31729 Mon Sep 27 15:20:15 -0700 2004 4 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 139329 went to bodega bistro last night on our way home from camping in big sur after a botched, impromptu attempt at a busy santa ramen sunday in san mateo. this is what we had: 1.) papaya salad. the clear winner of the night. i've never had papaya salad before but my gf mentioned that the papaya is usually julienned and is not in fine threads via a japanese mandoline like bodega bistro's version. it was lightly dressed in that fish sauce/lime juice/sriracha concoction with chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, and small slivers of beef jerky. tasty starter and great alternative to the more usual spring roll. 2.) shaking beef. again, i've never had any rendition of shaking beef before and they didn't have it on their menu, but i mentioned to the waiter, and they accomodated for us. my gf and i thought the cubed beef was tender and of decent quality, but the sauce it was smothered in was rather bland. there were also diced onions in it, a bed of neatly julienned cucumbers and carrots on top of a leaf of butter lettuce to the side, and a tri-cut tomato below the bed of julienned veggies. 3.) beef pho. my son had the normal beef pho with raw flank steak and meatballs. the steak in bodega's pho was more tender than the usual steak that is in pho. but the soup was nothing special; it wasn't bad, it just wasn't that good either. i've had better pho at ppq on irving as well as pho84 and mayhong (closed down) in oakland. 4.) nem cua. this was described on the menu as a dungeness crab and black mushroom crepe. we waited about 45 minutes for this after finishing off our last dish. our waiter came back to us with check in hand before serving this dish and we alerted him that we were anxiously awaiting its arrival any second. moments after, we noticed a waiter entering the front door close to where we were seated carrying in a plastic bag with one cooked dungeness crab. a couple minutes afterwards, that same crab (presumably) was being served whole with garnish to a different table. then moments after...blah blah blah another waiter comes walking in with another dungeness crab and we're finally served our nem cua. it came in diagonally chopped eggrolls filled with dungeness crab and i couldn't really tell or taste what else, some butter lettuce (the crepe part), vermicelli noodles to the side and the ubiquitous pile of julienned cucumbers and carrots. we just stuffed it all into the butter lettuce like korean bbq style and dipped it into the fish sauce dressing/dipping sauce. just okay, definitely not worth the wait though. all in all, the food was decent considering prices. i would only go back if i was really hungry, was in the immediate area, and if saigon sandwiches (catty corner across the street) was closed. the service was friendly and competent until the nem cua incident (probably a kitchen error, more than anything). but otherwise like a previous poster suggested, i wouldn't drive out and take the time to go to bodega bistro. Mon Sep 27 15:20:15 -0700 2004 0 Peter Kim 1 139383 did the shaking beef come with a tiny dish of pepper and a wedge of lemon? the last time i had this dish with a vietnamese friend, she combined the lemon and the pepper and doused the beef with the mixture. it was very good. this was the way i had it the last time i was at bodega bistro and i liked it a lot. we also tried and loved the green papaya salad. having eaten at the slanted twice before i had tried bodega bistro, my opinion of bodega bistro is quite high. the shaking beef and the green papaya salad tasted better than at the slanted door and was cheaper. Mon Sep 27 20:10:50 -0700 2004 139329 0 felice 2 139565 no the shaking beef didn't have the spicy sauce and lemon if my memory serves me right~ i agree the papaya salad was very good, but i have not eaten at the slanted door to make any kinda judgement between the two restaurants. Wed Sep 29 01:06:25 -0700 2004 139383 0 Peter Kim 1 139428 I had a similiar experience - I would not go back unless there were no other options. I can't remember exactly what we had, but one of them was a beef dish. I found the food mediocre at best, but what really got me was the lousy service we received. They paid more attention to the better dressed crowd and barely acknowledged us. I think success has gone to their head. I would much rather go to PPQ for a good Vietnamese dinner. Tue Sep 28 11:07:37 -0700 2004 139329 0 HKL 1 139631 I had the nem cua as well and was quite surprised at how much crab meat was used in what looked like an egg roll that would be stuffed with filler. I liked it :) I liked the papaya salad. It was a much more sophisticated version of the "party food" one I am accustomed to. Wed Sep 29 16:06:16 -0700 2004 139329 0 Farrah