As far as I can tell, the lot that this restaurant is in is secretly cursed. Throughout my life I have seen it go through so many different hands -- in my earlier childhood, it was a Sam's BBQ, and I think the longest lasting one I can remember was Stuffed Pizza (possibly spelled as Stuft Pizza -- it's been a while) but -- more recently -- it was the Campbell Skillet. In any case, I try to make a point to visit it whenever it changes, in order to see what direction the newest owners are taking it.
I'm not super familiar with Vietnamese food, so I don't know that I can fairly review what I had when I'd gone for dinner (it was Pho. It tasted nice to me, but I am just as likely to eat Pho at Fresh Choice as at a Vietnamese place, so I have no idea what is considered the proper taste for it.)
I did, however, go here for breakfast a few months ago, and breakfast foods I feel more qualified to comment on. I ordered a bagel with lox, since I was delighted that it was on the menu (it's one of my favourite breakfast foods, and I was psyched that it was here in the current restaurant's incarnation -- it made me feel like the place was going in a direction that I could get behind. And yes, I did run around like a kid in a candy store when I visited NY a few years ago -- bagel and lox *everywhere*.)
The bagel and lox came with the pickled flowerbud things on it (the proper name for them is escaping me right now, sorry -- they show up in a lot of Italian food? Anyway) and -- shallow as it is, I thought the way everything was arranged on the plate was *beautiful*. As for the taste test -- it absolutely passed. I loved it. I made my mom's friend, who was eating with us, also try it -- she'd never had bagel and lox in her life, despite the fact that her husband had adored it, so she was wary, but she really really liked it.
(She is actually the reason that this is four out of five stars, though -- while my mom and I both loved what we had, she wasn't as happy with her eggs. I cannot for the life of me remember what her specific complaint was, but I felt that it meant it was more fair to rate it four, given that she wasn't entirely satisfied.)
And the fruit? Was amazing. I ended up talking to the people there (who were very polite!) and I recognized the place that they bought their produce from -- Oakmont Produce, which is local and amazing and basically a farmers' market selection in a store. It's reassuring to me when people buy locally -- and the fruit was perfect. (I'm picky when it comes to fruit -- if you serve me something like a chopped up red delicious with squishy grapes and under-ripe melons, I get incredibly cranky.) it was ripe, it didn't have any bad spots -- someone had to have been going through the produce pretty carefully for it.
So if you want breakfast, go and eat the bagel with lox! It is amazing. read more