MSG150: Seattle International District Lunch Food: Chopstick Rating: 3.5 to 3.9

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Lunch #87: Thanh Vi

Hey, you got your June in my February! It was almost sixty degrees today as we strolled up the hill to Little Saigon. Our destination today is another Vietnamese restaurant in the same strip-mall as Tamarind Tree and Saigon House. Thanh Vi has a more favorable location than the previous two, being on the street side of the strip-mall. The dumpsters are hardly visible. Rob recently got his training wheels off so he biked over to meet us to show off his new skills and join in on the MSG150 fun.

Thanh Vi, Seattle
Address: 1046 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Average rating: 3.6 chopsticks
Lunch date: 2/2/2010 @ 11:45:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 1 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 8 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 40 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice Plastic
Do they use MSG?: Some dishes have a little bit.
Where is the owner/chef from?: Saigon
Number of tables: 18
Number of occupied tables: 7 (38%)
Number of business lunch tables: 4 (57%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (42%)
Healthcode Score: 15
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Canh chua chay - Hot & Sour Tofu Soup - $7.25
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

We headed into Thanh Vi with 5 veteran lunchers today. The menu was pretty varied, but with these wily vets we were able to get a good sampling of the menu. I'd never had Vietnamese Hot & Sour soup, so that's what I went with.

Right from the first sip, I really liked the broth. Have you ever had a Thai hot and sour soup (tom yum)? Similar broth, but without the influence of a lot of the other flavors. Very clean flavor. I liked it.

The next thing I noticed about the soup was the unidentifiable vegetable that was in it. One of the employees (owner?) brought over a picture of the plant, but couldn't tell us the name. It was good: a light flavor with a slight crisp. The other components of the soup were good, but unremarkable.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. Maybe it was just because the sun was shining, and this place had windows facing the right direction... but the lighting was really nice. I felt like I could really see my food.

Good soup. Good atmosphere. Nothing remarkable though. A solid pick.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Crepe with Pork and Shrimp - $6.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Thanh Vi is large and clean and like Vietnam House it is cheerfully decorated with plastic flowers, nice table cloths, painted walls with decorative accents, and paintings. Oddly the painting over our table appeared to be of Lake Como. Unlike Vietnam House Thanh Vi was mostly empty when we arrived. We grabbed a well-lit table in the corner and studied the menu. It too is large and full of typical Vietnamese favorites. Again I went with the Banh Xeo and again it was delicious. They were a little skimpy on the greens, but the crepe was great. Some of the pork slices were mixed in with the batter such that they got grilled and crunchy a bit on one side. Yum!

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Bun Mum nuoc leo ca sac - Fish Stewed Noodle Soup - $7.50
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Is that... Lake Como on the wall? Who cares. This food is great. I went with the special - Fish Stew. Thick, delicious broth, heavy flavor, lots of variety. There's some fatty fish in here, whole okra!, some french fried thingies, chinese eggplant, and some noodles. It's a hearty, tasty dish that I'll definitely come back for.

Everything else on the table looked good, too. Next time you're in this area, give this place a shot.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Bun dau hu xao xa ot - Vermicelli with Lemongrass Tofu (Spicy) - $6.25
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Rob's Review

This shouldn't be a hard review to write, but I've been putting it off. The veggie bun was good stuff: tasty chunks of tofu, tasty chunks of veggies, ground peanuts, homemade fish sauce, and the small side salad tucked in. As I was munching my way through the meal, I quickly decided to give Thanh Vi a 4. But then I finished, and I was still a bit hungry (probably because I hadn't had breakfast...). And then I remembered I had basically this same dish at Green Leaf. I'd given them a 4, and their version I liked a little more than Thanh Vi's. Should it follow that Thanh Vi gets a 3? Further, you get a veggie sauce at Green Leaf, but then again the homemade fish sauce at Thanh Vi is really, really nice. The Green Leaf salad had refreshing bits of mint in it, and Thanh Vi's had not-as-refreshing bits of basil. But you usually have to wait before getting a table at Green Leaf, whereas Thanh Vi was wide open and even a touch cheaper. How should I let all that affect the rating? Weeks slipped by as I agonized over this decision, until everyone received a three word email from Emmett, "Waiting on rob." So yeah, should those other things matter? Still don't know, but I'll stop worrying about it and stick with my original rating: 4! Ahh, that feels better.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Bun tom thit nuong - Vermicelli with Charbroiled Shrimp and Pork - $6.50
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Thanh Vi Photos

Thanh Vi

Wall Menu

Interior

Thanh Vi Menu

Lake Como?

Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Crepe with Pork and Shrimp

Bun tom thit nuong - Vermicelli with Charbroiled Shrimp and Pork

Bun Mum nuoc leo ca sac - Fish Stewed Noodle Soup

Bun dau hu xao xa ot - Vermicelli with Lemongrass Tofu (Spicy)

Canh chua chay - Hot & Sour Tofu Soup

Soup Greens

Eating Banh Xeo

Eating Banh Xeo II

Monday, December 7, 2009

Lunch #81: Tamarind Tree

The MSG150 crew was six strong today as we headed up the hill. We were all excited to have finally passed the hurdles necessary to now be headed towards the Tamarind Tree. Many of us have been here for dinner and had great experiences. Now it was Tamarind Tree's time to show what it's got going on for lunch.

Tamarind Tree, Seattle
Address: 1036 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Average rating: 3.5 chopsticks
Lunch date: 7/20/2009 @ 11:40:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 2 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: Little Bit
Where is the owner/chef from?: Vietnam
Number of tables: 38
Number of occupied tables: 12 (31%)
Number of business lunch tables: 9 (75%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (25%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Bun dau nu nuong - Grilled Lemongrass Tofu Noodles - $7.25
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

Wow, this place is amazing. A beautiful interior, and a great outdoor deck to eat on when the weather is nice (as it was on this day).

If anyone could compete with Pho Bac, it's going to be this place. I ordered some Bun noodles to enjoy in the mid-day Seattle heat.

I was impressed when they brought the food out only moments later; they've got this lunch timing down pat. Let's start with the fish-sauce for the Bun noodles: it was good, and not too garlic-y, I was able to enjoy the rest of my afternoon without burping up fish sauce. The noodles were cooked well, as would be expected at a Vietnamese restaurant. The lemongrass tofu was good and had some fun flavor. Overall Tamarind Tree has decent prices, and I'm happy with the experience.

I'll visit this place again. Their menu is large, and I'm sure contains some real gems.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Bun thit nuong - Skewered Grilled Pork Noodles - $6.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

The Tamarind Tree is by far the fanciest lunch spot so far on the MSG150 tour. Real, living plants. Water features. Matching tables and chairs. It has it all, almost. It's located at the back end of an aging strip mall parking lot. It also has the most outdoor seating of any other spot and is equipped with lots of heat lamps for chilly days. We were greeted warmly by the host and seated on the patio.

Looking over the lunch menu I was pleasantly surprised by the prices. They are inline with the other Vietnamese lunch purveyors in spite of the extra fanciness. I went with the Bun Thit Nuong, BBQ pork on cold noodles with fresh veggies and sweet fish sauce, since it's a good barometer by which to measure this place against the others. I was also enticed to throw in an order for the Fresh Rolls having spotted a neighbor enjoying theirs.

The Bun was beautify presented, more than enough food, and delicious. The bowl was heaped with hot pork just off the skewer. I would have like the BBQ pork to have more crispy bits and a bit more of a saucy tang, but I ate it all and fully enjoyed it during the process. The Fresh Rolls were good, but didn't show up until I was gorged on Bun and were way more then we needed.

Finally, in summary and to conclude, the Tamarind Tree is a great lunch spot for an important business meeting or lunch date as long as your guest is blind or at least blind folded during the approach through the strip mall parking lot. However, if your date has agreed to be willingly blindfolded, it seem a shame to stop here and not just go straight home. Once in, it is a great lunch value and completes well on taste with (but doesn't quite beat) the all mighty Pho Bac.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Bun chao tom - Grilled Shrimp on Sugarcane Noodles - $8.25
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Way to go on converting a strip mall parking lot into a soothing outdoor oasis. This place makes me feel like a rich LA debutante out for brunch with the grrls. There's nice music, vines, bamboo. Was there a waterfall? I don't remember. Sadly the food doesn't overwhelm.

We're big fans of the Vietnamese food here at MSG HQ, so I was excited to see a variety of options that are normal hot spots don't offer. Grilled Shrimp on Sugarcane sounded unique, interesting, and exciting! It came, and it looked good. Big cuts of sugarcane had molded ground shrimp wrapped around them like meat on a stick. I doubt it was grilled, most likely the whole thing was thrown in the deep fryer, sugarcane and all. Regardless, the flavor wasn't all that great. The ground up shrimp was a disappointment, as I was hoping for whole shrimp to be wrapped around the sugarcane. The salad greens thrown in with the bun still had a plastic label attached.

On the flip side, the spring rolls were tasty.