Mai's

316 Clement Street

Tel: 415-221-3046

Ensconced within the endless restaurants of Clement Street and in close proximity to Green Apple (one of the most overpriced and overblown used bookstores in the city, me thinks) is Mai's, a diminutive and homey little place that offers some mean Vietnamese cuisine, friendly service and reasonable prices.

For the restaurant crusader looking for a compromise between a hole in a wall and the dignified restaurant allowing you to pay the bill in installments, Mai's fits the niche perfectly. 

The atmosphere resembles a pleasant, intimate nook with approximately twenty tables placed carefully within a modest eating area.  Even if the place is packed on a Saturday afternoon, you simply cannot feel overwhelmed by a potential drift of banal conversation from an adjoining table. 

The fact is that Mai's does not bullshit about the kind of restaurant that it is, and it's admirably reflected in the clientele.  The idea at Mai's is to relax and slowly fill your stomach with food prepared with a delicate stroke of craft.

And the food! 

Go in with at least two other people and, for under $7, you will spend the rest of the day dreaming about succulent meat (the Five Spice Chicken is a must!), carefully prepared salads for the whiny vegetarian, the many exotic dishes you've just sampled or the nifty little coffee you ordered with that amazing device to preserve the flavor.  As an aside, this little beverage utility, upon reaching your table, will instantly become a conversation topic for well over five minutes.

The staff here is genuinely friendly.  One evening, several friends and I, in need of some good eats around the Clement area before a night of error-prone debauchery, departed off to Mai's.  Now other restaurants -- even middle-of-the-road ones -- will turn your ass away just as they're about to close unless you happen to be wearing an Armani suit.  But Mai's was pleased to see our hungry, stubble-enhanced faces and feed us at the eleventh hour.

If Mai's isn't too busy, the waitress will inveigle you with hints at how they prepare the food or give you a little bit of background on Vietnam. Mai's will make sure that you pronounce the dishes correctly instead of giving you the kind of elitist "Stupid American!  You can't pronounce this dish?  Well, go to hell!" expression you might expect from a lesser restaurant.

With their amicable humility, tasty food, reasonable prices and cozy interior, Mai's has everything I look for in a restaurant, a happy medium between good food and subdued relaxation.

Edward Champion

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