Track Meat

It's also the least "Vietnamese" of the Vietnamese restaurant thus far. At best, you could call it "fusion," but that might even be pushing it. There was a "Traditional" section on the menu, but beyond that the recipes took plenty of liberties. I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm jessayin'. On that same note, there didn't appear to be any Asians in the house, either working (definitely different than the family shops up the street) or eating. To be fair, it was Sunday evening shortly before closing time.

The food was great. The pictures look like crap (since it was getting dark), but the food really was very good.

Lettuce wraps with tofu
Excellent flavor on the tofu glaze. Messy as hell to eat, but everything that I was able to shovel into my mouth made my mouth happy.

Sweet potato shrimp croquettes
Yummm. Great flavor. Not too heavy. Decent chunks of shrimp. Nice touch of sauce underneath.

Wild-rice encrusted tuna
This was the daily special. Really good. Seemed to be high-quality tuna and it was properly cooked. The rice added a great texture.

Pepper steak
Again, quality ingredient, properly cooked. Also came with lovely wasabi mashed potatoes and delicious beans.

Com tam with pork
This was the only item we got from the Traditional sections. It was really good. Tasty pork with a nice glaze. While I very much enjoyed this dish, I think next time I'd save the "Traditional" dishes for a more "Traditional" place.

A couple other things to note...

Hooray beer!
They've got a really nice selection of brews including many local. They do have a bar you can sit at, and they also have happy hour specials on food and drinks. I'd certainly be interested in checking that out.

Music
Shortly after being seated, I noticed there was some good music playing (Lykke Li). I assumed it was some satellite service until I later noticed the small wall of vinyl. There's a turntable behind the bar and one of the servers would periodically go back and switch it up. A very nice touch.

Bottom line
Now all that fanciness comes with a price. It's called: the "price." Yes, this place was the most expensive stop thus far. It was certainly a quaint and delicious (and gentrified). Overall a lovely experience. I would go back but I don't expect to be a regular.

That pretty much sums up this place. Ooh, one more: takeout. There are tables, but I didn't get the sense anyone ate there very often. I ate there. Out of my takeout dish. Screw you, convention.

It's a pretty damn huge menu, which is ALWAYS a good sign at a restaurant. A lot of people seemed to be ordering the chicken wings for takeout. As usual, I tried to get a recommendation.

The egg roll was unimpressive. Pretty greasy.

Sweet & sour soup was fine, but again, unimpressive.

The Hunan shrimp was fairly good, actually.

The food and the atmosphere definitely get a big edge at Little Szechuan, but if you're just looking for cheap Chinese takeout, that's exactly what you'll get here. (Note: not that much cheaper...)