Sunset Foodie Report: Discover What’s Cooking on Vicente Street
Richard Luong, Melody Pang, and Danny Ngo of Lemon Grass Vietnamese Kitchen.
When the crisp, clean flavors of Vietnam call to you, it's time for a visit to Lemon Grass Vietnamese Kitchen. The cozy restaurant is the realization of a dream of chef Richard Luong and his partners Melody Pang and Danny Ngo.
Richard is a lively host, whose culinary journey as a Vietnamese immigrant began with washing dishes for two years then months of chopping vegetables in a Chinatown restaurant. He was always watching the chef and eventually his eagerness to learn to cook earned the chef’s respect and Richard’s hands-on training began.
A big draw at Lemon Grass is the Saigon-style Pho, built on a rich 17-hour broth, while shaking cube beef with garlic noodles is also a standout. Twice fried crab, encased in a light salty crust, is worth digging into every crevice. Special menu treats in his msg-free kitchen include papaya salad and bun bo hue noodle soup.
Susan and Simon Wong of Riverside Seafood Restaurant.
It may be a thousand miles from southern Vietnam to southern China, but just a few doorways separate Lemon Grass from the Cantonese cuisine at Riverside Seafood Restaurant. Owner Susan Wong and her family have clocked in 34 years as restaurateurs in the Sunset, operating the Eight Immortals Restaurant on Taraval before opening Riverside 12 years ago.
Perennial menu favorites include General Tso’s chicken, crunchy salt and pepper ribs, delicate cashew nut shrimp, salted egg with crab, and fried pumpkin with salted egg yoke. Dim sum is a lunchtime favorite.
Susan’s grandparents immigrated from Canton, China, via Peru. The family tradition continues with Susan’s son Simon managing things at Riverside.
Feng Wang of Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant.
The granddaddy of Vicente restaurants is Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant, a fixture on Vicente for 26 years.
Many first-time customers try the nicely decorated spot near Ocean Beach out of curiosity about halal food. (Similar to Kosher food, halal cuisine doesn’t include pork, while the slaughtering and processing of beef and lamb is done using Islamic practices.) Curiosity may motivate first-time diners, but they have been returning for the delicious Northern Chinese food since Feng Wang and her husband opened in 1997, soon after arriving from Beijing.
Over the years, Old Mandarin has won many honors, says her son, Shuai, including multiple Michelin recommendations and inclusion on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of best small 100 restaurants. Popular dishes include cumin lamb, braised beef ribs, green beans and fried dry tofu, and Feng’s dumplings with shrimp, beef, egg, and chive. Their signature hot pot with lamb features a special sauce from Beijing.
In the post-pandemic era, keeping a restaurant going is especially hard due to an acute shortage of workers and rising food costs, Shuai says. But the Wang family plans to be around for another 26 years, serving memorable meals to newcomers and old hands alike.
Reported and written by volunteer community journalist Tom Colin and Jan Cook. We encourage retired journalists and student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.