A Little Sushi + a Bit of Viet = a Taste Delight
Kendall Hamersly
Miami Herald
Published: Friday, September 20, 2002
The rise of Lincoln Road as South Beach 's favorite place to stroll and eat surely is a plus for everybody on the Beach except, we'd say, those with interests on Washington Avenue . Once a center of commerce and dining on the Beach, this busy boulevard is suffering from a millennial letdown, with vacant addresses aplenty and, in particular, high restaurant turnover.
Take, for example, this: Sushi Hana, sister restaurant to Lincoln Road's Sushi Siam and a long-running teriyaki and nigiri spot on Washington, hung up a ''remodeling'' sign last fall and never returned. In its place is Peppercorn ( now called Sushi Saigon )*, one of the exploding trend of pairing sushi with another Asian cuisine, in this case Vietnamese.
The restaurant is in the purview of one Rin Nedtra non, a longtime South Florida Thai restaurant maven, a woman with the fortitude to open a Thai restaurant in Hialeah (Siam Room, 1978). That morphed into the Siam Lotus Room, the long-standing Dixie Highway spot, which she sold after it sustained damage from Hurricane Andrew.
She's also held Sea Siam , a Thai place in South Dade , for 16 years. Sushi Saigon is her initial venture into Vietnamese, and she's hoping to capture a growing appreciation here for what might be the most interesting and varied Asian cuisine this side of Chinese.
SERIOUS MOVES
Nedtranon and crew spiffed up the Sushi Hana quarters pretty significantly, turning what was essentially a club-kid hangout into a serious-looking restaurant, replacing the large-screen TV with artwork, brightening the black paint and moving the sushi bar out of front and center, so you get a more formal sense.
More art comes in the presentation of dishes, such as our first appetizer, Bi Cuon Ga (Winter Rolls, $6.95), beautiful to eat and to view. It's rice-paper rolls of shredded chicken, vegetables and vermicelli, served with two dipping sauces, one based on Vietnamese fish sauce and one a mix of mung bean and hoisin. The flourish here is a tabletop container of giant mint leaves -- each order comes with a floral arrangement, no? Wrap the rolls with a mint leaf, and dip into the sauces, and you're in business.
Asian cuisines, particularly Japanese, are hot on fake crabmeat. We are not. Which makes Mang Tay Nau Cua (crabmeat with asparagus soup, $4.50) all the more satisfying. It's a chicken broth base with fish sauce, a pinch of sugar, shredded asparagus and real lump crabmeat, imparting a deep, savory flavor. Flecks of green onion give a sharp finish.
PAN-ASIAN
Vietnamese mimics Indian with the Ga-Ree Puff ($7.95). These are homemade pastries stuffed with ground chicken, tomatoes and white onion sauteed with garlic and pepper and yellow curry, and the flavor will remind those in the know of the samosa, the Indian version of deep-fried curry pastry. They're hot, soft and delicious; a dip made from sweet and sour pickled cucumbers makes for good contrast.
Entrees are primarily Vietnamese, but the Pan-Asian movement gets a nod with a list of a half-dozen items. Among them is Szechwan Peppercorn ($12), sliced marinated beef sauteed with Chinese Szechwan sauce, scallions, peppers and fresh garlic. The plentiful beef is mounded atop mixed vegetables, sauteed separately. Beef is tender and flavorful, but the dish falls short of the inspiration of the appetizers.
A Viet standby is Ca Ri Ga ($13.95). This is boneless chicken breast marinated with garlic, pepper and yellow curry, sauteed with creamy coconut milk, onion, lemongrass and fresh mango. This is not spicy, but it sure gets interesting if you spoon in some of the chile paste provided on the table -- you get sweet, tart, hot and savory all in one bowl.
Tom Xao Xa Ot ($18) brings five jumbo shrimp grilled with garlic and peppers, then drizzled with a gravy of fresh lemongrass, fish sauce, garlic and peppers. Shrimp are meaty and tender, and they go well with the fragrant sauce, as well as briny pickled vegetables -- cucumbers, daikon, carrots and sometimes papaya -- served alongside.
Peppercorn (Sushi Saigon )*, Take Two: Sushi. Highlight here is the creative rolls created by Master Chef Earth (his name is so long, says Nedtranon, that he'd rather not use it).
NO PARKING ROLL
He pokes a little fun at Beach transportation with his No Parking Roll ($10.95), and even if it sounds frustrating, it's delicious. It starts with a California roll, adds Alaskan (real) crabmeat and cream cheese and stacks slivers of smoked salmon and avocado on top, a la the rainbow roll. The smoked salmon adds a delightfully meaty flavor.
The Triple Crown roll ($11.95) starts with pieces of three fish: salmon, hamachi and tuna. They're wrapped together around a stalk of asparagus, which, when the roll is sliced, makes the little green hub in the cap. Wrapped in nori, the roll is tempura-fried, then served with a homemade sauce featuring wasabi and miso. Filling and good.
Light and bright: The Pop Eye Roll ($5.50), all vegetarian, with spinach and carrot, thin-sliced cucumber as wrapper instead of nori, and a sweetish miso-honey sauce for dipping.
Completing the Asian tour: Thai doughnut ($3.25) is the favored finisher, well done here, the hot and soft little pillows dunking decadently into sweetened condensed milk flecked with bits of peanut.
SUSHI SAIGON
1131 Washington Ave.
Miami Beach , FL 33139
(305) 604-0599
Rating : 3 stars (out of 4)
Cuisine type
Japanese, Vietnamese
Hours
11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Mon-Fri; 4:30-11 p.m. Mon-Thu; til midnight Friday; noon to midnight Sat; noon to 11 p.m. Sun
Meals Served
Lunch
Dinner
Attire
Casual to Dressy
Prices
Moderate - $10 - $15
Payment methods
MasterCard
Visa
American Express
Outdoor dining
Services
Caring and attentive and ready to recommend favorites.
Alcohol
Beer and wine
Smoking
Smoking outdoors only.
Note: Peppercorn has since mid 2003 changed its name, menus, interior and concept to Sushi Saigon. It remains South Beach 's only Vietnamese restaurant with full Sushi Bar. (Sushi Saigon Management, March 2004)
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