Andrea went to work in the office downtown so we decided to have dinner downtown. I had read about this place in the usual blogs (i.e. The Infatuation, Eater, etc.) so we decided to give it a try. It’s located in the Tenderloin on the same block as Kin Khao. Cuisine here is a modern upscale take on Vietnamese food. The restaurant is the reincarnation of a restuarant that Matt Ho’s family had for 14 years, closed down in 2017 and eventually re-opened in 2022.

We opted for the tasting menu because we figured that was the best way to try out a variety of dishes, and in the end, there were eight dishes. We also had to try their cocktails…Andrea had the Nouc Mam Martini (kumquat, saline, serrano) with Vodka and I had the Sweet and Soursop since it was mezcal based. Both were good, not bad, not great. On a scale of 1-10, we both agreed cocktails here were decent with a solid 5 (for reference we’d give Nari a 9; Fiorella, 2). Initial courses came quite quickly and we actually didn’t receive our cocktails until we were 3 dishes in already.

First bites were kusshi oysters with a vinaigrette which were decent and an uni bite on a bed of what seemed like a bit of sticky rice cake which had some interesting seasoning, but relatively unremarkable otherwise.

Next dish was the banh khot caviar which was a tumeric cake, with shrimp, topped by caviar (I forgot to ask from where) all set atop a perilla leaf. This was delicious with all the flavors coming together and was one of our favorite dishes of the night.

Third course was a dungeness crab salad topped with some fish roe. Our first reaction was that the dish was big for just the two of us during a tasting menu. Fortunately, we love salads, but unfortunately, this salad was incredibly bland. We were so surprised that we seriously questioned if they had forgotten an ingredient or seasoning. I love Dungeness crab, but it was very present in the flavor.

Fourth course was the bo tai chanh, their take on beef carpaccio. This had a nice presentation and included thai basil, crispy shallots and citrus nuoc mam which all made for a very tasty dish with the shallots adding a nice texture to it all. This also was one of our favorite dishes.

Next came the lemongrass clams. The clams were fine and the addition of the kumquat fish sauce made it more flavorful and interesting.

After that came the bun cha with pork belly and meatballs serviced with a side of rice vermicelli and thai basil, and lettuce. This good was good (not great and not bad at all).

Last savory course was their mini-pho. For variety I had the beef and Andrea ordered the chicken. These were also good (not great and not bad) straightforward pho. The broths were good, not particularly rich (and the beef more so than the chicken not surprisingly). Although if we just wanted traditional pho, we probably would just go to the inner sunset or richmond.

Lastly, came the mochi pandan served with coconut gelato. The mochi is a very striking St. Patrick’s level of green due to the pandan (we also had a pandan dessert at Nari last week) and was served hot which was great to go with the gelato. This was also one of our favorite dishes and nice way to end the meal.

All in all, we were really stuffed at the end of the meal. It was nice to try the variety of dishes they had to offer and we’re glad we went, although with so many other choices in the city, it would be awhile before we’d revisit.