big fan of tan thanh!. inexpensive, delicious, authentic vietnamese cuisine served up fast in their brightly lit restaurant, complete with karaoke-sounding background music, tan thanh is a fantastic place to go for a fun evening out!
thursday evening (9 aug) my partner and i, along with some friends, headed to inala as our friends had been here before and were raving about how good it was. excited to try this vietnamese restaurant as this is one of our favourite cuisines, my partner and i were impressed when we walked in as there was a distinct smell of mint in the air. although there wasn’t a lot to the décor, it was still very neat and clean with lots of tables arranged in straight lines with ample room to walk between them. the floor was white tile so the bright lights made this place gleam. a few potted plants, some with festive-looking lights, and not too loud background music of a higher than normal pitched woman singing pop songs from the 80s and 90s, and voila, we were now in the cozy atmosphere of tan thanh.
we all sat and started looking over the menu. in that this was my partner’s and my first time here, we needed more time to go over the decently sized menu. within a few minutes we had been asked by 3 waiters if we were ready. this was a little too quick for me and don’t like the feeling of being rushed. i realized that this was just the way it was going to be so i chose something so that i’d be ready for their fourth approach.
because all of this was happening so quickly, i failed to see the prices on a lot of the items. my partner ordered the crispy chicken which had been highly recommended to him, one of our friends ordered the broken rice, while our other friend ordered the grilled pork vermicelli ($8.50) while i had something very similar, the spring rolls & shredded pork vermicelli ($9).
as quickly as we had been asked if we were ready to order, our food came out! i was a bit bewildered by this, but that soon passed when i started sipping some of the complementary soup that is apparently a part of every meal. i’m not sure what type of soup it was but it had a rich-tasting broth with a little bit of basil in it. it had been brought out hot which felt great as it was a cool evening.
when it came to my meal, as per usual, i poured all of the fish sauce in my bowl and tossed it a bit. there were quite a few pieces of spring roll which were lightly crisp and golden, not too greasy and were very hot (temperature, not spice). the shredded pork was tender and juicy which i believe may have been marinated as it had a delicate salty flavour. although i’ve had this dish at other vietnamese restaurants where the noodles are sometimes served hot or cold, these ones were cold, along with the shredded carrot, bean sprouts and basil, but all mixed in together, this dish was incredible! as it was obvious that this meal hadn’t been freshly put together, i’d go out on a limb and say that the prep work on these food items were done earlier that day and not days before. the veggies were crisp and not dry in the least and the meat was quite fresh, no taste like it had been sitting around in the fridge. this is one of my favourite vietnamese dishes and tan thanh didn’t disappoint at all! absolutely lovely!
i got to try a piece of my partner’s crispy chicken – skin only. it was crispy, it tasted like chicken, hence the name “crispy chicken”! the skin was amazing though, with a tremendous flavour like it had been roasted and there was a decent amount of salt and grease. this meal also came with rice, and some sort of cabbage as well as fish sauce. i think my partner may have wanted to have a few more veggies, but the whole meal was still fantastic.
although i do not have as many details about what our friends ate, it was an overall consensus that tan thanh was excellent and we’d all happily go there again!
i would recommend this restaurant to those who want to try a delicious, inexpensive vietnamese meal in which you won’t be disappointed. although a hurried experience, the staff was friendly and attentive. this may not be a romantic date place as lingering over a coffee would be impossible to do here, it is a fun, cheery place with its own element of warmth!