Elegant Vietnamese Dining at Affordable Prices!

Aux Delices
2327 Polk & Green 928-4977
open Sun - Thur 5pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-10:30pm.

San Francisco abounds in family-style Pho restaurants, i.e., serving variations of noodle soup dishes, at prices that compete with low-priced Chinese family restaurants. In recent years, about half a dozen upscale, higher-priced Vietnamese restaurants have appeared on the scene, with prices comparable to higher-priced French and San Francisco-style places, e.g., with appetizers in the range of $8-12 and main courses from $12.00-22.00, or more. Aux Delices falls in between. It is upscale and elegant, and its prices are somewhere between the Pho noodle places and the very expensive ones. As a result, Aux Delices permits one to dine in an elegant place, with cloth napkins and cloth tablecloths, and still is “affordable”. Thus, it definitely falls into my category of “Affordable Dining in San Francisco.”

I first reviewed Aux Delices in 1989, in the 5th Edition of my series “San Francisco on a Shoestring”, only a few years after it appeared at its present location on Polk St, where it recently celebrated its 18th anniversary. At first, it called itself Vietnamese-French, and had an interesting section on French dishes. For some time, though, it has specialized in Vietnamese food only.

Aux Delices occupies a large, high-ceilinged room, the walls of which are covered with Vietnamese paintings and artifacts, providing comfortable surroundings. It can handle some 70 diners at one time. Service and attention to diners can rival the far more expensive restaurants. The dishes are often highly stylized, and presented with great taste. For example, the imperial roll starter is served on a bed of romaine lettuce, with slices of raw carrots and cucumbers, and a generous portion of thin rice noodles. Other dishes get the same attention, thus lending attraction to the meal.

As for prices, Aux Delices lies a few dollars per dish above the cheaper Pho restaurants, but portions are quite large and lend themselves to family-style dining, which translates into affordable dining in the real sense. For example, a group of four persons can order one soup or one dish of Vietnamese egg rolls or soup, and then three main dishes of seafood, chicken, pork, or beef, and rice, and stay within $10 per person, including tax and tip, while enjoying a hearty meal in surroundings. If one adds a liter of red wine – at $13.00 – to the meal, the average per person, including tax and tip, is under $14.00.

Lunch specials. For the most part, the menu is the same for lunch and dinner, but prices are a little lower for the same dishes at lunch. Also, there are several combination dishes of interest for lunch, e.g., BBQ shrimp, pork, and shrimp skewer, imperial roll and fried rice $8.50, BBQ chicken and imperial roll $7.50, BBQ chicken, pork and imperial roll $7.75.

Starters include various types of rolls – Vietnamese specialties e.g., Imperial rolls with pork, chicken, noodles, mushrooms, and vegetables, a good starter for 3-4, Vietnamese steamed dumpling filled with ground pork and mushrooms, served with fish sauce $6.50, Vietnamese crepe filled with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts which one wraps in lettuce and dips in sauce $8.00.

Soups, seven choices, include traditional beef soup with rice noodles medium bowl $7.00, large bowl $8.00, chicken rice porridge with ginger bowl $6.00, crab, asparagus, and egg $8.00, spicy tamarind lemongrass with tomatoes, pineapple, and mushrooms, with shrimp $7.50, with chicken $7.00, vegetarian bowl $8.00.

Salads include spicy green papaya with shrimp $8.50, tossed green salad in oil and vinegar $4.00, slices of filet mignon cooked medium rare in a spicy dressing $12.00.

Noodles and rice dishes include one of the following toppings over thin rice noodles, cucumber, bean sprouts, sprinkled with ground peanuts – sautéed beef, chicken, or pork with lemongrass $8.00, with imperial rolls $8.00, with fried tofu and lemongrass $7.00, with pork and rolls $9.00, pork and shrimp fried rice $9.00, garlic noodles $6.00.

Pork, seven dishes, include BBQ pork with fried rice $8.00, pan-fried pork chops in lemongrass $9.50, pork with vegetables and ginger in a spicy garlic sauce $8.00.

Chicken and duck dishes, 10 choices, include crispy chicken in a spicy garlicky sauce $9.00, marinated BBQ chicken filets with garlic $9.50, claypot chicken in a caramel sauce $9.50, roasted chicken stuffed with sweet rice, chicken, ground pork, and mushrooms $10.00, duck in an orange liqueur sauce $13.00. Note: This was a standby for years when the restaurant was called Vietnamese-French.

Beef, nine dishes, include beef sautéed with tofu and mushrooms $9.25, BBQ beef and shrimp skewers marinated in lemongrass, sprinkled with peanuts 11,

BBQ beef and shrimp skewers, marinated in lemongrass $11.00, BBQ marinated short ribs $10.00, spicy beef curry with coconut milk served in an iron pot $10.00, filet mignon cubes sautéed with garlic $13.00 (this harks back to their French-cuisine days).

Seafood, 11 dishes, include filets of salmon in a spicy caramel sauce, served in a clay pot $11.00, sautéed shrimp, squid, and scallops, with vegetables, in a spicy garlic ginger sauce $11.00, catfish spicy claypot in a caramel sauce $10.00, pan-fried whole Dungeness crab in chef’s spicy sauce $28.00.

Vegetarian, 8 dishes, include mixed vegetables and tofu in a clear broth $6.00, vegetarian spring rolls (non-fried) $6.00, fried tofu sautéed with lemongrass, ginger, and spices $7.50, vegetarian curry with tofu $7.50.

Desserts include caramel custard $4.50, lychees in syrup $3.00, ice cream $3.00, fried banana or pineapple #3.00, ala mode $4.00.

Beverages include ice tea with refills $2.00, pot of tea $2.50, Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk $2.50, soft drinks or sparkling apple cider $2.00.

Beer and wine – imported beers $3.75, domestic $3.50, house wine glass $5.00, _ liter $9.00, liter $13.00 (very good value). Red is recommended.