Linda Falkenstein
A selection of items from Viet Town.
Clockwise from top: shaking beef, banh mi and Vietnamese spring rolls.
Viet Town is a surprise in the environs of East Towne — a locally owned, sit-down restaurant that’s casual enough for a pop-in but also stylish enough for an occasion. Yes, it’s in a strip mall between a Five Guys and a Potbelly, but the dining room is contemporary, upbeat and restful. The soundtrack is muted and runs to light jazz.
Vietnamese dishes have been in short supply on the east side for a long time, so Viet Town is a welcome addition. The menu is divided into noodle soup (pho), vermicelli ( bún), rice plates (cơm), Vietnamese sandwiches, and “specialties.” Pho fans (and there are plenty of them here bent over their soup bowls) will find multiple varieties, with the menu favoring beef in many cuts (with one chicken option), but Viet Town puts its best foot forward with its banh mi.
Baguettes are baked in-house daily and fresh bread makes a big difference — so do the house-made mayo and pate. The earthy notes from the liver pate don’t dominate, but they do anchor the play of sweet/vinegary/meaty that makes banh mi one of the globe’s classic sandwiches. Viet Town serves four versions: a traditional take with ham and pork roll; lobster; grilled beef; or grilled pork. The grilled pork was my favorite (full disclosure: I did not try the $25 lobster version) that reminded me of the barbecued banh mi served at Shinji Muramoto’s The Haze, on King Street, back in 2009. (Keeping in mind that my palate memory for anything that long ago is a little, ahem, hazy.)
The fried chicken rice plate, described by my server as “deconstructed fried rice,” is simple but pleasing, not in small part due to the heap of fried rice that’s almost a sticky rice hybrid. It’s fried with scallion and bits of egg; I would gladly order a side of this. The crispy chicken, a thigh and a leg, comes with a sweet soy sauce that’s also great poured over the rice. Don’t overlook the side of what the server described as Vietnamese kimchi — less spicy than the Korean version and lightly pickled, not fermented. Vietnamese dishes are not spicy in general and are more about the play of flavors, exemplified in this crunchy sweet-sour condiment (mostly cabbage and carrot) where the zip comes mainly from ginger. A side of pho broth was delicately smoky.
The shaking beef with rice (beef cubes with a sweet glaze and lots of grilled onions) is similar and, like the chicken, comes with the Vietnamese kimchi and pho broth, but plain steamed white rice. Chicken curry, from the specialties menu, was the biggest disappointment because it was so close to being great. A pleasing lemongrass-inflected curry broth soaked into well cooked potatoes and carrot and onion, but the chicken pieces — bone-in thighs — were mostly bone and skin.
Note — this is as far from a vegetarian-friendly menu as I’ve seen in a long time. Pescatarians will find a handful of seafood dishes, but otherwise the only option is avocado spring rolls, an appetizer.
Speaking of appetizers, the spring rolls are made to order. In addition to the avocado, there’s the Vietnamese version, plump and stuffed with ground pork, shrimp and mint; plus, there’s a satisfying crunch from what look to be fried wonton strips. Sausage spring rolls are rolled with a hefty strip of nem nướng, a sweet and mildly spicy pork sausage. I’d go for the Vietnamese crispy egg rolls with ground pork — a little spicy and shatteringly crispy, and close to those from the old Viet Foods To Go cart in front of the Tenney Building.
Linda Falkenstein
The chicken fried rice at Viet Town.
Chicken fried rice is ‘deconstructed’ with a whole leg and thigh fried crispy.
Viet Town has a large milk tea and smoothie menu, with plenty of boba, pudding, and jelly, but it’s pricey — a couple dollars more per drink than similar offerings at State Street bubble tea emporiums. I generally don’t like knocking restaurants for cost, because I don’t know what goes into the making of any specific dish, but this was a head-scratcher.
In sum: Upvotes to the banh mi and fried spring rolls; very little here for vegetarians.
Viet Town
2249 Zeier Rd.
608-5809; viettownmadison.com
10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Tues-Sun.
$8-$30
