Nirvana Restaurant & Bar

I can’t believe I’ve never written a review of this place! I was so sure that I had! A friend of mine wants to go here this evening for her birthday celebration– and has been calling all week to make a reservation– but no one answers…
Dun. Dun. Dun. After some super sleuthing– it appears that Nirvana may be shutting down. Although I hate to begin the rumor mill– check this article out.
If this is true– then my heart is broken. Nirvana was the first place in San Francisco that absolutely won me over. This restaurant is one of my favorites in our foggy city– so I hope it’s just relocating and not gone for good.
For those of you who haven’t been (and may still have a chance in the event it’s open a little while longer) I highly recommend you go. The ambiance is wonderful– I especially like the back patio. Zen like. Calming. Delightful.
Wendell (the bartender) is my favorite. I’ve gone here a few times just for drinks and he’s a ton of fun to talk to! (My boyfriend is naturally very talkative, those two could talk about drink concoctions for hours.)
I always order:
Watermelon Martini (So good!)
Grilled Baked Onion Bread (Addicting! Sweet, savory, and oh so melt in your mouth!)
Marinated Grilled Chicken (My go-​to order)
I really hope Nirvana sticks around! Please don’t go!!!

This is by far one of my favorite restaurants in the city (and not only because it’s on the Castro).
Nirvana is unique for a San Francisco restaurant in that it has «outdoor» seating. They’ve created an interesting oasis on the back patio that makes you almost forget you’re even in the city. Inside seating is pretty limited, but I think it adds to the character of the restaurant: intimate but relaxed.
This is one of the few restaurants where I’ll always try something new on the menu without going directly for a single favorite. The food is very enjoyable, I wouldn’t consider it outstanding, but it certainly fills you up as the portions are pretty generous.
The price is reasonable, the ambiance is cozy, and the wait staff are super friendly.
If you’re looking for a fun date spot I’d definitely recommend Nirvana.

Have been going here for years being a Castro resident.
Best Thai in the city. Hands down
Best dishes: marinated chicken egg noodles, onion bread and Korean BBQ ribs (EFFING DELICIOUS)

Eating in the outdoor patio, under the palm fronds with an old friend, was quite the delight today. Very delicious food — I had their Kama Curry Chicken dish, served on Udon noodles with snow peas. It was quite a large dish, too, so there was plenty of it to have. I don’t know if their lunch portions are smaller than their dinner plates, but I was well-​fed just after noon!
Also had a good drink (aside from water), their Mojo Mojito. A tad pricey (cost slightly more than my food), but it lasted my entire stay. If I was to keep my order at just the food and water, my total trip could easily have been under $ 10.
Peaceful atmosphere, kind staff, and even some friendly patrons — a few of them asked what my friend and I were having, very interested upon its arrival at our table. Awesome experience all around.

wow!

This used to be my absolute favorite restaurant in San Francisco, so when I received some excellent news, I came here with my friends to celebrate.
We had a reservation and were seated right away and then… nothing. Definitely more than 10 minutes of just sitting there, waiting for someone to notice us, maybe come up and take our drink order… even greet us. The hostess kept walking by our table, but it was as if she was avoiding make eye contact with us, instead preferring to hover by as a useless, non-​drink-​providing, one-​woman parade.
My boyfriend had to mean-​mug one of the bartenders until they looked our way, and only THEN did the man who had been nonchalantly chatting up someone at the bar bother to come over and introduce himself as our waiter.
He was perfectly pleasant, and we were perfectly pleasant back (because let’s face it, we’ve all seen Waiting and nobody wants a nasty surprise in their food). The chef must have noticed how long we had to sit there because when we ordered the Firecracker Soup, he hooked us up with an an extra bowl.
While I must say that the drinks are still superb and the Firecracker soup is outrageously good, I felt that all the entrees we ordered were just alright. Not nearly as amazing as I remember them being.
I’d probably come back here for drinks and just sit at the bar, since it seems like they’re no longer investing in good table service.

Came here last night for my girls birthday dinner. We had the private room in the back which was super cute and very secluded so it was nice. It fit us 6 very well. I’m not sure how it will fit a huge party. The service was amazing. Our waiter was a sweetheart. I wish I got his name, but whatever. (HAHA! Got his name. Julius, you were absolutely amazing!)
I got the kamikaze steak and it tasted… Not like what I expected. Actually, I’m not sure what I was expecting… It tastes like chow mein… It wasn’t bad… Just wasn’t to my liking. :/​
The drinks on the other hand was amazing! :)

There were six of us here for dinner tonight and everyone had the same reaction – we were not happy with the service.
It was clumsy and felt really diner-​like. I’m sure though that she thought she was being very accomodating. It just didn’t seem to work.
Me:
«We ordered a plate of tiger prawns and noodles to share as an appetizer. We asked you to bring it out before we had our entrees» (as she brought everything out at the same time.)
Waitress:
«Well, you got it all at the same time»
And then,
«Here. Pass this down to him» (as she stood at the head of the table handing out plates of food like a cafeteria lunch lady)
She finished service with:
«You wanna hand me your plate?» (when she came back after we had finished eating)
The table filled up with empty cocktail glasses and beer bottles.
She didn’t seem to see them even after I had collected all of them and put them at the head of the table. I had to ask her to remove the empty glasses so we had room for our dinner plates.
She made sure though that she added in her automatic tip due to servicing a table of six people.
The food wasn’t bad – mediocre at best.
Not sure if I would try this restaurant again.

Food 2 Stars; Service/​location 4 Stars
Went here last night for a fund-​raiser benefiting Pinoy Educational Partnership Program. The prices are cheap and service is nice, despite being chaotically busy, but the food really isn’t very good. I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache.

It seemed so promising the moment we walked into Nirvana to check it out. The place was bustling with good chatter and the kitchen was busy with big displays of fire and wok acrobatics. Alas, the overall experience, while decent, failed to deliver upon the first impression.
The food isn’t bad per se but over-​sauced in my opinion. I had the Seafood noodles (
) which included scallops, prawns, calamari, and mussels with a curry coconut sauce over noodles. The seafood was relatively fresh and the noodles were cooked just right but that sauce was just too thick. My friend had the apricot-​glazed pork and spinach noodles (
) which was good, except for the sauce again. This time round it was a case of too much sweetness. A real pity because the pork was nice and tender.
Service here was spotty. She started out almost surly but got nicer and friendlier as our meal progressed and we got closer to settling the check. Average all our interactions with her and she was decent.
I can see why Nirvana is popular with some folks and I might be back. It’s an inexpensive place to grab some food with a lot of flavor (perhaps too much) before you head down the street for a night of drinking. I think some subtlety in the sauces will do it good though.

The bff decided to have a birthday dinner here and made a reservation for 15 people. We were given the special room in the back (sweeeet). It was very lounge-​y with couches, throw pillows, a long table, and side tables. The decorations and vibe of the room were great for a get together. The only thing was that when it came time to eat my food, I had to eat my meal on my lap… no biggie though.
Ordered the steak rangoon. The steak was cooked well, and it was moist at medium-​rare. The side of vegetables that came with it were three pieces of asparagus and three flowerettes of broccoli. Not a lot of variety, but I enjoy both asparagus and broccoli so it worked out for me. I also ate some of the fried calamari which was decent, and the bodhi lettuce cups which I liked a lot. You can never go wrong with chicken, onions, garlic, and tofu (not to mention the delicious plum sauce that came with the lettuce cups.
Drink-​wise ordered a pink cucumber (I’m a sucker for anything muddled cucumber) and a papisan (I get almost any drink with elderflower liqueur). Drinks were okay, nothing fancy and I felt a bit overpriced at about $ 10 per drink. this was a bit of a surprise because I’ve actually been to Nirvana before just for drinks and was a huge fan, but this time, I just wasn’t feeling the drinks. Although I’m usually already a few drinks in when I come here (however, this time was for dinner so no pre-​dinner drinks were had :(

I’ve been eating here since they opened and the food is really stunning in its own way. Outside of the fact that they have one of the BEST patios in SF… I’ve had about half the menu, and there are a few favs:
1. Onion bread and the dipping sauce
2. Grilled Short Rib App
3. The Char Char Pork On Udon Noodles (Has been off the menu for 9 years but its amazing).
I had all 3 tonight… and the samosas. Happy hour pricing is ½ orders for $ 3 on the apps, and $ 3 on the beers. Wine $ 4, and super nicely made mixed cocktails about $ 6.
Amazing service (from Khoi), and the Cook (Jose) has been there since day 1. Was great to see that level of dedication. And it breeds consistency which is key. Not too many places can offer this, so…
They get 5 stars? Why???
Because it was as good today as the first time i ate there 11 years ago. Wish more places were like this.

Not a bad Asian-​fusion place. The menu was surprisingly diverse.
Luckily a friend and I were able to acquire table by the front window and that enhanced our overall experience. We even saw a drug addict having his interdiction with a sizable portion of the San Francisco police and fire departments right outside of our window. Very interesting. .. Now I no longer need to watch either Law and Order or Cops – I just saw it all right here on Saturday night.
Service was a bit slow after the appetizers arrived, but the atmosphere was conducive to nice long conversations. The wine selection was very sparse.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed Nirvana. I used to dine here with some regularity back when I first moved to San Francisco in 2002. I was a meat eater back then and the entire menu was fair game but I was younger and more interested in the aptly named fruity beverages than the food.
I’ve put my days of drinking fuchsia colored liquids to bed and food has moved into the #1 spot of my list of interests. Times change. My liver wants to die a dignified death.
So yeah, Nirvana, thank you for having vegan noodle options that are tasty and interesting but no thank you for not knowing that ranch is made with buttermilk.
I will say the staff was nice and accommodating after realizing their mistake and I would go back for more awesome noodle action just beware of the unstellar tofu panwich. (ick)

Based on the recommendation from my fellow Unilocal friend, we checked out the Nirvana restaurant. Since I came here on a Thursday evening, the restaurant was calm and quiet, which I prefer than the crowded & noisy atmosphere. The streets were pretty empty on Castro Street; therefore, parking was was a lot easier than your normal busy weekends.
As for the food, it was surprisingly good! I haven’t had many good experiences with Asian Fusion restaurants, but Nirvana did a good job with their entrees. Most of the poor Asian Fusion places that I’ve been too had entrees that were expensive with small portions and their meats were dry & tough. As for Nirvana, I ordered the Kamikaze Steak over Noodles while my friend ordered the Mango Glazed Chicken. The portions were decent, the prices were fair, the sauce was flavorful and the meats were tender & juicy!
Not only was the food good, it was the service that made my dining experience enjoyable. Our waitress for that evening was Emily. She was funny, extremely friendly and had a spunky personality. When I asked Emily on her suggestions in their menu, she gave us detailed recommendations.
I was pleasantly surprised by its food and I was very happy with their service. If I happened to be around the Castro area again, I would definitely recommend Nirvana and I hope all of their employees are as good as Emily.

Came here to Nirvana with my dear friend Johnny W. this past week for a late dinner.
Immediately entering the restaurant, I felt a warm sense of being wisk to the countries of Asia with various art pieces and cute little buddha statues surrounding.
While Asian Fusion is hard to perfect here in SF with the abundance of great Asian restaurants, the food here definitely sits along that general line average fusion food. But it’s the service here that really made our dining experience here at Nirvana a joy.
Our server for the evening was Emily, who happens to also be the manager. Emily was very friendly, and down-​to-​earth and definitely made sure our needs were tended to.
I felt bad early on as she came back to our table twice but we were too busy yapping that we hadn’t looked at the menu to look at drinks nor appetizers to start. Needless to say, I am glad she jumped in and just offered a few recommendations for starters to get us going.
We took her suggestion and started off with the Sweet Potato Fries with a Spicy Ranch dipping sauce – «specially prepared by her» Lol. It was a great choice as the sweet potato inside was fresh as can be which was nice even after being deep-​fried. Portion size for the fries was definitely a bit small but enough for two people to share none the less.
For entrée’s Johnny and I shared. We ordered the Kamikaze Steak over Noodles — Sirloin strips marinated in a light garlic soy, wok seared to perfection with onions. Served on Linguine noodles with our special-​garlic sauce.
Steak was juicy and tender, and lightly marinated. Linguine noodles however definitely could’ve used a bit more flavor to them as I couldn’t make out the garlic much. What can I say? I love my g a r l i c. But overall, nice dish!
We also ordered the Mango Glazed Chicken — Tender chicken breast seared with a mango cinnamon glaze. Topped with golden raisins, roasted almonds and cardamom, served with jasmine rice and seasonal vegetable stir-​fry.
*Eh* This dish was just alright. There were generous portions of chicken, and had nicely glazed, but I would’ve liked the mango to be more potent.
As I mentioned, the food was was just alright. But Emily’s service and friendliness made our experience that much better. We ended up staying quite past their closing time, but they didn’t feel the need to rush us out which I appreciated.
Nirvara would be a great spot for drinks off of their extensive cocktail menu of tropical concoctions, but since I was driving, I decided to pass. I will definitely like to come back here for a nice drink and appetizers.
Thank you Johnny, for dinner and your great company!
3 Stars for Food
5 Stars for Service
Overall…4 Stars

This place is pretty close to nirvana. Eating out on the patio was like being transported to a very zen-​like garden. If it were a little bit more humid, I would’ve thought I was in Thailand.
The food was super good! After eating here for a friend’s birthday, I want to come back as soon as possible. I am even willing to drive the long distance from San Jose just to eat their kamikaze steak again. The steak is marinated really well and extremely tender. It is also served on a bed of noodles in garlic sauce. Oh man, the noodles and the sauce reminded me of my mom’s cooking! Super tasty and satisfying.
The reason I am not giving it 5 stars was because the service was painfully slow. Everyone that served us from the bartender to the waitstaff were all extremely courteous and friendly. It just took them forever to do it, though. It was just ridiculously slow and the place was not even busy. Perhaps, I was supposed to be more zen-​like and meditate while I waited, but I am just not patient enough.

We go to Nirvana once a year for Pride week. We book out the heated patio in the back with our own bar. We get a special menu that changes from year to year. The service is always wonderful, the cocktails always delicious, but I’m not 100% keen on the food.
This year we had a four course dinner, starting with the sample platter and then a salad. It was fine up until that point. Then the entrees starting coming at all different times, and at our table the first and the last entrees were half an hour apart. My food was definitely lukewarm when I started eating.
The best part was the dessert. They were nice enough to let me eat all three. The chocolate cake was remarkable, so if you don’t do anything else at Nirvana, have a drink and a piece of cake.

4.5 stars
Nirvana Oh Nirvana, I thank you for coming into my life with your Asian inspired dishes and attentive staff. I dig the atmosphere here along with the unique dishes such as duck rolls, grilled onion bread, and the chicken kama curry. The curry dish is my favorite with a great blend of spices and I love dipping the bread in the dish. At lunch time, the dish is tiny so order the dish at dinner time where the dish doubles in size and has plenty of curry to dip.
Prices are reasonable and it’s a great date place. There is a backyard patio with heat lamps, small garden, and just a nice environment to enjoy your appetizers and curry dishes. I can’t wait to come back to Nirvana and try out other dishes from here. Remember, kama curry with chicken, yum-​o!!!

*** U P D A T E D **
Added another star for their quick and insightful customer service. My good friend R and I (he’s my partner in crime every year for the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival) were suppose to catch a 6:00pm film but I was starving since I had nothing but Martha’s coffee from the morning and had done the two hour fun/​stroll at Pt. Isabel with my pup, so we ran into Nirvana. «R» explained the situation to the host who told us that he would be able to get us in, feed us, and out within 25 minutes, which he did. Added another star just for that honest and quick service. They rock!
After watching Valerie, an insightful film directed by Birgit Moller at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival at the Castro, and winner of the Best First Feature MK AWARD, my friend R and I emerged from the dark theater hushed and reflective from the experience.
Then, my appetite pushed away all thoughts of solemn thinking and started to retch itself against my passages. Hunger. Hunger. Hunger. A chant.
We surged forth toward Nirvana, a very quaint and colorful restaurant a block away from the Castro theater. The minute we entered, I felt my skin take on a reddish cast: the restaurant was infused in a reddish glow. I felt warm and as if in a cabaret, until the Asian influenced interior design brought me back to reality. Were seated in the back, towards the shrine that had a sign stating «Please do not touch sacred shrine», okay. The long table next to us was filled with a party of 12 native Germans, speaking away and making our experience even more foreign. They probably filtered over after the film showing.
R and I started by perusing the menu, which was basically a melding and collaborative take on various Asian ethnic cuisines.
We started off with their Samosas and I elected the Thai-​Style Grilled Chicken over their Spinach noodles. R chose the Marinated Grilled Chicken over the same spinach noodles. The samosas were not that bad, although I’ve definitely had better made by my friends. The outer layer was too thick and breaded and the potato innards a bit too powdery for my tastes. The spinach noodles were of homemade consistency: thick, warped, and fantastically kinked. But most excellent in the slightly sweet and tangy fish-​sauce infused dressing over the noodles. The chicken, rather plain, but still juicy.
The German party next to us soon grew to a party of 16 and we were pleasantly surprised to see the director of Valerie take a seat with them. All the German sounds made R and I rethink our possibilities for the summer. Perhaps a little German language classes were in order soon.
I had a delightful dinner with my good friend and on our way out, stopped to pay a compliment to Birgit in regards to her film.
She thanked us, in a rather East European way, with a bland «thanks» but wide smile. That’s all I needed to gear up for the chilly weather reception outside and stomach full of tasty noodles.