Westward Ho!

When someone says to me "I want to eat with you somewhere you've never eaten before," that pretty much rules out any city restaurant where I'm willing to eat.

When I remind them that I don't eat at chains, that eliminates a lot of suburban restaurants. The best of what's left seems to be of the ethnic variety, so it's about choosing one of those out of the masses.

Tonight's recommendation was Vietnam Gardens somewhere out in the middle of West End Land.

It turned out that it was mobbed, perhaps due to Mother's Day, but an incredibly high percentage of the customers were Asian, always a good sign. We scored one of the last available tables.

Speedy service is usually the norm at such places, but they were clearly struggling tonight with the crowds.

And while we were in no hurry whatsoever, it was fifteen minutes before we got acknowledged at our table and another fifteen before our beer and the Bex Riesling arrived. Patience is a virtue.

Since my companion had eaten there before, he recommended the Banh Mi Tom Chien, known colloquially as Shrimp Toasted, which were flat-sided rounds of ground shrimp crisply breaded, deep fried and rolled in sesame seeds with sweet chili sauce.

The only problem was the first batch was an overly dark brown bordering on burnt (and rock-hard) which we had replaced with a much tastier second batch after explaining our dilemma. Or maybe we were just famished by that point. No, they were tasty.

We dubbed the spicy Vietnamese Fermented Pork Meat (squares of fermented pork meat and skin topped with carrots slices, Thai pepper and black pepper and called Nem Chua) Vietnamese potted meat, but in a good kind of way.

Small scrapple-looking squares full of garlic and spice were best enjoyed with the sweet chili sauce from the Banh Mi Tom Chien and the accompanying cilantro, we decided.

Finally we shared the Canh Bún, a round noodle crab soup with fried-tofu, Vietnamese sausage and minced crab meat with egg and topped with steamed watercress.

Daringly, we substituted cellophane noodles for the round noodles, guaranteeing that the chef would hate us for messing with his dish. It's round noodle crab soup for crying out loud!

With a squeeze of lime and a bit of chile, it was the hit of the evening, full of contrasting textures, the savory sausage and all that lovely watercress. We ate every bite.

By the time we finished, we'd been there for close to three hours, easily a record, but not a big deal since we had nothing but time tonight.

Next time I'll challenge my companion to eat somewhere he's never eaten before. That way, I won't have to eat in a strip mall.

Even after a good meal, I find it's a bit of a buzz kill to walk outside into a Food Lion parking lot. And maybe that's just me.