Ana Mandara: drink in the exotic scenery (but skip the meal)
Written: Jul 06 '00 (Updated Feb 12 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Breathtaking, must-see interior
Cons: Overpriced food, rookie service
The Bottom Line: Mediocre food that is way overpriced. Decor is a must-see, though, so get a drink at the bar.
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| tanster's Full Review: Ana Mandara |
If you’ve ever eaten at an authentic Vietnamese restaurant, whether it be to savor pho (a steaming bowl of noodle soup, mostly served with thin slices of meat, with do-it-yourself garnishes of bean sprouts, basil, and lime), cha gio (Imperial rolls, similar to eggrolls, stuffed with meat and glass noodles, served with mint, lettuce, and nuoc mam, a Vietnamese fish sauce), or bo nuong xa (barbequed beef skewers marinated with lemongrass and spices) you know how addictive (and inexpensive) the cuisine can be!
Well, banish all thoughts of satisfying and reasonably-priced food if you enter Ana Mandara, opened just this year in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square. This is a restaurant of inimitable style, but frustrating substance.
The quick story
• A must-see, drop-dead gorgeous interior.
• Consistently disappointing food.
• Service that needs a bit more refinement.
A breathtaking interior
Ana Mandara takes you into the world of 1920s French colonial Vietnam. “The atmosphere in here is fantastic,” my Beau remarked as we were shown to our table. The dining space is dimly lit and expansive, and looked like a beautiful terrace, accentuated with gently swaying palms. Soaring exposed ceilings shine with colored spotlights. We felt like we were dining on the patio of a posh Vietnamese mansion on a warm summer night.
Plantation shutters, vintage lamps, antique sideboards, and ancient pottery and bells all contributed to the serenely exotic décor. With tables nicely spread apart, we could easily carry on a normal conversation without yelling across the table.
Walk under a towering triple archway to the grand staircase, which ascends to the elegant bar area, replete with plush couches, silk pillows, and stone fountains.
”Modern Vietnamese Cuisine”
Ana Mandara bills its cuisine as “modern Vietnamese.” My translation: overpriced and not very authentic. The menu consists of six starters, two soups, three salads, ten entrees, and five side dishes. The meal began with an amuse bouche – a shrimp cracker topped with chopped salmon, fried onions, and cucumber. Light and refreshing. we were hoping it was a reflection of the meal to come.
Starters
The appetizers consisted mainly of seafood. We chose the crispy rolls with crabmeat, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms ($8). Hoping these would be similar to traditional Imperial rolls, our expectations sank as we were served six tiny spring rolls, not bigger than my thumb, served with mint, lettuce, and a sweet dipping sauce. There was no distinguishable taste of crab, shrimp, or mushroom.
Beau also insisted on trying the sweet blue crab soup with hand-cut noodles ($7). Spicy like hot and sour soup, only thicker and less tart. The shreds of crab were intermingled with sections of noodles cut so short that at first I couldn’t recognize which was which.
The main course -- ”We’ve been had!”
Our waiter made a huge deal talking up the seared Mekong basa, scallion flowers, and spicy lemon sauce ($21), so my Beau obliged. We should have flogged our waiter for his hearty endorsement, “a special fish especially flown in from the Mekong delta.” Big deal – the dish consisted of a lightly battered and fried eight-inch filet, served on a bed of pea sprouts surrounded by a yellow-hued sauce, pungent with lemon.
My Beau, having been raised on Southern cooking, exclaimed, “What are they passing off as special?! – this is nothing but catfish!”
(Of course, when we returned home from dinner, we had to log on and do a little bit of Web research to confirm our suspicions; sure enough, basa is catfish. See http://www.seafoodlink.com/fort/products.html#basa.)
I chose the misnamed wokked tournedos of beef tenderloin, sweet onions, and pepperycress ($23). According to the Epicurious dictionary (www.epicurious.com), a tournedo is a “beef steak cut from the tenderloin, measuring 3/4 to 1 inch thick and 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter”; I, instead, was served a plate of almost stew-sized chunks of deeply marinated beef, with onions, and garnished with slivers of fried elephant garlic. Delicious, but not much different from sizzling beef platters you can find at a Chinese restaurant for half the price.
Other entrees (and ones we probably should have ordered instead) included Chilean sea bass steamed in banana leaf with shiitake mushrooms and miso sauce ($20) and spicy garlic prawns with house-made rice wine sauce and Asian noodle galette ($22). Two vegetarian entrees were offered that evening: clay pot braised vegetables with shoyu and ginger ($14) and a vegetarian “Happy Pancake” ($14).
A struggle for the last bite of dessert
After the main course dishes were cleared away from the table, I said to my Beau, “You know we have to order dessert. It’s for the review!” My Beau, rubbing his very full tummy, replied, “I’m stuffed, honey. I’ll just have a bite of whatever you order.”
Enter stage left: one bananas flambé in filo with Valrhona chocolate mousse and vanilla crème Anglais ($7).
Before I even had time to turn to a fresh page in my notebook, the Beau has practically inhaled the dessert. I was left with barely a morsel! And no wonder: buttery chunks of filo-wrapped fried banana were decadently paired with a rich chocolate mousse.
We also ordered the poached pear with vanilla rice pudding, candied lemon and ginger, with caramel sauce ($6), which was plain in comparison, but still lovely. A plump, succulent juicy half pear was filled with a generous scoop of delicately-flavored rice pudding – cool and clean.
Drinks
Ana Mandara offers six draft beers including Kirin, and Asian bottled beer such as 33 (Vietnam), Tsingtao (China), and Singha (Thailand).
The wine menu lists 120 selections, mainly from California and France. Prices range from $30-70. A 1997 Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay goes for $68. A dozen wines by the glass are offered for $5-15.
This was one of those few occasions when my Beau and I didn’t order wine, preferring to share a single martini instead.
It must have been training night for the servers
During our two-hour meal, service was a bit erratic – while we were promptly served our appetizers and entrees, our server was nowhere to be found when it came time to order dessert (perhaps he was giving us time to enjoy the lovely surroundings). And for a restaurant of this caliber, our young man answered our questions about the menu with some difficulty (not to mention steering us into choppy basa waters).
Atmosphere
Although the Ana Mandara menu states “Dress code strictly enforced,” we saw no jackets or ties. To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t wear jeans, sneakers, tshirts, or any other sports-oriented attire. This is also not a restaurant for children.
The Nash Bridges connection
Yes, Don Johnson and Cheech Marin, stars of TV show Nash Bridges, are major investors in Ana Mandara; Johnson supposedly visits the restaurant a few times a week (no, he wasn’t there on our night).
All in all
We left Ana Mandara $100 lighter and very unfulfilled. To make matters worse, we drove by our beloved Crustacean on the way home, where we could have gorged on roasted crab and garlic noodles with much more enthusiasm.
While Ana Mandara’s interior truly was stunning, I can’t recommend eating a full meal there, especially if you know and enjoy traditional Vietnamese food. But do enjoy a drink at the bar. You might even bump into Don. :)
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Ana Mandara
891 Beach St., Ghirardelli Square
San Francisco, CA
Skip the valet parking ($8) and go for the Ghirardelli Square parking garage (around $3 for 2 hours on a Sunday night)
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
tanster
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Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 111
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About Me:
Happily reviewing cool gadgets and SF Bay Area restaurants since 1999. Pass the gravy, please.
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