Tom Doorley finds authentic Vietnamese food in Temple Bar
Making one of my regular trips to a Chinese store recently, I was somewhat taken aback to find a pile of 25-kilo sacks - the sort that cement comes in - boldly labelled Monosodium Glutamate. The fact is that Chinese food, as we know it in Ireland at any rate, is no more healthy or natural than the processed stuff upon which most of us grew up. It's just tastier, possibly because of prodigious quantities of MSG.
There's a great deal of truly terrible, stomach-twistingly awful "Chinese" food out there. And even among the good restaurants, there are too many that leave you parched in the wee small hours as your body takes revenge on the monosodium glutamate that fooled your tastebuds earlier. (If you want to avoid this fate, and eat the best Chinese food in the country, go to the China-Sichuan in Kilmacud.)
Now, Vietnamese food is not innocent of MSG, but it does seem to be used with a lighter hand. And this makes sense, because Vietnamese food, by and large, is lighter than the cuisine of China.
The Portuguese and French influences still linger in the cooking of Vietnam, and it is thought to be peculiarly healthy. Many Vietnamese settlers here have gone into the food trade, specialising in ... er ... Hiberno-Chinese grub, that is to say, the usual gloop with a side order of curry chips, because they know where the mass-market is.
And so, it's good to welcome Ireland's first authentic Vietnamese restaurant, Ho Sen, in Temple Bar. It may not scale the dizzy heights of Vietnamese cooking, but it's a refreshingly different kind of place.For a start, there's a complete absence of black lacquer and happy buddhas; it's all white walls, simple patterns, elegant unfussiness. And the grub is light, hopping with taste and not unreasonably priced. Presentation is a little hit and miss, service is attentive and friendly, and the place is abuzz.
In the interests of the greater good, it didn't take much to persuade three of us to sample widely through the menu - Vietnamese food is all about sharing.
Goi Cuon were rice paper rolls filled with fine noodles, cucumber, mint, lettuce, carrot and coriander, designed to be dipped into clear fish sauce with a flavouring of minced chillis. They were very fresh and clean-tasting, impeccably light; they even tasted healthy.
Chim Cuc Rang Muoi, quartered quail, had been started on a char grill, then finished in the wok with salt, pepper and chilli. They were very tasty morsels, crisp and smoky yet moist and still pink within.
Our third starter, Muc Chien Vung, combined two favourites: squid and sesame seed. Essentially, this comprised nuggets of squid encased in a crisp coating which had been sprinkled liberally with sesame. A tangy dipping sauce completed a very tasty picture.
Squid stirfried with garlic, lemongrass, chilli, green pepper and onion was not much to look at (it looked like something from the Hiberno-Chinese school of food, to be honest), but the squid was tender and the sauce was zesty, light and pleasantly sharp.
Sharp was the keynote of Bo Tai Chanh too: a salad of slices of pink beef mixed with cucumber, onion, carrots, peanuts and coriander, which was as coolly refreshing and as flavoursome as it sounds.
Our third main course was remarkable. This was a cross between a pancake and an omelette (essentially lots of beaten egg with rice flour) encasing a filling of minced pork, shrimps, beansprouts and shallots. We thought it was absolutely ace and a complete change from the usual suspects in our oriental restaurants. A sharp dipping sauce cut the richness.
Finally there was Banh Pho Xao, a dish of fine ribbon noodles with slices of lean pork and a light and very delicate soya-bean sauce. With three Tiger Beers and two portions of rice this meal for three hungry people came to just over €80, or €26.75 each. With an average starter, plus the dearest salad and a beer, you could get away with a bill of less than €20.
Ho Sen, 6 Cope Street, Dublin 2, 01-6718181 or www.hosen.ie.
WINE CHOICE: If I were designing the wine list here I think I'd list at least six rieslings and a smattering of viognier and semillon. Actually, there's only one riesling, a rather lacklustre German one at €18.50. This is a shame, because the menu cries out for the character of this newly-fashionable grape. Some decent New World Sauvignons do a similar job, and there are a few spice-friendly reds such as Weinert Cabernet from Argentina at €31.50 and Grant Burge Mamba Shiraz at €29.95. House wines at €15.95 or €4.50 a glass. This list is more adequate than apposite.