Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen review -- VNese classics w/ out the lines or BS
High end Vietnamese food is having a moment in NYC, but if you don’t want to deal with the lines or are in the mood for a more traditional, less chef-y interpretation of some Vietnamese classics, Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen is a very solid option.
Food. Even though this is a Northern Vietnamese restaurant, we only ordered one Northern dish: the papaya salad with beef jerky. The portion was generous, enough for one person if they’re not very hungry. I wish the dressing was a bit punchier with a squeeze of lime or Sriracha. The server recommended that we tear up the Thai basil and mix it into the salad ourselves. I’m not sure why it couldn’t already come that way. The bún bò Huế was by far the best thing on the table. It had a good balance of savoriness, sweetness, and funk, and props for including rau răm and additional sate as a garnish. There was a lot of, maybe too much, meat in the bowl. The beef shank and crab cakes were good, but I didn’t care for their mortadella (chả lụa) as much. I do wish the noodles were thicker, but this is easily the best BBH I’ve had on the east coast. The broken rice with pork chop was nothing special and something most people could make at home. The pork could’ve used lemongrass and some additional char. Everything was reasonably priced.
The owners also have a location in Dallas so the food is similar to what you would get at restaurants in Vietnamese diaspora communities. I certainly don’t have a problem with changing things up–after all, phở, bánh mì, and bánh xèo are technically Asian fusion–but sometimes you want something more tried and true. I also liked that all of the main courses are not meant to be shared. When I was at Bánh Anh Em, the tables around me were trying to split their noodle soups and rice dishes family style, and I think that’s because their menu is not very cohesive.
Ambience. We walked in without a reservation on a Saturday evening and were seated right away. At no point was the restaurant completely full, so it was easy to have a conversation. I liked the V-pop ballads playing on the speakers too.