Betelnut - Fun choice for big groups in San Francisco
Written: May 08 '04 (Updated Nov 05 '06)
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Pros: Great food and service, perfect for groups
Cons: Bill adds up quickly, less exciting for singles or couples, sometimes noisy
The Bottom Line: Go with a group of good hungry friends. You'll have a blast.
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| lyagushka's Full Review: Betelnut |
My husband and I have eaten at Betelnut on four occasions. Just when we were beginning to think the place was a bit of a one trick pony, we were asked to pick a San Francisco restaurant to take a group of seven people. We knew from experience that Betelnut is an exciting and fun place to go with lots of friends, at least the first time. We'd been a little less impressed with each successive visit, mostly because the menu didn't seem to change much and so offered little in the way of novelty for returning patrons. Despite that impression, we decided that Betelnut would fit the bill - none of the five people who were to accompany us had ever eaten there, so we knew that it would at least wow them the first time around. As it turned out, this fourth time proved the charm. With so many people to order for, we enjoyed our best meal there so far.
You might get away with calling Betelnut a sort of pan-Asian tapas bar. The restaurant, located in the tony Cow Hollow neighborhood, styles itself after the "pejiu wu" beer halls of Asia, which serve up beer with small portions of fresh "street food." The term could apply to nearly anything of course, and the wide-ranging menu at Betelnut pays tribute to the varied and wonderful cuisines of the Far East.
Atmosphere
Betelnut has a definite vibe about it, and in all honesty I have to say that it feels put on. Clearly management aimed to make this into a hip restaurant when they opened several years ago. For the most part, I'd say they succeeded. The front bar area is quite the "see and be scene" spot, and the very dimly lit interior hints of opium den abandon. But the actual dining area is surprisingly spacious, wholesome and laid back. From many tables you get an eyeful the open line, with huge clouds of flame erupting every few minutes. Soft and innocuous music blends into the somewhat noisy background of an altogether pleasant atmosphere. This is definitely more of a fun night out than a place for a quiet romantic meal.
Once seated, you'll find cloth napkins and plain silverware set out on the tables, but also a canister of plastic chopsticks. Ordinary sturdy glassware and plates balance out the highly styled interior design, and most likely hold down the final cost of your meal.
The food and the menu
The menu is divided into small and not-so-small dishes, all of which can be ordered in any combination or sequence. There are a limited number of choices for vegetarians and even fewer for vegans. Those "vegetarians" who also eat fish should have no problem at all. Although I'm a big fan of all Asian cuisines and eat Asian food regularly, there were many dishes on Betelnut's menu that I've had nowhere else. And many of the dishes that sounded somewhat familiar on the menu proved to be very interesting twists on old favorites like Thai som tom salad or Chinese moo shu dishes. To our delight, we found that the menu had changed significantly since our last visit, so we had new dishes to explore this time around. Although I missed the wonderful "emerald noodles" that I'd enjoyed so much before, all was forgiven in the bounty of the current offerings. This menu will definitely please those who love all types of Asian food.
Patrons can order all at once or slowly over the course of the meal. The idea is for all the dishes to be shared at the table. Personally, I absolutely love this style of eating. I much prefer to graze on many different dishes than to fill up on any one thing, no matter how wonderful the individual dish. So you can see why this menu set up lends itself to larger groups.
With a hungry group of seven people we ordered the following: crispy tofu cakes with spicy chili sauce and ground peanuts, some very tender "satay-o-chicken" with a mild Indonesian peanut sauce, "little dragon" pork and shrimp dumplings, roti prata - a fluffy Indian-style bread served with yogurt and curry sauces, Szechuan green beans, eggplant Nanking, "Mongolian hoisin" pork - something much akin to moo shu but served with more substantive pancakes, some soupy Malaysian curry "laksa" noodles with bean sprouts and tofu, vegetarian potstickers, chili-crusted calamari, "firecracker" shrimp with red and green chilis and Thai basil leaves, lemongrass chicken served with minty pickles and finally, a lovely piece of ono fish served with cherry tomatoes.
Everything we had was good and many of the dishes were outstanding. Different people liked different things the best. My personal favorites were the famous Betelnut Szechuan green beans and the firecracker shrimp. I thought the calamari was the least impressive, but others raved about it. I especially liked that almost every dish came with its own sauce or even two different sauces.
I'm no fan of beer, so I stuck to tap water with my meal. But my beer snob husband approves of the beers on offer at Betelnut. To one of our companions he mentioned that Betelnut has their beers contract brewed by the Pyramid brewing company.
Service, etc.
We enjoyed excellent service from a very friendly waitress who helped us select some of our dishes. She was knowledgeable about the menu and warned us when we began to order too many dishes. Not that we allowed common sense and the fear of God to hold us back. Her recommendations were great; we ended up ordering another of the roti prata bread she recommended.
I liked that our tiny little plates were swapped about halfway through our grazefest; they had gotten a bit messy with all the different sauces used to garnish the many dishes. Also, our water glasses were refilled promptly - something that impressed me since I tend to drink a lot of water with my meals. Any staff that can keep up with my water consumption is doing a good job.
Prices
Guess what? The cost of the beer and all those 'little' dishes can add up quickly. You'll get out of this place a little more cheaply if you stick to tap water of course. But that's asking a bit much of a meal in a beer hall, Asian or no. Even so, our meal for seven people came to a fairly reasonable $219 before tip. That's really not so bad, especially when you consider that $65 of that went for 13 beers. Essentially, that's about 30 bucks per person, plus a nice tip. So a meal at Betelnut can't be considered too much of a splurge.
Final Thoughts
I'd really recommend that first timers visit this restaurant with a large group. The convivial atmosphere lends itself most readily to groups and that way you'll get to try a lot of different things. We had a great time during this most recent meal at Betelnut and I'd definitely eat there again the next time I find myself in San Francisco with a hungry group of friends.
Looking for other San Francisco restaurants of this caliber? I can also recommend:
• Boulevard - hands down, the best restaurant in San Francisco
• Woodward's Garden, which is almost as good as Boulevard
• Suppenkuche - unpretentious German bierhaus charm in Hayes Valley
• Helmand - low profile, excellent Afghan place in the North Beach neighborhood, great value
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Large Group
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