Unfortunately, Research Boulevard has pretty much become one
strip mall after another. Fortunately, the strip mall between Ohlen and Payton
Gin has a Target as an anchor and easily recognizable landmark. It is in that
locale you’ll find Sunflower, one of several Asian business in the center;
other food establishments include Din Ho Chinese BBQ and Coco’s -- a bubble tea spot. It’s probably been five
years since I’ve been to Sunflower (I should mention it’s a Vietnamese place),
and this past Saturday night was a prime opportunity to revisit it.
Three of us arrived around 7 pm, and the place was
seven-eighths full, so lucky for us, there was one table to accommodate us. We
got water and a pot of hot tea, and studied the menu. After being slightly
overwhelmed by it, we decided on three things, and at the end, we all agreed we
had no regrets on any of it.
We started with the appetizer combo plate, which comes with
shrimp, pork meatballs, and pork egg rolls; it’s accompanied by a plate of lettuce,
shredded carrots, fresh mint, and a sweet and tangy fish sauce. The meatballs
were fairly dense, almost like sausage patties, but tasty. The egg rolls are
meant to be placed in the lettuce leaves with carrots and mint. Kind of messy
with the sauce, but so what!
The lemongrass tofu is a great vegetarian dish. Really a great dish period, vegetarian or
not. I wish the lemongrass flavor was
more pronounced – I could really hardly taste it – but the garlic and chiles totally
make up for it. It’s pieces of silken tofu, which are probably lightly dredged
in rice flour or cornstarch and given a quick sauté with the lovely aromatics. Incredibly
flavorful.
Last, the tamarind halibut. At $16, we were first a little
hesitant, but after discovering that we all loved the flavor of tamarind, we
decided to go for it. Chunks of halibut are very lightly battered and fried,
and a really lovely tamarind glaze is poured all over. The fish was fresh, not
greasy, and ever so crisp, and the twang from the sauce just exploded in your
mouth.
Sunflower’s décor is hardly anything to speak about… then
again, it IS in a strip mall. We had no problems with their service, though you
sort of have to know that you just go to the counter (which is in the back of
the restaurant) when you are ready to pay, as they don’t bring you a check to the table. Some of their reviews on Yelp make mention of
less than stellar service, and while it IS all about the food, we know that
service plays a part too. They could also be faulted for horribly under ripe tomatoes, which apparently is *de rigueur* there, according to my dining companions. But otherwise, it was a solid, tasty meal.
So why has it taken me so long to go back there?
(No website that I can find.)