The food is delicious at this eatery, and Chef Eric Meas expertly delineates the different flavors of Vietnam, regional China, Thailand and Korea.
For an appetizer, try the Korean pancake, grilled with shrimp and scallions; Softbank Satay with spicy peanut sauce; baby back ribs (with a slighty messy, hot sauce); Thai beef salad, with fresh mint leaves and slices of spicy, rare beef; or the Chinese chicken salad.
Main dishes, or "large plates," include miso-glazed cod - a huge portion of the subtly flavored white fish served over thin noodles with peppery bok choy on the side and precious nuggets of oyster mushrooms - and the curry chicken with coconut served in an iron pot. Others to try include pad Thai, the classic with shrimp, chicken, tofu, and egg with roasted peanuts; seafood iron pot with Vietnamese spicing; and salmon in teriyaki sauce with rice and spinach.
Meas has a gift for enhancing the flavors of vegetables. A simple plate of french fries, for example, is dusted with star anise and Sichuan pepper-salt and served with a slightly sweet sauce (highly recommended), and a seemingly simple vegetable dish such as Business 2.0 bok choy and mushrooms works because the hearty crunchiness of the bok choy interplays with shiitake, oyster, and enoki mushrooms in a mild sauce.
Most of the food is placed in the center of the table, meant to be shared. The high-ceilinged room is decorated with nearly two dozen video screens and light sculptures, and one wall is simply a floor-to-ceiling window looking out on the yuppies and street people of Van Ness.
The Cambodia-born Meas got most of his training in the French restaurants of New York, which is evident in the careful visual composition of the dishes. But the flavors are the real Asia.
Many Asian restaurants treat dessert as an afterthought or an obligatory item tacked on for American diners - not Venture Frogs, though. The ginger crème brulee is rich, creamy, and mild; and flourless chocolate cake is served warm with Tahitian vanilla ice cream.
Many of the dishes are designed for a quick bite before the theater (the restaurant shares a building with the AMC 1000 Van Ness movie theater) and most are priced under $10. Venture Frogs is open late nights, too.
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