Mekong Restaurant in San Francisco: Asian Fusion at Its Very Best

Nestled in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, Mekong Restaurant lies only a few doors down from the Great American Music Hall. Despite all the things that have been said about the Tenderloin District, such that it's seedy and high in crime, generally unsafe and has no redeeming features, I implore you to overcome these stereotypes and delve deep into the district's heart at Mekong Restaurant. If you're willing, you'll be greeted with one of the finest Asian Fusion meals that you could ever hope to have on this continent.

Mekong Restaurant sports an almost exclusively Thai menu, but the owner is Chinese (as are the decorations), so the overall result is actually somewhere along the lines of Asian fusion. While there are certainly criticisms of this variety of cuisine, as it lacks the cultural integrity of the individual cuisines from which it borrows, Mekong will make you forget all of that once you're actually eating. The menu is extensive, and even the PanAsian pros will have trouble deciding what to get, as everything sounds delicious, from the Som Tum (green papaya salad) to the Duck Basil. One of the best things about the menu is that every item on it can be prepared vegan, which means that this is one restaurant that will cater to the dining needs of absolutely everyone you know. This is no ordinary offer for substitution, mind you-- when Mekong makes you a vegan "Beef Basil," it will come out looking and tasting like the dish you once loved so much in your meat-eating days. The staff was more than accommodating, willing to substitute fried sweet potatoes (Mekong uses golden sweet potatoes in a light breading, which was very different from the starchy purple potatoes and and puffy coating to which I had grown accustomed while living in Hawaii) for the shrimp tempura that usually comes with the sampler appetizer. The crispy tofu is amazing, with a peanut sauce that calls to mind previous Senegalese dining experiences we've had, and the spring rolls are exactly what one expects when ordering a spring roll-- only slightly better.

In fact, the truly remarkable thing about Mekong Restaurant is that the food is so exceptional, from start to finish, that it will redefine the way you eat. If you tend to hurry through your meal, you'll find yourself slowing down considerably, savoring every bite. If you're a culinary novice, you'll find yourself blinking in surprise and trying to figure out exactly what that flavor is. If you're an old hat in the gourmet world, you'll be running food-related algorithms in your head, trying to determine how the coconut soup maintains the flavor of the vegetables while keeping them crispy and fresh, and you'll wonder exactly how you can get that light, sweet, alluring flavor when you make it at home. As soon as you taste the food, you'll forget that you're spending money (roughly six or seven dollars an appetizer and eight or nine dollars for an entree, making it a very reasonable price for the city and slightly pricey for the Tenderloin) and the food will entrance you. It's not just a few items that are delicious that make this restaurant the top of its class. Everything on the menu, from the Thai iced tea to the hot and sour soup, are spot on all the time.

This stunning restaurant is not without its flaws, however. The service can be incredibly slow, making Mekong perhaps not the best place to go for a quick dinner. While dining there, I have had the distinct impression that the head waiter (indeed, the only waiter that I've ever seen there), a very personable Chinese man, was also the chef, as he would disappear into the kitchen for incredibly long periods of time while people in the front of the house waited for refills, checks, or food. When he was present, the head waiter was terribly helpful, attentive, and accommodating, but it becomes a little unnerving when no one has seen him in half an hour. The restaurant isn't overwhelmingly large, and isn't often overwhelmingly busy, so when only three or four of the eleven or so tables in the establishment are full and two are waiting on checks, the wait becomes very questionable. If the food weren't so absolutely amazing, Mekong Restaurant would probably fall by the wayside, pushed aside by all the other restaurants in the city that actually have consistently good service. All things equal, however, there isn't another place anywhere in the Bay Area where one can get this caliber of Asian cuisine.

When you have an evening to spend and you're not sure where to go, check out Mekong Restaurant in one of San Francisco's less-loved districts. The restaurant also offers free wifi, although one probably wouldn't know this by the layout, as it looks like a proper restaurant, but Mekong Restaurant might even be perfect for your next business lunch or study session. Once you've tried this little Tenderloin hideaway, tell all of your friends-- Mekong Restaurant is a secret that's far too good to keep.