Taking Vietnamese cuisine to the next level is San Francisco’s very own Vietnamese gem of a restaurant, Ana Mandara.
Here’s a tidbit of info– Ana Mandara is also partly owned by actors Don Johnson and Cheech Marin!
One is inclined to think that celebrity owned restaurants would have only fared well because, well, it’s celebrity owned, but the novelty of that wears off after awhile if food isn’t good enough to keep customers from coming back. Ana Mandara is definitely not one of “those” restaurants. This place has practically become some kind of a haute cuisine institution in my book.
Year after year of us coming back to have dinner there, the food has always been consistently consistent (yes, it’s been that consistent). We’ve even seen former SF Mayor Willie Brown dine there.
Ok, enough PR about this restaurant, you might think I got me a free meal there *oh how I WISH!!!* hehe.
Fried shrimp wrapped in sweet potato with fresh greens.
This is one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had. You take the fried shrimp, wrap it in the fresh greens, and dip it into the fish sauce. 
Super super good!!! Presentation is a perfect 10 too!
These duck sausages wrapped in what seems to be nori 
were a bit salty but again, if you wrap it with those lettuce leaves, it’s excellent.
I ordered the dungeness crab soup which had strips of pasta in it. 
It reminded me of a local Chinese dish called Lo-mi which is quite popular in downtown Chinatown (Manila).
I had seared tuna with wasabi dressing and fruit compote. 
It was soooo yummy, but pretty unlike Vietnamese. It’s more Hawaiian actually. But it’s really really good.
Mom had the butterfish and it was excellent. 
The fish meat melted like butter– I guess hence the name butterfish 🙂 Sorry for the blurry photo 😀
My aunt had the cream dory fish with daikon greens (To Miao). 
It’s again, very excellent. I’ve always loved fish but I love raw fish more than cooked 😀 I had to make an exception to both dishes– because I loved all the fish dishes! *And I’m drooling now as I think of them!!*
And for dessert, I ordered the usual black rice with coconut milk and caramel sauce 
(with hints of nutmeg of lemon zist) and again yet another excellent dish. I miss this !!!
Chocolate lava cake.
Woohoo with oozing chocolate!!
Banana boat– this had hints of liqueur. 
I’m not too sold on this dessert though. I feel that our very own chefs in the Philippines can do a better job with banana. But it’s not bad, really.
If you go to San Francisco, you cannot miss Ana Mandara at 891 Beach Street at Polk, Ghirardelli Square, SF CA 94109. For reservations call (415) 771-6800.
xx
Mrs.T