Comments on: Adventures on 82nd Avenue

By: The Guilty Carnivore

The Guilty Carnivore — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:25:41 +0000

I will have to check out the bo la lot. The banh cuon is a good deal, I was just put off by the missed expectations. Their grilled pork is fantastic, probably the most flavorful in town - I’m just bummed out by the lack of mint when serving thit nuong…that apocryphal to me. And they need to work on their egg rolls, but then again cia gio is pretty lacking most places.

The two soups I’ve had were good - the broths flavorful. I haven’t read anyone’s opinion of the Pho at PFood.org - have you had it? Their bun bo hue?

By: extramsg

extramsg — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 03:43:43 +0000

I went in for lunch the other day. Food was still as good as ever. Damn that bo la lot is good. Got the banh cuon you refer to and asked first and no it doesn’t come with the shrimp tempura listed. I still think it’s well worth the price they charge, however. Most other items seem to come as listed.

By: extramsg

extramsg — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 08:43:56 +0000

Tai is ethnically Chinese, though I think his family is from Vietnam. I don’t really know him, just gabbed a bit since it’s usually a bit slow while I’m in there.

I should be clear, though. What I meant was that they needed a Chinese translation of the menu, not Chinese items.

Chinese are the largest Asian ethnic group in Portland, so it makes sense to cater to them to some extent. (And my experience is that Chinese can be fairly palate-arrogant.)

I’ve seen the same thing with Thai restaurants that you describe. You try to convince these Thai restaurants that they should put some more interesting items on the menu to separate themselves. But from their perpsepctive half their orders are pad thai. Then you see a place like Pok Pok come along, run by a farang, and you realize there are other options for someone with vision.

By: The Guilty Carnivore

The Guilty Carnivore — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 19:20:57 +0000

I think Tai is still running the show - I don’t know him, but he’s a pleasant, mild-mannered chap, very well spoken and courteous.

I’m not sure why Vietnamese feel so compelled to feature a Chinese menu - and American Chinese at that. In the early nineties, my Mom went into business opened up a standard fare Chinese joint with some ethnic Chinese but who were also from Vietnam. Granted, they did what they did pretty well, but I wondered aloud why they weren’t serving what they themselves ate behind the scenes. The dismissed such talk - no way “normal” people would understand or appreciate such offerings.

Kinda reminds of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry convinces Babu to serve Pakistani fare.

By: extramsg

extramsg — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:31:25 +0000

A little addition about how short-sighted these places can be…

I talked to them a while back and they acknowledged that one of their mistakes was not having Chinese on the menu. They only have English and Vietnamese, but most of the potential customers are Chinese. (Which is why, according to Malay Satay Hut, they have to keep their dishes relatively mild. For once it’s not the Americans dumbing down the food.) I asked why they didn’t just get new menus then, and they talked about how they were going to use their current ones up, blah, blah, blah. How much would this cost? $500? $1000? Totally worth it. That’s only 20-40 customers and they’ve made their money back. How many customers have they lost because of their short-sightedness? Fen-wise and Yuan-foolish.

By: extramsg

extramsg — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:25:02 +0000

When I read your initial report, I wondered whether they have changed hands. I know they were for sale for a while. Do you know if it was Tai, the brother that always works the FOH there? If not, I’d be very suspicious of the place. I’ll try to get in there soon and see what’s up. I was in last in September, maybe just over two months ago, and everything was pretty much normal. They could just be hurting money-wise and cutting back. That’d be unfortunate and short-sighted. Either close and stop the bleeding altogether or make the food the best you can and limit the menu to win customers back. But don’t make the food crappy to try to survive a little longer while you lose even more customers.