Lunette Review - Embarcadero - San Francisco - The Infatuation
"When Lunette opened, we were thrilled. This Ferry Building Cambodian restaurant is from the chef behind the beloved and now-closed Nyum Bai, which served excellent dishes unconcerned with being too sour, too spicy—too anything. Unfortunately, the current version hasn’t retained that special something that made us so excited to visit its predecessor. Lunette’s food is a mixed bag. Some things are straight-up hits. Yellow curi is rich and creamy, and the loc lak shaking beef is tender and served with a lip-puckering lime dipping sauce that we would buy by the bottle. If you come on a good day, student noodles will be perfectly charred. On another visit, they might be over- or undercooked. A couple of Lunette’s dishes are consistently disappointing, though, like the kut teav phnom penh that manages to be bland despite a bone broth with crispy garlic, shrimp, pork, and cilantro. (Adding three heaping spoonfuls of table sambal feels necessary to give the noodle soup some life.) And the fish sauce in the funky cabbage salad somehow lacks the self-described funk and pungency you’d expect. photo credit: Erin Ng photo credit: Erin Ng photo credit: Erin Ng photo credit: Erin Ng photo credit: Erin Ng The location certainly doesn’t help. The Ferry Building brings a lot of foot traffic, which means there are usually lines of people, and big groups circle like hawks to find a seat at one of the ten or so tables that fit into this food-stall-like-space. We’re holding out hope that Lunette finds a way back to its roots. In the meantime, we won’t go out of our way to visit, but this small outpost is still a solid option when in or near the Ferry Building. Just don’t count on getting one of those tables. Food Rundown photo credit: Erin Ng Loc Lak Shaking Beef Let’s get one thing out of the way, this is the best dish here and you should order it. The cubes of beef are well-charred and the lime sauce is sharp and tangy. photo credit: Erin Ng Student Noodles According to the menu, these are supposed to be pinstripe noodles, but, on some visits, we’ve gotten flat ones. Whatever you get, the noodles will be pleasantly chewy, but the flavor is muted, and not helped by the heaping amounts of bean sprouts throughout. photo credit: Erin Ng Kuy Teav Phnom Penh The bowl packed with herbs, meat, and seafood gives the expectation that this will be one of the best noodle soups in the city, Unfortunately, it’s not. If you’re looking for noodles, the student’s are a better choice. photo credit: Erin Ng Yellow Curi A solid option. It’s a little sweet and a lot creamy with no-value-add potatoes. Add the fried chicken to get the best out of this dish. photo credit: Erin Ng Mee Kola These noodles have no chance at salvation. They’re meant to be dry, but when it’s a struggle to swallow, there’s a problem. photo credit: Erin Ng Funky Cabbage Salad This salad is disappointing, with or without optional fried chicken. There’s no funk to be found." - Ricky Rodriguez
