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| - Being Vietnamese, I find it hard to be impressed with Vietnamese restaurants, but WOW was I impressed! They feature a large variety of vegetarian/vegan entrees so I was not short on options. The vegan bun was one of the best dishes I've had at a Vietnamese restaurant! Yes, really! The portions were excellent plus, the vegetables tasted fresh and the seitan was delicious. You also get a vegetable spring roll which added a nice crunch to the dish. I loooved the vegan fish sauce (at least I'm hoping it was vegan). It added a little saltiness with some spice and actually tasted like the real deal! I was like a ravenous lion attacking my meal like it was a helpless gazelle (a.k.a. it was not a pretty sight).
Three major downfalls of Tan Lac Vien: service, cleanliness, and price. It took our waitress 10 minutes to "set the table" before we could get seated - and by set the table, I mean put down a napkin. She seemed to be the only waitress in the entire restaurant so service was very slow. When we asked for sauces or refills, she would just completely forget and never return. The restaurant itself is small and cramped, but the real issue is how dirty it is. Nothing gets your appetite going like dust and bugs, am I right? Lastly, although the prices are not completely unreasonable, they are a bit higher than all the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area.
Since the noodles were so good, I didn't have the heart to knock off more than one star for the pitfalls. What can I say, my brain is controlled by my stomach. No question - this is my new go-to Viet restaurant in Pittsburgh!
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