potrero view
Photo by Birgitte Gilliland

Photo by Birgitte Gilliland

October 2009

Sunflower Shining on the Hill

By Birgitte Gilliland

The recently opened Sunflower restaurant is a welcome addition to Potrero Hill’s 18th Street restaurant row, recently diminished by the loss of Eliza’s Restaurant.  The new dining establishment is an offshoot of its popular Mission namesake.  Hill residents can take heart that this promising and affordable location has taken up residence where Baraka and so many others failed to flourish.

You’d be forgiven if upon entering Sunflower you didn’t feel immediately transported to Southeast Asia.  But it’s not the presence of Baraka’s leftover, quite red, Moroccan décor that temporarily confuses.  What’s noticeably absent is the characteristic aroma of Southeast Asia’s flavors and perfumes.   For my taste, many of Sunflower’s dishes could have used more mint, lime, coriander and Thai basil.  But the kitchen has more than enough talent to quickly remedy that issue.  

What Sunflower has in abundance is fresh ingredients, generous portions, and friendly and attentive service that seem sincerely happy to please even the youngest diners.  My kids loved the pan-fried rice noodles with chicken ($7.95) and the side of brown rice ($1.75), which we marketed as “chocolate rice.”

The kitchen fared well at producing tasty entrees with garlic, lemongrass and chili.  The lemongrass beef was tender and pleasantly ginger spiced ($9.25); the clay pot featured a plentiful mix of chicken, prawns and flavorful sausage ($7.95); and the sizzling seafood platter was a sweet heat delight of prawns, calamari wedges and delicate white fish sautéed in garlic and red chili paste ($12.95).

Noodles are the bread and butter of any Vietnamese restaurant.  Sunflower’s garlic noodles ($6.95), and Sunflower Prawns ($14.95), boast a devoted following on Yelp.  I, however, preferred the pan-fried rice noodles, which are served with the protein of your choice; these noodles were soft, elastic and slightly firm to the tooth.

Sunflower enjoys a brisk lunch business, churning out seven different specials for $8.50, all accompanied by a crisp and garlicky imperial roll.  The Vietnamese pancake appetizer ($7.95) would make for a satisfying lunch on its own.   The rice flour pancake was overstuffed with chicken, shrimp and bean sprouts, and served with a heaping plate of crisp lettuce, mint, cucumbers and carrot slaw.   The pleasant temperature contrast between the hot, crunchy pancake and the cool garnishes was fun to eat, though I longed for a perkier dipping sauce.  

I generally find dessert jaunts at most affordable ethnic restaurants a misstep, but if you feel like a treat, try the chilled coconut juice ($3.50), which arrives in its well-groomed shell.  It was a refreshing finish to spoon out the silky coconut flesh in lieu of something sweet.

In the wake of the loss of Eliza’s, after a memorable 16-year run, many Hill residents are wondering where to go locally for satisfying rice, noodles and sautéed vegetables.  Sunflower Vietnamese restaurant has gamely stepped up to fill part of the new void.  


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