My wife and I wanted an early lunch and got to Vietnam at the 11:00 opening on Tuesday, wearing masks into the restaurant on N Water St. & Starr St. Parking was easy in the restaurant's back lot or on a meter street-side. Upon opening...the door, the good smells drew us farther into the restaurant and we were seated immediately. Our server, Brian, helped us with our orders and described the day's specials. My wife was in a mind for curries and had the shrimp ($27) and I took the king salmon special ($38), as my wife and I met in Alaska and we know a few things about the fish. The place was quiet and we enjoyed the Asian ambiance, overlooking the Buddha statue, and the bathrooms were sparkling clean.
The first course was chicken-and-rice soup and our entrées were ready by the time we finished.
My gosh. The salmon was wonderful. Farm-raised, it was lightly seared on the outside (The Vietnamese chef trained in San Francisco; did she use a torch?) for the caramelized crispiness so utterly appealing, then perfectly cooked inside. My wife enjoyed her curried shrimp, but I was crazy about that piece of salmon. The key lime pie ($10) was good, but really more of a raspberry cheesecake.
Sorry, no military discounts for the 27,500+ veterans of Nueces County and 4,500+ active duty troops, but I was pleased to pay the $85 bill and leave a tip to Brian.More