Saturday, October 21, 2006

Vietnam Restaurant in Philadelphia


Went to the Vietnam Restaurant on 211 N. 11th St. in Philadelphia's Chinatown (not to be confused with the Vietnam Palace Restaurant across the street) last night before a show. It's one of the favorite places of my friend Andy in NYC.














He recommended the spring rolls which were tasty - great skin and a very flavorful filling of pork. I wish the sweet sauce they gave us could have been spicede up a little more like I do at other Vietnamese places.

We also got an appetizer consisting of raw (yes RAW) beef in lime juice with peanuts and basil. This is the favorite dish of one of my cousins in California, but it is hard to find in it's true "raw" form because of meat quality reasons as well as the fact that it is a raw beef dish. The waiter even cautioned us on our order, but we knew what we were getting into. It's a lot like ceviche- delicious.
I also had the Special Pho- Fougoo said she still preferred the Pho at the Vietnamese Train place because it had a larger portion of tendon. I thought the broth at Vietnam was a little more salty than at the train restaurant.
I also like to dump out some hoisin and sriracha to dip my pho meat in, and Vietnam didn't distribute small dishes for my sauces like at the train place.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are a complainer. Did you ask for a dish? Maybe they just didn't want to give it to you cause you are a passive agressive dork. Next time order a life with that dish.

Anonymous said...

I am writing this review after returning from a friend's birthday party at Vietnam Palace. The bill for the party of 16 ended up being a RIDICULOUS $600!!! THAT'S $40 person for barely any food. 15 dishes which averaged out to be $28 per dish. We did NOT order anything like lobster, steak, or alcohol. For crying out loud, 1/3 of the dishes were vegetarian!! And there is NO WAY they had given us $84 worth in spring rolls!!!! You can spend $40/person at a restaurant and be extremely satisfied. But Vietnam Palace is NOT by any means worth your time or money. In the end the manager did NOTHING to adjust the price. We all felt EXTREMELY CHEATED. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT TO ANYONE.

fougoo said...

To the dickwad above who posted the comment -- you may note that we said NOT to confuse this fabulous restaurant VIETNAM with the crappy restaurant across the street VIETNAM PALACE. Next time before you write a "review" like this make sure you have the right restaurant!

aua said...

What's the name of that raw beef dish???

I want to find it and try it...

fougoo said...

Here's how it's listed on the menu:

14. Bo Tai Chanh
(VIETNAMESE CARPACCIO) Thinly Sliced Raw Flank Steak Marinated in Lime Juice Topped with Vietnamese Herb and Crushed Peanuts