You may have eaten at Slanted Door or even at Out The Door either at the Ferry Building or at San Francisco Centre, but you're going to want to try OTD Bush in the Fillmore. In addition to many of the dishes that Chef Charles Phan is famous for such as Vietnamese Spring Rolls and the Jicama and Grapefruit Salad or the Chicken Claypot, OTD Bush offers something else entirely. Breakfast!
I love breakfast but let's face it, going out for breakfast in this town usually means American fare, dim sum or maybe Mexican food. Now there is something new, Vietnamese food. At a press preview I got tastes of a lot of deliciousness. Hats off to Pastry Chef Chucky Dugo for a whole bunch of sweet and savory treats to dig into. I was crazy about the crunchy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside Beignets, Crepes with apples, Warm Banana Sticky Rice with toasted coconut and sweet and savory style pate choux pastries. The little puff pastries were still slightly eggy on the inside, just the way I like them.
For breakfast traditionalists, there are several different egg dishes, including a Fried Egg with pâté and baguette. The Coconut Pull Bread was a big hit with almost everyone but I found the filling a bit cloying. For a pre-opening event the food was amazingly good. I do hope guests warm up to the comforting Chicken Porridge flavored with rau ram, crispy shallots and black pepper. It's just the thing when you are feeling a bit under the weather. Prices on the breakfast menu range from $3 for steamed buns stuffed with gingery chicken, mushrooms or pork to $13 for the Poached Sun Hill Farms Eggs with braised Niman Ranch brisket and crispy potatoes. Most dishes are under $10.
Like the other locations OTD is modern and clean. This location features cool blue green tile, warm wood, marble counters and an open kitchen that runs practically the whole length of the long and narrow space. Lunch and dinner menus look promising as well. I just hope my dyslexic brain can be convinced that the servers t-shirts don't actually proclaim them as sufferers of OCD.
OTD Bush
2232 Bush St @ Fillmore
San Francisco
415.923.9575
Amy Sherman is a San Francisco–based writer, recipe developer, restaurant reviewer and all around culinary enthusiast. She blogs for Epicurious , Bay Area Bites and Cooking with Amy .