Had a birthday dinner here last week that I’ve been meaning to write up. Actually, it was a birthday dinner for our sprout- I know, we convinced a 9 year old to try a brand new southeast asian eatery for her birthday. The kid rocks; what can I say?
Anyways, we loved this place. It’s in the old Pho House space on Mass Ave near Bagelsaurus and the Clog shop. They’ve redone the space and it’s quite fancy-schmancy. The sprouts really loved the shiny gold and silver water cups. The mocktail menu is extensive, and we let the birthday girl pick her whole own drink- the lemony sour housemade soda which was delicious.
We shared the app with the betel leaf which reminds me of the miang kum (sp?) at the late Khao Sarn. The waitress encouraged us to get a couple of the scallop app as well, which is a one bite in a spoon kind of dish. It’s the one bite that reviewers have been raving about, apparently, and I can see why. Personally, my favorite app was the soft shell crabs which were a generous portion of 5 or 6 small lightly fried crabs with a nuoc cham dipping sauce that I could have drank with a straw. (Straws by the way are metal. Yay!)
We were a little unsure looking at the menu online what the sprouts would eat, but it turns out they have a kids menu! Usually, this is the kiss of death for a place IMO but hallelujah, this is no dumbed down chicken nuggets and mac. There was a kids portion of chicken fried rice which is mostly Indonesian in flavors, and which I would absolutely be happy to eat as an adult, and our other sprout got a kids chicken wings with rice on the side. The children’s food was absolutely delicious, although a bit pricey at $12 per portion. We later found out it includes a scoop of ice cream, which mitigates somewhat.
For mains, we tried the Singapore pepper beef at the recommendation of the waiter, and a duck curry. Both good, although the beef dish was heavy on large pieces of still-crunchy onions which is not something I prefer. The duck was tender shreds, very flavorful, in a moderately spicy curry.
Rice is ordered per person ($2) and they come around and spoon more onto your plate whenever you run low. We also ordered a side of Asian greens- they were unable to tell us what green we were getting, and it turned out to be baby bok choi. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me as bok choi often is- too watery, no flavor.
We’ll certainly return- there are salads I want to try that we ran out of room for, as well as the whole fish that looked amazing. My favorite dishes were the apps and the kids dishes, honestly. We might skip the entrees and just order a ton of other plates. I hope they do well- the service was excellent. I like the availability of a higher-end Asian restaurant- just be prepared, the bill will reflect a special occasion dinner.