Yue Mei Vietnamese Bistro 越美小馆·越南料理

Article By Mike Leaner

OPEN EAT 店
2F, DCC Shopping Mall, No.88, Changan Middle Road.
长安中路88号DCC商城二楼
(029) 8537 6840 188-2907-8227
10:00am – 10:00pm

QU JIANG 店
West of Zi Wei Yong He Fang, South of Cui Hua Road.
翠华路南段紫薇永和坊西门
(029) 8550 9705
10:30am – 9:30pm

Average Price per Person /人均消费: 65RMB

PROS: Nice decor

CONS: No durian

Way down on the south end of Cuihua Road in Qujiang, tucked into a narrow storefront in a strip mall, is Yue Mei Vietnamese Bistro. It is a bistro that serves Vietnamese food.

Interestingly, the décor and general layout reminded me of some Indian and Thai restaurants back home, in that it didn’t really strike me as authentically Vietnamese, but had a sort-of quaintness to it that gave it that distinct quality of the “other”; that I was not about to go into a Chinese restaurant. Upstairs, where the dining room is, felt kind of like a bungalow. Light woods and beach towel patterned furniture dominate the room, giving it a summery feel even when it’s raining like hell (which it was when we went). We were sat at one of the colossal booths by the window—though the view is of more soulless Qujiang office buildings, there’s something romantic about being sat next to a picture window.

For dinner, we tried a couple bowls of the beef pho, which had different preparations of beef and many much noodles. We accompanied it with some spicy clams, a fried vegetable dish and a shrimp spring roll. There was also a kind of sandwich that was more like if a spring roll came in the form of a submarine sandwich, which featured toasted bread, your choice of meat (or egg) and a dollop of that spicy/sweet sauce (you know the kind I’m talking about). For dessert we wanted to try a coconut coffee and durian cake. Zhao Mei had neither, which makes me the first white person in the history of white people or durians to be disappointed that there was no durian. They substituted us a glutinous rice cake topped with coconut shavings. I washed down the various courses of the meal with one of the imported Vietnamese beers they have on offer, which were affordable (mine was 15RMB) and not too bad for a Tsingdao-type lager.

It seems this place is rather popular already—we were seated around 7pm, but a huge bustle of people filed in shortly after, potentially office workers from some of the businesses nearby. All-in-all, Zhao Mei Vietnamese Bistro is a place where you can get some kind of Vietnamese food.

Mike Leaner likes to get dirty but not for free. He can be reached at reviews@xianease.com

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