Vinada
1260 Robson St
Vancouver, BC
Despite weather has improved in the last couple of days, it was still darn chilly over here. Well, things have been better this week but it was barely starting to when I visited Vinada, a Vietnamese restaurant in Robsonstrasse.
If I am not mistaken, Vinada has been there for over a year. Quite an accomplishment if you ask me. Previously, the only other Vietnamese restaurant in the area was located in 1500 Robson Street. However, that restaurant or rather, the restaurant(s) opening in that location, kept changing hands until it closed sometime mid last year. Now it is occupied by Chau Kitchen & Bar, a Vietnamese place I have not been able to visit due to their schedule (it is not open for lunch from Monday to Thursday). Back to Vinada, if it has been there for so long, it should be quite good, right?
The decoration is quite straight forward with some “modern” touches, like the flat-screen TV. However, what is the deal with the neon lights?! This is the second Vietnamese place with such decoration… Unfortunately, as a result, I had some problems taking the pictures.
Different decoration, indeed.
For the food, I used my yardstick for Vietnamese restaurants: pho and spring rolls.
The plate of bean sprout, thai basil and lemon wedge.
The spring roll ($4). While the visuals seem to indicate a decent spring roll, actually, it was below average. While not as bad as the one from Gold Train Express, it was barely better. Crunchy, yes; however, that was about it. It was bland. The dipping sauce did nothing for the rolls.
For the pho, I ordered their item #14, described as “rare beef, flank, brisket, tendon, tripe and beef balls with rice noodle in soup” ($9 for large; $7.50 for small). The soup itself was lukewarm. Taste-wise, I can only say average. The noodles, at least, were not bundled, stuck to each other. However, the part that really disappointed me is the fact the description of the meats above did not really match the contents in the bowl itself. Beef balls? Yes. Tripe? Yes. Tendon? No! Brisket? OK… Flank? There was something like that, unless I am mixing it with the brisket… Rare beef? OK, it was cooked… In other words, the plate given to me barely matches with the description in the menu.
As a result of the inconsistency, there is absolutely no way I can say I like this place. Had they told me some of the ingredients were not available, I would have ordered something else. Add the fact the rolls were sub-par makes me ask did I order the wrong thing? Next time, should I order the other bahn mi, aka, Vietnamese sandiwch? But considering they have a long pho list, I don’t think I made a mistake…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like you took one for the team. I ordered a rare beef and tendon once, only to find a marble sized piece of tendon. I must have looked like a whack job sorting through the dish with my chopstick trying to find more. Where was the rest!?! You have to wonder how the orders get messed up somewhere between you and the kitchen. It looks like quite the little food corner. Japanese, Vietnamese, and Indian all in five feet.
As a weird side note, I was listening to John Mayer when I started reading your blog and his song ‘Neon’ popped in on random. It made me burst out laughing as I heard the line – “She’s always buzzing just like neon” while reading about the interior lighting.
i love sprouts
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