RichmondSFBlog reader tipped me to the arrival of newcomer Green Island Restaurant, located at 4012 Geary between 4th and 5th Avenues. They’ve been open for about a month now, replacing Vietnamese restaurant New Hoa Ky.
I stopped in for dinner this week to check it out. Let me state for the record that I am about as far from a foodie as you can get, so don’t expect great critique or insights about my meal there. Here goes nothing…
The interior of Green Island is clean, nice and brightly lit. We did giggle at the LCD television playing old episodes of Laverne & Shirley, followed by Batman starring Adam West (TV Land maybe?). The overall feel of the restaurant is casual.
The menu is pretty large, and offers a mix of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The waitress recommended one of their clay pot dishes which is you’re feeling saucy, you might order the “Frog with Rice in Clay Pot” ($6.75).
It had been a long day and I was not feeling like a culinary adventure, so we copped out and ordered vegetable chow mein ($5.25), crispy egg rolls (6 for $4.85), broccoli beef ($6.50) and sweet and sour pork ($6.25). And before you comment, yes, it was too much food for 2 people but going to Chinese is also about coming home with leftovers, right? 😉
I also tried their fresh lemonade ($2.75) from their varied drinks menu which also includes Red Bean Ice, Jelly-grass Ice, Papaya Milk, Melon Colada, and Ovaltine.
We enjoyed our chow mein dish the best which featured a thinner noodle that was light on the oil. The egg rolls were fine but both of us thought the meat in the broccoli beef could have been better; we encountered some tougher, more sinewy pieces of beef. The sweet and sour pork was average. Two thumbs up on the lemonade.
The service was attentive and very friendly, and I thought the prices were very reasonable (we also got free watermelon slices for dessert).
As I mentioned above, we were very unadventurous with our ordering, so I’ll leave it to the foodies to discover the “wow” dishes on Green Island’s menu. The restaurant also offers a $20.99 chef special where you can order 3 items from a menu of roughly 60 items.
Reader Michelle enjoyed her meal there, saying “I like them because you can request no MSG and light on the oil. It tastes like home cooked and seems like they are very health conscious.”
On Yelp, Green Island is at 3 out of 5 stars after 7 reviews with one commenter saying “This is a no-pretenses, well priced restaurant with good food and quick polite service.”
Green Island is open Monday – Thursday from 10am until 10pm and Friday, Saturday and Sunday til midnight.
Sarah B.
Sweet and sour pork dish at Green Island Restaurant
So, what was that “meat” in the broccoli beef…dog, cat, rat, tripe…?
I explored China for over a month and their interpretation of beef is very loose (even here at times).
Thanks for the great info on a new place. Can’t wait to check it out, mystery meat and all.
Ha, no it was definitely beef, no worries 😉
Sarah B.
I was sad to see that New Hoa Ky had been replaced, as I was a big fan of their Pho. The “Vietnamese style” dishes at Green Island weren’t anywhere near as tasty – I had gone there last week looking for Pho, and figured I’d give theirs a try. Next time I’ll stick to the Chinese dishes.