The Goliard Online - Reviews, opinion, complaints, original writing, analysis, humor, and pith
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We were half-assedly looking for a place to eat lunch one day and, since we get free air miles for every bowl of albondigas consumed at El Charro and happened to be on East Broadway at the time, we decided that would have to do. We hadn't really been all that motivated to search for new and more interesting places to dine lately for some reason and had resigned ourselves to another so so lunch experience when we were brought up short by a sign on the El Charro gate. "Closed for Clean-Up," it said. We checked our watches and it was the noon hour so this seemed peculiar until we noticed on the same time piece that it happened to be May the Sixth. Aaaah. Cinco de Mayo. That embarrassingly commercialized, over-hyped, psuedo holiday that it figured a place like El Charro was bound to exploit to the hilt. Oh well, their loss. Our only problem was that one of us didn't have much time remaining before she had to return for a meeting and was having blood sugar issues besides. We were in El Mercado Plaza and it seemed like there were other places to eat but we'd never noticed any of them specifically so we began to walk past the stores and boutiques. Touchdowns Sports Bar, no. Chocalot? Probably not a good place to stabilize blood sugar for an afternoon seminar. Wait a minute, what's this? Ha Long Bay, Vietnamese food. Now that sounds interesting.
One reason she has trouble keeping
up is that most people that come in order either a smoothie or a
slush which she then has to go and blend up from scratch. We
wouldn't have it any other way of course and with the ingredients
being things like fresh mango, papaya and coconut with optional tapioca balls, these
concoctions are delicious and the perfect summer accompaniment
to a bowl of Pho or other spicy soup. The garden rolls and spring
rolls are excellent as well with shrimp, pork, or just veggies along
with rice noodles packed into rice paper with a succulent dipping sauce. We've tried some of
the more traditional dishes that all menus with an Asian flair seem
to feature (cashew chicken etc..) but they pale in comparison to the soups
at Ha Long Bay which come with plates of fresh cilantro, bean sprouts, and fresh
peppers to add and are tangy and hinted with various exotic flavors
like lemon grass and garlicy peppers. Vegetarians have plenty to
chose from as well. We haven't tried the place at night and we
haven't tried all the dishes but the early report is that Ha Long
Bay is a hidden gem. The only recommendation we would make is
that they move the ever busy blender, which is currently at a little
service bar in the main room, back into the kitchen since the noise
it makes during operation can be highly interruptive if you happen
to be sitting in close proximity. Kind of like trying to converse
near a runway. All in all though, the food is fresh and service
excellent so we don't mind putting up with a little noise.
Especially when a mango slush is the result.
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Ha
Long Bay
It
turns out that Ha Long Bay, a real and unique locale in the
northeast corner of Vietnam, is now a real and good little restaurant
on the southeast side of Tucson. There's several murals on the wall when
you walk in that depict the bay and the legend that goes with it
which involves dragons and the pearls they expectorated which then became
islands. The decor also involves a smattering of bamboo, live and
hanging, which adds a subtle authenticity to the meal. We've been back
to Ha Long Bay numerous times since the initial discovery and have
been more impressed on each visit. The only problem is that others
have begun to make the discovery as well and it no longer feels like
our private dining spot. They had been getting by with one lunch
waitress but lately she is beginning to get stretched a bit.