More Vietnamese!? Mint Modern Bistro & Bar

You're thinking to yourself, "Another Vietnamese restaurant?" just like I am. Don't get me wrong, I love Vietnamese food, but the explosion of this particular cuisine in New Orleans is going a bit overboard. Fortunately, my experience at Mint was quite good ... it's a keeper. And I'm not only saying that because their iced coffee knocked my socks off.

A couple months ago, Lorin and I had lunch at Mint, which is not only one of the latest Vietnamese restaurants in town to pop up, it's also one of the newest eateries on Freret Street, a corridor whose growth seems to know no limit. We arrived fairly early in the lunch hour and there were only a couple of other occupied tables.

We ordered drinks from our attentive and polite server and proceeded to peruse the menu. While I greedily slurped down my cafe sua da (a.k.a. Vietnamese iced coffee) we placed our order, starting with a shared appetizer of fresh, grilled pork summer rolls. The rolls were light and tasty, but (like many other Vietnamese restaurants) I couldn't help thinking the rolls were light in the meat department. Thankfully Mint charges a modest price of only $4 for two rolls, so in this case I really shouldn't complain.

After ordering another cafe sua da (yep, I'm addicted), our entrees arrived. Lorin opted for a "Pho Mint Combo" with NY strip, brisket and meatball while I chose their Crispy Hen. I didn't try Lorin's pho, but it sure smelled delightful and she said as much when I asked her how it was. My Crispy Hen was absolutely fabulous, a half of a small hen deep fried and seasoned with a house honey-mustard-type sauce that completely blew me away.

What surprised me the most is that I rarely order chicken when I go out to eat (unless I'm going to a fried chicken or wing joint), because I always have chicken at home. All I can say is that I am glad I didn't skip the chicken dish this time, because it was wonderful and by the end of lunch, I was practically gnawing on the bones. The Crispy Chicken was served with a small, fresh salad drizzled with a simple vinaigrette and a mound of sticky rice topped with a fried, over-easy egg. There was nothing left on my plate but a few chicken bones. I can't wait to get back over there and try the pho...