Le Viet: Spring (Roll) into Action!
Le Viet, located on 1019 South 11th Street, serves traditional Vietnamese food in a spectacularly modern setting. Delicately prepared spring rolls and artfully arranged salads crowd the tables, while sleek black booths and elegant pink flowers filled the interior.
The modern interior gave the restaurant a professional look.
We began our meal with Le Viet Sliders stuffed with pork, cucumbers, carrots, and scallions. The elegant presentation told us this was no ordinary Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall. Incredibly fragrant when it arrived at the table, the meant’s porky scent enticed us to dig in. While the fluffy steamed bun made the slider a bit bland on its own, its flavor was boosted with the addition of piquant sriracha and rich, sweet hoisin sauce.
Served atop a bed of greens, Pop’s Wings could not have pleased us more. Reminiscent of Korean fried chicken, a perfectly crisp, thick but crackly skin covered the tender meat. An array of slightly sweet and spicy sauce and seasonings lacquered on top tingled our taste buds.
This pork clay pot special came piping hot from the kitchen, served in a brown clay pot (hence the name). The unctuous pork belly swam in a comforting sauce filled with caramelized onions and a freshly peppered hard boiled egg. Served alongside a steaming bowl of white rice, this was one satisfying dish.
Rather than being served whole, the most exciting dish of the meal came out completely decomposed. We were suddenly faced with quite a daunting task: to make our own spring rolls. For the faint of heart, don’t worry, the restaurant does serve pre-made spring rolls. But, for those wishing to try (and make!) something new, this dish is a must! The interactivity of the dish made this somewhat of a novelty, while the flavors made this one of our favorite plates. Of the different fillings to choose from, we elected for Tom Nướng, Bánh Hỏi (the grilled shrimp option).
For those curious about how we constructed our rolls:
1) Take a sheet of rice paper and dip it for a few seconds in the bowl of warm water provided. Let the sheet saturate and reach a soft, almost sticky texture; lay on your plate and let sit for a few minutes.
2) Pile on the fillings towards one side of the rice paper. We built towers as high as we could, stacking soft angel vermicelli (the kitchen conveniently cut the noodles into square-shaped mounds), seasoned grilled shrimp, lettuce, vibrant herbs, and chopped peanuts.
Disclaimer: we may have snuck a couple chunks of pork belly from the clay pot into our spring rolls. Yum.
3) Starting from the side closest to the fillings, pull over the top of the pile and roll into a cylindrical shape halfway. Fold the left and right sides inward and complete rolling the remaining half.
4) Dig in!
For hearty and affordable Vietnamese food in a refined yet accessible setting, Le Viet is the place to go. Besides, any place that has “May the pho be with you” emblazoned on their shirts gets a plus in our books.
— Katie Behrman & Nicole Woon
P.S. As a bonus to our readers, any diner who displays a valid Penn ID will receive a 10% discount on their meal!
Le Viet, open from 11am to 10pm Monday thru Friday, serves traditional Vietnamese food with a modern flare. Happy hour (bar only) occurs from 4-6pm and includes drink and appetizer specials. For more information, please call 215-463-1570 or email info@levietrestaurant.com. Reservations can be made online through Le Viet’s website via Open Table.