Le Dalat – worth waiting for

Le Dalat opened around 40 years ago and so one might wonder why it took us so long to visit this charming Vietnamese restaurant located toward the end of Soi 23. We can wonder no longer.
 
We assembled in the cosy bar area where we sipped NV Valentin Zusslin Crémant d’Alsace Rosé, a refreshing crisp fizzy that is the second-most popular sparkling wine in France, trailing only Champagne.
 
Moving to the private room we found an assortment of starters comprising Crab Meat Flute, Beef Betel Leaf, Crunchy Rice Cake, and Summer Roll. Vietnamese cuisine includes much green vegetable and food spokesman Jake Meerman praised the generous assortment he found along with certain of the sauces, rapidly consumed by foodies opposite.
 
Your author was having “a senior moment” so not all the starters were captured by the lens but I did enjoy each of the dishes. They were served with Zillinger Weissburgunder Reflexion 2016 (Austria) acclaimed by Danny Arn, our erudite wine spokesman of the day, and excellent value for money. It again was crisp, and bright yellow and spicy.

Fisherman’s Sweet and Sour Soup came next. Jake found the dish less hot than he would have wished but commended the fish itself, fresh and well cooked.
 
Cha Ca - Hanoi Sizzling Red Snapper Plate “was different” said Jake; a little difficult for us farangs to consume with panache though, once one had mastered a suitable technique, it was certainly nice to eat.
 
It came with Denogent St. Veran 2014 (France); the nose is buttery with floral notes which blossomed into yellow plums and apples on the palate and I found it to be my wine of choice of the day though served a little too cold to bring out the full range of flavours.

Braised Pork with Rice Noodles and Vegetables followed. This was Jake’s dish of the day; perhaps a little too sweet but very tender and with a nice assembly of vegetables. The accompanying Cherubino Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (West Australia) perhaps proved how difficult it is to serve wines with Asian food though Danny did an excellent job of describing the wine; although medium bodied, it has depth, power and gentleness. The finish is long and persistent.
 
Indochine Beef Stew with Saffron Rice and French Baguette again found to be a little too sweet for some but very flavoursome.
 
Jake was delighted by his Banana Fritter with Ice Cream but left Thomas Nowak to describe the assorted cheeses that Thomas had donated big-heartedly to the diners.
 
It came with Feudo Maccari Saia Nero d’Avola 2015 (Sicily). This is a well-structured, full-bodied, heavy tannins wine, which most agreed was enjoyable though young.
 
After coffee, we were left with the pleasant task of thanking Alan Rankin for his generous donation of Glenmorangie Malt in celebration of his birthday and asking him to show our gratitude to the team at Le Dalat which had done an excellent job for us.
 
Le Dalat. 57 Soi Prasarnmitr,
Sukhumvit 23.
Tel. 02-259-9593
Email: ledalat@ledalatbkk.com