La Vie Restaurant: best Vietnamese + dungeness crab in San Francisco?

Dungeness crab–one of the best dishes in San Francisco

Garlic noodles for dungeness crab

Spring rolls

Resident Foodies say: One of our perennial favorites in San Francisco is La Vie Vietnamese Restaurant on Geary (between 22nd and 23rd) in the Richmond. The small Vietnamese restaurant would be classified as a true “hole in the wall,” but the food is really fantastic and authentic. We are not surprised the Bay Area voted La Vie as the Best Vietnamese restaurant in all of the Bay Area for 2010. It is that good.

The signature dish at La Vie is the dungeness crab, pictured above, called the La Vie roast crab served with garlic noodles. This is one of the best dishes you will find in all of San Francisco. The dish is to die for. One of the best parts is mixing the crab meat stuffing (a dark mixture) with the garlic noodles. It’s a taste that is hard to describe–other than to say it’s heavenly!

Don’t let the hole-in-the-wall looks scare you off. This Vietnamese restaurant is a true gem in San Francisco!

Review of Slanted Door in San Francisco

Owner and Executive chef: Charles Phan

Location: 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco Map

Phone:: 415.861.8032

Website: http://slanteddoor.com Yelp reviews: click

Tidbit: 22 members of Phan’s family work @ The Slanted Door. The original restuarant located in the Mission did, in fact, have a slanted door.

Resident Foodies say: Chef Charles Phan’s “family” restaurant started out as a hole-in-the-wall in the Mission in 1995 and quickly rose to mega-success. We were there in the beginning and have to admit that the old location had a lot of “ma-and-pa” charm that may be missing today–although the parking was a nightmare. But the Ferry Building location is large, majestic, and always crowded with both devoted regulars and many tourists. Throughout the past 14 years, the Vietnamese food has stayed true to itself–cleanly prepared with fresh ingredients and wonderful spices. Prices have increased since 1995, but it is so worth it.

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