on Wednesday I went to Ha Long Bay, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bryn Mawr, with my friends. I've tried Japanese and Chinese cuisine, why not try Vietnamese? and I'm glad I did.
I ordered sauteed chicken with mango and cashew nuts, which came with a shrimp roll and broken rice (almost like sticky rice, half the size of regular white rice). Since it was the lunch special version, it was only around $7.00 [compared to the dinner price of $9.00, so you still get to save at least $2]).
This was a delicious meal, my only complaint was that they didn't put a lot of mangoes ....(perfectly understandable, because mangoes are pricey), the tiny bits I had were perfectly ripe...
I've said this time and time again, the presentation of the food adds something to the experience... it magically makes the food more delicious, it encourages you to eat it, you feel good eating something that had effort, it's special...a friend order a summer roll, and it was served on a plate shaped like a boat, it was WOW!
if you like to have a more "hands on" experience with your food try making your own wrap.. my friend ordered a vegetable, rice noodle and shrimp, which came with thin and translucent 'shanghai' wrappers for eggrolls, separately- down side, if you're not used to this, your wrap will explode- you might try to put too much food in it...
Ha Long Bay successfully incorporated the fresh and crispy vegetables with the fried and sauteed beef or chicken... the fusion of the two is BANG in your mouth
another friend ordered some sort of Vietnamese Fried Angelhair-esque rice noodles topped with beef, shrimp, vegetables, your jaw will drop... in the words of another friend, the fried angelhair is "big enough to feed 25" gigantic hungry men.
I like the atmosphere too... the colors of different walls, the Asian-themed paintings, the serenade of Vietnamese ballads (guessing, if not, it's definitely Asian not English), small bamboo plant on each table...
in the end, you get more for your money's worth... you get a full stomach and still have more money in your wallet to order dessert!