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[title]In a love letter to Vietnam's national dish, Greg Hugunin (Bouley, Blue Hill) retools the traditional bowl with French techniques for this Hell's Kitchen pho haven, opening January 31st. The toque—who spent years probing the Bay Area's Vietnamese scene as the SF Weekly's food critic—took a six-month trek across Southeast Asia to bone up on Far East flavors. Here he applies classic techniques to the humble street food: making sous vide chicken breast for his pho ga (chicken noodle soup), browning bones to deepen flavor and straining his stock through a chinois. Similarly, the bar program embraces culture clash: Juleps are spiced with zesty ginger, Bloody Marys infused with fish sauce and Thai chili, and iced tea perfumed with star anise and cardamom.
STARTERS
Lettuce wraps (all served with mango, cucumber, fresh herbs and ginger-chile dip):
Minced shrimp on sugarcane skewers $9
Pork belly two ways slow roasted, quickly grilled $8
Grilled beef meatballs $8
Grilled lemongrass chicken $8
Fresh summer rolls (all served with peanut sauce and ginger-chile dip):
Shrimp with cucumber, mango and mint $8
Grilled skirt steak with cucumber & Thai basil $8
Grilled Thai-style chicken and green papaya $7
Smoked tofu with pickled daikon & cilantro $6
Small Tastes
Green papaya wedges with chile-salt $4
Watermelon with ginger-chile $3
Vietnamese pickles cucumber, daikon, radish, carrot $4
Salads
Thai beef salad (with grilled skirt steak, mango, cucumber, hand-cut lettuces and
chile-lemongrass vinaigrette) $14
Vietnamese chicken salad (with poached chicken breast, napa cabbage, lime, cilantro & mint) $10
Chilled glass noodle salad (with seared tofu, roasted eggplant, cucumber & black sesame) $9
Spicy green papaya salad $8
with grilled chicken $11
with grilled shrimp $13
PHO & BUN BO HUE
Pho Deluxe (with “five styles” beef: poached, braised, grilled, meatballs, broth) #21
Pho Bo (with rare and well done beef) $15 regular/ $11 baby
Pho Ga (with grilled chicken thigh and sous vide poached breast) $15 deluxe/ $11 regular/ $8 baby
Pho Verte (vegetarian pho with “five styles” greens) $13 deluxe / $10 regular / $7 baby
Bun Bo Hue (braised beef shank and pork shoulder with kaffir lime & chile-lemongrass) $16 deluxe / $13 regular / $9 baby
WOK & GRILL
Pan-roasted pork belly chow fun (with sauteed water spinach, bamboo shoot tips & Thai basil) $16
Five tastes vegetarian chow fun (with water spinach, two types of baby choi, napa cabbage &
bamboo tips) $13
Pad Thai (with shrimp, egg, tamarind, fresh herbs & bean sprouts) $16
“Firecracker” wok-sauteed chicken breast (with napa cabbage, long beans & chile-lemongrass,
jasmine or sticky rice) $14
Braised chicken curry (with slow-cooked vegetables and house-blended spices over rice vermicelli) $14
Green “jungle” curry (with market vegetables and jasmine or sticky rice) $13
Grilled chicken two ways (lemongrass, black pepper/cilantro, with spicy green papaya salad &
sticky rice) $15
Extra deluxe mixed grill for two (pork belly, beef meatballs, lemongrass chicken, minced shrimp on sugarcane, plus chef's choice, with mango, cucumber, fresh herbs, lettuce cups, rice vermicelli & ginger-chile dip) $38
Sides
Wok-charred long beans with black bean & chile $5
Sautéed baby choi with garlic & ginger $5
Sautéed water spinach (ong choy) $6
Sticky, jasmine rice, or rice vermicelli $3
Soup of the Day
$6
DESSERT
Black rice pudding with coconut milk and mango $5
Ginger-lemongrass pot de crème $6
Seasonal fruit melba with ginger ice cream and shortcake $7