Tycoon Kitchen Catering

The "new" Salesforce / Transbay Transit Center has been up and running for a few years now, and most of the retail merchants have finally opened their doors.  I haven't checked out many (besides Happy Lemon for bubble tea), but there are a few fast casual or full service dining options on the ground level.  One of which is Tycoon Kitchen, an Asian-American fusion restaurant that gets pretty good reviews.

"Indulge your taste buds with our delicious and innovative dishes, expertly crafted to blend the best of Asian and American culinary traditions. From mouthwatering favorites like Spicy crispy chicken sandwiches to refreshing salmon blueberry salads and comforting tom yum soup, there's something for everyone to enjoy."

They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I didn't actually visit in person, but attended a neighborhood event with the catering done by Tycoon Kitchen.  I was underwhelmed given how high the accolades are for their regular restaurant, but maybe catering really isn't their strong point.  I saw glimmers of great things - wonderful seasoning, high quality proteins, but overall, was not particularly pleased with the items I tried.  I'd still give them a try at the main restaurant though.

Appetizers

Appetizers on the regular menu are just rolls (fresh or crispy), or garlic fries.  We had both styles of rolls at the party, along with potstickers that aren't on the regular menu.

Crispy Veggie Rolls.

"Crispy Wrap, Taro, Fungus Mushroom, Cabbage, Silver Noodle, Carrot."

I started with the vegetarian option, crispy veggie rolls.  They were very crispy but also very greasy, a bit too fried for my taste.  That said, the filling was very good - I loved that there was taro in them, and the silver noodles weren't too dominant (pet peeve is when spring rolls are mostly noodle inside)!  The filling was really well seasoned, tons of black pepper.  Filling: ****, but the greasy fry job puts these down at a low ***.

Normally these come with sweet and sour sauce, no sauce at all was served with them for catering.  Sweet and sour, or sweet chili sauce really would have been nice to go with them.

On the regular menu for $8.

Chicken Pot Stickers.

Next, pot stickers.  I'm honestly not sure why I tried a potsticker as I don't care for chicken, and they were clearly deep fried, and had no dipping sauce either, but, I did.

They were well constructed, properly crimped shut.  Very crispy.  The filling was actually very flavorful minced and well spiced chicken, I maybe detected some lemongrass?  It made me want to like chicken.

This isn't the style of potsticker/dumpling I generally go for (I prefer steamed, or at least pan fried with some crispy bits and some not), but, for what they were, they actually were better than average.  I really did still want a dipping sauce though.  ***+.

These don't seem to be on their regular menu.

Fresh Rolls (shrimp).

"Rice Paper Wrap, Red Leaf Lettuce, Vermicelli, Crispy Shallot, Mint, Pickle Daikon and Carrot. "

On the lighter side, they had fresh rolls.  These were fairly average fresh rolls.  Reasonably soft and pliable wrapper.  Quite a bit of filling, particularly the amount of leaf lettuce, which did really make them feel fresh and vibrant.  Heavy on the vermicelli, and one of mine was entirely split open.  

I had two of these - one had one small piece of shrimp, the other had none at all (it was the one that split open, so I think it might have fallen out?).  The shrimp was small, just poached, and a bit fishy.

Overall, just not standout in any way, no real strong flavors (the mint and pickled daikon and carrot were totally lost in them), and not particularly well constructed.  ***.

This was the only item served with a dipping sauce, their peanut sauce.  The peanut sauce was also highly uninteresting - no bits of peanut in it, quite smooth.  Seemed to maybe have hoisin in it?  It didn't seem house made.  **+.

These are on their regular menu both vegetarian and with shrimp for $9.  I wouldn't get again.

Mains

For lunch/dinner, main dishes range from everything from noodle dishes (drunken noodles, pad thai, pad see ew) to stir fry (basil chicken, eggplant tofu), to curry (salmon, pumpkin), to fried rice (crispy chicken or hainan chicken), to a signature fried chicken sandwich, the later of which our hosts choose for the party.

Tycoon Kitchen is also open for breakfast / brunch.  The brunch menu has some fun fusion items like thai tea french toast and fried chicken and waffles that people seem to like.

Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

"Fried Chicken, Mayonnaise, Honey Pickle, Sesame Egg Bun, Coleslaw (Green Apple, Red Onion, Carrot). "

The main attraction for most folks was the fried chicken sandwich, which is a dish that is universally raved about at the restaurant, far more than their noodles/curries/etc.  For catering, it was served as full size, just cut in half.

I almost understand why people rave about these.  They are almost awesome.  But also, as they serve them, not actually very good.  Let me explain more.

The bun was lightly toasted inside, but otherwise tasted like what you get at any grocery or corner store.  Not fresh, certainly not artisan.  "Sesame egg bun" sounds dramatically better than it was.  A throwaway component really.  * bun, a real let down as a bun is a key part of a sandwich.

Inside, one side had slices of harsh pickle (I didn't taste the honey as described), and on the other a tiny bit of slaw (fine).  A little tiny bit of mayo soaked in.  *+ filling.  Again, let down.

Of course, the fried chicken is the real reason people get this.  The portion was quite generous - a full quarter pound of white meat.  The chicken itself seemed nice quality - white meat, pounded thin, and very breaded in crispy bits that were reasonably well seasoned.  But ... like the spring rolls, wow, it was oily.  So greasy.  I know it is fried chicken, and I expect it to be, well, fried, but this was just soaked in oil.  It didn't seem like it had been properly drained at all.  So the chicken and breading, absolutely fine, above average event, ***+, but this is a ** for me because it was just so off putting with the oil.  I think this must possibly not be how it really is normally done.  Sadness.

So, poor fry job, and none of the other components did anything for the sandwich, and didn't combine together or create anything more than their mediocre parts.  Certainly not something I'd get again, *+ overall, and that's me being generous because I could tell the chicken itself was nice.  I really wonder if someone who isn't normally responsible for frying things was handling our event?

Normally $13, and served with fries, salad, fruit or garlic fries (+$1).

Side Fried Rice.

"Egg Fried Rice, Tomato, Onion."

Fried rice is available as an entree topped with the sliced fried chicken, or as a side, as they had it at the event.  I didn't try it.