vietnam kitchen

I have this habit of sharing food with friends. One, I think it's always better to have a variety of food for a more fulfilling gastronomic experience. Secondly, there is no issue of food going to waste. A lot of eateries these days seem to cater for the American tummy. TGIF's and Chili's are good examples.

Having said that, let me share with you my recent makan session at Vietnam Kitchen. I've been to their Taipan outlet with my family before, and found their offerings to be rather authentic. There are some Vietnamese restaurants with seemingly oriental ambience and menus, but pale in comparison when it comes to the real deal.

Most restaurants have a similar theme and layout in all their branches, but I was surprised to find that the 1Utama outlet looked really different from its sister branch in Subang. Chernie wanted something "rice or noodle", so we decided to stop by and check out their food. I did have quite an ok experience in Subang, and wondered if this was as good.

Glowing farmer's hats neatly arranged in rows form the decor for the side wall

It has a dark exterior with lots of wood and warm colours, accentuated by non-oriental interior design. The other wall had these purple cheese-holes for partitions, and paper lanterns adorning the center.

This must be the modern version of Vietnamese interior design

We quickly sat down to order our food when we realised we must've looked like suaku's taking pictures of the place. For appetizers we had the Fried Mango-Banana Shrimp Roll, which was something new for me. One roll had bananas wrapped with fresh shrimps, while the other had yummy mangos also with shrimps, spinkled with something which tasted like wheatgerm.

This is one appetizer you must check out, it's recommended!

Both tasted good with the right amount of mayo. I had the water chestnut drink with what looked like egg pieces swirled in the glass while Chernie had Chinese tea which she claimed was actually Jasmine tea.

We shared the Seafood Fried Noodle for the main course. It looks like our Chinese Yee Mee, except that their noodle is slightly harder in texture. Served with generous amounts of broccoli, calamari, green pepper and more shrimps, it was just nice for the both of us.

The Vietnamese version of our Yee Mee

Before we left, we decided to take one more picture. For this, I had to endure the stares of patrons sitting near the bar. But at least I got one which showed the other part of the restaurant, where the theme was bamboos with backlights and heart shaped tanglungs.

Heart shaped tanglungs at the bar

All in all, it was a really good meal. Much better than most Vietnamese restaurants around the Klang Valley, not that I've been to all of them! But looking from the queue that lined up waiting outside the restaurant, and the gorgeous looking food everyone else was eating, I give it 3.75 stars.