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AsiaSF: SoMa's Ultimate Dining And Entertainment
By Joanna Yeh
Co-Food Editor
In a city full of unique, original and exciting things to do and see, AsiaSF
has got to be one of the top ten things to experience in San Francisco's South
of Market. A combo upscale restaurant and night club, AsiaSF is well known for
its delectable Cal-Asian cuisine and gender illusionist performances. You surely
won't find this combination at any other restaurant in the city.
A fun and exciting experience, AsiaSF has become an extremely popular place
to hold birthday, bachelor, bachelorette and even company parties. On weekends,
it is hard to get reservations. I would recommend calling at least a week in
advance to secure your reservation, especially for bigger parties.
The restaurant is actually on the small size, with a capacity of about 150.
Smaller parties can sit at the bar and have front row seats for the hourly performances
by the ladies of AsiaSF. The rest of the restaurant is on the crowded side.
AsiaSF serves three-star cuisine that is presented beautifully and promptly
served by world famous gender illusionists. As most parties that dine at AsiaSF
are large, the restaurant offers three different dinner packages ranging from
$38 to $58 per person. For $38 per person, there is already plenty of food to
eat and a great selection of appetizers, main courses, and desserts to choose
from. Our party of six decided to order a variety of dishes to share and enjoy.
For the first course, I recommend the "porcupines" which is shrimp, scallops,
and water chestnuts rolled in cellophane noodles then fried. Served with plum
wine/soy dipping sauce, these lightly fried mini egg rolls are fresh, flavorful
but not very oily. I also enjoyed the "asia-dilla" which is AsiaSF's version
of the quesadilla but stuffed with smoked duck, jack cheese, peppers, and scallions.
The sun-dried cherry cr¸me fraiche is a perfect accompaniment and brings the
appetizer together nicely. Finally, I must rave about the blackened tuna sashimi
with lemongrass beurre blanc and pickled vegetable salad. The tuna is lightly
seared on the outside but raw in the middle. The fish is fresh and simply melts
in your mouth. I would steer clear of the ahi burger appetizer. The ahi tuna
was too chunky and heavy for my palate. The tamarind chicken satays were also
not up to par with the accompanying dishes. The chicken, though flavorful, was
somewhat dry and hard to remove from the skewers. If I haven't gotten you salivating
yet, let's move onto the main courses.
It is interesting to note that the sizes of the first courses and main courses
were similar so if you order a la carte, it may be more economically worth it
to order the first course dishes. For the main course, we feasted on miso glazed
king salmon, Dungeness crabcakes, "baby got back" ribs, sansho spiced filet
mignon and orange lamb. By far, my favorite dish was the sansho spiced filet
mignon. The grilled beef tenderloin was served with Korean dipping sauce, miso
glazed Japanese eggplant and fried potato stars. The beef is so tender that
you barely have to chew it. The salmon dish was pretty typical but what made
this dish unique was it being served over black rice with edamame salad. The
colors of this dish were gorgeous and it was beautifully presented.
Finally, I also enjoyed the orange lamb, which was served with a spicy orange
glaze and coconut jasmine rice and Thai cucumber salad. I couldn't really taste
the coconut flavor of the rice but the lamb was cooked well and the spices came
together very nicely. The spicy orange glaze did not overpower the dish.
And finally, I must not forget about dessert. If you thought you were too full
to eat another course, think again. No normal human being could resist these
beautifully presented, delectable treats. The warm chocolate cake with vanilla
ice cream is topped with caramel and chocolate syrup. Similar to a chocolate
soufflˇ, the middle of the cake erupts with hot, sweet melted chocolate. The
other dessert favorite was AsiaSF's version of the banana split, but instead
they deep fry the banana and accompany it with ice cream and other toppings.
AsiaSF also is the place to go to socialize and drink. With a full stocked bar
and a variety of cocktail drinks, you will be sure to leave happy. I would recommend
Tita's mojito and Christina's pi–a colada shot. There are also a variety of
dessert drinks.
During and after dinner, there is hourly dancing and lip-synching performances
by a variety of gender illusionists. The performances take place right on the
bar top. The show is entertaining, confusing, and surely amusing. It is good,
clean, yet scandalous fun, perfect for any birthday party or girls'/boys' night
out. Although expensive, the entertainment is free and you can choose to continue
partying the night away at the downstairs nightclub where there is more transgender
fun.
Overall, expect to spend a quite a bit of money for a night of fun, unique entertainment
and great food. AsiaSF is a feast for all your senses.
Wheelchair accessible.
Credit cards accepted.
AsiaSF 201 9th Street @ Howard St.
San Francisco 255-2742
Open for dinner nightly
www.asiasf.com
Joanna Yeh is a second-year medical student.
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