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I was on route to a red light beauty session at Samsung Plaza when I was stopped in my tracks by something new, Paté Vietnamese Cuisine.
It was the word “Pate” that grabbed my attention because I love Vietnamese paté in a banh mi. I vowed to drop in the next time I was in the vicinity.
When I did stop in, I was immediately offered the choice of a glass of water or iced tea.
“Is this a trick question?” I thought, remembering my trip to Portugal and the practice of couvert in which they drop off small individual plates of appetizers at your table that feature a simple combo of something like bread, olives and nuts. Because we, as Americans, are typically offered complimentary bread at restaurants, the assumption is that it’s free, but at the end you’re billed for every individual’s plate. It’s a nominal fee of $3 or $4, but it adds up. It only had to happen once for us to learn not to accept it.
It’s rare for any restaurant to provide a free drink, so of course I had to ask if the tea is free and, yes, their jasmine tea is free. My $6 Vietnamese coffee would have to wait for another day.
From there, it doesn’t take long to get to the paté, which is available as an appetizer ($7), the smooth, creamy pork liver spread over pieces of toast. Totally delicious. I was happy already.
Being newbies, we were directed toward specialties of spicy beef noodle soup ($16), a recipe from the family owners’ grandfather who grew up in the ancient capital of Hué in central Vietnam. On the mother side comes a specialty of hu tieu mi, a Chinese fusion noodle dish from Southern Vietnam.
It was the Chinese fusion dish I absolutely fell in love with. Start by choosing your base of noodles from a selection that includes thin, rice, noodles; glass noodles; egg noodles; or wonton. There’s no extra charge if you wish to try a half-and-half combination of noodles.
From there, you can take your pick of a protein from toppings such as beef balls ($14.50), roast pork ($15.50), pork combo (livers, hearts and ground meat, $15.50), or seafood (shrimp, squid and fish balls, $17.50). The toppings are plainly presented. All the flavor is in the noodles. Somehow a combination of oyster sauce, garlic, black vinegar and black pepper has the effect of imparting a slightly curry flavor to them.
I loved the way the stickier thin rice noodles held on to the sauce. If the noodles are too dry for you, you can add an accompanying broth that’s lightly flavored so as not to distract from the flavor of the noodles.
The spicy beef noodles are not particularly fiery, but to help out, they have a couple of housemade condiments, a fluid Sriracha-style chili sauce and a lemon grass chili paste that’s even spicier. In addition to rice noodles and beef shank, the soup includes pork hocks, pork meatloaf, crab cake and a cube of pork blood.
Standard items include appetizers such as spring rolls ($10) and shrimp and rice vermicelli-filled sum mer rolls ($8.50). One of the house special appetizers is garlic butter chicken wings ($9) in a sticky garlicky sauce. It’s not traditional but an invention that addresses the Western diner’s love of butter.
I’ve always appreciated Vietnamese cuisine’s ability to accommodate cravings for a variety of wet, dry or in-between meals. The wet, of course, refers to bowls of pho that include chicken ($14), oxtail ($23) or build-your-own options ($14.50 one choice, $15.50 two choices, $16.50 three choices) with proteins such as rare steak, brisket, beef balls, tendon and tripe.
The dry options are the baguette sandwiches, banh mi and rice plates. Rice plate options include roast pork ($14.50), garlic butter shrimp ($16), lemongrass chicken ($14) and various combinations of pork (grilled, shredded, chops, $14-$15.50).
Into the sandwiches go garlic beef ($9.50), roast pork ($9.50), tomato sauced Vietnamese meatballs ($8.50), lemongrass chicken ($8.50) or egg that defines their “sunny sandwich” ($7.50). I opted for more of the paté that’s layered with crunchy pickled daikon and carrots, bouncy pork loaf and shredded pork in their special banh mi ($10). The paté layer could never be thick enough for me.
As for the in-between, this is the category of my typical go-to — a rice vermicelli bowl that gives you four topping options of spring rolls, grilled pork, shredded pork or Vietnamese meatballs. Pick two ingredients for $14; additional toppings are $3 each. I opted for the spring rolls and grilled pork with an add-on of tomato-sauced meatballs that are so delicate and clean-tasting I think I’ll get the meatball sandwich the next time I’m hungry for banh mi.
The wet aspect is the ability to add the classic fish sauce-based dipping sauce, nuoc cham, to the dish to add more flavor to the plain noodles.
Dessert of almond panna cotta ($6.50) delivers a refreshing finale to meals. Cubes of lightly flavored milk, matcha and cocoa panna cotta are served in rock sugar water with lychee and almond slices.
I was also looking forward to trying a peach gum dessert soup, which sounds so delicious with its combination of sweet jujube, lotus seed, longan, goji berries and chia seeds in rock sugar water.
Unfortunately, they are unable to get the peach gum, so it is unavailable for now. I am looking forward to the day when supply chain issues are no more.
Paté Vietnamese Cuisine
655 Keeaumoku St. Suite 104, Honolulu
Food: ****
Service: ««««
Ambiance: «««
Value: ««««
Call: 808-940-5432
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursdays-Tuesdays, 5-10 p.m. Sundaystuesdays and Thursdays, and 5 p.m.-midnight Fridays Saturdays
Prices: About $45-$55 for two
Nadine Kam’s restaurant visits are unannounced and paid for by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Follow Nadine on Instagram (@nadinekam) or on YouTube (youtube.com/nadinekam).
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