Bong Su

The Fashion Guy and I had dinner a few nights ago at Bong Su in SoMA and I had to write about it. The restaurant is quickly gaining a reputation as competition for Slanted Door, San Francisco's most well known Vietnamese restaurant.

Bong Su is a very posh restaurant that took over the old Mel's Diner space near the SF MoMA. Inside the restaurant is a study in urban chic. Asian art abounds and amazing, architectural flower arrangements are everywhere. The bar is dimly lit with lots of cozy, brown wood tables and a brown pebble tiled bar. It looks fabulous, but hold on to your drink, they're a bit tippy on the raised surface.

The restaurant bills itself as dressy and you'd better believe them. The dining room is separate from the bar/lounge. Tables are far enough apart to have a private, romantic dinner. The food, though is the reason to come. The shaking beef, which they are famed for, is more tender than you'd believe. The sauce is so good you'll be sweeping it up with extra grains of jasmine rice. We started our meal with the duck mustard appetizer and a couple of drinks. I moved on to the shaking beef and Fashion Guy ordered the masala lamb curry and a glass of Zinfandel that was so delicious it almost made me weep. We were at BevMo this morning trying to buy a case of this stuff, it was that good. For dessert we shared the black sesame begniets with chocolate and vanilla sauce and black sesame ice cream. It was a very interesting combination of sweet and savory. Absolutely delicious.

You should definitely check this place out. I'm making it my go to place for Valentine's Day next year. Tres romantique!