The Slanted Door

Posted by Adam Kuban, June 12, 2006 at 2:13 AM

After an afternoon playing tourist on Alcatraz Island, the girlfriend and I needed a place to eat. We took her sister's advice and headed to the recently restored Ferry Terminal Building for Vietnamese at some place called http://www.slanteddoor.com/.

I had read about the Slanted Door on foodblogs and in the press but had somehow managed to forget about it until visiting the city last week. I had managed to forget all the raves, all the backlash, and also the fact that a reservation was required.

No problem, though. We got there around 6:15 p.m., looking like prison escapees, but were squeezed in by an accommodating host — if we promised to make our dinner quick, she said, "Like, 45 minutes to an hour."

Again: No problem. We're fast eaters. We started with Slanted Door spring rolls (pictured above), crispy imperial rolls (below), and a green papaya salad. The appetizers were up to snuff, especially in comparison to a disappointing lunch in the same building at the lackluster Taylor's Automatic.

Maybe we should have stuck with appetizers. The grilled pork chips (with ginger-soy-shallot sauce and crispy potatoes) I ordered were slightly overdone and the chicken claypot dish (with caramel sauce, chilies and fresh ginger) that the girl ordered was a touch too salty and not all that remarkable. The price and setting (a beautiful dining room with stunning views of San Francisco Bay) led me to expect more from the place. And later, I was even more disappointed when I put two and two together and realized where I had just eaten (Ruth Reichl, I was told, had named it one of America's best restaurants, and Bill Clinton had dined there when in town at some point, I heard).

I realize this was just one meal, though, so if I have the opportunity to go back to the city by the bay, I'd give the Slanted Door another chance. It's the least I could do, given how friendly the staff was and how nice they were to give a couple of last-minute bedraggled tourists a table.

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Tags: California, San Francisco, SF, The Slanted Door