No. 391, Xingzhong 1st Rd, Lingya Dist
高雄市苓雅區興中一路391號
(07)338-9965
Tuesday-Saturday
11:00am-8:30pm
English friendly: no
vegetarian friendly: no
average cost: 100-150NTD
Right after I wrote that post about ALIEN Vietnamese Restaurant, somebody informed me that this Vietnamese place is better. Is it just me or does this happen all the damn time? I ask a friend to recommend somewhere for lunch, and as we're eating they'll be like, "--but NEXT TIME I'll take you to this EVEN BETTER place." Why would you... recommend the second best... in the first place?
Well, it is really better? We shall see! This restaurant is also run by real Vietnamese people, there is that.
Their menu is not English friendly, but it is Vietnamese friendly! And they also have another menu crammed with little pictures if you need help. As you can see, there are lots and lots of selections: noodles (both flat 河粉 and round 米麵), fried rice, soup, Vietnamese sandwiches(!), and a huge selection of other sides large and small. Plus some drinks and desserts!
Their spring rolls came with a thin vinegary peanut sauce not featured in this picture; it barely featured in the taste either, sooo I don't feel too bad about omitting it... These guys were pretty standard as spring rolls go, but when I got to the end the rice wrap was all chewy and yummy! If only I hadn't had to go through all that lettuce to get there.
Here is a plate of beef rice noodles! I didn't order them but they looked like this.
And here a chicken curry thing! Also not mine. I do appreciate how Vietnamese people sprinkle practically everything with peanuts though.
Beef of some sort on rice... Look how beautiful those colors are! I didn't try any of the above dishes, but they all got middling reviews from my friends.
Here is my dinner: fried 河粉 (spicy)! It was not actually spicy unless I ate one of those red peppers, and even then not very. Along with these "peppers" my fried noodles came with a colorful assortment of toppings, including carrots, bean sprouts, peanuts (yeahhh), and the most seriously, seriously unspectacular pork I've had in a long while.
The noodles got my approval: soft but chewy, and very well-oiled. (I wouldn't say they were "fried" though...) If you look closely at this picture, you can see a pool of melted butter-like substance at the bottom of the plate. So yeah. This dish was realll oily, and not in the totally awesome way like usual. In the "oh no what am I doooiiing to myself" way.
As a side we ordered the "sesame coconut pancake", which came out looking suspiciously like a giant prawn cracker. It tasted kind of like one too, minus the shrimpy part: simultaneously light and airy, and hard and crispy. Perhaps not exactly what I'd hoped it would be, but totes addicting all the same.
This was a pretty good meal, but in a very average way. There was nothing that I hated, and nothing that I loved... But if you're craving cheap(ish) Vietnamese food, it will probably hit the spot.
OVERALL REVIEW: 3/5
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