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2008-12-21
5 瀏覽
At a gathering organized by a few Openrice friends, I met connoisseur of a member who showed me that the role of Fish Sauce precedes that of any other ingredients, or perhaps, dishes presented to us in Vietnamese cuisine. The indicator of a carefully crafted Fish Sauce reflects on the amount of care and dedication a chef, and his restaurant takes up to value the food they serve. That meal we had was a great one, and thinking that a similar experience can be had here at just about any Vietnamese
Upon entrance I realize the television hanging from the wall. It surprised me that the owners somehow thought that putting a television with no volume is better than not putting one at all. I settled for a spot where I won't be distracted from the flashing imagery of whatever on...The menu has choices, but seems like the owners also think that people will feel more comfortable knowing that if you want sauce on your rice you're gonna pay extra for that. If not, you'd better eat your food and not complain how 'dry' it's going to be. The list of beverages consists of "Taiwanese milk tea" and other different colour iced teas you wouldn't expect to be find in other Vietnamese eateries. But it's here, speaking of the melting pot, huh?
I ordered a bowl of beef noodle soup (pho) with accompanying slices of Pork Chop with Lemongrass (entire set is $30 including a beverage). Neither the coffee nor the milk tea looked assuring enough, I opted for the tea with lemon. For snacks I ordered a steamed pork rice parcels ($26). Waiting for the food to come has been alright, the lighting is soft in the restaurant and the lamps are rather pretty and resembling of mosaic patterns. My bowl of noodle soup arrived NOT steaming hot. Thin slices of beef piled on the top while limp leaves of Thai basil rested on top, with a few sprigs of coriander leaves that have seen better days in the refridgerator before arriving on the noodles. Usually a small plate of assorted herbs/ greens will be served alongside the noodle soup, but in Tropicana Cuisine things work differently. You have to ask to have half a wedge of lime that pinching it will yield little juice from the green fruit.
The owner watched me take pictures, sipped the broth, all the while swallowing all the questions he might have had. I took a sneak peek and a confused expression flushed across his face. He didn't look confident, nor should he be. The broth wasn't hot enough, and the rice noodles were too soft, borderline mushy to begin with. The meaty slices tasted mildly of beef, but I gotta say, the two onion rings are the freshest item in the whole bowl. The not-so-hot broth was also disappointingly bland. It reminded me of a thinned-out version of the good pho broth, but at least it tasted somewhat beefy, maybe just a little bit better than bouillon cubes dissolved in water?!
The accompanying porkchop was competing for my attention -- a darker shade of golden brown, with the aroma and presence of fresh lemongrass bits throughout. The taste was satisfactory, well marinated throughout. The kitchen staff took it out of the oil too late, the pork chop ended up too thin to be called a 'chop' and too overcooked, resulting in toughness. It's so tough that I find my teeth complaining with the pork chop.
The only item remotely 'enjoyable' is the steamed pork rice parcels -- steamed rice noodles enrobing a mixture of fresh diced jicama, shiitake mushroom and woodear, with just enough bits of ground pork throughout. The filling is flavorful but the texture is rather uneven. I wouldn't mind if they are chopped finer. The accompanying sauce is a marinade that pushed your senses to the max...It's very sweet at first, very tart and after you swallow, an immense amount of heat rushed up from the back of your throat. It's a weirdly satisfying sensation from a sauce. In the owner's own words, he managed to tell me that there is fish sauce in the mixture, together with fresh lemon juice and a good dose of chili pepper mixed in it. When I asked why there shouldn't be lime juice instead of lemon, he shrugged and walked away with my doubt in tow.
I couldn't make a clear impression of Tropicana Cuisine, whether it's exceptionally good, but it's not outstandingly bad, that I know. I could only wish that they limit some of the choices on their menu, fine-tune some of their dishes and familiarize themselves with whatever that ended up on the menu. The rice parcels were pretty good, but the noodle soup and porkchop were nowhere near to perfection. Then again, the eatery is still new, there are things to be organized, staff to be hired and dishes to be fine-tuned. There is still a long way to go for Tropicana Cuisine, let's hope that it has what it takes to stand strong and hold it right there.
張貼
