Overall look, feel…Is it worth the price? ~ The décor of the restaurant is attempted nightclubesque and Asian themed with a large open room with booths and tables behind a full bar with tables situated at the front of the building. It is a fairly large restaurant. We opted to get a small booth behind the bar to be close to the bar, yet away from any lurking protesters. Like most restaurants in the area, the prices are above average; high enough to make you think you are having an adult dinner yet low enough to entice students to spend their parents’ money there. It is supposed to be a Vietnamese restaurant but the dishes steer towards a general generic Asian fair.
Service ~ The service is always a sore point in this place. Of course, you are welcomed in graciously by the hosts because you have almost broken picket lines to get inside. This is nice because before their labor issues, the hostesses were a real bitch to deal with in general, even if the restaurant was not busy. Once we were seated, one of the black clad super robotic waiters brought us water and took our drink order. When he brought us out drinks, we ordered appetizers. He was visibly annoyed that we had not chosen entrees yet and left the table in a huff, muttering. A few minutes later we waived him down again to order the rest of our meal. He stopped to explain the ingredients of the meal to Chinky, which did not go well since she can actually read and was really more focused on her Lychee martini instead of dealing with the server. The phrase, “I’m half Asian, I know what curry is,” may have been dropped.
My soup was brought to me very quickly but Chinky’s spinach dumpling appetizer failed to appear. They often bring out dishes as they are ready there instead of in course groupings so we figured it would just show up later. Five minutes passed and what did show up was our dinner. Chinky flagged down our server and asked him why she had not gotten the dumplings only to be told that she had not ordered them. I told him that she clearly had, he argued it, I stuck with my point, and he went away muttering under his breath in Vietnamese. Chinky was not amused. I think she was more offended that he did not notice that she needed drink refills on a regular basis. We were sitting next to the bar for a reason, but anyway…
Food…the MOST important part of all! ~ The food was the same as always, which is why we go there. Not terribly authentic but completely consistent. My hot and sour shrimp wonton soup was very nice with tons of mushrooms and pineapple chunks. My plum wine was…plum wine. I have ordered Bo Luc Lac (beef chunks cooked stir fried served with salad greens, tomato slices, brown rice, and fish sauce) about 15 times and it is always the same: good and beefy. Chinky’s Royal Seafood Curry was very nice, I was having order envy, but she gave me some bites and some noodles so that was close enough. Next time, that will have to be what I get, it is very good.
Overall, the consistency of the food is why we go back to this place. They have their labor issues which they should sort so they can deliver again before it gets colder, and the in house service is fairly weak in a robotic yet bitchy way, but until they stop making that soup, I think that we will eat there.
Vietnamese
Neighborhood: NYU,
