A revisit to Mr. Red Cafe...so much more than just a bowl of pho!

Although I had been to Mr. Red Cafe before, there were only two of us and the items ordered were lacking in variety. However, with my sister in town, we made a return visit to sample more of their offerings. 

This was a dish that I had last time, the Pate Ga. The sticky rice with mung beans and chicken, pate and fried shallots is a mouthful of textures and flavours in every bite. Chewy rice, juicy chicken and crispy shallots. As I mentioned in my previous post, "this is like an open-faced Chinese jong (粽)". 

This is the Bánh bot loc lá chuói (please forgive me for the missing accents) as it arrives. The banana leaves hold something delicious inside!

And now, the reveal...these pork and shrimp dumplings are wrapped in tapioca. They are super moist and have a luxurious mouth feel. It's not sticky, it's more like chewy but in a comforting way. I did use a bit of the chili oil to give it a bit of a kick.

Since my mom doesn't like beef, we had to get the Phô Gà, a chicken noodle soup. The broth was clear and slightly sweet, but the shredded chicken was a bit dry. The noodles were cooked just right though, and this was a healthy portion, more than enough for one person. 

And this is a dish we had last time too, Chef's Special, Bún chả giò thịt nướng. Essentially, it's an avalanche of pork, deep fried tofu, crab spring roll (which make is special), and the traditional mint, basil, cucumbers and cilantro atop a base of vermicelli. Add the nuoc nam (fish sauce), some of the chili oil and give it all a toss. I prefer to take the crab spring roll out first though, to keep it nice and crispy. The tofu is a nice refreshing respite from the potential spiciness that could happen from that extra sprinkling of the "cock" sauce. "Get your mind out of the gutter, please." 

Ah, yes, here is another serving of the aforementioned Crab Spring Roll (Bún nem cua bé). I think you should be able to see the crunch of the spring roll skin from the pic above.

Here's a close up of the spring roll, and yes, the Thai bird's eye chili is there to provide some heat...actually maybe it was a bit excessive. The cucumber helped to douse the fire in my mouth.

We ended up getting a dessert, the first was the Mung Bean Pudding with Coconut cream. I'm not a dessert fan (that's my sister's domain) so I found it very sweet. In addition, I was quite full, so barely touched more that a spoonful of it. I don't go to Vietnamese restaurants for sweets so I wouldn't count this against them.

The rest of the meal was amazing and I will make another revisit to try their chicken wings, the Bún Bò Hué and their papaya salad. If you've tried, I'd love to know what you thought of them. Please comment below.