Sai’s Vietnamese Restaurant
Neighborhood: Financial District
505 Washington Street
(between Hotaling St & Sansome St)
San Francisco, CA 94111
Rated: ♣♣♣
One of the better Vietnamese places in the Financial District in SF is Sai’s Restaurant. It’s a little pricier than your usual pho, but it’ll have to do since there’s really no other good Vietnamese place nearby.
The scene:
Definitely get here early to beat the lunch crowd or else you’ll be 1. waiting 20 minutes to sit and 2. waiting another 20 minutes for your food. What I find funny about this place is that it looks like it’s run by a family of Vietnamese gangsters. What’s even funnier is that they’re not even Vietnamese. They’re Chinese!
The food:
There are not many places that make curry pho. A few in the Sunset, a bunch in the Peninsula… Sai’s happens to make a mean curry pho and a lamb curry pho at that. I came in with the intentions of ordering a curry pho, but came across the smell of the BBQ pork, so I ordered that instead. My lunch buddy was sweet enough to order the curry pho so I could sneak a bite from her.
BBQ Pork Over Rice – The dish was generally good. Nothing special than any other Vietnamese restaurant. I did wait 20 minutes for my dish and an additional 10 when I sent it back because it was cold.
Lamb Curry Pho – Drool, this dish is so good. The broth is soupy, spicy and rich in coconut milk. And the meat is so tender! The only problem is that the bowl is so huge, you can never finish it! But, you try. And then, you feel completely miserable after realizing you probably had half a can of coconut milk.
[…] this place, partly because there’s barely any good Vietnamese options in this area other than Sai’s (but it’s a hike). But, I’m going to give OTD 3 clubs just because of the price. […]