Bodega Bistro

Having eagerly anticipated a return to Kim Thanh for weeks, I was deeply disappointed to see the sign on the door saying they were closed for a few weeks. Fortunately pilinut pulled some good alternatives out of her head faster than we could consult our smartphones and we headed off for Bodega Bistro.

Our papaya salad (nom) came with very thin strands of papaya and was swimming in a pool of...+READ Having eagerly anticipated a return to Kim Thanh for weeks, I was deeply disappointed to see the sign on the door saying they were closed for a few weeks. Fortunately pilinut pulled some good alternatives out of her head faster than we could consult our smartphones and we headed off for Bodega Bistro.

Our papaya salad (nom) came with very thin strands of papaya and was swimming in a pool of sauce. The beef jerky and sauce added a lot to the flavor and I liked the novelty of crunching on the hair-thin papaya.

A first for me was the ban xeo, a pancake stuffed with shrimp, pork and soy sprouts and served with herbs and lettuce that can be used as a wrap. My first two bites didn’t impress, then I added more sauce and got down to the part with the herbs and understood why everyone else was nodding approvingly. Tasting a perilla leaf separately convinced me that this was a big part of the flavor, but lots of sauce was also key.

We had the filet mignon shaking beef. Again the sauce on the side was the key to this dish—the bright lemon and pepper flavors made the difference between an ordinary dish and one that stood out.

The salt and pepper crab ($35) was excellent, maybe even better than my prior best crab of the season, at Kim Thanh. The pepper definitely makes this dish sing. We were given extra napkins but I missed the finger bowls with tea and lemon that we got at Kim Thanh. It was great to get crab of this quality so late in the season.

The only miss of the meal was the garlic noodles, which were lacking in flavor and texture.

All in all, it was a very satisfying substitute for Kim Thanh, though except for the outstanding crab none of the dishes did quite as much for me as Kim Thanh’s frog and charbroiled pork. At $22 per person for four people we got good value.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (30 Replies) (by charliemyboy, created March 31, 2011)