The last time we were in Palo Alto, about six years ago, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Xahn. I was too young to appreciate good food, but my parents were very impressed. They said it was the best Vietnamese they had ever had.When we returned there, sadly, I was still underwhelmed. That isn’t to say it wasn’t good, but, well, it was no Fish Sauce. The beef noodle salad was fresh, but lacked the distinct flavors of the lemongrass beef at our favorite Portland restaurant, and the duck we had was downright boring, although it was presented nicely.
We had better luck at the second Vietnamese restaurant we tried. Tamarin, just a few blocks away from Xahn, had five-spice braised beef that literally fell apart when I tried to pick it up with chopsticks. The spices did nothing to mask the beef flavor itself, only enhanced it.