Tan Dinh

The Westbank is the best bank when it comes to Vietnamese cuisine. Last weekend The Folk Singer and I tried out Tan Dinh for the first time. Located on Lafayette Street just off the Expressway, Tan Dinh confirms the centuries old belief that only good things are found in strip malls.

We started with the requisite shrimp and pork springrolls, which were HUGE.

Then the offbeat grilled pork paté rolls with "crab sauce" in the background (an order inspired by the dread pirate). When these arrive at your table, you might think, "That paté looks a lot like SPAM." It's not. I did not think that grilled flavor came through, but I did like the little hidden strip of fried goodness which provided a nice contrast in texture. The crab sauce is different. It is sweet, but not in the same way as peanut sauce. Looking back, maybe the sweetness comes from the "crab" aspect.

I had the Korean style short ribs with sticky rice and kimchi. The ribs were slightly sweet and fatty and tender. The was my first experience with the sticky rice - mixed with coconut milk, pressed into patties, and then fried till crisp. "Vietnamese hashbrowns" as TFS likened them to. The kimchi was fine but nothing special.

TFS had pho with brisket and pork meatballs (which we could not really capture a decent picture of). The meats fished out of the large bowl were perfectly fine, but the broth was pitifully bland.

Tan Dinh - Birdie overall, but avoid the pho.