Vina

Having not done a challenge in a while, we decided to head back out and eat at Vina, a Vietnamese restaurant that has been tempting us for a while now.

When: Friday, May 18 2007. (8:30 pm)

M says: Surprisingly, Vina has a Vietnamese beer on the menu, so we had to order it. Called 333 ($5.75) and made in Saigon, this blond beer is pretty mild. I had never heard of it before, and keeping in mind that I prefer La Rue to any other Vietnamese beer and ignored pretty much all other beers when possibly during my stay in Vietnam, I wasn't too concerned about this beer being a mystery to me. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of beer that should be worth exporting.

I decided to start my meal by ordering the classic Phở ($4.50 for a small). Having eaten Phở both in that country and in Cambodia, I have to admit that I had high hopes for this dish. The Phở came with beef consommé, vermicelli noodles, cilantro, onions and nice slices of rare beef. Unfortunately, the soup was weak and reminded me of a horrible breakfast Phở I had in Ha Long Bay. The consommé, more gay than a nice shade of brown, had too much anise in it, giving it an unusual flavour. The dish could have benefited from being served with the usual condiment platter it comes with in Asia - fresh greens, chillies and sauces - to adjust it to one's liking.

For my main I chose the Heo N'u'ong ($11.95), a marinated and charbroiled pork brochette (3) served with rice vermicelli. From the description, I was expecting the seasoning to be more Vietnamese. While the taste wasn't bad, it wasn't what I was hoping for and the pork was terribly overcooked.



T says: I started with the Escargot Vina ($6.95), which are covered in batter dough and baked in a wine, garlic, lemongrass and butter sauce. While the sauce was nice, it overpowered the escargot, making them tasteless.

My main was the Canh Ngot ($17.95), a Vietnamese-style bouillabaisse with scallops, prawns, mussels, calamari, fish and rice vermicelli in fish stock. While the seafood portion was more than generous and excellently cooked, it was very bland. The stock, tasting mostly of fish and celery, could have used the addition of wine, or at least, the accompaniment of chili paste.

Pro: Vina has a good size patio, perfect for nice Vancouver days. They also offer delivery.

Con: On top of the bad 80's decor and horrible elevator music, the food really has nothing to do with authentic, or even good, Vietnamese food.

Verdict: T says nay, M says nay. It's just not worth it.

Vina
851 Denman St
Vancouver BC
604-688-3232 or 604-689-8462
Open daily from 11:30 am to 11:00 pm