Thang Long Cuisine: Comforting, Tasty Vietnamese Food in Montavilla (Review)

Bún chả at Thang Long Cuisine in Montavilla. — Bún chả, a classic Vietnamese dish, at Thang Long Cuisine

Last month I was invited by Jacob Loeb, publisher of the Montavilla News, to do a tasting at Thang Long Cuisine, a Vietnamese restaurant on SE Division in Montavilla. It’s in good company there at the bottom edge of the neighborhood, what with Master Kong and the very popular Mojo Crepes as its neighbors. The space that holds Thang Long Cuisine used to be home to Thai Fresh.

The tasting was a good experience—very tasty food, a refreshing N/A drink featuring mint and lime, good conversation, and I even had some leftovers (which were just as tasty the next day). We published the review over on the Montavilla News site, complete with photos of the space and food.

As I say in the review, we felt fortunate that mama Thuy was cooking for us that afternoon. Minh, her son and the other operator of the restaurant, was on hand to answer any questions and chatted us up on the regular.

Some Favorites: Square Crab Spring Roll

One of my favorite things I ate during this meal was the square crab spring roll. From the article:

“This spring roll is a specialty of Hai Phong city (a port city in northern Vietnam). Normally, you’ll see it served alongside Bún chả. I love its square shape and how visually different it is from the more common tube shape.

“It was wonderfully crispy (the skin is made with a rice wrapper, not a wheat-based wrapper), and contained a filling of mostly-smooth ground crab (real crab, not surimi) that did not have any overly bright or herbal flavors in it (traditionally it includes shrimp, too). The filling flavor was warm and mellow, no spiciness, savory but not salty. It is very much a kind of comfort food.

“I enjoyed the texture—both the filling and exterior. The crispness due to the rice paper fried in hot oil is super appealing, both texturally and aurally, especially when you first bite into it. The only drawback was that it was a little oily on the side sitting on the plate, but that did not stop me from eating both pieces, happily.”

Another Favorite: Bún chả’s Pork Patty

One thing I keep thinking about is the ground pork patty in the Bún chả. As I say in the review, it was “porky, warm, and rich with a kind of meatiness that is deeply satisfying. Frankly, I could eat them every day.”

So head on over to the Montavilla News site for the review of Thang Long Cuisine. I look forward to stopping in again to try their variety of dumplings.

Thang Long Cuisine – Vietnamese Food You Want To Eat [Montavilla News]

Thang Long Cuisine
8409 SE Division Street, Portland
thanglongcuisine.com | Instagram