| Two years ago, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s great cookbook, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, introduced the culinary treasures of the Mekong River, which winds and wends its way down from Tibet through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and, finally, Vietnam. And how can you not like the food from here, with its emphasis on freshness and contrast? Great Vietnamese food really is hot, sour, salty and sweet.
Alas, a lot of the Vietnamese food in Calgary is bland and greasy stuff, the source of the old crunchy salad roll. But at Trong Khanh (1115 Centre St. N. phone 230-2408), the food is fresh, the soup stock homemade, the basil crisp and the coffee strong – it offers textbook versions of popular dishes. It’s not only a good Vietnamese restaurant, it’s a good restaurant.
It’s also pretty utilitarian – the space is clean but slightly worn, and the cold drinks are kept in a Pepsi fridge. In other words, it could be easily transplanted to Vietnam, and no one would be the wiser. This scent of authenticity makes Trong Khanh irresistible.
The salad rolls ($4.50 for 3) are the best I’ve had. The heat of the dipping sauce contrasts well with the pork and shrimp and the minty scent of basil. Without the crispness of the basil and the rice noodles in the roll, the dipping sauce would be cloying. Instead, it’s a perfect accent.
The entrées are what you’d expect to find on a Vietnamese menu, such as noodle soup (either noodles in soup or soup on the side), rice vermicelli and Chinese- or Thai-style dishes like satay beef or barbecued chicken on steamed rice. But these mainstays are heavenly at Trong Khanh.
I especially like the shrimp, crab and sliced pork with rice noodle soup ($5.75) because the noodles are nourishing and not glutinous, the shrimp never tastes overcooked and the broth is intense.
Equally warming is the Trong Khanh special rice noodle and egg noodle soup ($6), with shrimp, barbecue pork, crab and beef, which comes with a fresh lime to squeeze over top. I always eat this soup so quickly that the inside of my mouth is burned and my glasses are foggy, but I don’t care because it’s the perfect food for a cold winter lunch.
For control freaks there are a lot of "soup on the side" choices, where a bowl of hot broth accompanies the noodles and meat or fish. You can dip the noodles in the broth, or make a little bowl of soup, or pour the soup over the noodles – it doesn’t matter. Particularly successful was the Trong Khanh special egg noodle with soup on the side ($6), in which the freshness of the ingredients shines through.
If you’re not in a noodle mood, or aren’t feeling adventurous, you can always go for the barbecued chicken with lemon grass on steamed broken rice ($6), which was grilled perfectly. We often order this for our toddler, and then chow down and finish it for her.
Winter Market at the Blackfoot Inn
Most Thursdays throughout the winter (not including December 26 and January 2) from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., the basement at the Blackfoot Inn hosts an unusual conference: organic farmers selling their winter stores. So, among other things, you can get beef from Hoven Farms; poultry, pork and eggs from Sunworks; and potatoes and beets from Lund’s in Innisfail. It’s kind of like a root cellar for sale, and worth the trip. Try to avoid smiting tipsy conventioneers with your bags of spuds. |
