We walked into Tre on a Wednesday night looking for a quick bite to eat. I had assumed that this was a self serve restaurant by the menu behind the counter. This assumption was wrong for dinner time it is a sit down restaurant. Tre is in a small strip mall, the décor is nice it has high ceilings giving it an urban feel. I want to start off by saying I have never dined at a Vietnamese restaurant. We were seated in a booth and the hostess brought us water. Our waiter had an immense knowledge of the menu and gave suggestions of what we should order if we were first time diners. He suggested we both order pho which I have heard about on many occasions in books and television. I also saw on the menu a sandwich that had my interest for some time. It is called bahn mi it is a pork sandwich with ham, pate and some fresh veggies. The waiter gave us a few minutes to look over the menu.
My girlfriend ordered first she decided on the lemongrass stir fried chicken. The waiter described this as a good choice because it possessed sweet, salty, and spicy. I opted for the beef pho as he suggested this was a better choice than the meatball pho. To splurge we ordered a bahn mi to split. The sandwich came out first it was on a fresh baguette. The baguette was flaky and tasted like what you would expect at a French restaurant. This is to be expected with the heavy French influence in Vietnam. The sandwich was accompanied by hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce. The sandwich was topped with fresh jalapeno, cucumber, carrot and cilantro. It had a nice texture I liked the fresh veggies, the meat was mediocre at best. I would not order the sandwich again but you live and learn.
After a few minutes had passed our entrees came out. Her entrée came with a side of garlic fried rice. My pho was accompanied with some basil, jalapenos, bean sprouts and a few other items. The broth in the pho was a beef broth with a medley of Asian spices that gave it an almost Thai curry like flavor. It was packed full of flavor. The beef was sliced paper thin and had a roast beef consistency to it. Overall, the dish was solid I would order it again but probably in the winter time.
The lemongrass chicken is a different story. This dish did hit all of the flavors the waiter described. To be honest usually lemongrass is not a flavor I enjoy but this dish used it in a subtle way. The chicken had a crisp texture and almost tasted like the texture of a good sesame chicken. However, the chicken was not battered. It was well trimmed white meat chicken which is important to me in ordering chicken dishes. Being someone who loves spicy food I could have had more of this flavor in particular but most people do not share my love of all things hot. The fried rice was mediocre but I did appreciate the hints of garlic mixed throughout. Overall, the food was above average. I would give the food 3 out of 5 stars, to let you know there has never been a restaurant where I have dined that gets a 5.
However, though the food was pretty good the service at Tre was unacceptable. The waiter was a solid waiter he knew the menu and expressed his knowledge well. My grievance is with the American hostess and a middle-aged woman that may have owned the restaurant. The girl who provided water looked to be younger and inexperienced. Her job was to seat people and provides water. She did little else and I doubt that is her fault. The middle-aged woman stood behind the counter and acted as sort of an expo for the food. We sat at the table for more than half our dining experience with the same empty water glasses. This became an issue when I needed water to clear my palate from a slice of jalapeno in the pho. Finally we flagged down the hostess who provided more water. After waiting for about 15 minutes for the check my girlfriend asked the owner for the check and a to-go container. After another 5 minutes the waiter brought our check. The owner must have thought the task was beneath her. Our waiter was handling about 6 tables including a table of about 7. He was clearly scrambling to stay out of the weeds. The hostess should be assisting with the beverages and running food as it is up in the window. The owner needed to be working the restaurant and asking for feedback. Also if a table wants the check the owner should provide it. I will more than likely go back to this restaurant but it will be during lunch time when I can wait on myself.
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