Today Broken Rice Vietnamese restaurant was the place of choice for lunch and I would say that among all the Vietnamese joints in the area, this would be the most upscale. Broken Rice Vietnamese restaurant focuses on creating quality meals and puts their own spin on the dishes as well.
Salad roll
Lil’ bun and I adore salad rolls so we decided to get the pork + shrimp salad rolls ($5.95) and of course we had to get it with fish sauce instead of the peanut sauce. Although I liked that they used real shredded pieces of pork instead of a slice of Vietnamese ham, I found the pork to be on the dry side.
Pork belly sliders
I tried the duck confit sliders the last time I was here so we decided to get the pork belly sliders ($5.95) this time instead. I asked the waiter to put the honey siracha sauce on the side so lil’ bun could have some of it too. Lil’ bun didn’t like it as much as mother deer though because she found that her piece of pork was much too fatty and wasn’t a fan of the mustard greens on the inside.
Brother deer found that there wasn’t much carrot or carmelized onions on the inside of his bao and that it was mostly made up of pork fat so he wasn’t too impressed with this one either. On the other hand, mother deer thought that the steamed bao was super fluffy soft and that the pork (without the fatty part) was really tender.
Minced pork and sugar cane shrimp vermicelli
Brother deer decided that he wanted to try the minced pork and sugar cane shrimp vermicelli ($8.75) because he had never tried dry vermicelli at Vietnamese restaurants before. He thought that pork and shrimp was cooked well because they were still moist on the inside. Lil’ bun didn’t like the shrimp though because it was a little too herb-y. That and the idea of ground shrimp was too strange for her. They also made note that although the plate looks like there’s a good amount of noodles in it. But, the plate is actually quite shallow and there’s really not much to eat.
Spicy lemongrass noodle soup
Mother deer decided to go with a spicy pho. The spicy lemongrass noodle soup ($8.95). She thought that it would be deliciously spicy because it looked super red but it wasn’t spicy at all. She also found a hard time finding the lemon grass flavor in the noodles because there really wasn’t any present. This bowl of pho was supposed to have beef and pork in it but all we found was two meat balls and two slices of Vietnamese ham.
Rare beef and brisket pho
Old bean decided to get a large rare beef and brisket pho ($8.25). He thought that the noodles and broth were pretty decent. But, he thought that they really skimped out on the amount of meat and portion of noodles in his bowl even though it was large size. He said that he could have gotten a much bigger bowl for a cheaper price else.
Pork three ways
Pork three ways on rice: pork chops, shredded pork, and minced pork loaf on rice. It’s always interesting to be able to try a protein prepared three different ways. I’m used to seeing pork chop with rice but it was nice to have a variety to choose from. The shredded pork was a little on the dry side but the loaf was surprisingly moist on the inside.
House vermicelli
This dish had vermicelli noodles, grilled chicken, pork brochette, and spring roll. Yet another platter that’s perfect for the indecisive. You have your juicy chicken and pork skewers with a side of crispy spring roll to tie everything together. The marinades for the meats kept everything tender. Plus there’s nothing I love more on skewers than charred flavor from the grill.
Betel-wrapped beef platter
This was seasoned beef wrapped in fragrant betel leaves and charbroiled. Served with lettuce, vermicelli, and vegetables along with rice paper for wrapping and pineapple anchovy sauce for dipping
This is one of those dishes that you can’t be afraid to get your hands dirty eating. You get to construct your own salad roll wrap by using the rice paper and then putting the greens, betel wrap and noodles inside it. Then to you dip it in this sweet, tangy, and salty pineapple anchovy sauce that is pure umami.
The food at Broken Rice Vietnamese restaurant was just standard (we only really liked 1 out of 5 dishes). The portions seemed to have decreased a great amount as well. The service was inattentive and it really shouldn’t of taken us over half an hour for us to get a cup of tea! Not to mention that we had long waits between each dish as well. I think next time if we’re wanting Vietnamese food in the area we’ll just head to Saigon Bistro or Triple coconut tree instead.
MMMM spring rolls with real rice paper is where the party’s at 😀