Tuesday September 1, 2009
Adventures in Dining has been steadily expanding over the last few months to include geocachers and couchsurfers, which, in my humble opinion, has only benefitted and added to the group dynamic.
This time we went to a neat little Vietnamese restaurant we had stumbled upon a few weeks ago with some fellow diners and geocachers. The original plan was to go Ducky's Fish and Chips next door but they were closed.
Fortunately, Kim Thành, the restaurant next door, was open and we enjoyed a great evening of vietnamese food. The owner even came and helped me roll my first rice wrap!
Last night, our group of 20 settled in the restaurant and started ordering from the menus. Our large group may have overwhelmed the staff of this family-run restaurant as the service was somewhat chaotic and our 8 year old server seemed confused at times as to who ordered what...
The food was delicious and the rolls were a hit. Some first timers adventure in dining participants did quite well at rolling their first rice rolls! Some rolls turned out nicer than other but this time the owner didn't have to come out and teach us how to do it.
posted by Jacques @ 8:15 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
This event was truly an ADVENTURE in dining. I particularly enjoyed how dishes of food kept coming out of the kitchen like orphans looking for homes. We'd ask the kid, "What number is that?" and he'd say, "27".
"But nobody ordered a 27".
"26?"
"It says a 26 has pork. That looks like beef"
poke.poke.shrug. "25?"
In the end, I think everyone was adopted.
Kim Thành puts the “Adventure” in Adventures in Dining! It’s a family business and it appeared like the entire family was there to feed our large group. They set us up some long tables and I had a few minutes to talk to the male owner\cook about the differences between “Fresh” and “Regular” bubble tea. It turns out the fresh is made with fresh ingredients and the regular is from a mix. They’re the same price – go for the fresh! We talked about Durian fruit for a while and I guess I gave him some confidence that I could take a reasonably strong blend. This is the stuff that smells like propane and clears restaurants. When it came out at dessert time a space cleared around me and people around me were wrinkling up their noses. I enjoyed my Durian bubble tea – it was the strongest I’ve ever had served to me yet!
I’m getting ahead of myself though. We all wrote our menu items on little scraps of paper and they were collected and disappeared into the kitchen where they were randomized. We had two tables and one was closer to the kitchen. The two young boys (one barely able to carry the dishes) began bringing food out and it all stopped at the first table. This is where the Heisenberg uncertainly principle kicked in because they had no idea what they were carrying let alone who it was for so a great part of the evening’s entertainment was identifying the food and trying to match it up to a diner. I admit having some trepidation at this point wondering if my wife and I were going to get what we ordered, but in the end we did – and it was delicious. It came in no particular order – we got our appetizers last - but it all tasted fantastic. It was hot and fresh and the ingredients were good. Some AIDers had long since finished their meals and were already paying their bills while some others hadn’t seen any food yet. When it came time to pay our bill there was no confusion though.
The rice wrapper rolls (salad rolls) are a must have. Don’t be fooled by the price and that they’re listed as appetizers – they’re a good sized meal for most people. They can be shared though. Also, the “French Breads” are actually Vietnamese subs. They’re incredibly cheap and very tasty – better by far than subs from and any of the sub-chains. I had the #27 bowl and I certainly recommend it. It’s not something that can readily be shared though.
This is my third time to Kim Thành. Once for supper with a small group, once for lunch and then with the big group. They seemed much better equipped to handle the small group and lunch came quickly. Kim Thành is quite inexpensive and the dishes are tasty and filling, but bring your patience if you’re coming with a large group!
Post a Comment
<< Home