Kat's 9 Lives

As food adventures go, we had to continue to 2nd lunch! lol FoodGPS had done research about Cơm Tấm Trần Quý Cấp for their broken rice dishes. It is pretty big location in a shopping center with plenty of parking. We were seated immediately and given our menu that was full of pictures showing you what you'd be getting. The menu has both English and Vietnamese. With 2 food bloggers there, of course there was a lot of photo shooting happening. I noticed some odd behavior from our server. He was friendly but I noticed that he kept looking down at my chest and up again. Ever so OBVIOUSLY! Then he asked questions about if I was a critic... and more... and what race I am... He obviously was very curious about me or interested with the stares... that kind of put a gross spin to the meal...
TL and I both ordered an Vietnamese Ice Coffee. When they say ICE coffee.. they truly mean it. If you look at the picture you will notice the ice is crushed and filled to the brim. There really isn't much space left for coffee since the structure of crushed ice can fill in any spacial opening. As for the taste, it was your normal Vietnamese Ice Coffee.
We started off with Chả giò, Fried Vietnamese Egg Rolls. How can you say no to fried goodies? I can't, but I should have here! Traditionally you are given an array of Vegetables and Sweet Fish Sauce to eat the egg rolls with. There were a lot of air pockets caused by the fryer. The skin they used was a bit different from the other Vietnamese restaurants that I have been to. I was not fond of the filling and meat used inside the egg roll. The meat tasted like a very low quality meat and egg cake, more egg than meat, that they serve with the broken rice. Lets just say that most of us didn't finish an entire egg roll.
Another common appetizer we ordered was the Nem Nướng Cuốn, which are Spring Rolls but the English description they used was Pickle Pork Rolls. Hmmm, maybe I should have paid attention to how it was described. Normally I love Spring Rolls because they are so refreshing and tasty. The color of the meat was a little put-offish, the roll was thinly strung together, and there was no crisp to each bite. I think we were all quite disappointed from the taste and texture of their Spring Rolls. My favorite Spring Rolls are still from Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều.
As the meal did not seem to be promising, the main course came... at first glance I knew it was going to be a DISASTER! I ordered the Combo #6 Tàu Hũ Ky, Tôm, Lạp Xưởng, and Bí Chá. It's Rice with Fried Shrimp Cake, Shrimp, Vietnamese Sausage, Shredded Pork, and Egg Cake. The main thing I was looking forward to was the Shrimp Cake wrapped in Tofu Skin and fried.... unfortunately it looked like it was fried to HECK! It looked dry and overdone. The grilled shrimp skewers was flavorful but way over grilled as well. I thought the Vietnamese Sausage was very similar to Taiwanese Sausages. The dish as a whole was a huge let down and just bad. To put it simply, I took everything home because I refuse to shove another bite in my mouth. It is just not worth the caloric intake.
To finish the meal off, the server brought over a Pear Gelatin. I guess you get this for free at the end of the meal to balance everything off? After one bite, I put the spoon down and made a mental note... no more adventures or Vietnamese for a while... lol

All in all this place was a huge let down and nothing was done right. To top it off, I have a guy looking at my chest the whole time I am ordering... hmmm no thanks. There are so many places with great food in this area and this isn't one of them. I think it is my fault for not being more loyal to Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều! Don't worry baby, I won't cheat on you again. They were the original Vietnamese restaurant that introduced me to great Spring Rolls and an awesome Shrimp Cake wrapped in Tofu Skin. Lucky for me that I had a bunch of pastries from Cream Pan to wash the nasty taste out my mouth. =9

Cơm Tấm Trần Quý Cấp