Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant
My wife Connie was doing well in her recovery from tonsillectomy surgery a few days prior. However, she was getting a little tired of the apple sauce, juice boxes, and bland soft foods that I had made over the last few days. So, we decided that we were going to eat out for lunch on Sunday February 26, 2012. Initially, we were considering doing Chinese food close by but the restaurant flyer for the Chinese place we were thinking about showed that it actually wasn’t open for lunch on Sundays. So, scratch that idea. We ended up deciding to go with Vietnamese instead since the options would be good for Connie (i.e., palatable soft noodles, flavorful broth that shouldn’t be too spicy) and it should be relatively inexpensive. The closest place, Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant, happened to be just around the corner – bonus!
We got to Mint Leaf around noon. The restaurant was about half full so we were able to get seated right away. After perusing the menu options, we decided to go with:
- Special PHO “PHO Dac Biet” (menu item #21) – rice noodles with rare sliced beef flank and beef brisket
- Hot and Sour Noodle Soup “Canh Chua Bun” (menu item #29) – rice noodles with catfish, prawns, tomatoes, pineapples, jalapeno peppers and sprouts in a savory broth.
Hot and Sour Noodle Soup "Canh Chua Bun" (menu item #29)
To be honest, initially I had actually selected Spicy and Sour Soup “Canh Chua” (menu item #20) but our server pointed out that the #20 was just the broth and didn’t actually have any noodles. So, I opted for #29 which was the same as #20 but with rice noodles. Not surprisingly, the food came out soon after we ordered and was as delicious as it looked. Everything tasted fresh and the broths were flavorful. Nothing tasted too bland, or too salty, and additional sauces were provided on the side in case one wanted to add some more kick to one’s dish. Connie was able to put down the soft rice noodles easily and I could tell she was glad to finally get some real food, not to mention have a real meal with me instead of watching me eat all the good stuff.
Overall, lunch at Mint Leaf was a great choice. If I’m ever in Alameda again and feeling like some pho, I will be sure to hit up Mint Leaf again. I may even hit up their newly opened Berkeley store in the future.
Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant
831 Marina Village Pkwy
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 522-2758
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