Monsoon – Foodie’s Review

Food type: Neo-Vietnamese

Menu: Brunch

Location: Sleepy part of Capitol Hill (with plenty of parking!)

Atmosphere: Casual, slightly hip (certainly not “than thou”)

In attendance: Asian families, the beige Capitol Hill-types, couples, my girlfriend and I

Service: Inattentive, slow, and a touch rude, but in the final tabulation, apologetic–not a deal-breaker

Quality of ingredients: Fair to Good (i.e. eggs-”fair”; pork belly-”fairly good”; salad greens-”fair” (so they appear); dim sum-”fairly good”; shrimp-”fairly good”)

Dishes eaten:

• Banh Xeo (pancake with minimal amount of pork belly and shrimp and an overabundance of bean sprouts-overcome by ordering an extra side of pork belly and tucking that into the void)-”good”–Slightly better than at Green Leaf and worlds better than at Tamarind Tree
• Dim Sum (Pork Shumai was “solid and faithful”–much better than at Imperial Garden in Renton but only serviceable by Chinese standards; Crispy shrimp wontons were not all that crispy nor were they “wontons” but rather crab-cake shaped har gow–”good nonetheless”; dipping sauce was on the weak side-”fair”
• Brioche French Toast with carmelized pineapple, Fried eggs with meat jus and tarragon, and Berkshire Pork Belly (French toast was middling-seems a concession to traditional brunch sensibilities; pineapple nearly flavorless-”fairly poor”; eggs were of decent quality but greatly enhanced by jus-”fairly good”; pork belly was slightly carmelized (braise carmelization, not broiler carmelization, slightly dry on the outside and tasting slightly of star anise-”good”)

Complaints: service; no real vietnamese coffee (like at Tamarind Tree); dipping sauces (more refined than but lacking the punch of TT’s sauces)

Plaudits: banh xeo; pork belly; dim sum; victrola coffee; neighborhood

Cost: Dim sum on the high side of normal ($4.5 to 5.5); Vietnamese entrees (hovering just under $10); American entrees (up to $14); sides (pork belly is very reasonable at $5.5); desserts (a bit high – $6 considering entrees are only slightly more expensive but they appear homemade); drinks are reasonable (up to $5 for coffee)

Overall rating: 7/10

Recommended?: Yes

Visited: Spring 2008