Turtle Tower in SOMA

We’re up, we’re down, we’re in this tier, wait no, we’re in that tier—-I really have no idea anymore! It’s fine though since I’m not comfortable sitting inside a restaurant yet (and sitting outside one these days also seems to be a possible hazard) but continue to use those delivery apps we all complain about and still order from. Though at this point the want for something different becomes a deep yearning need that is harder and harder to fulfill. It is why I find myself going back to old faves to deep dive their menus in search of “what else ya’ got?” I even peruse through menus of places I’m not totally interested in….just because. Kind of how I ended up even contemplating Turtle Tower.

I’ve mentioned any number of times over the years I’m not the biggest fan of noodles, either of the Asian or Italian variety, even at places where it is there calling card like Turtle. I guess in this instance it is just a bit too close to being soup and I don’t want soup, no matter how comforting it is supposed to be in these wacky times. Turns out they have other things on their menu which pique my interest enough to dive in and see if they are more diverse in what they can do above and beyond the noodle.

Nothing like kicking things off with something fried like the imperial roll. Basically a fried egg roll with crab, shrimp, pork, mushrooms and probably a little tofu in there too. I don’t know, I think for $4 I was expecting something……bigger? This was a two bite (at most) fried roll and I think the most positive thing I can say about it is it was still kind of crispy when my delivery order came. Everything else was kind of a mishmashy mix of indistinguishable flavors. Maybe that is why there was the whole vinegar like fish sauce dipping liquid which pretty much overwhelmed everything. Of course me and fish sauce are not fans of each of other so this particular bite wasn’t exactly favorable to my taste buds, but it was lingering and not in a good way. It’s a taste thing and that ain’t mine.

These seemed more promising. Goi cun, or Vietnamese spring rolls of which there were four for $7, a bargain compared to the imperial roll. Shrimp, pork, carrot and romaine lettuce rolled in rice paper and served with a peanut dipping sauce. Let’s be honest here, there a number of things in the roll without much flavor and you kind of get this to be “healthy”. It’s shrimp and lettuce, c’mon! And for that, it taste exactly like what it is—and A LOT of lettuce. Turns out there actually is some pork in there even though you can’t see it in the pic. At first I thought it was one of the carrots because it was cut into a small strip like the carrot and had almost the same color but it was the pork. At least I’m pretty sure it was the pork.

The flavor here was in the dipping sauce which was thick and peanutty and I do like me some peanuts. I did think the sauce worked better warm, which is why I microwaved it a tad to bring out more nuttiness. All in all I would mark this one up as enough of a win freshness, crispness sauce flavor.

I do so love a good banh mi and as those of you out there know, I’ve had and written about my fair share of them. Yes, it is a lot of bread, but sometimes the fillings can bring it altogether so why not!? I skipped the traditional pork one and decided to go chicken with pate, a fried egg (of course), cilantro, carrots, cucumber, butter and jalapeños. And for $6.75, I will say it was decently large and still less than the $10 sandwiches I will continue to rail about!

Upon inspection it didn’t exactly look like some of the other more exceptional banh mis I’ve had in this town as it was kind of slap-dashed together without the carefully placed layers one might be used to. But a sliced side view seems to offer a better look.

Yeah, looks a little better from this angle. The egg was a more fried hard than with a runny yolk so you I didn’t get any of that extra richness. I think I was expecting some five spice on the chicken or just any spice in here but even the jalapeño fell a little flat. It was also a on the dry side with a sparing spread of pate and butter. Not enough to overcome all the bread and the well cooked chicken pieces. Though the cucumber and carrots were fresh and crunchy so there that is something, right? Maybe, but not necessarily enough to make it a memorable banh mi when there are other around town doing it so well like this one, this one and of course the OG banh mi. I guess i the grand scheme of sandwiches it’s all right, but in the realm of SF choices for a banh mi, I would look elsewhere first (second and third).

Really, nothing here was outright awful or inedible, it was all just kind of ordinary without being remarkable. You can make a meal out of it, but most likely, you are not really going to remember much about it afterwards. Basically a food eaters curse of “it was all right.” That can be the drawback of being known for something, you spend so much time trying to get it right every time, every thing else on offer seems to pale in its shadow. Well, I guess I learned my lesson, if a place does specialize in something specific-get it. HA! Who am I kidding, I’m not always gonna do that. Where’s the fun it when I can order other things and be disappointed! It is kind of my thing.