KEN HUNTS FOOD: Viet Garden @ Kimberley Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Viet Garden @ Kimberley Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Vietnamese food lovers can look forward to an authentic, delicious Vietnamese meal at the newly opened Viet Garden at Kimberley Street. The new kid on the block offers a big Vietnamese menu with many familiar Vietnamese delights on the list with mid-average price points (thought portions are smaller than expected). Limited seating space on the ground floor but the upper floor dining area could accommodate bigger crowd. Service was a little slow on our visit but probably because of new operation jitters. Worth a look if you do enjoy a good Vietnamese meal.

Mix Sweet Potatoes in Coconut Milk (Rm 6)

Chicken Noodle Soup (Rm 15)

Stir Fried Lemongrass Beef served with Vermicelli Noodles (Rm 15)

Steamed Rice Cake with BBQ Chicken (Rm 15)

BBQ Chicken Banh Mi (Rm 12)

We started off with something light, a must-try dish in any Vietnamese restaurant- Banh Mi. Viet Garden's was nicely done with flaky, crisp Baguette and filled with a generous amount of BBQ meat and fresh greens. Since Viet Garden is a Pork-Free restaurant, Pate was not used. Not too shabby for a Banh Mi but the price point is on the higher side for this particular dish. For something different, we also tried their Steamed Rice Cake with BBQ Chicken, we liked the Chee Cheong Fun-like Steamed Rice Cake but the BBQ Chicken was a little overly greasy and sweet to our liking. More like an appetizer than a main dish. We found ourselves enjoying the Chicken Noodle Soup more than the Stir Fried Lemongrass Beef served with Vermicelli Noodles; the former one had a clear, sweet-tasting broth that was easy on the palate. Not that the latter one was bad but it lacked of the X factor.