Phos and combos

>> Le Tonkin is a charming, overlooked Vietnamese restaurant just below the Little Italy strip

by MARK SLUTSKY

A local country singer convinced me to try le Tonkin. Her love for the Vietnamese restaurant was so resolute, so passionate, that I couldn’t help but check it out. Her description of the place was tinged with anxiety: the restaurant was in her view under-patronized, under-appreciated, and she was concerned that without a little publicity it might not last.

Le Tonkin’s address is certainly not doing it any favours. Located on St-Laurent just above Beaubien—it’s almost in Little Italy, but not quite—in the desolate no-man’s-land that stretches between the train tracks and the park. There are a couple of restaurants there, but also a lot of weird wholesalers, sketchy bars and rub-and-tugs—it’s not the most auspicious location for a new resto, although it’s certainly just a few steps away from a more thriving commercial strip.

The restaurant itself is big and clean, pleasantly neutral but without much to distinguish it, save of course for the food and the friendly family who run the joint. With the exception of some Szechuan dishes, presumably to appeal to those craving some General Tao chicken ($11.95), the menu covers most of the bases of Vietnamese cuisine (save for banh mi subs). There’s pho, the popular, hearty beef noodle soup; bùn, a noodle-meat combo that comes in a big bowl; còm, a meat and rice combo; and various other meat and seafood dishes.

It’s a big menu, with lots of options, all of them pretty affordable—mostly in the $7–$8 range. The combos, mostly consisting of soup, rolls, brochettes or grilled meat, salad and rice, are budget-friendly too, hitting the $8–$12 spot.

The phos run $6–$7.50 depending on size, although they’ll pretty much all fill you up. There are a few chicken variations, but the focus otherwise is all beef, all the time. Rare beef, well-done flank, omosa (tripe), beef balls—it’s up to you, although, if you can’t decide, there’s an option that includes everything. They’re overall pretty generous with the meat, and all of them make for a hearty and satisfying meal.

The salt and pepper squid ($12.95) got raves from my informant. The meal came as a prix fixe with a choice of won ton or “house” soup (a serviceable hot and sour), a big fried imperial roll with fish sauce, and later, for dessert, a big fat fried banana. The squid itself was lightly breaded, a little “wetter” than your typical calamari, thanks to the onions and diced red peppers it was fried up with. The spicing was pleasantly piquant, though the dish was a little oily.

The bún gà nuong ($7.50) came in a big ceramic bowl, and it was a pleasing dinner combo unto itself, especially for the price. Diced grilled chicken, vermicelli noodles and a salad made for a light, satisfying meal. You can also go for grilled pork or beef if that’s your pleasure, or add imperial rolls for a buck or so more if you’re extra hungry.

The com suon bi, grilled pork ribs and shredded pork served with rice ($7.50), was appealing, although “pork ribs” misled us a little—they were more chops than ribs, though definitely delicious, thinly sliced and marinated. The bi (shredded pork) was that strangely dry mixture of pork and pork skin you find in some banh mi sandwiches, and it was best eaten mixed up with the rice and the grilled stuff. As with all the other dishes, a hit of both hoisin and chili pepper sauce didn’t hurt.

Another nice little addition to the meal was a bottle of Hue beer, a very tasty lager brewed in Hue City, former capital of Vietnam, and which sports a kitschy orange-yellow label with old-school “oriental” characters.

Overall, le Tonkin is a pleasant neighbourhood restaurant (with very friendly service, I might add) that doesn’t deserve to be slept on. For an affordable dinner, if you’re in the Little Italy zone and don’t feel like Italian cuisine, it’s definitely worth checking out.