Review: Vong's Thai Kitchen

Image Source: A.S.V.

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

Overall our experience at "VTK" was okay, but when weighing the cost and the experience, I think this place is in a bit of a no man's land for me. If I will be spending $100+ for dinner with my wife, I want to enjoy the experience more than I did here. And if I just want some good Asian food, I can easily do that for less than $100.

There was some creativity in the dishes we tried, and service was mostly pleasant. I think a big reason I didn't love this as much as perhaps I could have was the table we were given. We were seated at the banquette, immediately on the other side of the host stand. Definitely felt apart from the rest of the space's vibe. If you are intent on going to VTK, I'd suggest declining that table if it is offered to you.

Highlights / Lowlights:

What was great

Tenderloin satay. Mouthwatering, tender, delicious.

What wasn't so great

Host / hostess service.
We were there at 7:30 on Christmas Eve and they were closing at 9. The place wasn't packed and there were better tables available in the dining room, but the hostess just dropped us at the nearest table she saw, on the banquette. This kind of thing indicates she's either clueless and not thinking that 'hey, it's kind of a special evening and there are better tables out there, why don't I hook them up?', or she just flat out didn't care about anything other than putting out minimal effort. Of course, this could totally be an isolated incident, but you hope that a restaurant's management sets the tone for service basics to the point where it's second nature for everyone on staff.

Scorecard:

Two critical questions

Would I eat here again?
Sure. But I wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

Was it good value?
It was fair.

Essentials

Food - Mostly good.

Appetizers were mixed: tenderloin satay was fantastic, the tofu jenga wasn't great (clever name and presentation, nice tomato ginger sauce, but the tofu itself was over seasoned - each bite was a mouthful of salt and garlic).

Entrees were pretty good. The pad thai in the salmon pad thai was great, with moist and flavorful noodles. But the cut of salmon perched atop the noodles didn't add much to the dish. (Not sure how else one could prepare this dish, but it was just odd seeing the fish in one big piece sitting on the noodles. No other pad thai that I have seen comes like this. Chicken, beef, tofu - they are all shredded or cubed or spread out in the dish one way or another.) My wife had the shrimp and scallops in the citrus curry and she claims it was good.

Their wine options provided a nice breadth of options if not a lot of depth. The list includes one bottle (maybe two, max) of interesting choices like beaujolais, tempranillo, malbec, but they also cover off the more common US wines (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir). My adventurous wife opted to try the 'mistletoe' - a concoction of gin, strawberry liqueur and maybe mint. $11 worth of 'not great'.

For dessert we tried the 'creme brulee trio' and the warm chocolate cake. Cake was fine - not too sweet, which is nice - but it wasn't particularly memorable. The creme brulee trio -- ginger, tamarind, coconut - was mixed. My wife loved the coconut, I liked the tamarind and, to my palate anyway, the ginger flavor was so subtle I would have believed it if you told me it was a placebo serving.

Service - Our server was pleasant and helpful, but maybe a little less frequent with the check-ins than we would have liked. Good enough, not great.

Amenities

Atmosphere - Probably would be nicer from every other table in the room than from the one we had, so I am not the best judge. Dark, contemporary, nice enough.