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2016-06-01
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My wife found this place looking around online. It's not the sort of thing one easily finds walking around. In fact, I'm frequently on Amoy street (Yu Chuan Club is amazing, plus there's Roundhouse and Chao Chao now) and I never caught a whiff of this place. To get there from Amoy, walk toward Lee Tung Ave, take a right, walk all the way to the end, and it's sort of around the corner on your right. They of course have no website, and their Facebook "about" page says only: "A cosy Vietnamese infl
They of course have no website, and their Facebook "about" page says only: "A cosy Vietnamese influenced tapas bar. Hearty tapas and pho. Delightful cocktails and wines, and much more." Apparently the pho is now lunch only. One post says, "Due to the high demand for pho, please bear with us that the pho will in the long run be served only in the afternoon on a first come, first served basis." I guess the long-run is now. So if you're going for dinner it's Vietnamese "influenced" tapas.
The menu has four sections: small bites, salads & rolls, breads, and mains. Don't trust every menu posted here, because it seems to change frequently. And don't try their Facebook page: as if they would have a menu.
We got two rolls from the menu (only one pictured): the shrimp and avocado roll ($98) and the softshell crab roll ($108). There was nothing to complain about. Avocado is a rarity in Viet spring rolls, from my experience, so this was a nice departure. The skins were the appropriate level of thickness and chewiness. Personally, I've always viewed rice paper rolls as mere vehicles for sriracha, and there is none here, so as-such, this is not a must-have for me.
We got the pork collar salad ($88). I was relatively disappointed in this dish. In particular, there's only a small amount of pork and the vast majority of it is salad. Additionally, the pork is relatively unremarkable. For a contrast, I quite like the pork collar at BEP. The red strips on top were actually bell pepper and the salad was fresh and judiciously dressed.
We ordered the chargrilled chicken rice, but we somehow got the ox tongue rice ($10 more in price, at $128). We could have sent it back, but people were hungry and we just decided to live and let live. The ox tongue was tender, and everything was slathered in a gravy. It specifically reminded me of a dish I once got at the Red Ant Restaurant-- a now-mostly-defunct New Territories chain of cha chaan tengs-- maybe there's something Vietnamese about it, I'm no expert on Vietnamese cuisine. It was a decent dish though, perhaps a little lukewarm.
From the "small bites" portion of the menu, we got the tofu fries ($68). These are deep fried sticks of tofu, crispy on the outside, a little bit creamy on the inside. I thought they were a tad bland. They came only with some small limes, I think they could have used a heftier dipping sauce. Sriracha anyone?
Those first five things were our initial order (for 5 people). At the end, we felt like we needed more, so we ordered two additional things. One was their "signature" boneless chicken wings ($88). This was some mighty good fried chicken. I don't know which part of the chicken it came from-- much much larger than a wing, presumably the thigh. The chicken was juicy and tender, the breading crispy, and they were served piping hot. They came with some sort of sweet sauce, but I don't like my chicken breading all soggy and sweet, they were fine how they were. Best dish of the meal, in my opinion.Finally, we got the banh mi ($68). I don't recommend this. The bread was soft and so-so at best, and it was dominated principally by fat slices of Vietnamese sausage (i.e. balogne). Again, I recommend BEP for this dish.
Total for food alone we paid $646 for 5 people, so about $130 a head, which isn't bad for tapas-ish dining. We also each had several cocktails, so the ultimate price was quite a bit more. As for making a meal out of the place, I find it hard to recommend. There's no pho at dinner, the main we had didn't particularly impress, and several of the dishes, in my opinion, are done better at BEP, which has the good kind of sriracha. But for cocktails and a small bite or two, I could see recommending this place (get the chicken wings). We all liked our cocktails, and the out-of-the-wayness of the place means seating isn't terrible.
Would I go back? Maybe. Perhaps even probably. I'm near it frequently, often with people who want to go drinking, sometimes with a desire for cocktails. So the probability is nowhere near zero. But I wouldn't go back for dining. As mentioned BEP, but then also Chom Chom, are in my opinion better places for Vietnamese food.
张贴
