It’s About the Experience

By Todd Tuell

September marks the ninth anniversary of Vietnamese Café enriching the Thornton community with unique, authentic cuisine of Southeast Asia. The restaurant is the family business of Oanh and Thanh Do. “In Vietnam,” Oanh says, “meals are mostly enjoyed at home. The best that Mom can make. That’s what we offer our customers.”

As the head chef, Thanh enjoys bringing some of the spicy, seafood delicacies of his childhood island home off the southern coast of Vietnam. He’s able to keep his eye on the quality of each freshly prepared meal and is proud to say, “Dish-in, dish-out, we consistently serve the same high quality, good food.”

The Vietnamese Café offers a great variety of traditional dishes. Savory Vietnamese Egg Rolls are filled with onion, egg, pork and mushroom and fried golden in a rice paper shell. Stuff a lettuce leaf with these and your choice of fresh ingredients including bean sprouts, mint and cilantro to make a new summer favorite.

The Combination Noodle Bowl, the restaurant’s most popular selection, is a light, healthy mix of noodles and vegetables with grilled beef, pork and shrimp. My recommendation, however, is a new feature, the Grilled Chilean Sea Bass in a red wine sauce. A subtler choice, this delectable fish flakes apart, its flavors melting in your mouth. It’s a perfect combination with the spicier Lemon Grass Beef. Lemon grass is the signature herb of Vietnamese cooking. It brings a summery citrus flavor when added to the stir-fried beef. Served with crisp red and green bell peppers, it is a colorful feast for the eyes, not to mention the palate.

The evening isn’t complete without Vietnamese Coffee. It’s as much about the experience as it is about the delicacy. Coffee is a social tradition in Vietnam. While it brews at your table over sweet milk producing an intoxicating aroma, you have a chance to catch up with friends. Enjoyed as the Vietnamese do by pouring it over ice, this coffee is a wonderfully rich, cherished respite from the heat of the day or from the bold, spicy choices found on the menu such as the Tropical Seafood Volcano, if you dare.

Vietnamese Café is located at 3744 E. 104^th Ave in Thornton in the Albertson’s shopping center. They’re open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am.

Writen by Todd Tuell for the Clipper Magazine.