Michael M. Le
Khai Vietnamese Nouveau is an eponymous restaurant by Chef Khai Duong, who brings upscale tasting menu to this intimate restaurant in San Francisco's Design District. Each night features two seatings - at 5:30PM and 8:30PM - during when guests can embark on exquisite culinary journey through Vietnam.
The 10-course dinner begins with Fresh Seaweed Salad, which features delicious white seaweed in refreshing vinaigrette with mint, chopped peanuts, crispy shallots, and pickled onion. Then you move onto a warmer appetizer with Seared Foie Gras with truffle oil, which pairs perfectly with mango and crunchy pickled vegetables. Don't forget to dip them into salted dried plum sauce. The Local Sweet Dungeness Crab Soup is an innovative dish that is full of flavors. The soup is topped with cripsy shallots and herbs, and features generous lumps of crab meat and hand-crafted noodles. Next up is Local Fish of the Day Ceviche. Tonight's fish was grouper, and the ceviche is served with crispy fried ball of yam, red onions, and Vietnamese herbs.
Next set of dishes include Soft-shell Crab Roll wrapped in brown rice paper with avocado, romaine, mint, as well as Seared Rare Beef - essentially steak tartare on top of fresh plantain with red onion, corlander, and tamarind. My personal favorite was the Baked Local Fish of the Day, which was flavorful butterfish in turmeric sauce with dill, scallions, and rice noodles. The Butter Poached Lobster was complemented by crispy corn fritter with Kaffir lime-jalapeno and banana sauce.
The final savory dish was Pan Seared Rack of Lamb in Vietnamese spice, served on top of braised eggplant and scallion oil. For dessert, guests enjoyed Pineapple Ravioli filled with sweet Durian custard, and topped with fresh mint, walnuts, and raspberries.
No comments:
Post a Comment