http://www.lecolonialsf.com/home_frame.html

I went with some colleagues to a pharmaceutical company sponsored dinner at Le Colonial. The restaurant is situated on a small side street so you would never know the restaurant was there unless you walked down that alley. It seems like a lovely restaurant for a summer meal as it does have an outdoor seating area but also has quite a large indoor space.

As we were listening to the talk, we enjoyed soup, four appetizers, three entrees, two side dishes, and three dessert platters (with four types of dessert!). These pictures are courtesy of PW since my camera doesn’t work well in low lighting (at least I haven’t figured out how to make it work well yet).

The soup of a fragrant chicken broth with cabbage dumplings filled with pork, shrimp, woodear mushrooms and scallions. I was really hungry so this warmed my tummy up quite nicely. I liked the bean sprouts in the soup, gave it a bit of a crunch.

Here’s a sampling of their appetizers, starting at 12 o’clock and going clockwise:
1. Fresh spring rolls with poached prawns, bean sprouts, mint, rice vermicelli noodles served with peanut sauce (delicious peanut sauce!)
2. Shredded green papaya with poached prawns, carrots, mint, toasted peanuts and crispy shallots tossed in chili garlic and lime vinaigrette (I love papaya salad so I finished off the plate because no one else wanted to eat it :P)
3. Crispy duck rolls with taro, jicama, served with lettuce wraps and ginger dipping sauce (Couldn’t really taste the distinct flavors and were a bit soft)
4. Coconut crusted Dungeness crab cakes with cilantro-chili sauce (a small bite of yumminess!)

Again, the papaya salad was my favorite, such a big serving too, I wonder if this is how much it is when you order it…

For entrees, starting at 12 o’clock and going clockwise:
1. Grilled wild Loch Duart salmon with cabbage salad, spicy tamarind reduction, peanuts and crispy shallots (the winning entree of the night, lightly grilled so salmon still very moist inside and delicious sauce)
2. Wok seared filet mignon cubes wok tossed in a garlic soy sauce over Watercress and crispy baby Yukon potatoes (salmon was way better although I liked the veggies)
3. Lemongrass Petaluma free range chicken served two ways with wilted kale and carmelized shallots served with chicken au jus (in my opinion, a bit dry and I was too in love with the salmon)
3. Side dish of wok tossed blue lake green beans with garlic soy sauce (I love braised green beans especially in a sweet and salty sauce)

These are the thick cut rice noodles stir fried with Dungeness crab, shrimp, egg, bean sprouts, green onions, and carrots… the noodles were good, kind of chewy.

Most of the people at our table already left so there were only 4 or 5 of us sharing the dessert. We had three plates of these!

From 12 o’clock going clockwise, a fried banana, a creamy custard topped with mango, an an apple fritter, and a molten chocolate cake. The only dessert I wasn’t in love with was the apple fritter, everything else was delicious, I especially loved the fresh mango on the custard.

I used to not like going to pharmaceutical company sponsored dinners but I think as long as you take the time to learn about the drugs rather than taking everything at face value, then the information they present won’t influence you. Rather you’ll make your own informed decisions after you’ve had the time to evaluate all the information. It’s been a good way to try new restaurants and get in touch with former classmates and colleagues.

Le Colonial
20 Cosmo Place