Straits Restaurant Review

Straits Burlingame

Straits has locations in San Francisco, Burlingame, Palo Alto, Atlanta, and Santana Row and was started back in 1987 by Chris Yeo. They focus on Singaporean cuisine, which blends Malaysian/Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, and Nonya. We have been to the San Francisco and Burlingame locations.

Straits Burlingame

Decor, Vibe – Fusion of modern decor with Asian elements like a big buddha. Crowd was mostly in their 20′s and 30′s. The lounge action starts after dinner. DJ starts spinning on Friday and Saturday nights from about 9pm.
San Francisco location turns into a crowded meat market with 20′s about 10pm on weekends. We visited both the San Francisco and Burlingame locations for this review.

Straits Restaurant Menu

Straits has a fairly wide selection of items from salads to appetizers to poultry the beef and seafood. Their dessert menu was very weak, with only 4 selections.

Picks:

Roti Prata ($7) Crisp griddled Indian flatbread with yellow curry dipping sauce was delicious. Wish there was more than 2 pieces. Dipping sauce is a little spicy.

Chicken Satay ($10) is a popular starter and highly recommended by us. It was sitting on top of a. It was sitting on a very nutty, peanut butter sauce.

Straits Spare Ribs ($12) Honey-glazed Bali style barbecue pork ribs were a little messy but very good. A little on the burned side though.

Lemongrass Beef ($24) Grilled marinated USDA prime skirt steak served with sautéed seasonal greens and frites. Pretty healthy size big plate. Meat was medium rare, like we specified. Be sure to specify it, we received over cooked version last time. Frites were really salty.

Crispy Hainan chicken ($14) were juicy and possessed a nice crispy skin. Rice had a hint of chicken flavor, while soup was pretty bland.

Coconut Rice ($4-$6) Why eat plain rice when you can have something special. Coconut flavor makes this rice a little creamy. Tamarine’s is more silky.

Wok Fired Long beans ($11) with chili sambal were good. They had a little dried shrimp to accent the beans. Pretty expensive for veggies.

Garlic Noodle ($11) wok fired, basil, black pepper, roma tomatoes, shitake mushrooms were very good. Flavorful combination with tender noodles.

Mangopolitan ($10) with House infused Mango Vodka, fresh sweet and source, and splash of Cranberry juice was a good drink. Medium strength, so it was not too foo foo.

Peach Mojito ($10) was a little on the sweet side. Get it only if you like sweet drinks. Mojito ($10) was very strong  and not sweet enough, and not very balanced.

Colorful cocktails

OK:

Origami Sea Bass ($25) Baked in parchment with ginger, longan, shiitake mushrooms and rice wine. It has been better in the past, the bell peppers just do not fit the dish.

Wok Vegetables ($11) was a mishmash of brussel sprouts, broccoli, carrots, and more.  OK but a bit ugly and mushy.

Pans:
None

Service started out well then started to tail off after we got our food. On another occasion, service was pretty scattered. Straits serves up some good Asian food and has a fun atmosphere, making it an easy choice. Prices add up, so beware. We easily hit $30 a person without trying hard or eating a lot.

Book Straits Restaurant Reservation

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Straits Restaurant Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Good)
Service Rating:	(Average)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Very Good)
Value Rating:	(Average)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Dressy
Hours:	Mon-Thu 11:00am-3:00pm, 5-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-1:30am, Sun 11:00am-10:00pm
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$12 - $39