Dining Review

Young Chang

COSTA MESA

For $21.93, you can outeat the table.

For $21.93, you can do it in less than an hour.

And for the grand total of $21.93, you can experiment with dishes you

don’t really understand and take risks with $1.75 for a Banh-Mi

Vietnamese Sandwich just to see what a Vietnamese sandwich on French

bread will look like.

From the beginning, we laughed. The waitress at Vietnam’s Pearl

Restaurant looked at us funny, recommending we split the fourth dish we

had chosen instead of ordering a fifth. She resigned to the fact that we

were dead-set on a fifth and then suggested we move.

To a different table -- the big round one near the window because our

square two-seater just wasn’t going to do.

We all laughed, my friend and I moved, and immediately it became

irrelevant that Vietnam’s Pearl was a restaurant we hadn’t been to

before.

The small Costa Mesa box is easy -- no lines, no fuss, barely a wait

for food and servers who aren’t afraid to be blunt and funny as if you’ve

dined there before.

Some of the food left us wondering -- searching for shreds of pork and

shrimp, for example, because the menu promised there would be pork -- but

considering that five dishes cost $21.93, my friend and I left happy.

The Goi Cuon ($2.95), spring rolls with shrimp, seasoned pork, mint

leaves and cold vermicelli noodles, were healthy and fresh. We wondered

where the shrimp and pork were, and commented on how minty the roll

tasted (we both prefer non-minty foods), but we trusted that the pork was

shredded really invisibly fine and dipped away in a peanut sauce that

deserves kudos of its own.

The Banh Xeo ($4.95), a Vietnamese-style crepe with shrimp, pork and

bean sprouts, resembled an enormous, brown chalupa exploding with

sprouts. We found the shrimp this time -- three actually -- and dipped

again in a spicy fish sauce.

My friend didn’t dip -- she said the crepe tasted bland -- so remember

to dip.

The Banh Mi Ga ($1.75), a seasoned chicken Vietnamese sandwich on

French bread, was also healthy -- I’d guess no more than 200 calories for

a half. But with only a thin filling of chicken and a whole lot of

vegetables (barely any grease or sauce), the sandwich tasted more like

something you’d make yourself at home during a diet.

The Pho Ga ($4.50), a steaming chicken noodle soup you’re supposed to

top with herbs and bean sprouts and plum sauce, was my favorite. It’s

familiar even to the most un-Vietnamese diner, a perfect panacea for

winter months when colds run rampant.

And the Com Ga Xa ($5.95), a lemon grass chicken dish with rice and

plenty of ginger, also will clear your sinuses. But for the

spicy-food-wary, beware. We tried a Level 3 -- 5 is the spiciest -- and

sat there tongues-a-burning.

Still, for $21.93, I’d take a burnt-tongue any day.

FYI

*What: Vietnam’s Pearl Restaurant

*Where: 1215 Baker St., Costa Mesa

*Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 7

p.m. Saturday

*How much: Cheap ($1.75 to $6.50)

*Call: (714) 540-2212