The place is small, with about 10 booths around the outside walls and 8 tables in the center. The booths are the originals from 1999, and are starting to show their age. They have some kind of Vietnamese pop/rock playing in the background.
They have really good soups here, so Frank got some kind of chicken soup. It comes with noodles and a side of sprouts and greens (cilantro, etc.) to put in it. The serving is huge - it was great!
I got the vermicellli (bun) with grilled pork and shrimp. In the past, this came on a platter with the vermicelli in woven mats and large pieces of lettuce, and you would make lettuce wraps out of everything. This time, it came in a large bowl, with loose noodles and the lettuce and cucumbers were all chopped up. You also get a side of fish sauce. [When I was in Houston, the Vietnamese restaurants I ate at there all used bowls, too.] It tasted great!
We also got an appetizer of spring rolls. These are the noodles and grilled pork and shrimp and mint rolled up in the clearish wrap. And the fish sauce was a bit spicy too, and delicious.
They have ice tea, but it's Jasmine tea with a slice of lime. It was okay.
So, how do they rank now, compared to 1999? If I hadn't been there before, I would say it was really very good Vietnamese food. But since I have been there, I compare it to how it used to be. The food still tastes really good, but the quality has gone down slightly, possibly because of the recession. That said, I'd still give them at least 4 stars now. They're much better than any Vietnamese place I've eaten at in Northwest Arkansas. So, 4 to 4-1/2 stars. Oh, and did I mention our bill? Total cost $23!!!
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