From Hanoi with love. Le Dalat Indochine is a Vietnamese restaurant nestled towards the northern end of Sukhumvit Soi 23. Housed in a converted 200 year old traditional Thai house, the restaurant feels more like an upmarket antiques store as you enter the front lobby area where there are two open rooms on either side.
Tonight, Mr. P joined me for dinner. The place was fairly busy and we hadn't made a reservation, but it wasn't necessary. A friendly waitress dressed from head to toe in traditional Vietnamese dress showed us to our table by the window. The dining room is one big room with two person tables, and larger ones for bigger parties.
The menu has photo illustrations of some of the dishes (which always helps when deciphering dishes one is not familiar with), and the head waitress was very enthusiastic in pointing stuff out to us.
Tonight, Mr. P joined me for dinner. The place was fairly busy and we hadn't made a reservation, but it wasn't necessary. A friendly waitress dressed from head to toe in traditional Vietnamese dress showed us to our table by the window. The dining room is one big room with two person tables, and larger ones for bigger parties.
The menu has photo illustrations of some of the dishes (which always helps when deciphering dishes one is not familiar with), and the head waitress was very enthusiastic in pointing stuff out to us.
We ordered the Vietnamese rice paper prawn rolls, along with beef pho and a grilled beef with dry rice noodles.
A mini herb garden was brought out to us along with some pickled shredded carrot and turnip:
A mini herb garden was brought out to us along with some pickled shredded carrot and turnip:
Our rice paper spring rolls were plump, the rice paper was thin and the sweet dipping sauce wasn't too sweet.
The beef pho came as a three piece set: a plate of herbs and finely sliced pieces of raw beef; a bowl of noodles and veggies, and another small bowl of broth. The latter of which sat atop a candle which was lit to heat up the broth for a minute or so.
Once the broth was done, the waiter duly poured it into the bowl of noodles and veggies whilst we proceeded to add the beef and the herbs.
The stock didn't have the body that we were expecting. It was too bland and to be honest, a little disappointing. Mr. P and I agreed that this was not the best beef pho we've ever had.
The grilled beef and dry noodles (sorry, can't remember the official name!?) was, on the otherhand pretty good. Loaded with lots of different vegetables: cucumber, carrot, daikon, onions and so on, it was fresh and light.
For dessert, we chose the creme brulee, Vietnamese style. I won't say what it reminded me of when it was brought to the table ... I am sure you can guess what I was thinking.
Mr. P took a bite and as we both looked at each other, he asked me if I thought the toffee tasted burnt. It did. And we didn't really enjoy it.
As I looked across at the dishes the other tables had ordered, I thought perhaps we had ordered badly. There were delicious looking plates of seafood, shrimp on sugar cane sticks and other good looking morsels.
I'd love to give this place another go, as a group rather than dining for two. That way, I'd get to try more from the menu to really get a taste of what this place has to offer.
Le Dalat Indochine
57/1 Sukhumvit Soi 23, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel: +66 (0)2 6640 670
Nearest BTS: Asoke, exit 6. Take the steps on your left hand side down to Sukhumvit road. Turn left at the bottom of the stairs to walk along Sukhumvit road. Take a left onto Sukhumvit Soi 23 and keep walking for about eight or so minutes. Le Dalat Indochine will be on your left hand side.
HOURS
Open Daily:
Lunch 11:00-14:30pm
Dinner 18:00-22:30pm
No comments:
Post a Comment