Zao, Eastwood Mall

After my Hanoi food experience, which was bland, unexciting , uninteresting and forgettable,  Son said that  we should have dinner at our usual Vietnamese comfort food place, Pho Hoa, since we were going to watch Wreck It Ralph in Eastwood. Made sense, but I wanted to eat panizza at Uncle Cheffy's, so the Hubby and I walked to the new mall while Son got the movie tickets. When we got to the restaurant, there was a private party and could not accommodate us inside the restaurant.   There were other places that Son and I like very much, Friday's, Italiannis, Cyma, or Thousand Cranes, but the Hubby was with us. We ended up eating at Zao. O well ...

Their fresh spring rolls ...  with a 'brown' weird looking sauce that had Hoisin.

I like the fresh spring rolls in Pho Hoa.

Their Crab Cakes...  with a pinkish sweet and sour dipping sauce.  

Pork fried rice. . . good for 2 to 3 persons. Nothing spectacular. The frozen peas in this dish were not soft and tender. The rice had some peculiar or strange ingredient that resembled big pieces of toasted garlic, but it wasn't garlic. Son said it was some kind of pork.  I love rice, but, I enjoy eating Yang Chow fried rice.

Beef Pho ... had less beef, less noodles and  had limp/wilted cilantro leaves floating on top.

Serving of basil, bean sprouts, chili and lime.

The restaurant's  decor, art work, and walls were too bright, too red, which reminded me of the big red strip / line, as I waited  at the Immigration in Hanoi.  In most countries, the sign would say, "Stay Behind the Yellow Line"....but  not in Hanoi. { Btw,  I didn't have to fill out  an immigration form in Hanoi. I just handed the Officer my passport.  The Officer just stared at me, looked at my passport... then, stared back blankly at me, while he processed, stamped, scanned my passport.  Not a word, not a blink,  nothing!}

The Calamansi Tart ... I love dessert and I like anything that has sugar in it.

I liked this,  but not the graham cracker crust. 

I fancy this bright radiant red couch.

With the Son  and the Hubby.

Isn't he handsome? Hmmmmm.....

********

When I got the bill, it said that if I use my AMEX, for a minimum purchase of a thousand, I get a free dish.  I was about to use my AMEX but the  lady server saw my Metrobank card and said that I can also avail of a free order of fried spring rolls to take home  using my Metrobank card. . 

That was a welcome treat!

But I still prefer Pho Hoa.

/ betsisanders 2012