Comrades unite for spicy, unpretentious Vietnamese
By : Will Sartori
Capitalist Comrade and I were overdue for an exchange of information. We decided to meet at a Chinese restaurant on ulica Krucza. But when we got there, we found our sources had misled us the Chinese restaurant was Vietnamese.
Mr. Tung is located on Krucza between ulica Wilcza and ulica Hoza, across from Lokomotywa. The bamboo-lined square room is decorated in industrial kitsch. The space is broken up by Japanese screens lined with synthetic cloth in a color that can only be described as puke yellow.
Brown industrial carpeting covers the floor and the high ceiling has touches of plastic that look like vinyl siding for a barn. Large windows look out onto Krucza and are partially covered in screens. Comfortable large wicker chairs with padded seats surround every table and the tables themselves are covered in brown cloth with yellow place markers and tasteful Asian candleholders.
The restaurant was slightly less than half full on a Monday night at prime time. And the sound of the conversation blended comfortably with the innocuous Asian Muzak, which drifted soflty through the room from overhead speakers.
Our friendly waitress bounced up to the table in an embroidered silk ao dai that was about three sizes too big. It looked more like pajamas than traditional garb. The Polish-only menu had some funny translations such as "tofu in love with meat" that made it a little hard for Capitalist Comrade to figure out. Otherwise, soups are zl. 7-zl. 17. Main dishes run zl. 18-zl. 37 and desserts are zl. 7-zl. 13.
We quizzed our happy waitress and though she did not appear too knowledgeable about the food, we took her advice nonetheless. She recommended four main courses, all of which sounded delicious, and we chose three, forgoing the soups and appetizers.
First to arrive at our table was a complimentary salad and white rice. The salad was essentially surowka topped with ground peanuts to give it that Indochinese effect. And the white rice was a large enough portion to accompany the main dishes that followed.
Mr. Tung Chicken (zl. 25) was the first main to arrive. It came sizzling on the kind of cast-iron plate that makes the other tables turn their heads and ask, "What did they order?" The chicken was marinated so deeply in a brown sauce that it almost looked like beef. You could cut into a piece and see a line at the depth to which the dark sauces reached inside the meat. The only problem was cutting it. We had to use our serving spoons to slice through as chopsticks were no use.
The chicken came as two large chunks, sizzling under a sauce and fresh bean sprouts, onion, bell pepper, and processed peas and carrots. It had the non-Asian touch of being topped with a pickle and cocktail onions, which Capitalist Comrade termed Vietnamese/Polish convergence. The pickled onions contributed a strange acidic accent that left us wondering if it was a masterful touch or a mistake. Aside from the challenge of cutting the meat with chopsticks, the dish was tasty enough.
It was bested by the spicy squid (zl. 25). In some Warsaw restaurants, you can assure the waiter three times that you want your dish spicy and it still comes back bland as baby food, but not here. This was hot, spicy and delicious. The garlic in the black bean sauce was backed up by substantial amounts of ginger and hot chili wonderful. The kalamari was also tender and not rubbery. This dish was definitely the winner for the night and we were grateful to the waitress for recommending it.
If we had a loser, it was the garlic veal in butter (zl. 25), but in other company this dish could easily have been the highlight of a meal. Medallions of marinated veal, speckled with black pepper under a creamy butter sauce with garlic, mushrooms, parsley, chives and onions made for an exotic combination. But we helped ourselves to several servings of the others, and in fact devoured the preceding two dishes, before reaching for seconds of the veal.
Mr. Tung is brand new and still waiting for its liquor license, so we had to wash down the meal with juice (zl. 3) and water (zl. 3). This is unfortunate because it was too hot to drink tea, and beer would have been the perfect compliment to the meal.
This simple meal of three main dishes and drinks came to zl. 84 ($19.50) and left us too full for dessert. Mr. Tung is not fine dining. It is a place where you can concentrate on the food without being distracted by the decor. Our three mains had creative touches that put it several steps above kiosk wietnamski. The food arrived quickly enough that Mr. Tung could make an excellent lunch spot, and in fact the atmosphere seemed more suited to lunch than dinner. Capitalist Comrade put it best: "It's not top notch but it doesn't aspire to it." Afterward, we went across the street for a beer and some atmosphere.
