What’s better than Vietnamese food? Vietnamese food with a gorgeous wait staff in a place decked with sleek, modern dècor. Walking into the Vietnamese-fusion Xanh, the flash of the restaurant is overwhelming. You get what you pay for here: you’re paying for that chalice of a soda, and you’re paying for the chic restaurant to cater to some of the most “discerning and sophisticated” guests in Northern California. Their website is replete with phrases like the ones noting the “wide-eyed patrons” who are “bathed in soft illumination” in the “dramatic 12,500 square feet” of Xanh!
For fine diners, Xanh is an excellent opportunity to impress your eating companion with the size of your wallet and the visual display. The restaurant is truly striking to the eye. The acid test for working at Xanh must be a modeling contract, as the visual appeal of the restaurant seemed to have mapped on to the staff.
Understanding that Xanh is beautiful, with its blue, almost aqueous decorations, I was confused by the restaurant’s apparent focus. To me, Xanh cared more about flash than flavor, more presentation than content. Our dining party, operating on a college student’s budget, stayed away from the entrees, which can easily run approximately $20-25 per dish.
Our first dish, glass noodles and Dungeness crab, was a tasty vermicelli plate that had a full crab flavor. The lemongrass chicken, however, was a true disappointment. Not only was the portion miniscule, but the mouth feel of the chicken was almost grotesque, tasting like an ill-formed meatball. My favorite dish was the Mellow Yellow Noodles, with chicken, shrimp and mushrooms in a reasonable sauce with scallions galore. Xanh’s take on pho, “Pho You, Pho Me,” was a bit hard to eat, over-spiced with jalapenos and far from aesthetically pleasing. The sirloin was colorful, but felt out of place submerged in the so-called “fragrant” broth.
Compounding my dining experience was our waiter, who spent the meal hovering over our table, overhearing our conversations and consistently keeping watch.
I left the table unsatisfied, feeling that I had overspent for an underwhelming portion. Yelpers rave about Xanh’s $12 lunch buffet, but for a dinner the restaurant packed more pizzazz than punch.
6/10