{"id":8538,"date":"2016-08-30T22:52:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T06:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=8538"},"modified":"2017-02-08T15:00:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T23:00:49","slug":"house-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/house-special\/","title":{"rendered":"House Special – Chic and Tasty Vietnamese Fare in Yaletown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although a little spent after an 8-hour hike to Garibaldi Lake, a spectacular experience in the nature and a great staminal challenge, Ang and I felt quite accomplished. We decided to reward ourselves with a good meal and I suggested to check out House Special<\/strong><\/em>, a trendy new eatery in Yaletown specializing in modern Vietnamese fare, which has created quite a buzz in the city.<\/p>\n

We found ourselves sitting by the front window, joined by our friend GT. This is a perfect spot for\u00a0a full view of the 50-seat dining room, with a sizeable full bar in the centre\u00a0that boasts a great\u00a0selection of\u00a0local brews and several\u00a0Vietnamese-inspired cocktails. Through the\u00a0open kitchen, \u00a0we could\u00a0see Chef Patrick Do dispatching the orders. Outside the window, there is\u00a0the 20-seat patio, chic but casual, furnished with long wooden tables and white metal chairs. But the most attractive feature on the patio is\u00a0\u00a0the collection of retro\u00a0light fixtures and red lanterns hanging down from the glass roof, bringing a warm and welcoming ambiance to the outdoor space\u00a0of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\"House<\/a>
House Special, Yaletown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"House<\/a>
House Special, Yaletown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I chuckled along with my buddies\u00a0when I saw Saigon in 60 Seconds\u00a0<\/strong>($11) on the cocktail menu. Tasty or not, the drink’s cheeky reference to the famous auto-theft flick\u00a0had already lightened my heart, and I just had to get it. \u00a0The cocktail features tequila, cassis, salted lime and bitters, and carries a\u00a0a perfect balance\u00a0of\u00a0sweetness, and acidity with a\u00a0strong\u00a0presence of tequila. The cocktail later turned out to be a perfect pairing with the\u00a0Uncle Hing’s Chicken Wings<\/strong> ($12). On the wings, the heat from the chili and the sweet-and-sour flavour of the glaze that I could taste soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce and lemon grass, all sing\u00a0\u00a0well the the citrusy tequila drink. \u00a0This Wing-Cocktail match reminds me of my experience at Ba Bar<\/a>\u00a0in Seattle with the same wings and cocktail affair, but the wings here are much less of a sodium attack. The extra chopped cilantro on top of the wings definitely helped too.<\/p>\n

\"Saigon<\/a>
Saigon in 60 Seconds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Uncle<\/a>
Uncle Hing’s Chicken Wings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GT’s Plum Smuggler<\/strong> ($10) is light and refreshing with plum wine, cassis, martini dry and egg white. It is interesting to see\u00a0egg white foam has become so\u00a0popular in cocktail making these days in the city. I certainly enjoy the foam\u00a0for its\u00a0fluffy texture on top of the liquid, a little something extra for the playful sensation on the palate. Meanwhile I found\u00a0the Green Papaya Salad<\/strong> ($12) a great companion for this cocktail with its fresh and vibrant ingredients: shredded green papaya, peanut, avocado and basil, along with some bright flavours from pickled carrot, sambal chili and sweet soya, and topped off\u00a0with Asian beef jerky sprinkled in the salad like bacon bits. \u00a0Although I found very little sauce in this salad, which could be a bit dry eaten on its own, \u00a0it \u00a0went well with a fruity cocktails like the Plum Smuggler.<\/p>\n

\"Plum<\/a>
Plum Smuggler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Green<\/a>
Green Papaya Salad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00a0found the next dish\u00a0pairing well with beer: the Hi Phong Squid<\/strong> ($10) with deep-fried drunken calamari, pickles and slaw. Very similar to the calamari served at most\u00a0restaurants, this dish is inspired by the street food in Vietnam but\u00a0 it is much lighter on the breading. Although I could barely taste the ‘drunken’ in the squid, the combination of the flavours from different components\u00a0was exciting. The colourful presentation was also\u00a0consistent\u00a0with the other dishes. We ordered a couple beers: the Saison Four Winds<\/em> <\/strong>($6), which was light, crisp and slightly floral, and \u00a0the Bourbon Blood Orange<\/strong> ($6) from Bridge Brewery<\/em><\/strong>, which was also clean tasting with more pronounced floral and citrus notes.<\/p>\n

\"Hi<\/a>
Hi Phong Squid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Saison<\/a>
Saison Four Winds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bourbon<\/a>
Bourbon Blood Orange, Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the highlights of the evening was\u00a0the\u00a0Tamarind Duck<\/strong> ($19), featuring pan seared duck breast, greens and a tamarind reduction. It is\u00a0a simple but also a technical dish, and\u00a0a piece of perfectly seared duck breast is definitely the key. And the perfection was achieved on the duck, with the skin flawlessly rendered down to a beautiful thin crispy layer, and the meat still slightly pink in the middle, moist and juicy – just another example of letting the high quality ingredients speak for themselves with minimal\u00a0but effective execution.<\/p>\n

\"Tamarind<\/a>
Tamarind Duck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tamarind<\/a>
Tamarind Duck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My favourite dish of the evening is the\u00a0Coconut Shrimp Cakes<\/strong> ($8),\u00a0another dish from their ‘Street Food’ section. \u00a0The coconut flavoured rice cakes are made with traditional cast-iron pan, and stuffed with finely chopped dried shrimp and pork, and with \u00a0a n??c ch?m drizzle on the side, which is a dipping sauce made of sweet chili, vinegar and fish sauce. \u00a0The sweet and savoury\u00a0taste combination, the slightly chewy\u00a0and glutenous texture of the rice cake, the refreshing contrast from\u00a0cucumber and basil, and the a little kick from the chilli sauce, all together formed\u00a0a wonderful \u00a0 sensation in my mouth, taking me an extra few minutes to savour it. \u00a0They might have called it street food, \u00a0but it is such a refined\u00a0and tasty dish.<\/p>\n

\"Coconut<\/a>
Coconut Shrimp Cakes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"House<\/a>
House Special, Yaletown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall, House Special’s\u00a0well designed menu has a good number of dishes but does not look overly complicated. \u00a0The cooking is\u00a0inspired\u00a0on\u00a0traditional\u00a0Vietnamese fare and elevated with small refined details. I cant’ help comparing House Special\u00a0to another newly \u00a0opened Vietnamese restaurant in the city, Ahn and Chi, where the approach is to focus on fine-tuning\u00a0the family style dishes and staying true to the traditions, whereas House Special \u00a0has embraced the local restaurant culture \u00a0a bit more by offering smaller tasting pates with modern techniques and hip presentation. Tonight, the Tamarind Duck and the Coconut Shrimp Cake were among the great\u00a0dishes that will be remembered for a long time. And\u00a0I would like to come back to taste\u00a0their interpretation of the classics such as pho and spring rolls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Website \/ Menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/housespecial.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n

More reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"House<\/a><\/p>\n

Location:<\/p>\n