This is my first time hearing of this Vietnamese restaurant, with a very memorable name. Although that is the point and charm of such events like Dine on Denman, which I was getting a sneak peek of today. They are one of the 16 restaurants participating in the inaugural run of this two week celebration of food on the West End.
S.A.M.E. is an acronym representing a mother and her three daughters, and the restaurant that she has built and is running in their honour. They serve traditional Vietnamese cuisine and are showcasing it best through their limited time only Dine on Denman tasting menu.
At S.A.M.E. you can get three courses for $45, allowing you to choose dishes from off of the regular menu. This is a great way to explore and discover what they are about, at a discounted price.
Your starter has you choosing from any one item from their Share/Appetizer or Bánh Mì menu. Became we can as a group, so were able to try a handful of the options, to be able to review them all here. Although it is worth mentioning that, I only got a bite of each to be able to review them, so take my feedback with a grain of salt.
An order of spring rolls is three lengthy rolls stuff with the traditional wood ear fungus, carrot, and vermicelli mixture; but cut in half length wise. His gives the plate a very substantial feeling. Served with a sweet chilli sauce for dipping. These were crunchy rolls, best eaten hot.
The fish sauce glazed chicken wings gets my vote. This was two stacked rows of crispy and saucy, sweet and tangy wings. I only got one and it was delicious. No notes.
For something more filling, definitely get the sautéed beef banh mi with a side of tater tots. You definitely get your moneys worth with this. A whole French baguette stuffed with tender beef, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs. The sauce had a unique and distinct taste to it. I liked the playfulness of the tater tots as this was not something I am familiar with when I think of and eat banh mi.
As with the appetizers, for mains you could choose any one item under the Chef Speciality section of the menu.
The most impressive one has to be their fall of the bone beef rib pho, served with two large rib bones sticking out of the bowl, each surrounded by tender meat. 12-hours beef broth, braised beef rib, AAA rare beef, beef brisket, and topped with grated ginger.
There is plenty to go around and enough to ration with equal spoonfuls of noodle and soup. Flavour wise, it wasn’t unlike other beef pho, but with a lot more fresh herb to give it its own fragrance. This is probably my favourite and the one I would recommend.
A close runner-up would be the sizzling beef on skillet. It comes to the table still sizzling. All together this is a mound of ingredients that you can have as is or scoop onto and smear over fresh slices of baguette. Sliced beef, sunny-side up egg, corn, pate, tater tots, pickles, and house made pan sauce. Served with Bánh Mì. Everyone enjoyed the savoury richness of the pate, especially in conjunction with the runny egg yolk, and cut with the brightness of pickled vegetable, sweet corn, and fresh cucumber. I would have been happy with just a platter of this all to myself.
I am not a big fan of fish, but I did like the idea of this vermicelli fish platter. Done in Hanoi style you have everything you need on this platter to make a lettuce wrap. Battered basa fish, lettuce, cilantro, pickles, and vermicelli. It comes with a side of spicy fish sauce; and a spicy tangy tomato soup with pork meatballs, prawns, and taro stems.
For the platter you roll up the vermicelli, crispy fried fish nuggets, and julienned pickled vegetables into a roll that you can eat in two bites. All the vegetable balances out any weight or heaty fried fish.
But the soup was my favourite element of this order. If you add noodles to it, it would have been a full dish on its own. The soup was so bright and satisfying. I would order a bowl of this as is.
And for dessert, it is simply a scoop of either vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Something simple and clean to wash what should have been a very flavourful two courses before.
If you need an excuse to try something new on Denman, like this modern Vietnamese restaurant, let this event be your reason and excuse to do so. I enjoyed everything we have and can definitely recommend them for Vietnamese on the West End.
S.A.M.E Vietnamese Eatery
976 Denman St, Vancouver, BC V6G 2M1
(604) 620-5595
