La Vie

(415)668-8080
5830 Geary Blvd.
(between 22nd and 23rd Ave.)
San Francisco, CA
(Outer Richmond district)

Price: $-$$
Rating: 8.5 (Rating & price key)
Last visit: 06/27/05

Great food at pretty reasonable prices.

On my lunch visit, our cha gio (Imperial Roll) appetizer was good, although I preferred Mai's, which were larger and lighter-tasting, but my lunch entree of bun tom bo nuong (rice noodles with shrimp and lemon grass beef) was excellent. The shrimp in particular were extremely flavorful and nicely cooked; although also very tasty, the beef was just a touch dry. The accompanying fish sauce had more depth than most. Ed seemed to enjoy his beef pho, saying the broth had a nice flavor. Their cafe sua da is the best I've had in the city so far - strong and rich with a noticeable note of chocolate.

I came back with Sarah and my mother for dinner, and we were all very happy with the results. We again had the cha gio, as at lunch, very tasty. The sizzling rice soup was simple, but comforting, and my order of bo luc lac (shaking beef) was excellent, a tender high-quality cut of beef with lovely seasonings. I would put this against Le Cheval's bo luc lac (my previous benchmark for this dish) any day. My mom's order of a coconut shrimp clay pot was very sweet, but tasted great, particularly the tender onions. For dessert we split a fried ice cream, which was a nice finish to the meal. Including drinks, an appetizer, soup and two entrees, we escaped for about $70 including tax and tip - not bad at all!

Service is casual and friendly. There wasn't anyone else in the place on our Wednesday lunch visit - I'm not sure why, as we though the food was great, and will definitely return. Our dinner visit had more patrons, but was by no means crowded on a Wednesday evening.

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