Jay About Vietnamese Restaurant II

Yup, the Jay About Town tour of local Vietnamese joints continued this week w/ a stop @ the Vietnamese Restaurant II. This cheesy sequel sounding spot is apparently trying to capitalize on the "popularity" of the Vietnamese Restaurant I, over in Essex. First off, it is in a notoriously tough location, occupying the digs of former Tantra, and before that 12 other different Asian/other type dining venues. Secondly, they do not have their liquor license yet so BYOB for the time being. I ten to think this is an ok thing but just a heads up in the event you are an outrageous booze hound and do not have time to stop at the packy store for a bottle of wine. OK, on to the food. The menu is a little schizophrenic, encompassing 55 pages (or something like that) of Thai, Vietnamese, and other assorted Asian cuisine. This kind of mishmash can often be the kiss of death. I say, stick to the Vietnamese, that's the name on the door right?! My special lady and I started w/ some delicious ginger teas. They are like an iced tea that tastes just like the soft ginger candy you can get in Chinatown. Pretty sweet, but I am a fan. We then moved on to share 3 apps; Imperial spring rolls, a marinated beef and lemongrass salad, and fried pork won tons. All 3 tasted very good. The spring rolls featured soft rice paper, plump shrimp, and really nice veggies. They tasted very fresh. The marinated beef was also very good and surprisingly clean tasting as well. Our one wish would be to put the beef on a bed of mango and cucumber as opposed to lettuce (keep the mint and cilantro), but it was still very good. The won tons were only luke warm but they had nice flavor, texture, and were not too greasy. The dipping sauce was also very good. Finally, we shared the Red Dragon Noodle bowl w/ marinated pork. The fish sauce added nice flavor (have I used that word enough?) to the pork and the noodles were cooked perfectly. Plenty of seasoning and nice fresh mint, cilantro, and a bit of peanuts. Add a little hot sauce (the table had two heats and a plum sauce) and you are in flavor town my friend! The service was very friendly, prompt, and perfectly acceptable. The bill? Cheap! Even assuming booze at some point the price point is just fine. My only 2 complaints? An over sized mat at the entrance I tripped over twice! Recognize I am very light on my feet. The other bummer was the super loud group in the corner. Yes, I am quite sure you know everything about everything, and I think all 4 of you should let the others know it but... I don't want to hear about the 14 year old girl's perfect goddess body ad nausea! Of course, that is not the restaurant's fault. 1 3/4 enthusiastic thumbs up, it's in the rotation!

BTW, girl w/ the crappy car swerving in the middle of 2 lanes on rt 7 North this morning talking on your cell phone... F*ck You! I would have flipped you off for almost causing 12 accidents but you would never have even noticed.