Straits Cafe

I LOVE straits. I mean– their roti Prata is just delicious. The curry sauce is to die for. The murtabak is greasy but still packed with flavor. You can never go wrong with their frites and tuna tower. The staff can be a little snobbish at times, but it varies. I usually stick with the same dishes here and the last time I went my fiancé ordered the crispy chicken wings. I only had one– not really my thing. We ordered too much so ended up packing the wings. When we got home and wanted a late night snack, we pulled out the wings and had a pleasant surprise– a feather! I know some people say its normal for chicken wings to sometimes have a feather here and there, but it just grossed me out so much. I’ll put a pic up. I haven’t been back since.

Decent food, good drinks and good service make this a solid if not terribly inspiring choice. Party of four seated immediately, once ordered food came quickly (it comes somewhat randomly, as it comes when ready, which was fine). Paying was prompt and easy.
None of the food was a miss it just wasn’t very memorable. spring rolls were tasty and fresh. Duck sliders had very good duck and daikon radish but too much bread and mine had too much mayonnaise. Calamari was pedestrian — not greasy or bad tasting, just run-​of-​the-​mill. Same with the spinach salad and my beef with polenta — no problems, well cooked and taste good, but for me nothing was a «wow».
The drinks were outstanding. My Ginger Mule was strong and full of fresh ginger. My colleagues’ Lychee Martini was also perfectly balanced.
So a good, solid option in the sea of restaurants around Union Square, especially for family style meal with good drinks.

I was absolutely loving their happy hour. It’s fairly cheap $ 5 a plate and the portions are large. I think that with two people, you can be off with 2 – 3 plates of the happy hour. The selections were not numerous but still very good. They had the roti prata, chicken skewers, spring rolls, fried calamari, etc.
I had the roti prata. It came with 2 with a side of curry sauce. Pretty oily but definitely delicious. Crispy and warm.
Calamari. I was surprised at the large portions. Fried perfectly. Good combination of rings and tentacles. Came with 2 sauces.
Pad Thai– super flavorful. like really really flavorful

Food… A++++++
Service …A++++++
Need I say more?
This place is amazing. The food is delicious and so is the service!
Came here on a whim as hubby and I were wandering about on our anniversary. We weren’t really sure so we were a bit skeptical but then once the food came, we were blown away. It was DELICIOUS~!! The waiter had misheard my order, but the manager quickly changed that by replacing my entire order. Of course, that was ‘the right thing to do’ however, the way it was done was with class and how a great smile.
I feel bad for the others who have had a bad experience at this place, but for my first time there, I LOVED it and will make a great effort to come back when I can. It’s a nice place to relax and enjoy a wonderful meal with hubby.

1 star means that not only did I receive terrible service preventing me from returning, but it also suggests that you should use this review to save your time and money on this establishment.
«Bottomless mimosas» may stray you to come here like it did for us, but the management here is only out to get your money.
This entails in:
1) Watering down our drinks (ie. a splash of champagne and 90% orange juice)
2) Waiting 10 minutes after we finish our drink to receive a refill
3) Lying to us saying they are out of champagne and orange juice, when we see them being used for another table
4) Capping our «bottomless mimosa» limit with no valid explanation
In no way shape or form was our group of 11 obnoxious or rowdy. If you want an obnoxious crowd, you can go to any bar in the Castro or Mission. We were perfectly tame that just wanted to leave happy, but after 6 – 8 glasses can you believe we were sober?
We spoke to the manager to voice our concerns, but the manager Dennis merely blamed the server Brandon (who was a great server by the way) and that our tolerance was really high. No, service managers should keep their customers happy. Managers in general should take accountability rather than point fingers. And with that said, I can say that I will not be returning to Straights Café and encourage Unilocalers to search for many other SF restaurants where they care about the customers.

Straits is pretty consistent out of all the three locations I’ve been to — first many many years ago in Burlingame, then Santana Row, which I used to go a handful of times, and finally this location. The décor has the same sleek, dark and mod tones, however I must say the bathrooms are a lot better here than those janky ones at Santana Row & Burlingame. There’s several single bathrooms with floor to celiing doors, and all the stalls meet in the middle for the sink (think Jones in TenderNob).
The four of us were in downtown and couldn’t decide what to eat, and finally decided on Straits. It was 1:00 and the restaurant wasn’t too busy, and luckily we made it in time to participate in bottomless mimosas (ends at 2 I believe) and brunch. There were so many tempting options, but I had seriously been craving Hainan Chicken for weeks, so I went with that while everyone got brunch dishes. It took awhile, but the first round of mimosas came out (for them, not me, I passed due to having to try on lingerie after, lol). For $ 15 you get your choice of three flavors of bottomless mimosas — OJ, pomegranete, and rose. Regular price for one is $ 9. I had a little bit of his OJ one, not bad, but you don’t taste too much of the booze. But, heyyy bottomless, so whatevs! Typically Hainan chicken has a lot of smaller pieces of chicken, Straits gave me about 4 pieces, but they were super meaty, which I appreciated. The sauces weren’t traditional, as I prefer the original chili sauce. Usually it’s served with a soy ginger sauce, but I actually liked the other dipping sauce (believe it was hoisin) that it was served with. The chicken totally hit the spot and so did the chicken rice. Also on the plate was a delicious comforting bowl of soup — basic chicken broth, garlic and green onions. My plate was just the right portion, definitely generous for me, but not too much to feel stuffed. Everyone else liked their dishes — seafood fritatta, eggs and hash and steak and eggs. I had a taste of his steak and eggs, though the steak looked like a thin flank steak it still had a good amount of flavor, the scrambled eggs were standard, but I loved the side salad’s dressing! A little surprised though for an Asian restaurant, even though Straits is a fusion place, didn’t give him rice with the eggs. No biggie, I shared mine with him.
Service was wonderful, and I always love the décor of Straits. Regardless of the fact that I’m pretty much only in the city now, I still would prefer this location than Santana Row’s to dine and drink at. Santana Row is a little douchey afterall, and service is better at this location. I always used to get happy hour or dinner at Santana Row, but think I’d prefer either brunch or happy hour at this location. 3.5 rounded up, because the city by the Bay is better than Santan Row.hehe.

Located at westfield mall top floor undef the dome, went for Happy hour twice. Tried the roti prata (crunchy flat bread) scallions a peanut sauce… Really good.
Spring rolls wete not great at all (pre made and cut way before service…) not good at all. chicken satay were good (dark meat) which helps to avoid them to dry. the bad part was that tehy did not have a riesling or a white zin for my GF (the runout…)

Located under the Dome in the Westfield shopping center downtown.
The nine of us sat at the communal table at HH. We tried everything on the HH menu. Liked all with the exception of the spring rolls. Blah.
Consider coming here if you’re looking for a place to grab some small bites before grabbing a movie at Century 9 upstairs.

I’ve been to Staits many times for HH and the G&T’s never let me down. Headed in on Friday for some drinks and dinner (for my friend, I was on a mostly liquid diet on Friday) and was underwhelmed by the painfully slow service and mediocre snacks.
We went to Straits mostly out of convenience, but I really wish we had just gone to the food court at Westfield. Happy hour was over, so we opted for a table in the dining room. We waited for about 10 minutes to be greeted by our server which seemed exessive. I looked around while we waited and noticed that nearly every other table still had their menus and no drinks or food, so that right there makes me think they are understaffed on a Friday evening. Gotta plan ahead, Gen Manager.
I ordered a Lagunitas IPA and my friends ordered large Sakes. The drinks took another 10 minutes or so to arrive, and while my beer was standard, their sakes were just a double shot of sake mixed with some kind of juice, rather than the ceramic carafe you find in Japanese restaurants. Needless to say, it was neither expected or enjoyed. I realize it’s a fusion mall restaurant, but still.
One friend ordered the Butter Chicken with white rice, which looked like Tikka Massala and he said was super salty, and my friend and I shared the Calamari appetizer which came with a lemon wedge, tartar sauce, and some kind of awful sweet ketchup dipper. Just stick with cocktail sauce, trust me. The tartar was good with the calamari once we dripped lemon juice over it.
It makes me wonder what you are supposed to order at places like this when everything is bland, deep fried, or way too salty. Prices are too high for what you get. I think venturing out into the Fi Di or going SOMA would have been a better choice, but hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀.

Still one of my favorite asian fusion restaurants to go to. It has a nice atmosphere for casual, Intimate, lounge etc.
They have a great variety of drinks, liquor, cocktails etc. the servers and service are always good and I’ve never not had a bad experience.
I always tend to order the same dishes hainan chicken and rengdang beef. The meat are always juicy and tender and the flavors are great. The sides that comes with the dish is great too. I don’t like to come to places like these usually for food because who would have thought it’d be good? But itssss gooodddd.
It’s great for a younger crowd and it’s good food and drinks.

I like this restaurant because its a nice place to come after work with the girls and grab a fancy drink and an appetizer for Happy Hour. Nothing specifically amazing here, the appetizers I’ve tried with the girls –calamari, frites, the ahi rolls, samosas, spring rolls and chicken satay.
The lounge seating could be nicer, its hard to get a seat sometimes and the low couches are uncomfortable for taller people.
Never had an issue with service. All in all 3 stars.

Came here with the hubs while we were shopping at Westfield. We came when we were both feeling like we needed to go to more fancy places to eat.
This was actually a while ago, so my memory is fuzzy. I do recall ordering the roti prata. What that is, is basically the Indian pancake dish where you can rip yourself a piece and devour it like a savage.
… Except they had it cut into triangles here, so that you may eat it like a FANCY savage. It’s complimented with a peanut curry sauce. I think my expectations for curry sauces have been made throughout the years, because their curry sauce was not to my liking, unfortunately.
Any who, we also ordered noodles I think. Oh I do recall ordering chicken with a side of rice and soup. I believe it was from their lunch menu, but what I can tell you is that the chicken was dry as the desert. It sat on a bed of greens, and its skin looked so good just because it was shining, but maaaaaaaan… I really wish they added more juices! Even the sauce that came with it was not enough to moisten the dry clockers. The rice I believe was jasmine, because it had a very unique taste and texture. The soup basically tasted like chicken stock with some shallots and oil.
I have pictures up already, but Unilocal thinks that because they’re from a while ago, that they don’t need to put it with my review. Dumb.
This place is pricey. But you are on the top floor of Westfield. The ambiance however, is really nice for casual dates with coworkers and friends, or for romantic lunch/​dinner with your significant other.
I have yet to come here for happy hour. I might try it!

I honestly don’t know why we keep coming in here for work lunches. The food is mediocre and the service is *slow as molasses in January*. The last two times, one friend’s lunch was completely forgotten and finally came out 20 minutes after everyone else’s and the time after that, it took nearly 40 minutes for half our food orders to come out, 8 minutes for the next two, and another five minutes for the last one. As a result of how slow our lunch was delivered, we were at lunch for over two hours, during the work week, when we really couldn’t spare time to just sit around.
Unlikely that I’ll return. I’ve been here at least 5 or 6 times due to coworkers wanting to go here, but from now on I’ll likely be skipping out any bookings set here. If the food blew me away, I’d be more forgiving of the service (or vice versa) but we live in San Francisco, we have no reason to put up with food that’s «ok» when there’s so many options that are mind-​blowing instead.

Friday lunch. The place is almost empty. The vibe is nice, atmosphere coherent with its themes and the service great.
The food was average. Roti Prata is super good! The garlic noodles however wasn’t nearly as good. Raw Garlic, Raw mushrooms, Raw shrimp. All these thing shouldn’t be raw and it was really raw. The mushrooms are the Chinese type and just tasted like someone soaked it in water. Not nice to bite through at all, especially bad when the noodles were filled with them.

Disclaimer. This review is based only on the hainan chicken dish served during lunch. This is NOT on the lunch menu, but since I am from Singapore, I asked for it so I can compare.
It is NOT like Singapore’s hainanese chicken rice that is readily available in Singapore. The chicken here is too dry and the chopping of the chicken can be better to make it more presentable. The chicken in hainanese chicken rice is cooked in such a way that the meat is very moist and melts when you bite into it. The chicken I ate was dry and most likely boiled too long or left out too long. The sauce used to drizzle over the chicken is also average and did not add flavor to the meat. The rice is OK. It is more yellow and lacks the flavor of garlic, ginger and pandang leaves used in traditional cooking if the rice. The rice is denser than it ought to be. Finally the black sauce on the side is good. It is thick and it is sweet. Unfortunately, that’s not the type you will find in Singapore. The chili sauce is also not what I expected.
I have cooked and served this dish to many Singaporeans and mine version is way better than this. So, if you think you are here to experience what hainanese chicken rice taste like in Singapore, this is not the place.
I would return here to sample the other straits dishes to compare. Remember this id a fusion restaurant. Like their slogan said. «Serving Americans with a touch of Singapore. «right now that touch is very light. So if you know anything about Singapore food, you can skip the hainanese chicken dish or you will be disappointed. Next dishes to try are nasi lemak and rendang.

I had come to this location when it first opened and thought that it was much better in comparison to their South Bay location a good 7 years ago. However, years later, it seems to have gone downhill to match what I didn’t like so much about their SoBay location. The origami chilean seabass didn’t taste anything like chilean sea bass which should be smooth and buttery and their tuna tower was way too gingery that I literally choked on the ginger juice which overwhelmed the delicate tuna taste. The mussels were okay and the prawns was their saving grace. They were good sized, flavorful and not over cooked.
What the food was lacking, it was made up in service as our server Arjun was personable and attentive without being intrusive.

Straits had excellent service! We asked the waiter for recommendations since it was our first time there. Delicious! We sampled garlic noodles, crab cakes, fresh spring roles and steak arugula salad with watermelon.
Very pleased with our meal!

I’ve been to this location 2 times, and I must say, customer services, this is the best compare to the ones in Santa Row and San Mateo! I’ve dined at the bar and also the dinning area at this location; service was fantastic for both experiences. Hostess was very friendly as well, she greeted us with great smile when we walked in, and a friendly goodbye when we leave (sounds pretty basics but you don’t really get this nowadays).
Food-​wise are pretty much the same; I always order their mussels and garlic noodles — no disappointment there. Highly recommended for a drink or two and/​or dinner with friends in the city. Just a friendly warning though, it’s quite loud inside this restaurant, it’s not the best place if you want to chat quietly with someone.

The service was excellent! I also loved the $ 5 happy hour specials.
But, I’m 34. I need a little bit of light (it was SO DARK my eyes were starting to hurt)
Also, the music was BLASTING omg I was tired of screaming. It certainly wasn’t relaxing.
Also, the house wine wasn’t good. In fact, it was disgusting.
I’m still giving them 3 stars as we were served promptly and our food was brought to us when we moved away from the bar. Also, the duck sliders were excellent! That bun was something else!
Great for 20 somethings who want to start «clubbing» at 5PM.

Singaporean fusion is definitely a rare find, and Straits was a pleasant surprise especially inside of Westfield Mall. The atmosphere and presentation was great, and although the food is probably judged to be on the smaller side in terms of portions, I think it leaves you at the perfect fullness to not feel overwhelmed.
We started out with the roti, which came with two large pieces of hot and doughy goodness. Sprinkled with scallions, the roti came apart easily as you pull it and the sauce provided that perfect extra flavor to the roti. We also ordered the garlic noodles with chicken and the spicy basil chicken. The curry was well-​flavored with a slightly sweet note that was refreshing but not heavy. The chicken rice was a unique side that paired well with the chicken, adding a deeper flavor that was really steeped into the grainy rice. The noodles themselves were nothing out of the ordinary, but the seasoning was delicious. I loved how the chicken was grilled, and the fresh tomatoes were a great addition that lightened up the dish.
The prices are definitely up there, but if you order the right things you will have a satisfying and delicious meal that’s slightly exotic and different than what you would find at any other restaurant.