On tonight's episode of "My Empty Fridge", I again found myself hungry with only condiments to eat. But instead of downing a bottle of ketchup and calling it a night, I decided to venture out and try the cuisine at Viet-Thai. (Note to self: Next time bring quarters or wait until 6 to go out so you don't have to feed the meter. I didn't get a ticket, thankfully, but I was stressed the entire time I was waiting.)
The girl working the counter was on the phone when I arrived so I asked quietly for a takeout menu to peruse. She seemed a little annoyed by my presence at first and I must have made some sort of "Excuse me for asking you to do your job, biatch" face because she was very friendly after that. If she was taking an order, I'm sorry for interrupting, but if she was on a personal call, then whatever.
Aaaaanyways, on to the food. All the menu items have Thai (or Viet, I really don't know) names that I couldn't even begin to pronounce, followed by an English description. Either way, I like that they don't dumb it down and Americanize the names for us English and whatever-Spanish-I-retained-from-high-school speakers. I had a dish called Pad Ke mao with chicken that I've had at other Thai places. Viet-Thai's version was...err...is delicious, as I'm still eating it now as I write this. It could be spicier to begin with, but they gave me a little cup of hot sauce which I've been adding liberally and now it's perfect.
I also broke my pho virginity tonight. I read a lot about this stuff and didn't quite understand the PHOnomenon. Ha ha ha...I slay myself. Anyways, people seem to LOVE this stuff, but after tonight I'm on the fence about it. I tried Dac Biet which is described as "a special combination with rare steak (well done), brisket, tendon, tripe, and beef ball." Now, I do eat tripe and the thought of tendon didn't gross me out, so I don't think it was either of those things, but the flavor was just a little weird for me. Also, I was confused by the menu description of "rare steak (well done), brisket, etc). How can rare steak be well done? Turns out it's the brisket that's well done. The steak is RARE. As in uncooked. But a few minutes sitting in the hot soup cooked it up a little bit. Is that what you're supposed to do with it? I don't know. I'm new at this, remember?
Three stars for the food quality and an extra star for the food quantity. $15 bought me enough for at least two meals, possibly three. I should also mention that I found their menu online at menupix.com, but the prices on that menu are not accurate. Even though it was still a good deal, I had a little bit of sticker shock when my order was rung up. read more