Message: | I had the chance do drop by at Brodard today after seeing my mechanic, who was 15 mins away.
Anyhow, I went at lunch time, and the place was pretty packed. I waited for 5mins or so for a table. The menu was quite interesting. IIRC they even had Veitnamese breakfast, with variations on some egg dishes. I didn't remember the details, but my impression was that it was interesting, and definetly worth trying out.
They also had several appetizers, soup noodle/Pho dishes, BBQ pork chop, and other regular Vietnamese fare. There was also a section were there were Vietnamese versions of continental dishes. It didn't seem French, but I could have been wrong. I guess this is probably a variation on the eateries we have in Monterey park with Chinese-influenced, western dishes.
According to the recommendation posted earlier, I ordered the duck salad ($8-9), BBQ pork meatball/sausage spring roll ($3.50?), and the omelette ($4-6). The food took 10-15 mins to arrive, but it came all at once, which was somewhat intimidating, since the portions were pretty large. Oddly enough, I did manage to finish everything.
I started with the spring rolls. This seemed to be a very popular dish here, and several other tables ordered this as well. It wasn't a deep fried spring roll you usually get at a Vietnamese restaurant, but it was a long piece or sausage/meatball, covered with various vegtables, and wrapped in steamed rice-paper, semi-transparent. Dipping sauce was a very tasty, and slightly thick peanut sweet sauce. It almost reminded me of Thai peanut sweet sauce that normally goes with satay, but it's not quite as thick, and it seemed more sweet. I thought the sauce not only went well with the spring roll, but also with the omelette.
The roast duck salad was nice, but I felt it wasn't exeptional or too different either. The portion is decent for a salad though. Basically you get shredded lettuce, similar to the stuff you get at Japanese restuarants, mixed in with red onions, peanut bits, and small pieces of shredded duck. There was some a fat on the duck, but it wasn't bad. The dressing is another sweet sauce, that I didn't care too much for.
The omlette was excellent. It was filled with a couple shrimp and bean sprouts. It was around the size of half a small pizza. It was a little oily, but very tasty. I thought it went well with the spring roll dipping sauce. I only wish they had more shrimp in it, as I think it would improve with that.
The total for my bill, including tip, came out to be $20. I thought the food was definetly worth it, albeit I can't say it was a steal either. I wouldn't order the duck salad again considering the price of that dish. Overall, I felt it was an enjoyable experience. It was fun to check out the meatball sausage spring roll and the omelette, which I never had before.
The only complaint was that of the service, which wasn't the best at all. The waiter comes to take your order, and then brings out the food, and that's about it. They never refilled my water, or asked whether I needed anything. I had to go to the front counter to get my water filled up again. It almost feels like more of a cafeteria than a restuarant.
That aside, it's definetly a good place to check out. There are several other dishes on the menu I would also be interested to try, including breakfast. I will certainly return!
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