Sorry it's been a while, blog fans. The hubs and I spent Valentine's weekend in NYC, where we went to Colicchio & Sons (AMAZING service, impressive yet approachable food, great prices for Manhattan -- if you're travelling, try it!).
We're back now though, and we had lunch yesterday at Vietnam Restaurant.
Vietnam is located in a very modest building, across from a car garage and an upholstery place. Not exactly an ideal location, but the outside belies the nicely appointed interior and the attentive waitstaff.
We went a little before noon and found a healthy crowd. Obviously people appreciate the lunch specials, which are a good value. I had the chicken with oriental vegetables. It came with an eggroll, brown rice, and a cup of the soup of the day (chicken with mustard greens).
The soup consisted of a thin broth with plenty of greens and (as my husband pointed out) very little chicken. It was tasty though, and probably authentic and healthy.
My chicken with vegetables was served piping hot -- almost not edible, but once it cooled, it was good. Nothing was overcooked, the chicken was all-white meat and there was a nice variety of vegetables (carrots, cabbage, beans, etc). Did it stand out in any way? Not really. Was it healthy, cheap, and filling? Yes. Was that really all I can ask of a lunch special at an Asian restaurant in a not-so-nice area? Yep.
But if given the choice between Vietnam and Colicchio and Sons, take the latter.
