at the cham bar upstairs. If you can, dine upstairs.

• Pros: cham bar, ambience, food
• Cons: unfriendly negligent service, bad seating arrangement

08/07/06

Great Food but Horrible Service

by ayw1013 at Citysearch

I've had great food but horrible service the late 90's. I chose to take my friend there from Switzerland on Saturday because he enjoys upscale dining and Asian type food. As with each guest that I take I always tell them don't be surprised if we have lousy service. We'll the server lived up to their reputation once again! I asked him if a particular dish was cooked in soy because I'm allergic to soy sauce. He barked at me in a heavily accented voice and basically asked what I was doing there. I told him that I knew that the fish did not have soy sauce but please have them put the sauce on the side (it's too heavy and sweet for my taste). I also let him know that I had trouble the previous time; he promised he would take care of me. Of course my fish arrived covered with the sauce. He only knew the wines by bin numbers. I can't imagine a restaurant of this caliber in San Francisco not training their staff on wines. There's a lot more; I think I've gotten my point across. Anyway, this type of thing has happened over and over again. It's too bad because it's such a lovely place with great food.

• Pros: Great food, bar and atmosphere
• Cons: Horrible Service

03/07/06

Come for the ambiance and bring a fat wallet

by piccolinasf at Citysearch

Being that I am Vietnamese, my boyfriend took me to Ana Madera for a romantic evening and to savor vietnamese-fusion cuisine. I was very impressed by the architecturally artful and beautiful dining area and the attentive waitstaff. However I really did not find much vietnamese-ish cuisine on their menu. In fact I would call it over-priced-french-fusion cuisine! The food was above average but if you are looking for a nice romantic spot this is truly the place.

• Pros: romantic ambiance
• Cons: expensive

06/01/05

our recent dinner

by tvn at Citysearch

We were at Ana Mandara for dinner during one of my recent trip to San Francisco. We were early for our reservation, but got seated promptly. The ambience was nice and the service was great. The food was too expensive though. We had soft-shelled crab for appetizer, which costed $16 and consisted of one crab cut in half. The garlic noodle came without the Chinese chives or bean sprouts. My beef tenderloin was too salty. We had the mango spring rolls for desserts, which was good. Other than that, it was generally an OK experience. I'm not sure if I would want to come back again.

• Pros: nice ambience, great service
• Cons: horrible parking, expensive food

05/26/05

Dinner review

by larrywg at Citysearch

The food tastes good, but is very overpriced. None of the items on the menu is specialty item, but they are charging a lot for it. Their "crepes" and "noodles" can be purchased from any asian markets for less than a dollar or two. Ambience is excellent, and the service is not bad. They got one of our orders wrong, but it was corrected very quickly.

03/22/05

A bit overrated, but good ambience

by cl_foodie at Citysearch

The ambience here is better than the food. If you want good Vietnamese food, go to a hole in the wall, this place will make you pay a ton. But, the atmosphere here is very cool and hip so go if you want drinks and want to hang out.

05/29/02

"beautiful refuge", ok food

by jjgcamacho at Citysearch

My fisrt impression as I walked in was well, impressive. The food on the other hand could use a little work. It's tasty, but I think the atmoshpere leads you to expect more from the food. The service was great. Our waiter was courteous and full of smiles. It didn't take long for the food to arrive after ordering. Overall, I would say I had a good experience.

• Pros: Beautiful
• Cons: Pricey