Le Soleil - Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine
133 Clement Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
San Francisco, California
(415) 668-4848

I recently found this Vietnamese restaurant that you will not hear anyone talk about, but it merits attention. It's not a "funky" little place like Tu Lan or a lot of Vietnamese places. This is not meant to be a knock on them, but this place has a bit of style that puts it into the category of "a nice place to take someone to eat" from decor and cleanliness to the servers' attire. The prices are a bit higher than the more down home spots but the preparation, quality, and presentation make it worthwhile.
I love appetizers to the point that I could go through most of life inthis section of most menus, and especially in the countless varieties of Asian restaurants we can enjoy in this area. I love Imperial Rolls and those here are worthy, tasty, and not oily. For that matter, one of the things I most liked about this place is lack of the "greasy" quality that you find in a lot of Vietnamese places. The second time I had them on an Combination Appetizer with perfect Lemon Grass Beef and Grilled Prawns accompanied by rice noodles, letuce, mint, some pickled stuff and rice paper to wrap it in, although I ended up eating it from the plate.

The Vietnamese Crepes have a crisp rice flour exterior filled with shrimp, crispy bits of chicken, bean sprouts and bits of other vegetables which you also wrap yourself, this time in lettuce leaves with mint leaves. This is a great place to go if you like to play with food. In the four times I have been here so far, I have been unable to detect too much oil in anything. I had an appetizer called Vietnamese Pot Stickers that was a big surprise. They were the size of a golfball, deep-fried sticky rice surrounding a combination of minced pork, shrimp, mushrooms and carrots that looked a little like a porcupine with Rice Krispy quills. The Shrimp and Pork Rolls were alright but not extraordinary. I have yet to hit the soup section, but I expect to be eating here many more times.

Believe it or not, I have made it to the regular plates. The Beef Look Luck is quick grilled with a garlicky marinade and though it was not exactly "exceptionally tender" as proclaimed by its description, it was good beef with great flavor and cooked just right to please a wide range of beef doneness preferences. The Vietnamese BBQ Pork was fantastic, a good cut of meat with just a little fat that give this selection a great flavor and none of the chewy things that often appear in this dish. The chewy stuff appeared in the Five Spiced Roasted Chicken, one of the five not being ground up and appearing in inedible chunks, which may have accounted for the unusual blend of flavors in this traditional selection.

A Sauteed Prawns with Coconut & Curry Sauce plate has a great sauce that has just enough red pepper in it to fire up your mouth after a while. A unique choice was a Pan Fried Soft Shell Crab in Butter available in a one crab appetizer portion which seemed to be fresh as they said, and was accompanied by a salty lemon and pepper dipping sauce. Don't ever expect a rational opinion from me on SS Crab unless they are absolutely awful. Try one if you like them. You can always order the second one.

Two vegetarian dishes have been tried so far. Green Beans looked like they were made with minced pork as is often the case, but instead had white radish that was minced and marinated in soy sauce to give it an interesting texture while adding a salty and flavorful addition to the crunchy fresh sweet stars of the plate. The eggplant with garlic sauce was the best I've ever had.

I have a lot more ground to explore at this place. There are at least a dozen more meat-free choices, including an eggplant with garlic sauce that was the best I've had (I just went back). Although the desserts are also untried, a companion noted that no one finished the Creme Caramel. I recently had BBQ Pork & Imperial Rolls with Rice Noodles for lunch and although it was not distinguished (not enough grease?) they offer an extensive selection of plates that needs further investigation.

Try this place if you like Vietnamese food. If you think you don't, take a cue from current events and President Clinton and abandon your past fears and trepidations. Establish some new relations in the foods of nations. You might just like it.

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