vysean

Can anyone provide recommendations on Asian food (specifically Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, or Indian) near Union Square in downtown San Francisco?

I'd be up for a 20 minute or so walk from there, but would like to keep the price under $20 for app or dessert+main+non-alcoholic beverage.

I stop at Henry's Hunan each time I'm downtown but would like some additional options.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Eastbay1K

The best "dive" VN food is Tu Lan, on 6th near Market.

malsf1

For your budget, I would recommend Out The Door (Vietnamese), which is a restaurant in the food court at Westfield Center on Market. Another place to consider would be Osha Thai at 4 Embarcadero Center. Both places have good food and reasonable prices.

PTravel

The best Asian food in SF is not downtown, but out in the Sunset District. Union Square is a few blocks (easy walking distance) from Chinatown. I'd recommend Great Eastern -- you'll have to look up the address, but it satisfies your "within 20 minutes" requirement.

RichardInSF

As pointed out above, a 15 minute walk from Union Square and through the tunnel on Stockton and you are in the non-touristy part of Chinatown. Lots of places on the cross streets for Chinese.

squeakr

no reservations, never a wait that I've seen and the same excellent food as the Ferry Bldg resto.

If you go to Tu Lan and want a dining experience oyu will never forget order the vietnamese sausage.

For indian, the new Delhi on Ellis St right in Union Sq is excellent. http://www.newdelhirestaurant.com/index.html

ace26

For Chinese, I recommend R&G Lounge on Kearny. It's about a 15 minute walk.

The salt and pepper crab is excellent and not to be missed.

vysean

Thanks all for the great ideas!

I'm back from SFO now and ready to return ASAP having filled up on tasty food, cool and often pretty weather, and a ridiculous amount of dark chocolate...

Tried both Out the Door locations - food was fantastic and I'd definitely return. Wasn't as big a fan of New Delhi - seemed overpriced and not nearly as impressive as the Indian on Brick Lane in London (probably not a fair comparison but there it is). We saw Great Eastern on our last night in town, but didn't have a chance to stop so that will be on the next trip.

A local consultant directed us to "House of Nanking" or something like that - it's close to the former San Francisco Brewing Company location IIRC. It was good - in fact my colleagues raved about it, but I didn't think it was great. I probably should have ordered some different items.

Also discovered that the grocery in the bottom of Westfield Mall has red velvet iced cookies - OMG they're worth flying to SFO just for them...

Anyway, thanks again for the great suggestions - I look forward to trying Osha and Great Eastern on my next trip!

malsf1

Glad you liked those places. Next time, you might want to venture out into other neighborhoods, where you can find some other great ethnic food.