Thanh Long Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

My friend and I wanted to try a bunch of things without breaking the bank. Below is what we ordered:

Thanh Long Mussels, 5 piece per order, mild in flavor, it was fine.

Salt & Pepper Calamari, not much flavor/salt, heavy on the onion garnish, wouldn’t order again.

Dungeness Crab Puffs, crab was present and sauce was yummy.

Steamed Sea Bass, we asked the server for assistance as we were undecided between the 2 fish dishes (sea bass or basa) to which he immediately said we should order the sea bass. When we asked why, he paused for a bit then said it was his favorite. I asked why it was his favorite and he said he liked the flavor. I couldn’t help but think he recommended the sea bass because it was the higher priced. The dish was pretty, heavily garnished with red onion. It was challenging to distinguish the flavor of the citrus pesto. Honestly all I could taste was red onion.

2 orders Garlic Noodles (1 for each of us). This was the reason we dined here. I have heard so much about the garlic noodles over the years. The noodle texture was pretty much perfect. The menu didn’t specify if it’s housemade, so if they’re from a 3rd party vendor they should stick with them. They still had a slight chew, which was nice. The flavor was somewhat lacking. The garlic was disappointingly light. Maybe it’s because I hyped it up in my head. Don’t get me wrong, I could have certainly eaten another plate. But, I make it at home and prefer my version. (Sorry if I sound like a douche,…not trying to.)

We really wanted to order the crab, but couldn’t justify the $80 price point.

All in with tax and tip, $177 and change. We drank water. If you gots money to burn, then go for it. For us normal folk, I wouldn’t recommend. Lots of other places where your dollar goes further and is as good...

Hate that I have to put 1 Star. My family and I were happy customers at our visit at Thanh Long until I had left overs for lunch the next day... We ordered the crab, king prawns, appetizers, and garlic noodles. We had noodles left over and our waiter asked if we wanted to pack it up to go we said yes so he took our plates back to the kitchen to pack it up.... Went to work and it was lunch time so I was excited to warm up my food and sat down ready to dig in. As I took about 3 bites I see something dark in there and come to my surprise it was a knot of hair.. not one strand it was like if someone took it out of a brush and placed it in there or it had fallen on the floor and the waiter just packed it up without saying anything to anyone. I was in complete disbelief and shock. I literally wanted to throw up. I decided to call the store manager and spoke to Dang Vu. All he can do was apologize and he did take my word for it. All he could say was I’ve never heard this before and only has heard of one strand but never a full knot. He only offered to give me free drinks or noodles if I ever go back which I highly doubt I will EVER. My coworkers and friends raved about this place and don’t get me wrong it was good but couldn’t believe what happened towards the end. I would have checked it before leaving. You just don’t expect for this to happen. Dang said he would investigate further. I’m trying to be understanding but I really hope he investigates. The person that did this can really ruin your business. They lost a customer that’s for sure.( I can’t believe I recommend them all over my social media account) Anyways, moral of the story is check your to-go food before leaving the restaurant.I will provide photos.. WARNING you might wanna puke after...

We were so excited to visit Thanh Long based on reviews, but we left pretty disappointed.

Service and atmosphere were great. After tax and 20% service charge, our cocktails were about $20 each. I got the Chambord lemon drop, and it tasted like nothing. It is a type of martini but it tasted incredibly watered down and I did not feel like there was much alcohol in it at all.

The appetizers were decent but not mind-blowing. The pepper calamari was 50% onions. The shrimp pate was room temperature. Come to think of it, all of our food was room temperature. The coconut prawns were nice but again nothing to write home about.

$82 for a crab is frankly insane. We opted for the prawns with noodles and the steamed sea bass. Both dishes were room temperature. The bass and the prawns were tough and overcooked. The prawn dish, which was about $40, came with FOUR prawns. The sea bass portion was a little bigger than my palm. The flavors for each of these dishes left a lot to be desired. The seabass was unseasoned and dry. The garlic noodles were essentially butter noodles with garlic. Not horrible, just not at ALL worth the price.

Desserts were a similar situation. The creme brulee cheesecake was not crunchy like a creme brulee, it had more of the consistency of rubber. The slice was giving “I only have a small birthday cake and 20+ people so everyone gets a sliver.” The fried bananas were giving boardwalk food—the dough was super thick.

Overall, this dining experience was quite disappointing. It certainly did not feel like we had a meal worth $300. I wish other reviews reflected this more.

TL;DR. Very small portions, mediocre flavors, overcooked seafood, and watered-down drinks. Go somewhere else...