Lime Tree Southeast Asian Kitchen, a perennial favorite in the Sunset, has opened a second location on Clement Street and it is a must for anyone who's ever in the mood for a slightly different take on more familiar Asian cuisines (Malaysian, in this case). Better still, they're open from 9 a.m. for breakfast, if savory rice and noodle dishes are something you'd be into first thing in the morning.
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Somehow, everything we ordered came in the "wrong" order (that is to say, just as we ordered it, but in descending levels of sweetness). A plate of martabak (crispy roti with minced meat, green onion and eggs) was hot and delicious, like a Jamaican beef patty shot through with coconut milk. Sambal okra and green beans were beautifully presented and cooked exactly so, although I wished we'd requested more sambal (a Sriracha-esque sauce). Char kway teow (flat rice noodle stir-fried with shrimp, Chinese sausage and eggs) was as close to pure comfort food as it gets, and pleasantly heterogeneous between the nice seasoned bits and kielbasa-like sausage. Bargain hunters might do better looking elsewhere for a lunch special, but $30, tip included, sufficed to feed two with food left over.
It's a mostly-cute but also clashing interior, painted two-toned sage but with black-and-white gingham tablecloths and neon pillows on a bench along one wall. A dining companion bemoaned the fact that the prices -- particularly in the vegetarian column -- are a dollar or two above most comparable Thai restaurants, and wished the entire space looked a bit more upscale. Because the food at Lime Tree #2 is pretty terrific.
Lime Tree Southeast Asian Kitchen, 836 Clement St., (415) 831-1415.
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