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| - A few years back I was working in Portland, and had a number of really great Thai restaurants around. Once place in particular had a spectacular Pad Thai that I never got tired of.
Fast forward to Calgary, where there is really very little around me as far as Thai restaurants go... while Vietnamese shops seem to outnumber liquor stores, which I thought would be impossible.
Apparently in Calgary, we can't get enough rice vermicelli and Vietnamese subs.
Truth be told, for a while I've been suffering from complete Vietnamese-fatigue.
Every restaurant and take out shop in the area seemed to be presenting the exact same meal, with identical flavors. Almost like it's being prepared off-site by a 3rd party distributor (which probably isn't far from the truth).
My fatigue finally came to a head after a couple of visits to "DQ Vietnamese," which is really only a couple of hundred feet from my office building. Perfect for grabbing some quick lunch, in theory. But after a couple of lunches that contained shrimp that WEREN'T deveined, and one occasion where they asked me if I wanted to substitute for an alternate lunch that was "really good," (I said no, I'll take what I ordered), they slipped me the substitute anyhow (something I didn't discover until I was back at work), I never went back. And actually the thought of going back kind of made me gag a little, because the flavors just weren't working out anyhow.
So they other day, I was "Yelping" for restaurants around me, and saw Sapna's review for Tamarind. Tamarind is in the location that used to house "DQ Vietnamese," so my mental block against it has been firmly in place for months. I've been completely ignoring it.
But when the review said it is "the best Vietnamese food in Calgary," I did a double take. I wondered if I should take one for the team, and give it a try -- assuming it is significantly better with a new name /owner.
Ok, glad I did!
I went for the vermicelli with beef/shrimp/spring rolls, as this is my reference point for experiences elsewhere.
It was very good. The best part? It didn't taste like it does everywhere else (what, not the same 3rd party distributor??).
The beef was very tender, with a great marinade. The skewer of prawns were quite tasty (and yes, deveined... sorry I have a thing about shrimp excrement)!
The veggies were very crisp and fresh.. likewise the springrolls.
All in all, a set of flavors that stood out because it was their own, and it was good. So nice job! I'll be back.
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