West Hartford: Pho Boston

En route to a concert by Richard Shindell at U. of Hartford, dinner took place at Pho Boston in West Hartford. It touts itself as authentic Vietnamese cuisine. I haven't had very much of it, so I can't speak to its authenticity, but it sure was good.

Appetizers: Goi Cuon -- fresh spring rolls with mint, vermicelli, pork slices and shrimp served with peanut sauce. The last time I had spring rolls of this style was in Toronto and it had this huge salad exploding from it in order to give it height. This really didn't add to the experience. So, I'll pick the more authentic one because it was quite tasty. Also had Chim Cut Chien -- roasted quails. They were crispy and very tasty. I ate them with gusto.

Main Dishes: Sate Dac Biet -- AKA Pho Boston which was a special spicy sate with rare steak served in Vietnamese beef noodle soup. I only had one spoonful because this was Michael's entree, but it was very fragrant and rich. My entree was Ca Hap Gung -- steamed fish with ginger & scallion. The fish of the day was tilapia and they brought the whole thing with the head and tail still intact. It was so tender and flaky it fell apart on the plate. I ate the whole thing.

Drinks: Michael had iced Vietnamese coffee which tasted a little like really bitter coffee icecream. I had iced lemonade tea, which pretty much tastes like it sounds.

I would definitely eat here again. Probably for lunch on my next trip to A-Dong, the Asian grocery store in the same plaza.