Bang San Thai--Halal--SF Tenderloin
Friends wanted a Thai meal. I checked out Lers Ros; no one present when I stopped by during an afternoon off-hour spoke enough English to help and wouldn't let me speak to the chef. With some effort, after several days, finally managed to get a list of the sources for its seafood, all of which fell in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's "Avoid" zone. .
Chose Bang San instead, partly because I felt a little more confident in the quality of ingredients since all the meat is halal and the chicken is at least Fulton and not out-of-state, and partly because--at the same time of day--the chef/owner came out from the ktichen and introduced herself. (791 O'Farrell location; the Jones St one is pretty tiny--mostly counter seating).
Four of us had 6 dishes plus desserts. Highlights: a wonderful pumpkin-coconut-tofu curry; good bbq lamb on noodles; a great special of (perfectly) deep-fried trout garnished with mango; and a--for once--hot enough for us green papaya salad (we begged!); both desserts were also terrific--coconut-sauced sticky rice with mango and the flaky pastry called roti.
The service was efficient and friendly. The setting pleasant. The food well above average. We will return.
One fascinating to me aspect of this place: Virtually every other customer while we were there was either East Indian or Middle Eastern wearing traditional Islamic garb.
I'd be interested to hear what regular patrons of SFBA Thai establishments think of this one.
By Fine
on Aug 15, 2009 06:11 PM
View »
Sounds worth checking out -- thanks for the report, and the info about the ingredient sourcing.
-----
Bang San Thai Cuisine (Second Location)
791 Ofarrell St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Permalink | Reply
Even squid and trout at Lers Ros came from an unsustainable source?
Permalink | Reply
Ensconced in planning a trip to Europe--sorry I didn't get back to boards sooner.
Sea bass - Chili (fresh daily)
Calamari - Thailand
Smelt - Thailand
Tilapia - US (frsh daily)
Prawns - Vietnam
I pasted that from the email reply to my query.
I always assume squid is imported unless it actually says "Monterey" on the menu and, because of one of the many Chinese adulteration scandals, generally shy away from it (to say nothing of its having a "red light" status!)
BTW--to my delight I found fish cards for France and Italy (and the WWF site had versions for several other countries as well).
Permalink | Reply
Not sure where you're getting squid being a "red light" fish. Seafood watch lists generic international squid as a "good alternative," with some specific other options as "best choice."
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?fid=102
US-sourced Tilabia is a "best choice." Smelt from Thailand isn't listed, but typically any small bait fish is extremely sustainable.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=27
You're right that the sea bass and prawns are no-nos, but I don't think it's fair to say their whole set of fish options are on any sort of "avoid" list.
The trout at Bang San might be on an avoid list, depending on sourcing:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr...
Permalink | Reply
You're right to some extent about squid--though imported items are not, by definition, sustainable--I mixed up my personal unwillingness, environmental concerns aside, to risk eating Asian seafood because of several scandals over the past year or two with adulterants, etc.
Permalink | Reply