One of Calgary’s best features is the ubiquitous Vietnamese restaurant. Healthy, tasty, cheap and a great alternative to bummy burger chains, it seems there’s always one within eyeshot. Yet another has popped up in the old Charlie Chan’s location on Kensington Road N.W.

Song Han’s two- and four-person booth seating is comfortable. The room is decorated with several photo canvases, in mismatched sizes, of the Vietnamese countryside, and a large fish tank bubbles away in the back.

We’re quickly served two bottles of Kingfisher beer ($4.95) and await appetizers. Four big spring rolls ($5.25) arrive. We didn’t order any, so I report the mistake and we’re given the dish on the house. Their wrappers are crispy yet not too flaky. The hot, soft filling of shredded pork and clear noodles is good. We dip them in fish sauce, a tangy and slightly sweet vinegar with diced carrot. In short, they’re standard-issue spring rolls.

Next, a plate of grilled, ground shrimp-wrapped sugar cane ($7.50). This comes with a shallow dipping dish of sweet plum sauce. The shrimp, however, is best without the overpowering plum dip. Very lightly browned, the shrimp meat goes nicely with the bit of sweetness still in its sugar cane skewers.

Our third appetizer turns out to be a real biggie. The Vietnamese crepe with shrimp and chicken ($7.25) is presented on an entree-sized plate with a stack of unadorned lettuce, mint leaves and shredded carrot. The folded crepe is pale yellow and striped with brown wisps of grilled onion. It’s light, with a unique crispy texture. The filling — whole shrimp, sliced beef, fried onion and bean sprouts — is moist and generous.

Hoisin sauce goes well with this hearty appetizer, as do the mint leaves, though the mound of plain lettuce doesn’t quite fit in. It points to what would be, for me, a welcome new trend in Vietnamese cuisine, and that’s a greater emphasis on vegetables beyond mighty fistfuls of bean sprouts.

My guest moves on to a heaping bowl of grilled ground shrimp, grilled pork ball and spring roll on vermicelli ($9.50). She reports the tumble of meat and spring rolls atop the dish is plenty filling, while she’s barely dented the fine white noodles and bean sprouts beneath. The spring rolls, as I’ve mentioned, are good. The pork balls — which are more like grilled, sliced, finely ground sausages — are truly superior. They’re a tad sweet and fragrant. The ribbons of ground shrimp are similar to the sugar cane shrimp appetizer and just as satisfying.

Like vermicelli dishes, shredded pork, egg pie and grilled pork chop on steamed rice ($8.95) is a Vietnamese standard, if somewhat less well known. And like my guest’s main dish, mine’s a belly buster over which I pour a small dish of fish sauce. The large bone-in pork chop is well cooked, yet plenty juicy. Paired with shredded pork, pork belly and a triangle of egg pie, it shingles a massive mound of white rice that’s dressed up with three big, steaky slabs of tomato. The chop goes well with the fresh tomato. The shredded pork is like mixed-meat noodle salad; the kind of thing that tends to weird out the uninitiated. However, it adds a pleasing taste and texture to the rice. The egg cake, with its pork and clear noodle filling, looks something like a wee slice of quiche. It’s deftly spiced and one of the better I’ve eaten.

It’s relatively late on a weeknight (9 p.m.), and without a word the serving staff clocks out near the end of our meal. The kitchen crew remains on duty, but it takes a few minutes to get someone’s attention for a take-home box and to pay up.

The verdict: Though the service is friendly, it could use a bit of fine-tuning. The food, however, is fresh and fine, no skimping on the veggies. The question I’ve alluded to but have not yet answered: Is the city reaching its Vietnamese restaurant saturation point? I can’t speak for the rest of the population, but to put a foodie spin on a movie line: If you build it, I will come.