9 replies to this topic

[ktmoomau]

Did not see a thread on this new addition to the Eden Center. Went there yesterday for lunch with a group of Chowhounders. We had a delicious meal with a ton of food. We ordered:

Grilled shrimp and pork skewers with steamed vermicelli

Whole crispy flounder with mango salad and ginger sauce

Baby clams baked in clay pot with rice

Grilled pork chop and sweet Chinese sausage on broken rice

Marinated quails

Garden rolls (called steam rice paper rolls on the menu)

Baby clams with pork served with rice cracker

My favorites were the whole fish, which was a huge, but really good dish. I lived the difference between the crispy, flaky fish and the tangy, sour salad. It was really nice. I also really liked the broken rice dish, the sausage and pork chops on it were marinated well and really tasty. The baked clams in the clay pot were preferable to the rice cracker ones, I think a bit moister, or maybe it was just the sauce with the salty clams and crispy rice. The shrimp were also good. All in all there weren't any misses, although the garden rolls could be skipped they were fine, but normal. It is a very pretty little space, and we really enjoyed the food.

It was also nice to hang out with some very nice and cool people from this area with such great food knowledge, always a plus. I know some are on here too, and it is always so nice to put a face with a name.

[DonRocks]

Exercise extreme caution in ordering #18. Gỏi Vịt [Sweet tender Duck meat on top of shredded banana blossom and morning glory]

{Those little egg-shaped things?}
{Well, let's just put it this way...}
{they aren't pieces of Mango.}

[ktmoomau]

Hahahahahha. Good to know.

[ktmoomau]

Went back today with Hubby and BIL. We had pho and some vermicelli dishes for brunch. We also had some crispy spring rolls. The spring rolls were super fresh, just fried, but not too oily, I love eating them in a bite with the pickled carrots.

I had vermicelli with shrimp, pork, shredded pork and spring roll (didn't know Hubby was ordering spring rolls when I ordered but hey extra crispy spring rolls never a bad thing). But their shrimp have great flavor, I love the sauce they grill them with. Really good. All in all very good mix of veg/noodle/protein in the bowl. BIL's pho looked really good and a girl nearby had one of the lemongrass noodle soups and that looked ridiculously good in an I ordered the wrong thing kind of way.

We got there around 11:15ish, it wasn't packed, but there were some people there with bowls of noodle soups and other dishes, but it got busier as the lunch time approached. I think this is a Vietnamese place I will be able to convince Hubby to come back to a good bit as they had a nice range of interesting v. normal dishes. The servers are very nice they came over to make sure everything was good and were really nice and thorough with refills, or anything else.

[Ericandblueboy]

For lunch, we had

40. Cơm Tay Cầm Hến $10 - Baby Clams baked in a Clay Pot with rice and vegetables. The rice is crispy like a bibimbap, but the clams and unrecognizable vegetables (all were chopped into small pieces) have very little flavor. Add Sriracha and it becomes edible, but still nothing that excites me.

54. Bún Thịt Nướng $8 - Grilled Pork on rice vermicelli. Good pork but no different than what you'd get a other Vietnamese restaurants.

108. Ox Tail soup with mixed Vegetables - $15. Good soup with a good amount of oxtail, tendons, and vegetables (mostly bokchoy, napa cabbage and straw mushrooms).

An attractive restaurant with a relative small menu for "entrees." I like orderng lots of entrees and eating family style and this place is more of a noodle/rice type of place. At least that's my impression.

[dcandohio]

I very much enjoyed the baby clams and pork from the appetizer menu. This was, to my tastes, one of the best versions of the dish I've had. We also really liked the mango salad with dried fish. Unfortunately, menu description did not list dried shrimp. +1 is allergic, but they were easy enough to avoid. Like Eric, I thought the grilled pork on vermicelli was fine, just not too exciting.

We arrived a little before noon on Saturday, and by noon it was packed. The noise in there is deafening. There are a lot of hard surfaces in there, and many babies exercising their lungs.

I would definitely return, perhaps at an off hour to enjoy the food in a more quiet atmosphere. The walk to Eden Center from the E. Falls Church metro is the perfect way to burn some calories prior to lunch, and yesterday's lovely weather made the walk very pleasant.

[goodeats]

Menu.

I am intrigued - $20 Tuesday anyone? The staff at Banh Mi So #1 were enthusiastically talking this place up last night...

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Click me!
DR

Edited by DonRocks, 31 May 2012 - 07:06 PM.

[Ericandblueboy]

Went there for an early lunch today and ordered their bun bu hue (I tried to order the bun rieu oc but the waiter made some gestures that implied that was not available) and #123 do bien rang muoi - crispy salted and spiced assorted seafood. First, the bun bo hue was really good in my opinion - two slices of pork trotter (with skin and all, which I didn't eat), slices of thinly sliced beef brisket, a cube of pork blood (didn't eat - I've never liked cubes of blood by themselves), a slice of delicious fish cake, a tasty seafood ball (can't tell what kind but it was pinkish), a hunk of tendon, all immersed in the most flavorful broth that I tried thus far (which is pretty much every place in Eden Center) and with a decent amount of heat. Don't be afraid to dump all the veggies (bean sprouts, cabbage, mint, basil, and whatever else they give you - I don't use lime though) into the hot broth and let everything cook for a little while. As I was finishing the noodle soup, the assorted seafood arrived. I would've preferred to have the dish served earlier (i.e., before I stuff myself silly with noodles) but they didn't ask how I like to be served (some places do ask if I order both noodles and an entree). Immediately I see some squid and shrimp, but I couldn't tell what the rest of the seafood was. After eating at least half the plate, I think there might be some pieces of scallops, and at least two kinds of fish/seafood ball/cake. The batter was a little thick and if you were just looking for salt/pepper squid, I say go to Huong Viet. On the other hand, if you want to try a plate of mystery seafood that was nevertheless pretty good, then order this dish. The shrimp were also a bit overcooked - I suspect because not everything on the plate should be fried for the same amount of time. The photo sucks - I've been taking photos with my Blackberry.

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[Sthitch]

I would never had expected that the best stuffed grape leaves that I would eat would be from a Vietnamese restaurant (actually, these were the first stuff grape leaves that I have ever liked). The dish is Bo Nuong La Nho, and is completely unlike a dolmade in that they were stuffed with seasoned beef. The only reason we could think of for grape leaves showing up on a Vietnamese table would be from the French influence, but I could not think of any French dishes using grape leaves - I am sure they exist, I am just not aware of them. But now I suspect that the dish is actually Bo La Lot using grape leaves in place of the harder to find betel leaves.

[Ericandblueboy]

Other dishes we had were Oc Nhoi, an escargot sausage that tasted like boudin blanc.  It was really good when dipped in a slightly spicy fish sauce.  We also had the Hen Xuc Banh Da - baby clams with minced pork, and Ca Kho To - caramalized fish.  I didn't particularly like the the clams here (loved them when I had them at Nha Trang before grandma passed away) and the fish was just too sweet for me, and it was coated with lots of ground black pepper.  

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