Bodega SF — Restaurant in San Francisco

Service: Good service all around from the host, waitress, and busser, table was constantly cleared of plates and utensils and water refilled. The staff were chill and friendly.

Atmosphere: More of a casual upscale restaurant vibe, a little dim with sports playing behind the bar. We were seated next to the door and it was a bit cold. Overall pretty spacious and didn’t feel cramped.

Food: Bahn Cuon: my favorite dim sum dish is churn fun and this being the Vietnamese equivalent was super good. The rice roll itself was silky smooth and the filling was flavorful and when you dip into that salty sweet Nuoc Mam it’s perfect, the icing on the cake are the crispy shallots that they do so well here that adds some texture to the dish.

Bun Cha: a little pricey but it was good. The pork belly is cut into square bacon sized pieces and the dish comes with 3 big meatballs which both were grilled enough to give it a charred Smokey flavor. It’s served with rice noodles and Vietnamese herbs and lettuce which you make your own wrap or taco. Enough to serve 3 people(we ordered 2 for a party of 5), and my only knock on this dish is that it comes with very little lettuce like 4 pieces and they were not that big in size either. We ordered extra lettuce which was $2.

Bo Tai Chanm: the description says this dish is seared but from what I saw it was not. I’ve had better at Yummy yummy without the $23 price tag. I think I would’ve been happy with this dish if the price was lower, honestly with such thinly sliced meat you don’t need to use tenderloin since the texture won’t be much of a factor and it’s pricier and most of the flavor is from the sauce it’s bathed in anyway. Not worth it.

Mac Khem Lamb Chops: the lamb chops itself were nice and thick and cooked perfectly just like the broccolini and the potatoes it came with were nice and crispy. I didn’t taste any peppercorn but the sauce it came with was interesting, to me it tasted like old bay seasoning which I didn’t think paired that well with the lamb chops.

Bo Kho: you get 1 big meaty short rib which they cut into 7-8 pieces. Really well cooked and extremely tender. The sauce is like the Bo kho broth you get at a pho restaurant that’s been reduced so this dish is like a deconstructed fancified version of that sans the noodles.

Side of Garlic noodles: just meh, didn’t taste any garlic, just some fish sauce and sugar. $15 price tag for noodles and sauce.

Side Beef pho(Hanoi style): I forgot to take a picture of this but this was really good, they use fresh noodles and it came with a good amount of various cuts of beef. The broth is a lot more clear than I’m use to but it highlights the herbs and the quality of the beef. For $8.50 it’s definitely a steal.

Hojicha panna cotta: 2/5 of us liked this dessert including myself, for me it tasted like the matcha strawberry drink you get at boba guys but in panna cotta form LOL. A little tartness and sweetness from the berries, some creaminess and bitterness from the panna cotta topped with some coco nibs.

Pandan butter mochi topped with lychee ice cream. What’s not to like? Spongey and bouncey with good flavor.

Drinks: every one we got was wonderful, for the non alcoholic drinks we got the sugar cane w/ calamansi, pandan w/ almond spritz, and Vietnamese ice coffee all were really good and not overly priced. The cocktails were good too I forgot what was ordered though.

Overall I would come back for apps and drinks and that pho. I’m happy I got to finally try this place after so many years of people telling me about the old bodega bistro restaurant and friends that also told me about...

Bodega SF is a love letter to Vietnamese cuisine, carrying on the legacy of Matthew Ho's family restaurant, Bodega Bistro. It's a beautiful evolution, offering high-quality dishes in a modern and casual, fine dining setting.

We had a dinner reservation on a weekday evening, and while there were patrons, the ambiance was relaxed and intimate. The sleek and stylish interior sets the stage for a memorable experience.

The service was impeccable. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable, ensuring our water glasses were always full and making timely recommendations. We opted for a culinary adventure, trying a variety of dishes: sugarcane juice, lemongrass clams, mini pho (both chicken and beef), bun cha, bo luc lac, bo kho short rib, and pandan mochi bar. Every single dish was delicious, showcasing the talents of the kitchen.

The sugarcane juice was pretty sweet, so if you want a more balanced drink, opt for sugarcane calamansi juice instead. The lemongrass clams were a revelation. The vibrant, zesty broth was incredibly comforting, and the smaller clams were perfectly cooked. Both mini phos were surprisingly good, with a deeply flavorful broth that exceeded expectations for a smaller portion.

Bun cha was a standout. The heritage pork belly and meatballs were cooked to perfection, boasting a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The thin rice vermicelli noodles were light and refreshing, perfectly complementing the richness of the pork and pickled vegetables. The Nuoc Cham dipping sauce was an explosion of flavor, bringing together sweet, salty, sour, and spicy notes.

Bo luc lac, while still delicious, was our least favorite. The tenderloin was fantastic, but the overall flavor profile didn't quite hit the mark for us. However, the bo kho short rib was phenomenal. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender and bursting with flavor, making it a personal favorite alongside the lemongrass clams.

Finally, the pandan mochi bar was the perfect ending. The warm, gooey mochi paired beautifully with the cold vanilla ice cream, creating a harmonious balance of textures and flavors.

Overall, Bodega SF offers an exceptional dining experience. The food is delicious and beautifully presented, the service is impeccable, and the ambiance is sleek and inviting. If you're looking for a modern take on Vietnamese comfort food, look no further...

Went with the tasting menu to get outside my comfort zone and see what the best the restaurant had to offer was. For drinks, we got the banh bo gimlet, toastedtini, and a glass of wine. The gimlet was absolutely the single greatest cocktail I've ever had. It was perfectly balanced and aromatic.

Not all of the tasting menu was amazing but like 99% of it was. The oysters tasted really bright and fresh. The banh khot caviar is mind-blowing! It was a perfectly balanced single bite of caked and fried shrimp taken to the next level with the addition of a small scoop of caviar. The bo tai chanh also stood out as an exceptional dish because of how every ingredient in that dish felt like it was perfectly used to layer both flavors and textures. You just have to try it for yourself to understand. The Dungeness crab salad clearly tried to do the same thing but I felt that the tobiko was a little overused causing it to overwhelm the other textures.

The various components of the manila clams were all executed well and came together to form a delicious dish. I particularly enjoyed the broth and would gladly have just slurped up a bowl of that. After that came the bun cha which had no chance of living up to the excellence of the clams and their unforgettable broth. The bun cha was still good though. The tangy broth that the proteins were marinating in was excellent and the herbs were fresh. It was also fun to put everything together yourself and build your own bowl or lettuce wrap. We got bowls of pho for our seventh course which, at that point, felt less like a treat and more like an obligation. We were starting to get pretty full and the pho wasn't exciting enough to put much effort into trying to finish. Btw, the beef pho is way better than the chicken pho. Honestly, I loved my overall experience so much that I don't even want to mention dessert but I should. It's not good. It's bland and boring. Service and ambiance were top notch. Overall, best Vietnamese...