Restaurant Review: Viengvilay
Restaurant Review: Viengvilay
Location: Mini-Asian Ghetto on Hearst Ave. across from North Gate Hall
Type: Asian - Thai
Rating: 2/4
The mini-Asian Ghetto (mAG) on Northside has a completely different feel than the true Asian Ghetto on Durant. For one thing, Northside's is populated mainly by engineering undergrads and graduate students; whereas Southside's Asian Ghetto gives you a cross section of students, townies, and the homeless folks that populate Telegraph. That being said, the restaurants themselves are pretty similar - you just won't be asked for money when you're leaving the mAG.
Viengvilay is pretty representative of the restaurants in the mAG. There's usually one person taking orders and another in the back waiting to cook the food. I like the set-up in Viengvilay because you can watch the chef cook your food and see where she's getting it from and what she's doing with it - that's not always true with these small restaurants. The cashier at Viengvilay is a really nice guy who can ham it up pretty well. The food gets served extremely quickly. I've never waited longer than four or five minutes. Even with speed you don't lose any freshness. Viengvilay offers a small selection of Asian canned beverages that you won't see in every small Asian restaurant.
The decor does a lot with an area that is very small and dark. The walls are painted lively colors and have framed pictures of various daily, Southeast Asian scenes. The chairs are straight out of an IKEA catalog. Actually, I think the whole place is decorated with IKEA furnishings, even the lights. It works well. It makes you feel like you're in a college student's room.
I recommend the Pad Se Ew and Pad Kee Mow, both served with either beef or chicken. These are classic Thai meals that leave you satisfied and won't break the bank like some of the restaurants on Southside - although these meals aren't that cheap. I also recommend the Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee, they are both very tasty. However, the Iced Coffee is made with a Thai blend of coffee (probably a Robusta bean) so it has a higher caffeine content and might keep you awake if you have it too late.
One other thing, Viengvilay is a great place to study because it has enough seats to accomodate eaters and studiers and it isn't super busy. The only problem is that it's kind of dark because of the trellis that runs over the long alley that serves as an entrance.
Location: Mini-Asian Ghetto on Hearst Ave. across from North Gate Hall
Type: Asian - Thai
Rating: 2/4
The mini-Asian Ghetto (mAG) on Northside has a completely different feel than the true Asian Ghetto on Durant. For one thing, Northside's is populated mainly by engineering undergrads and graduate students; whereas Southside's Asian Ghetto gives you a cross section of students, townies, and the homeless folks that populate Telegraph. That being said, the restaurants themselves are pretty similar - you just won't be asked for money when you're leaving the mAG.
Viengvilay is pretty representative of the restaurants in the mAG. There's usually one person taking orders and another in the back waiting to cook the food. I like the set-up in Viengvilay because you can watch the chef cook your food and see where she's getting it from and what she's doing with it - that's not always true with these small restaurants. The cashier at Viengvilay is a really nice guy who can ham it up pretty well. The food gets served extremely quickly. I've never waited longer than four or five minutes. Even with speed you don't lose any freshness. Viengvilay offers a small selection of Asian canned beverages that you won't see in every small Asian restaurant.
The decor does a lot with an area that is very small and dark. The walls are painted lively colors and have framed pictures of various daily, Southeast Asian scenes. The chairs are straight out of an IKEA catalog. Actually, I think the whole place is decorated with IKEA furnishings, even the lights. It works well. It makes you feel like you're in a college student's room.
I recommend the Pad Se Ew and Pad Kee Mow, both served with either beef or chicken. These are classic Thai meals that leave you satisfied and won't break the bank like some of the restaurants on Southside - although these meals aren't that cheap. I also recommend the Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee, they are both very tasty. However, the Iced Coffee is made with a Thai blend of coffee (probably a Robusta bean) so it has a higher caffeine content and might keep you awake if you have it too late.
One other thing, Viengvilay is a great place to study because it has enough seats to accomodate eaters and studiers and it isn't super busy. The only problem is that it's kind of dark because of the trellis that runs over the long alley that serves as an entrance.
posted by S D at 11:22 AM
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