I hear about so many good places in San Francisco, but I never have time to try them all (and that list just keeps getting longer and longer). While I’m familiar with many styles of Asian cooking, Vietnamese is a bit unknown to me, except for Banh Mi sandwiches and Pho. So I was very eager to head to Bodega SF as it has been getting plenty of buzz over their innovative and modern Vietnamese food, and when I got Christmas tickets to a show at the Golden Gate Theatre just around the corner, a pre-theater dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity to check it out.
They have a pretty solid a la carte menu, but we made sure we allocated enough time before the show for the Chef’s Tasting Menu ($90 pp). To go with it, we opted for some Riesling off of the Riesling list, as the server told us it is the perfect pairing to go with Vietnamese food. They also had a nice list of cocktails, and some sounded like they wouldn’t be too sweet, so of course we started with a cocktail, and I can definitely say if you are a fan of boozy drinks, their take on a Vieux Carre (Vieux Maguey) was a winner for me.
The dishes did start coming out, and then they end up taking over the table! But the service here is pretty fantastic, so we quickly asked them to slow down the pacing after we ended up with three different dishes at once! There were a couple of oyster/caviar dishes to start, and they both really pleased the palate, so we got incredibly excited. The best of the two for me was the Banh Khot Caviar served on a turmeric cake with a delicious shrimp on top! The Vietnamese-style beef carpaccio dish was a winner for both of us with an amazing and rich beef flavor covered in aromatics to lighten it up immensely.
They even included a few of the specials on the tasting menu which was nice, and it guarantees that you won’t be eating the same thing every time if you order it. The pork belly salad was nice, but not as much of a wow as the rest of the courses. However, it was still tasty. There were also some lemongrass clams that were divisive, as I was in love, but the other half was on the fence. Up next was their whole branzino, and I was a bit disappointed when I found out because I’m not usually a fish person, but this fish was really spectacular. It was cooked amazingly, had incredible flavor, and was all around enjoyable. We were told to make lettuce wraps, but they were a bit difficult to eat, so we resorted to knife and forking it.
The last savory dish was their beef pho and it is literally the best pho I’ve ever eaten (not that I’m too familiar). The broth was light yet rich with flavor, and I just wanted to finish it all, even though it was a lot of food after all the other dishes. Finally, dessert was a nice fruity dish that really topped the whole meal off well. Plus the Riesling was indeed a nice pairing to go with it all.
The food and service at Bodega SF were absolutely stellar, and I am really excited to go back, hopefully next time with friends or family so I can share with them the amazing flavors of modern Vietnamese food. It was so warm and welcoming, homey yet elevated, and I am still dreaming about the pho and carpaccio!
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: The tasting menu, of course, but the pho, carpaccio and banh khot caviar are stars!
La Bodega SF
138 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
