Quick Out the Door Westfield Report
Sigh...I am spending my days in Westfield these days, it seems. I am actually growing tired of the place!
But there I was Sunday, again, looking for a special something I needed for my upcoming overseas trip....and hubby and I got hungry, so decided to check out Out the Door, since we were on the food court level, but nothing in the food court itself appealed....
We were seated in a comfy booth, next to the honey wall, and I loved the design: easy to forget you are in a mall! The room is much bigger than I expected it would be...
We tried steamed vegie bun, steamed chicken bun, chicken noodle soup, and a lemongrass tofu rice plate. It was all pretty good: of the two bun, I liked the chicken better, partially because the vegie, described as cabbage and wild mushrooms, appeared to be mostly enoki mushrooms, which I am not overly fond of, and almost no cabbage, which I love...Those bun might be a good snack option too, from the takeout portion of OTD....The chicken noodle soup had a nice broth, and a mix of white and dark meat. The tofu was good, if a bit sweet, with a nice texture: crispy on the outside, but still smooth and creamy interior. I'd say all of the offerings were well above average compared to most of the food I've sampled in the other eating locations at Westfield (and believe me, I've sampled more than my share. Sigh.) This will probably be my 'go to' spot if I want a moderate meal while shopping or before a movie there (even though my new goal in life is to see if I can go three months without stepping into the Centre!).
Menu prices and portions appear to be the same all day long, making it a better deal at dinner (though portions aren't huge).
The menu says something about dishes not being paced, and being brought when ready. Well, at least they warned us, but in our case everthing came promptly EXCEPT the soup, which came when we were done eating everything else. So did they boil the noodles to order? Annoying, but at least they were nice enough to bring an extra bowl so we could share it, as otherwise hubby would have been sitting there just watching me eat....
Total with tax and tip for the above, a Vietnamese ice coffee (brought to the table already dripped, a negative IMO), and regular ice tea, was about $34. Not cheap, but plenty of food, and not a bad price for the location and ambiance. I would and will return.
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Carrie 218
Jul 5, 2007 07:06 AM
After buying my BF and I our iPhones the other day <gloat> I stopped in at Out-The-Door to bring home an easy-to-eat lunch while we played with the new gadgets...
For $40, I brought home a single steamed chicken bun, the Imperial rolls, the glazed ribs, and some vermicelli/steak dish. I had to buy meat-heavy as that is the BF's preferences. Ultimately, for the price, there was less meat than I would have liked. I was surprised that for the Imperial Rolls, there were only two, cut into three bites each. For $9.50 (or was it $12.5?) I thought there would be more. It was all just 'okay' but as we wanted stuff to nosh on throughout the day, it hit the spot -- but I still think that for $40, I could have gotten a lot more substantial food elsewhere.
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mariacarmen
Jul 2, 2007 04:51 PM
i agree, even tho it's in a mall, eating in instead of taking your food to the food court and its crowded cafeteria seating, it doesn't feel like you're in a mall. the decor inside is soothing and rather elegant.
my favorite two things here are the ribs and the pork banh mi. no, the sandwich is not authentic, and yes it's overpriced ($8.00) - but so what? pretend it's not banh mi and enjoy it in its own right. it's made with incredibly juicy slow roasted pork (instead of grilled or bbqd), and it MELTS in your mouth. the meat is so tender, served on a crispy roll, with rich creamy mayo, jalapenos and carrots and cilantro . . . it's divine. i'm only annoyed that they took it off the dinner menu - now you can only get it at lunch.
and the ribs are fantastic - smoky-sweet, not cloying at all, sticky, chewy, a pile of them for like $11, i think. we always start with these, share them, although on their own they'd be enough for a meal.
i've tried the vermicelli noodles with the grilled pork - a standard order for me at Vietnamese restaurants - and found the pork really good - very good grilled flavor, again- a nice chewiness, good crispy fat. the only thing is they don't give you enough of the fish sauce with it on the first go-round, you kinda have to ask for more.
we've also had the crab noodle salad which is light and searingly fresh and very flavorful - you can really taste the crab. the bavette steak with ginger is good too - tender meat. and i love the broken rice that gets served with most meals - chewy and flavorful.
i've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a table, and i find the service really fast and friendly. the prices - well, it's not fast food, it's not really mall food, but it's not Slanted Door food (which by the way, i like this place MUCH better than Slanted Door - when Slanted Door moved to the Ferry Building, something was lost (and too much attitude gained) it's not cheap, but it's pretty good for the quality.
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re: mariacarmen
Windy
Jul 2, 2007 06:07 PM
I ate here for the first time over the weekend. It was packed Saturday night, and the space could use some soundproofing. I could barely hear my soft-spoken companion over our loud neighbors.
We shared a jicama grapefruit salad. I got the rice vermicelli with halibut, which I think was supposed to be like cha ca. (I was warned it had anchovy paste in the sauce but didn't really taste it). He ordered wonton soup, but learned as my dish was delivered that they'd run out, and ended up with an appealing bowl of pho.
Ingredients were fine, and dinner prices are fair enough. Everything seemed underspiced. Service was friendly but haphazard--mall service. I asked for chili sauce and never got it. No one checked to see if our food was okay or if we needed anything. A reasonable choice if you're going to the movies as we were and in a hurry. Wine and beer are a good value here, especially compared to expensive soda and teas.
But I wished we'd gone to Bodega or Bong Su, or any of the neighborhood Vietnamese restaurants that arent afraid to dress the dishes properly.
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re: Windy
mariacarmen
Jul 3, 2007 05:56 PM
i just went again last night, and we shared the ribeye with soy garlic sauce. the waitress "warned" us that it was 10 oz and we would definitely have to share, and that if we ordered a side vegetable we would have plenty to eat (with the broken rice, of course.) we did that, ordered the bok choy, but also ordered the chili lime cilantro corn side, which was only $3.
The steak was absolutely wonderful. Super tender and medium rare, juicy, and the sauce was phenomenal, tho very simple. you could taste the fermentation in the soy sauce. i wanted to sop it up with the broken rice. the steak, however, did not seem like it was 10 oz. - it came sliced, always a warning sign that they may be trying to camouflage a smaller cut of meat, and tho it was plenty for us, it didn't really seem like it would be too much for one person. but it was so delicious we didn't care.
the bok choy was very good, crispy tender. the corn was just ok - i've made better chile lime cilantro corn myself. needed salt. and there were only 4 quarters of a cob - so one corncob for $3. not terrible, but not great.
the steak was $25. for the flavor, it was worth every penny. for the size . . . i'd have been happier if it was $19. but i would get it again.
and i agree, there are a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants that are much better value and have great food - Will's House is one of my very favorites. try Will's shaken beef on garlic noodles if you like good tender and flavorful meat.
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singleguychef
Jan 11, 2007 04:27 PM
I finally tried Out The Door, the Westfield Centre version. Like my earlier post, I wondered if it would be just like the Out The Door behind the Slanted Door at the Ferry Building. It visually is a very nice space and probably the anchor eatery on the basement level Food Emporium.
The menu is the same for the take out and sit down area (including the prices). But when you take it out, I don't feel like you get the same amount of food. How much can you really pack into those plastic containers? So the better deal is to sit in the dining area, even though you'll have the added cost of tipping.
I thought the menu definitely took a casual pace compared to the Slanted Door menu. Although I've heard that the special entrees are increasingly popular so many of them are finding their way to the permanent menu at Out The Door.
Overall, the quality of the ingredients are great, but I didn't feel the food was inspiring. I had the daikon cakes (which is actually also served at The Slanted Door) and it was good but sitting in a bowl of sauce. It is very much like the daikon cakes you get at lower prices in dim sum restaurant. I also had the lemongrass grilled pork and while the pork was a nice piece of meat, I felt it rested too long and was slightly dry. I also tried the 5-spice chicken with vermicelli noodles as a take out and it was just OK. (I needed to actually get more fish sauce to add to the noodles because the sauce already on the bottom didn't seem to have much punch.)
I don't think you can say eating at Out The Door gives you a similar experience of going to The Slanted Door -- except you end up paying probably the same price levels. Out The Door is OK for a nice special lunch or early dinner after shopping around, but is too pricey for regular visits.
Here's my full review on my blog with pictures: http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/200...
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We ate at OTD/Westfield for the first time last week -- early dinner, 5p. It wasn't crowded so we had plenty of attention from the host and from our waitress. We actually had a very good meal. I've had mixed experiences at Slanted Door (depending on the dish) so I was prepared for anything at OTD. I agree with the comment about the papaya salad, not my favorite, probably wouldn't order it again. But our peanut dipping sauce was spicy and good. And the spicy prawns and chicken clay pot were tasty.
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ChowFun_derek
Dec 15, 2006 05:22 PM
It has JUST opened, so I am hoping/expecting them to work out the kinks with staff etc...I hope they do so by this weekend..'cause I will be going there....I'll report back..
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re: Mari
susancinsf
Dec 15, 2006 08:21 PM
agreed. btw, I probably should have mentioned: we were there right after they opened at 11 am, which is probably why we got such a nice booth with just two of us...and I am sure the service, which certainly wasn't great for us, though not bad other than the soup coming out late, would suffer if they are crowded. As someone else noted, it did seem like there were a lot of staff...
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Mari
Dec 15, 2006 02:58 PM
I am a devoted eater of the chicken and veggie buns at the Ferry Building location. That's pretty much all I get when I am there, maybe Boba from time to time. Last night I checked out the new operation at the Westfield mall after some shopping with some friends. I ordered the veggie spring rolls with a super spicy peanut sauce and the jicama, cabbage and grapefruit salad.
The peanut sauce was incredibly spicey and we asked for a less spicy sauce. Well the host sent the chef (or someone that looked like the chef) over to our table and he said that chilis have been extra spicy this season and that they would think about re-working the peanut sauce. I thought that was a nice touch since I certainly did not expect or ask for them to send the chef over to our table.
Nevertheless, the service, at least from our waiter, was atrocious. He was a bit dismissive and we sat there for a while waiting for him to pick up the check. I think they need to work on the waitstaff because they had so many people working last night, but the service was still poor.
I'll go back and try other items though. My friends enjoyed their meal and it's close to where I live.
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While I feel like the Ferry Building location is moderately decent (I have had a number of dishes there I've thought were ok, most recently the duck congee and chicken buns), I think the Westfield location truly suffers. The portions are certainly smaller yet are priced the same. The papaya salad practically had more celery and carrot than actual papaya. The spring rolls were clearly made way in advance; they were dry, bland, and the dipping sauce was basically water-down Skippy peanut butter. My boyfriend's bun had three pieces of meat and hardly any veggies. They should be ashamed of serving such subpar food... particularly considering the price point ($15-20 per person in a MALL is not cheap). I most certainly will not be returning to that location.
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singleguychef
Dec 12, 2006 09:25 PM
I haven't tried Out the Door at the Westfield, and might be curious to check out the layout the next time I'm there. (Susan, I'm not a frequent mall shopper like you. ;)
But I have to say, I haven't been impressed by Slanted Door's takeout or fast-food options. Their Out the Door spot in the Ferry Building behind their main restaurant has been less-than-impressive and doesn't seem to mirror the restaurant kitchen, which is right there. I always felt the menu items sounded great in description, but what you got was either not that easy to eat or very small for the prices. For example, I love Vietnamese pork but their grilled pork at Out the Door (in Ferry Building) is always a bit tough. And their noodles are no where like the pho noodles I like. It's more like Chinese rice noodles, but thick almost like udon but not exactly. They're not as enjoyable IMHO.
Anyway, like I said, next time at the mall I might check it out. But I won't be going in with very high expectations. Maybe that's a good thing.
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re: singleguychef
susancinsf
Dec 13, 2006 12:13 AM
I've only tried the Ferry Building location of OTD once, and wasn't that impressed either...so maybe my expectations were low, and that helped. I know the layout exceeded my expectations.
BTW< the chicken soup came with a choice of three types of noodles: thick or thin, presumably rice noodles, or egg noodles, which is what I had.
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I am afraid I won't be going back to OTD soon. I was there last Sunday as well. I found the overall experience to be quite disappointing. First of we were told right away that they were out of both the steamed buns and all pork dishes, which were exactly what we wanted to order. Alternatively we ordered the steak salad, crispy noodle with seafood and stir fried brocoli, honshimeji mushroom and pressed tofu. The salad was the best, good quality meat and fresh tasting dressing, but the noodle was ridiculously small with only a few pieces of shrimp and scallop. As for the veggie dish, it was even smaller, more like a side dish. What bothered us most was that fact that they gave shiitake instead of honshimeji without telling us, which they could have included in telling us what had run out when we sat down. When asked the server was surprised herself but simply regarded this as one of those "just open glitches". Yet we couldn't help but felt that perhaps they were not familar with this kind of mushroom. To their credit they did not charge us for this dish. The whole meal was not exactly terrible but we did leave feeling still hungry.
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re: kuri
susancinsf
Dec 12, 2006 06:18 PM
That is disappointing to hear. None of the portions that I had, were what I would call small. Just not huge. For example, the lemongrass tofu rice plate had about a cup and a half of rice and perhaps a cup and a half of the tofu itself.
I can relate about the mushroom mix-up, however.
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