Van Son just had their grand opening on last weekend. They took over Vietnam Palace Grill - I miss it already!! For their grand opening special, you get a spring roll for each person - which is a great deal! Their spring rolls taste good and a fair size. The restaurant has undergone a total renovation. Those pink walls have been replaced with beige, white and black colours. There are more tables & booths in the restaurant. The washroom is completely new. Huge menu.
Now for the food. We ordered the following:
#31 - Satay Beef Noodle Soup - good broth but where is the satay taste? I'm missing that great peanutty, satay broth and where's the spice? The soup just needs to have more flavour. Lots of rice noodles for a regular bowl of $9.95. Big plate of fresh bean sprouts, mint leaves, lime and thai red chilli peppers came with this order. Add this to your soup. The beef needs to be cut more thinly as I found my beef all curled up in my broth.
#38 - Rice Noodle, Vegetables, Shrimp, Crabstick & Chicken in Soup - For $10.95 - regular bowl. The soup again needs more flavour.
#16 - Vermicelli topped with Satay Beef and Spring Rolls - For $10.50. Again, not enough satay spice. Need to kick it up a notch! Miss the Vietnam Palace Grill's Satay Beef Bun - so good!
#23 - Rice Crepes with Pork Sausage - For $9.95 - Interesting dish - rice crepes that kind of stuck together and big round pieces of pork sausage, topped with chopped mint leaves, boiled bean sprouts and some other garnish, with a condiment of fish sauce. Pour the sauce over the dish. Not bad. Need hot sauce (thank goodness, this was available in a squeegee bottle on your table).
We also ordered the 3 bean coconut drink - nice and refreshing for a hot summer's day - for $5.50.
All in all, my common thread in here is that the food needs to have more flavour, more spice .if the food is rated "hot" with a chili icon on their menu.