Le Colonial

• Restaurant: Le Colonial
  
• Location: 20 Cosmo Place, San Francisco, CA 94109. 415-931-360
  
• Atmosphere: Nice, a bit white shoe but not intimidating. Not overly trendy.
• Bathroom: Nice.
  
• Date of visit: 2006
  
• Website: http://www.lecolonialsf.com/

When the French occupied Vietnam, they brought their cuisine along with their suppression. So Le Colonial was born. Although they offer “street food” they build themselves as French food that is in Vietnam rather than French/Vietnamese fusion.

So what is Le Colonial? Think Slanted Doors. A Vietnamese place where one could say “they use organic vegetables, have good meat, great service, and a decent wine list.” Yes, this isn’t one of those Larkin Vietnamese places, it’s in Union Square where your bill might be more than a day's pay.

On a happy birthday I gorged on a variety of appetizers, splattering of entrees, and beverages. I’ll leave the beverages to your imagination because as Marcel Vigneron says, it’s all about the food.

The tempera was well executed, crispy and seasoned. The filet mignon with lemon grass was delicious. Meat extraordinary tender and the lemongrass flavor there. Nothing irks me more than a Vietnamese restaurant that doesn’t know how to properly extract flavor from lemongrass. Le Colonial does the job right. The crispy rolls were not very avant-garde but very well executed with quality ingredients you would expect. I could go on, but the dishes were as expected for the price. Le Colonial definitely delivers on the promise of a swanky Vietnamese restaurant.

Worth the hype? Maybe. But if one were to go for fancy Vietnamese food, Le Colonial is probably one of the better ones in the city. Dishes are much more imaginative, better presented, and better executed than that other place in the Ferry Building.