It’s almost 2pm, I’m in San Francisco, and I still haven’t had lunch yet. My friends and I had just finished eating some pastries from Jina Bakes, but we still needed to eat lunch! My friend looked up a few places and we finally decided on Bodega, a Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Apparently this is an area that people usually stay out of, but my friend promised us that the restaurant location itself is not too bad.
My friend dropped us off in front of the restaurant, then went to find parking. We sat down and looked at the menu. I wasn’t sure what to expect because the menu and space looked fancier than the Vietnamese restaurants I usually go to. There weren’t too many options on the menu, but every dish was so different and sounded good it was hard to choose! Luckily, we decided to order a few things to share so I got to try some more items. Here’s what we ordered:
Spring Rolls – Choice of Nem Nuong, Shrimp, or Tofu. We ordered both the Nem Nuong and Shrimp Spring Rolls! It was cut into four pieces, so we got to try one piece of each!
Banh Cuon – Vietnamese Rice Roll, Ground Pork, Wood Ear Mushroom, Fancy Pork. This dish was my favorite. The texture of the ingredients wrapped inside paired with the rice roll on the outside made it very fun to eat, and with the sauce and bean sprouts, it was delicious!
Nem Cua – Dungeness Crab, Shrimp, Jicama, Carrots, Shiitake Mushroom.
Lemongrass Grilled Wings – Lemongrass, Chili Flakes. These wings tasted really good! I liked the flavor, and the meat was cooked just right. I did not expect it to be grilled (I didn’t read the menu), but it turned out to be a great choice! This dish also reminded me of another grilled chicken dish my friend had made before that everyone enjoyed.
Pho Hanoi – Wok-Seared Filet, Leeks, Chinese Donut, Beef Bone Broth.
Dry Hu Tieu – Shrimp, Chicken, Ground Pork, Fishcake, Garlic Maggi. This was an interesting dish. I usually don’t order something like this at a Vietnamese restaurant, but that’s exactly why I wanted to try it! It was a bigger portion than I expected, and there was a lot of meat on top. It also came with some soup and a bowl of sauce. Personally, I found the sauce to be a bit salty, but the soup with just a little bit of sauce with each bite was pretty good!
This was a great choice for lunch! There are so many different things you can order at a Vietnamese restaurant and after trying some new dishes at Bodega, I’m curious to see what else I have been missing out on this whole time!