beef | Page 6 of 12 | Mass Food & Wine

Dalat has been serving up Vietnamese food for a long time in this quiet store front location on Park Ave in Worcester. The restaurant is quiet plain on the inside offering about dozen tables for dining. Dalat offers about 100 different dinner options from very safe to very unusual. After perusing the menu I opted for a rather conservative choice of Bo Xao Bap Non or Beef with sautéed baby corn, onion, red and green peppers.

My meal was a well prepared dish of sliced beef and mixed vegetables in a simple and fresh tasting brown sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly and the vegetables still had a crisp fresh taste to them. The meal was served with white rice and was a moderate size portion. While I have no objections to my meal, its quality or value I found it rather forgettable. The meal seemed to need a little spice, seasoning, or sizzle.

Dalat was a good value, offered clean fresh tasting food, and an extensive menu full of choices, yet I left felling that it was missing something. In my opinion it seemed to lack some personality or sizzle for both the food and the venue. Overall, Dalat is a restaurant that I would have no problem going back to but it would not pop into my mind as a place that is a “must go back to.”

Bo Xao Bong Cai Xanh from Dalat on Park Avenue in Worcester, MA

It’s disappointing that when most people think about Vietnamese food they immediately think of phở. Well, I should clarify, I’ve disappointed myself in so strictly associating Vietnamese restaurants with phở (but, in my defense, most restaurants have it in their name). That’s where Dalat Restaurant comes into the mix. Located across from the firehouse on Park Avenue, this Vietnamese restaurant is tucked away in a small, unassuming storefront nestled between a barber shop and foot massage parlor. Admittedly, many Worcester diners would opt for more active spots like Pho Dakao where, on weekend nights, a young active crowd is found singing karaoke with tasty libations in hand. But this helps keep Dalat real.

Upon entering the restaurant, you find a large open space with a dozen or so tables sparsely decorated (table cloth, fork, chopsticks, and napkin). Towards the rear is a counter where you can place your to-go orders and also pay once you’ve completed your meal. Next to the counter is a table with small television set where you’ll typically find some of the restaurants family members sitting. The atmosphere is great.

The menu, which contains over 100 items (of which the charming waitress had numerically memorized) from the common Vietnamese items like phở to the exotic items like pigs feet and blood. For my dinner, I chose to stay safe with the Bo Xao Bong Cai Xanh (beef with broccoli, for those who speak American-Chinese food). The meal consisted of thinly sliced beef, broccoli, white onions, and a sauce that combined sweet with spicy (just a hint) with undertones of soy, vinegar, garlic, and spices that complimented the thin meat and vegetables. The sticky white rice was the perfect accompaniment to the meal by helping savor the flavors of the sauce and make a more formidable bite with the beef and broccoli.

Yes, I may have skipped out on the exotic options but, knowing the beef with broccoli satisfied my needs, my next visit I may have to venture beyond my comfort zone.