Mmmm, that MSG smells good!

Today I ate at that "Asian place where there's always a line by 11:30am." Sure enough, my parents and I snagged the last three available chairs at 11:45am on what one might assume would be a slow Good Friday (at the end of a table occupied by another group. "Community Tables" are hot right now but I don't think that is what they had in mind). Sai's clearly keeps overhead costs low - natural light via a skylight, Goodwill decorations, paper place mats, and laminated menus, packed tables, etc - and the prices reflect. Ambiance is not their strong suit. This is all fine by me so long as the shortcomings are made up with mind-blowing food. While I have no complaints, I don't understand the daily line.

Sai's portions are big and prices are low but the food itself is just above average. I am back to trying to eat vegetarian until 6pm, so opted for vegetable and bean curd curry. Bean curd sounds nasty, but I remember being delighted by it at Unicorn. And, as I told my mom, I would eat shoe leather if it was drenched in curry (same thing goes for bacon wrapped shoe-leather and deep fried shoe leather in case you're curious). The bean curd here wasn't nearly as meaty as the one at Unicorn and the curry sauce simply didn't cut it for me. It was somewhat dull to me - I was constantly reaching for the hot sauce and salt to kick it up a few notches. Curry sauce has so much potential and it simply wasn't realized at Sai's. The vegetables but I don't remember a time when broccoli made the meal...

My dad had a monstrous beef and noodle soup. It's a rare day when he can't finish the food in front of him, but today was one of them. The soup is PACKED with noodles and big chunks of beef. My mom had the chicken curry which was essentially what I had so not much to comment on there.

I am judging a book my it's cover here, but something tells me Sai's doesn't rely on the freshest ingredients or particularly care about being local. There is no indication they cook without MSG, which probably means they do. I personally don't care, but I know a lot of San Franciscans do. Actually, judging by the line, maybe a lot of San Franciscans don't!