Chao Mien

Great little Sunday pop up at Naked Lunch in North Beach. I think the menu changes regularly but when I was there, we had the following:
Apps: pork and shrimp potstickers and papaya salad. Both were amazing
Dinner: Classic pad Thai (actually incredible), beer braised pork shoulder (shit melts in your mouth), braised beef short rib with chunky rice noodles.
The ingredients were extremely fresh and everyone was super impressed with their dishes.
This place is a 10. So is the sous chef.

Chao Mien serves up great Asian (MIenh) food. The menu has a limited selection, but does change periodically, and offers yummy SE Asian dishes with a twist.
Chef Sarn makes the best pad thai in SF. It’s not greasy or heavy, and I love that the fry egg goes on top of the noodles (and diners can mix up the whole concoction as they see fit) instead of a scramble with the noodle. It’s so good that I always end up ordering seconds.
The last time I visited, stick rice balls (with peanuts and garlic chips!), crispy pork roll (a more refined version of the egg roll), and the kha poon chicken soup were all very good.
The only catch is that this is a pop-​up restaurant using the space at Naked Lunch. It’s only open on Sundays starting at 5pm.

So, I’m always going to root for sous chefs who get their time to shine. And I think it’s awesome when restaurants like Naked Lunch give them the opportunity.
That said, I’d give the food here a 3.5. The lamb skewers and roasted pig head plate were delicious but the mussels, pad thai, and foie gras left something to be desired (the latter is seriously saying something coming from me since I order foie gras every chance I get). The orange sherbet was meh. I will note the bang for your buck though. I was stuffed after the tasting menu and it was only $ 35. Such a steal for the ingredients and amount of food you’re getting!
The reason I can’t get myself to round up to 4 stars is the timing of the meal. We waited 30 minutes+ between a couple dishes, and then all of a sudden, we’d get 2 tasting menu dishes at the same time. Just something for Sarn and his team to work on especially since the restaurant only had a handful of parties dining with them…
Other than that, it was an enjoyable evening and I’d give it another shot next time I’m in the area. Chef Sarn came by our table too and was super friendly. Always a plus :)

Chao Mien is a pop-​up Mienh-​inspired restaurant inside Naked Lunch, open Sundays from 5 – 9 pm. Sarn (the chef) serves Mienh cuisine with a twist. (See below for background on Mienh cuisine.)
I love food generally, and since I can’t cook, I’m only able to enjoy Mienh food when I visit my parents. So I was super excited when I heard about Chao Mien. Sarn takes traditional Mienh dishes and fancies them up with ingredients and techniques from other cuisines.
We went on Sunday, 2/​9, and Chao Mien did not disappoint. We ordered one of everything (sometimes twice):
* Mien hot dog: This was very fusion, melding American Acme bread with a non-​spicy Laotian sausage, with pickled vegetables reminiscent of a Vietnamese banh mi. The flavors worked well together. I would’ve preferred the sausage to be drier and spicier, but overall, super tasty. This was one of my favorites.
* Pork egg rolls: The egg rolls were like my mom’s. The twist that Sarn added were the dipping sauces, and frying the egg rolls in smaller sizes, so they were crispier. This dish would make a nice appetizer.
*Chicken and cilantro dumplings: Another dish influenced by multiple cuisines. The style of this dumpling is more Vietnamese than Chinese. This was good and popular with the group.
* Baba-​ga-​Mien: This is typically a fairly spicy Mienh dish that Sarn turned into a hummus-​style dip. It’s a very creative take on the original. If you like eggplant, you should give this a try. This was my husband’s favorite.
* Pork Belly Pad Thai: This was a crowd favorite. We ordered it in «Thai spicy» which was medium spicy for spice-​lovers and too-​spicy for most people. The way Sarn made this dish is how my sister would’ve made it: not too sweet, with a hint of tamarind, generous with the egg but cooked slightly separate from the noodles. This was another favorite of mine. Maybe next time, we’ll order Lao spicy. :)
* Crab Kha Poon: This entrée is typically served as a vermicelli noodle soup in a red curry base with chicken. Sarn changed it up by using flat rice noodles, green curry, and served it with crab in a light broth. This was another crowd pleaser. It doesn’t remind me of kha poon but it was a really tasty dish on its own.
* Chilled Tapioca Soup: This was Sarn’s take on nam wan, a tapioca and chendol dessert in coconut milk. He added blood orange and kumquats, which was a nice addition.
I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone, especially food adventurers looking for something new. Every dish was tasty, creative and beautifully presented. I would call Chao Mien a fancy Mienh-​fusion pop-​up. In the future, I’d love to see traditional, authentic dishes mixed in the menu, but for now, I’m just super happy to have found a legit, delicious Mienh-​inspired restaurant in SF.
[Just a little background: Mienh cuisine is relatively unknown because the Mienh population is small globally. In the U.S., the highest concentrations of the Mienh reside in Sacramento (approx. 15,000) and East Bay (approx. 13,000). You can find a few restaurants in Sacramento and Oakland operated by Mienh owners, mainly serving Lao and Thai dishes with a few Mienh dishes sprinkled throughout the menu. Generally, the food of the Mienh is highly influenced by Laos, Thailand and China.]