Slanted Door

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When we visited the City Centre Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, I saw a giant billboard for Slanted Door, a restaurant that I used to see at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. I never got to dine there because I normally only caught the BART at the Embarcadero Station; or if I were on a touristy trip out into the City, I'd typically browse the shops at the Ferry Building Marketplace and then eat somewhere near Pier 39.

Anyway, with that huge invitation, I suggested to the rest of the family that we can eat there. It's supposed to be a really good take on modern Vietnamese cuisine. A quick search online showed that the Ferry Building branch has been awarded a L'Assiette Michelin and the chef has been given other awards as well. 

Slanted Door, I can say, definitely elevates Vietnamese fare from my usual order of pho ga (that I usually get at Kevin's). In fact, there's not a single pho variant on the restaurant's dinner menu! Our server suggested that we try Slanted Door's popular shaking beef made from filet mignon of grass-fed cows sourced from Verde Farms. Aside from that, we also got the barbecued pork spareribs, the grass-fed lamb rack sourced from Anderson Ranch (Anna's order), the jicama and grapefruit salad, and the daikon rice cakes. 

The shaking beef was definitely the star of the show because it's very tender and perfectly seared. The contrasting textures of the beef and the vegetables made the experience more interesting, along with the lemon, umami, and spicy flavours of the sauce. Apparently, it's called "shaking beef" because of the way the meat has been cooked, rather than the beef cubes shaking while being served (I really expected the beef to be shaking when it was served).

Everyone, including my toddler, enjoyed the food at Slanted Door. I'm sure that we'll return at some point (once we find a special occasion for a fancy restaurant dining experience). Val is already reminding me that we should go back there for another round of modern Vietnamese food. 

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