Attendees: Beata, Steph, Craig, RobTho Tho is massive and one of the more commercialised establishments along Victoria St. A full bar goes around the corner and smiling waiters in branded starched white shirts circulate with efficiency.
It’s popular too. The large dining room is almost full when we settle in at 7.30pm. However within half an hour it has cleared.
Strains of "happy birthday to you" sound out on more than one occasion that evening. The birthday person is presented with a fried banana and balls of ice cream dessert complete with sparklers. Surely some of these birthdays are fabrications just for the novelty factor of a phallic sparking dessert landing on your table.
The service is excellent on the night we go. The food comes out in record time and in no particular order.
First up we have the rice paper rolls which are exceptionally long and floppy leading to some interesting analogies. We must have phalluses on the brain. The skin of rice paper roll is rather thick and the pork part of the filling
overwhelming.
Next comes one of the specials – deep fried soft shell crab with a spicy sauce. It comes out smelling delightful (of aromatic chilli) and looking great, infused with rich golden and red hues. The shell is malleable with a light crunch and the combination of spices makes this a memorable dish but still stands in the shadow of the soft shell crab at Thanh Thanh
.
We can never go past dumplings so we choose the fried pork and prawn dumplings also from the specials. More like deep fried wontons they come with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.
Number 27 is rice with garlic lamb. The rice is coloured brown and has a tasty sweet soy flavour to it with a fried egg on top. The lamb is good, with a slight chargrilled flavour and not too chewy.
The pho broth is very tasty but I mark it down since the noodles and beef are not as soft as we have previously experienced.
Finally comes a seafood Vietnamese pancake. It doesn't stay together very well and while the pancake is light and crispy, its innards are rather plain.
Strains of "happy birthday to you" sound out on more than one occasion that evening. The birthday person is presented with a fried banana and balls of ice cream dessert complete with sparklers. Surely some of these birthdays are fabrications just for the novelty factor of a phallic sparking dessert landing on your table.
The service is excellent on the night we go. The food comes out in record time and in no particular order.
First up we have the rice paper rolls which are exceptionally long and floppy leading to some interesting analogies. We must have phalluses on the brain. The skin of rice paper roll is rather thick and the pork part of the filling
overwhelming.Next comes one of the specials – deep fried soft shell crab with a spicy sauce. It comes out smelling delightful (of aromatic chilli) and looking great, infused with rich golden and red hues. The shell is malleable with a light crunch and the combination of spices makes this a memorable dish but still stands in the shadow of the soft shell crab at Thanh Thanh
.We can never go past dumplings so we choose the fried pork and prawn dumplings also from the specials. More like deep fried wontons they come with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.
Number 27 is rice with garlic lamb. The rice is coloured brown and has a tasty sweet soy flavour to it with a fried egg on top. The lamb is good, with a slight chargrilled flavour and not too chewy.
The pho broth is very tasty but I mark it down since the noodles and beef are not as soft as we have previously experienced.Finally comes a seafood Vietnamese pancake. It doesn't stay together very well and while the pancake is light and crispy, its innards are rather plain.
Overall a very satisfying dining experience, as we add another nationality to the Chopstick Chowdown crew - Welsh.
Ratings
Rice paper rolls 6.1/10
Beef pho 7.8/10
#27 (garlic lamb with rice) 7.3/10
Special (deep fried soft shell crab with chilli) 8.3/10
Special (dumplings) 7/10
Seafood vietnamese pancake 7.5/10
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