Thái Sơn – A Vietnamese in Chinatown

Despite its world cuisine, New York City was never considered to be famous for Vietnamese food - unlike other cities in California or Texas. Maybe that is due to the comparably small Vietnamese population living in New York. But of course, New York wouldn’t have been New York, if it doesn’t have at least a bunch of Vietnamese restaurants out there. And as a Vietnamese, I felt more than obliged to try at least one of them. 

On our tour though Chinatown, my husband and I saw a couple of Vietnamese restaurants and decided to go for Thái Sơn at 89 Baxter St. The number of Asian diners at this spot told us, that it must be a decent place to eat out. In fact, in the past, Vietnamese cuisine could largely only be found in Chinatown, where long-established restaurants, owned by early ethnically Chinese-Vietnamese immigrants would serve up typical Vietnamese dishes. But there have been more Vietnamese places opening up in recent years by a second generation of restaurateurs that have a more modern take on Vietnamese food. 

Vietnamese grilled beef with peanuts

Rice vermicelli

Thái Sơn surely belongs to the first generation of Vietnamese restaurants to be opened in New York City. It was the first restaurant of a chain that had many prominent branches. Now this is one of the two remaining branches, with the other one in Queens. Since many Chinese-Vietnamese immigrants came from South Vietnam, this restaurant clearly has its focus on South Vietnamese food. The restaurant has a good size and was very busy during peak time. But the service was quick, alough quite noisy with their clattering clearing trolleys. The menu was extraordinary long. It offers everything from Vietnamese classics like the famous spring rolls, summer rolls and a big range of “phở” rice noodle soups to different kinds of grilled meat as well as upscale seafood dishes. 

Vietnamese sautéed frog legs

 We had sautéed frog legs with vegetables, barbequed beef with rice vermicelli and of course it had to be a bowl of “phở bò” – the beef rice noodle soup. Because, and that’s how I see it, the best way to test a Vietnamese restaurant is to try their “phở bò” and see how much effort and love would go into the broth – the heart of every “phở”. The phở turned out to be quite average. The quality of the beef was alright and the broth could have been clearer. But it was refreshing to have some soup after a long day though. The grilled beef wasn’t that memorable. 

“Phở bò” – Vietnamese beef rice noodle soup

However, the best dish of the meal was the sautéed frog legs. Thinking of frog legs, some of you might develop an aversion against this exotic food. But in some cultures, it is rather considered a delicacy because of its mild taste and tender flesh. It has a very delicate - half chicken, half fish texture. And here is where the colonial French and the Vietnamese taste buds meet. Both embrace frog legs in their cuisines. The French would either deep fry them or sauté them with lots and lots of butter. The Vietnamese would – how else, cook it with fish sauce and other condiments. My verdict: The restaurant suits best those who love South Vietnamese flavours and those who are new to Vietnamese food and want to try various dishes at the same time.