Date: December 29, 2005
Location: 607 Larkin Street, San Francisco
Corkage: $20 for 9 bottles, not sure if it's the norm
Cost: $50 per person (tax, tip and corkage included)
Phone: 415.921.1218

This is a long overdue review for the restaurant, for one reason or the other I never got around to post this. However, since I am in a little irritable mood this morning and reading whiner's comment about Slanted Door really put me over, so I decided it's time to dig up the brief notes of this restaurant that specialize in colony cuisine of Vietnam. This is authentic cuisine from Vietnam that Slanted Door never will be.

Due to the recommendation of winebuddy, a small off-line for party of six was planned for a visit to Bodega Bistro.

I contacted the chef Jimmie Kwok a day before the dinner to clue him in on what we were looking for, he happily said that he would go shopping the same morning to bring back whatever is fresh and plan on a five course menu.

Armed with wine bottles and stems, we attempt to arrive at the restaurant for our 7pm reservation, which I was late by a good 20 minutes or so, reason I can't think of at the moment. Present for the evening were rhone warrior & Jen, Mr. & Mrs. tanglenet, brettay and yours truly.

I was greeted with a nice glass of 1988 Krug they had saved for me when I finally arrived. Chef Jimmie also came out to introduce himself and this is when I handed him a bottle of wine as a token of thank you, as winebuddy had mentioned Jimmie really likes red wine. At this time, chef also asked if we had any food allergies and we were set for a fun evening. If I recall correctly, Mrs. tanglenet did not eat red meat, so on a couple of courses, an alternative was brought out.

Menu were useless to us for the evening, our stomach was in Jimmie's hand and sure didn't disappoint. We started with refreshing Papaya Salad with Beef Jerkey followed by at least two dozens of half shells, mixture of Kumamoto and Hog Island.
Roasted Squab was next, perfectly done with crispy golden skin that's simply delicious. As we were finishing the squab, chef brought out a friend for introduction, a giant live lobster for our next course. Lobster with Ginger and Scallion Sauce was the destiny of our new found friend, of course, fresh as it can be.
Up next is where we see the French colony influence on Vietnam, a Duck Confit that rivals any other restaurant in the city. Going back to the authentic nature, the next course is a rendition of what's commonly known as Shaking Beef, Steak with Onion and Baby Bokchoy. Last but not least, fresh catch of the day, a beautiful Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce completes the evening.

I don't recall the exact total of the bill that included tax, tip and corkage. To make the math easy, we rounded up to $300 total for the six of us. At $50 per person, it's probably still a bit on the high side when thinking about typical Asian fare, but for a banquet style menu such as this, one can't do much better.

As I am typing this up, my mood is picking up as I recall the fun evening. Think it's time to pay Bodega Bistro a second visit, should give winebuddy a call to see if he would like to join me one evening.