Had Thai food lately? I haven't. Not really my bag. But for a while, I've been hearing good words about this place on Larkin, called Lers ros. It has an interesting thai font and certainly a memorable name. So tonight, after another fantastic performance of Tosca at the San Francisco Opera, I walked by Lers ros and decided to give it a try.
It was packed when I arrived at around 9:30PM, so that gave me hope that this will be a great dining experience. I sat at the bar since all the tables were taken and I was alone. The very pretty thai gal placed the menu and a glass of water in front of me. I glanced through the menu and saw all the usual thai options. Something new and interesting here! They had frog legs. I chose the garlic frog legs appetizer and a rice noodle with prawns plate for the entree, topped off with a bottle of Beck's.
On the flat screen monitor in front of me was ESPN showing the highlights of this evening's basketball games, pro and collegiate. The Beck's was wonderfully refreshing, although it spoke little about what was in store for me at this restaurant.
The frog leg appetizer came first. I had once eaten frog legs. Tasted like chicken, and this plate tonight was no different. It had the same stringy texture and taste of chicken. The main difference was that frog legs have more small bones (great to choke on) and harder to get the meat off of. I wonder whether all those snakes are happy trying to eat an overly boned chicken. But the real irritant of this appetizer was that garlic frog legs meant there's a chunk of frog leg and there's a chunk of minced garlic. The two weren't mixed together. Generally, garlic is used as a garnish for whatever is the main item. Here, the frog legs is the main item. So the garlic is supposed to complement the legs. Perhaps the legs are coated with garlic. Perhaps the garlic is sprinkled on top of the legs. But no, there's a clump of leg parts and there's a clump of chopped garlic. Who eats garlic like that?
Another problem was that my entree was brought to me at just a few minutes after the legs arrived. Is that bad? Well, I'm still working on the legs, nibbling around all the little bits of bone. So while I'm nibbling, my entree is cooling off. The rice noodles with prawns is actually not that bad. But service here is amateur because they didn't time it right. When I cook for myself at home, I don't have the luxury of timing my dinner. At a restaurant, that's really a major deal. (Compare this meal with the one from La Folie, where the chef presented the next course just as we're finishing the current course.
So the noodles got cold. The garlic and legs were separated. The food is certainly adequate, though nothing to write home about. But the service was sub-par because they did not take into account how a person would eat the appetizer and then the entree, so they threw everything on the table for me. Another problem was the abundance of plates in front of me. There was a main plate, which was used as a place holder for another plate. The frog legs was on another plate, oval shaped. The main course was on yet another plate. This one being a long rectangular shape. My little space on the bar counter was cluttered with plates, two of the four were not properly utilized.
In the end, I would not recommend this place. It looks more like a trendy hipster restaurant, but I'm not buying into it.
It was packed when I arrived at around 9:30PM, so that gave me hope that this will be a great dining experience. I sat at the bar since all the tables were taken and I was alone. The very pretty thai gal placed the menu and a glass of water in front of me. I glanced through the menu and saw all the usual thai options. Something new and interesting here! They had frog legs. I chose the garlic frog legs appetizer and a rice noodle with prawns plate for the entree, topped off with a bottle of Beck's.
On the flat screen monitor in front of me was ESPN showing the highlights of this evening's basketball games, pro and collegiate. The Beck's was wonderfully refreshing, although it spoke little about what was in store for me at this restaurant.
The frog leg appetizer came first. I had once eaten frog legs. Tasted like chicken, and this plate tonight was no different. It had the same stringy texture and taste of chicken. The main difference was that frog legs have more small bones (great to choke on) and harder to get the meat off of. I wonder whether all those snakes are happy trying to eat an overly boned chicken. But the real irritant of this appetizer was that garlic frog legs meant there's a chunk of frog leg and there's a chunk of minced garlic. The two weren't mixed together. Generally, garlic is used as a garnish for whatever is the main item. Here, the frog legs is the main item. So the garlic is supposed to complement the legs. Perhaps the legs are coated with garlic. Perhaps the garlic is sprinkled on top of the legs. But no, there's a clump of leg parts and there's a clump of chopped garlic. Who eats garlic like that?
Another problem was that my entree was brought to me at just a few minutes after the legs arrived. Is that bad? Well, I'm still working on the legs, nibbling around all the little bits of bone. So while I'm nibbling, my entree is cooling off. The rice noodles with prawns is actually not that bad. But service here is amateur because they didn't time it right. When I cook for myself at home, I don't have the luxury of timing my dinner. At a restaurant, that's really a major deal. (Compare this meal with the one from La Folie, where the chef presented the next course just as we're finishing the current course.
So the noodles got cold. The garlic and legs were separated. The food is certainly adequate, though nothing to write home about. But the service was sub-par because they did not take into account how a person would eat the appetizer and then the entree, so they threw everything on the table for me. Another problem was the abundance of plates in front of me. There was a main plate, which was used as a place holder for another plate. The frog legs was on another plate, oval shaped. The main course was on yet another plate. This one being a long rectangular shape. My little space on the bar counter was cluttered with plates, two of the four were not properly utilized.
In the end, I would not recommend this place. It looks more like a trendy hipster restaurant, but I'm not buying into it.