Snap, crackle and sizzle

Aromatic Vietnamese dishes
prepared with care at Chez Thi

by MATHILDE RABBAT

Years ago I had a neighbour who would select a city street—the longer, the better—and proceed to visit a different eatery on that street every Sunday, until she had exhausted all possibilities. With its high concentration of restos and multicultural flare, it occurred me to that Côte-des-Neiges would be a prime thoroughfare to conduct such an experiment. My culinary journey begins at Chez Thi, a charming six-month old Vietnamese joint just South of Édouard-Montpetit.

Chinese and Thai influences permeate the offerings, as evidenced by dishes like General Tao chicken, Tonkinese soup, pad thai and tom yum—hardly surprising since Vietnamese cooking, particularly in Southern regions, draws inspiration from the traditional dishes of migrants from China, Thailand and Cambodia.

Crackling can be heard from neighbouring tables as ever so crunchy krupuks, or bánh phông tôm (deep fried prawn crackers), are served in a basket in lieu of bread. The table d’hôte ($16–$20) includes a soup, a roll, a main dish and a dessert, along with a choice of coffee or tea.

A delightful won ton soup hit all the right notes: a nice translucent broth, fried onion bits, fresh coriander and green onion, and the all important tasty dumplings, stuffed with a nice chicken purée and wrapped in a tender thin skin. Won tons also take centre stage in other hors d’oeuvres, such as the pan-fried won ton appetizer with a ground pork filling ($4). A slim cigar-shaped imperial roll (nem), which is part of the table d’hôte but can also be ordered separately ($3), held its own, though it also came with pork stuffing.

In many cases, mains can be heard approaching the tables before they’re even seen, as vociferous sizzling and searing sounds herald the arrival of certain selections (identified on the menu by an asterisk) served piping hot on an oval iron pan. One such dish, which did not disappoint, was a sweet and tangy beef and veggie stir fry, spiked with aromatic Thai basil leaves, red chili and a boatload of minced garlic ($12). Stir-fried veggies of all sorts, including mushroom, zucchini, broccoli, onion, cauliflower, carrot, celery and red, gold and green pepper, added a welcome splash of colour and a crunchy al dente texture for the palate. The sauce, spiked with ginger made for an adequate gravy in which to swish around a mound of sticky rice that accompanied this main. For adventurous types who prefer spicy to sweet or a combination of both, every table is equipped with a fiery tomato-based hot sauce.

The table d’hôte’s most pricey offering, the grilled shrimp and scallop selection ($20), was the most satisfying, and almost too pretty to eat. Wooden skewers speared a shrimp and a scallop trio that were perfumed with curcuma and brushed with a sweet soya sauce glaze before being tossed on the grill. Displayed on a bed of white sticky rice with a fresh salad of greens, shredded carrot and vermillion beet curls and crowned with a radish carved as a lotus, this was an was impressive dish indeed.

The battered deep fried banana dessert, however, was a tad lacklustre, despite its berry coulis and honey drizzle. That having been said, don’t skip the Vietnamese coffee, which you can take hot or cold. In the former version, an interesting contraption resembling a miniature casserole filled with coffee grounds and boiling water sits on top of a coffee cup, slowly dripping its contents over a viscous pond of sweetened condensed milk.

Whether it be for dinner or for an affordable quick lunch, you get the impression that a great deal of care is given both the prepping of dishes and to creating a well-kept, soothing, environment in which to enjoy them.