Went for lunch on Tuesday to a Vietnamese place called T & N; it's in the strip center at 290 & Wm Cannon. Got there at 1:30, and there was only one other diner in the entire place. Not a great sign! The hostess was carrying a baby, and then disappeared with it to the kitchen. Hmmmm.
There were 3 of us total, and it took a few minutes to decide. We started with Vietnamese iced coffees. Yum! Fried eggrolls with beef proved to be mushy and very earthy tasting on the inside; on the plus, they really weren't greasy. However the spring rolls with char grilled pork were delicious. The pork had fabulous flavor, though there were a lot of mung bean noodles shoved in there too. Unfortunately, the peanut sauce was a bit watered down -- no real pop of peanuty goodness. (Admitedly, I make a mean peanut sauce, and I am very picky!)
For main dishes, there was the pho with thinly cut steak, spicy tofu & broccoli with rice noodles, and a lemongrass grilled chicken salad. The broth for the pho was quite tasty, but the steak had been immersed in the simmering broth too early in the kitchen, and it was grey and overcooked, making it a bit tough, not tender. It came with a side plate of nice and fresh bean sprouts, stems of Thai basil, lime, and a jalapeno. Lots of noodles in it too. The tofu dish seemed to suffer slightly from inconsistencies in the crispyness of the tofu -- some were more crisp than others. The grilled chicken salad was good, fresh lettuce & other veg, but I failed to really get a lemongrass flavor from the bites I had.
On the plus, the service at T & N was prompt, and the food came fast. While we were in there, two more tables filled, so we were't the only ones. The pho broth very tasty, and I've been dying for more of the pork spring rolls. The other dishes weren't bad, just not real memorable.
