Di An Di — Restaurant in New York

First off, the food was okay but in my opinion, not worth the price. My friend and I ordered spring rolls, beef pho, rare beef salad (Bo tai chanh), roast chicken with rice (com chay ga nuong), Vietnamese iced coffee, and house made lychee soda.

The spring rolls cost $15 but you only get 3 spring rolls. They are not unique and definitely not worth $5 a piece. The outside layer is slightly crispy but chewy as well which was strange to me because I’ve been to many Vietnamese restaurants and none of their spring rolls are like that. The inside filling is okay but somewhat mushy. The beef pho did not have traditional pho noodles that I was used to but that’s ok. The only thing is I would say the broth does not have that much depth in flavor. It also has Thai chilis which are quite spicy. Not very traditional but also not that bad. The sauces they provide for this taste good. The rare beef salad was the worst item we ordered. The flavor was so strange and hard to stomach. The beef itself was okay but that combination of kumquats with the fishy sauce (mam nem) was horrible. They did not list the fruit as an ingredient on the menu so we were not expecting it. I would say this is a horrible attempt at creating some sort of fusion “fine-dining” dish. The roast chicken with rice was recommended by the waitress but it was very lackluster. The chicken was bland and did not have the smoky flavor from roasting it. We were disappointed that we spent $28 on this. The drinks were also overpriced and had large portions of ice in them. The Vietnamese iced coffee was $8 for a small cup mostly filled with ice which was also the case for the soda that was $7. In general, I would say this restaurant is more like fusion Vietnamese food as their dishes are different from those of the traditional Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to. They try hard to market themselves as fine dining by experimenting with the food but sometimes the flavor combinations are distasteful.

Second, the service was nothing spectacular. Our server had somewhat of a frown on her face and looked like she did not want to be there. After taking our orders and bringing our appetizers, she ignored us and did not approach us again until our main dishes were ready which was about 25 min after finishing our appetizers. We were finished with our appetizers and sitting so long waiting for the two other dishes we ordered that another customer told me he thought we were finished with all our food and were waiting for the check. We waited so long that two parties that came after us got their pho before we did and one of them were almost finished with their meal entirely before we got ours. The waitress did not ask us if we wanted to have our mains served after finishing appetizers so we were very confused. And when I tried to get the waitress’s attention, she made eye contact with me and proceeded to continue walking away ignoring me. As a waitress, aren’t you supposed to check in with customers? This happened more than once which makes me think she told the kitchen to prepare our order too late and instead of communicating with us properly she chose to ignore us. When paying for the check, the lowest tip option they have is 20% going up to 25%. What is it with all these restaurants upping all the tip options for the same bare minimum service? I calculated my own tip because I was not going to pay a fifth of the bill as tip for mediocre service. The decor is nice and so is the atmosphere but I wouldn’t go again. Interesting enough, another party that sat near us left right after looking at the menu and receiving...

Di An Di is a bright air well designed restaurant in Greenpoint (not the easiest to get to from the city btw) The glass enclosed kitchen, hanging plants and sun lit skylights gives it an open airy feel. Seating is comfortable without squeezing people in. The service is really friendly and welcoming. Our server was bubbly and easy going. They got that down solid. It was enjoyable from the moment you enter the restaurant.

With reservations, our table was ready when we arrived. I don't know if it was luck but certainly nice. Growing up in the NoVa area, you can get really good Vietnamese food plus mom's cooking kind of spoils you so those are hard footsteps to follow.

Di An Di's menu has some of the Vietnamese staples and some that don't appear on even some just because it tends to be more complicated/harder to make (Bun Bo Hue and Banh Xeo). We started with the Cha Gio( Fried spring roll), shared the Banh Xeo and went with the Pho Dac Biet & Bun Bo Hue. It think sometimes you got to have the basics down first before you start to 'innovate.' Another staple of Vietnamese cuisine is the spicy fish dipping sauce that is like ketchup for the Western world. it comes with a lot of dishes. That can make or break a restaurant (its all about the sauce). Unfortunately, here it is just a very weak diluted fish sauce without any flavor or umami, even after adding some hot pepper.

The Cha Gio came with the right stuff...it had a nice crispy shell, lettuce to wrap it with. Dipping sauce. The filling seemed right but yet it had no color. It was this anemic white crunchy fried roll. It should have a nice golden color, crispy exterior in contrast to the filling inside. The Banh Xeo looked more like an Indian dosa but again the everything was there...the crispy shell, the shrimp and pork filling....lettuce to wrap it but it lacked the coconut and turmeric bubbly shell flavor. Let's say when you say Pho Dac Biet, any Vietnamese person knows that it comes with everything and for $15 is pretty expensive considering people think $8.59 for a large is considered pricey (in NoVa). It came with a measly small bowl of herbs...I mean small...one basil leaf, one lime wedge and some bean sprouts. Pho is all about the broth. Sadly, it was pretty bland, lacked the vibrant flavor of star anise, cloves, cinnamon,cloves or beef stock. All these comfort smell when I think of Pho.

To my surprise the one dish that really was the most true to flavor was the Bun Bo Hue and closest to a dish I'm familiar with. It was spicy, warm, full of lemongrass and come with a thick udon like noodles. This is usually overlooked by most people in favor for Pho.

Di An Di is as my friend stated, is a Vietnamese restaurant for millennials. The food is presented in bland enough way not to scare them but associates familiar monikers like Vietnamese 'pizza' and vegan options because it is trendy. I'm

conflicted with Di An Di. On the one hand I always welcome a new Vietnamese restaurant to NYC but on the other hand I always come out a little bit...

Being my 1st time here, met most of the staff including the lovely partner of the restaurant. She was very inviting and would have to return to try more items on the menu. It was a nice dining experience. People should stop by for the dining. They prepare the foods to be nothing you would get in a bland restaurant. The foods are soft, hard, spicy, not spicy, fluid, and just interesting with all types of flavors!! You can really have fun with their menu.

My experience was definitely enhanced because of our waitress, Jade. She is amazing. She knows the menu well. She was even able to extract what I was in the mood to drink. It happened to be a Mezcal based smooth drink, which i believe was called cold smoke. I enjoyed it. It had the hint of smoky flavor from the mezcal but was so smooth in flavor. Wish I was not driving to have many more of it.

For food, my friend wanted me to have a wide experience. Started with the wings, then Rice Paper Salad, afterward, got the papaya salad, rice cake omelet, pork and beef cuon. Now, 1 thing I noticed, they prepare the food with subtlety. The wings were perfectly prepared with the pickled onions, which were not overly pickled. The papaya salad, which is heavily pickled in most Thai restaurants, was subtle, and you can finally taste the papaya vs. overwhelming vinegar. Rice cake omelet was lightly seasoned not to hide the base flavors. Finally, the cuon uses a Rice Paper "taco" which you dip in a warm water bath to soften. If you dip it too long, it will become too soft and transparent. You dip enough where you can add all the ingredients in the dish to make the taco. Love the concept.

The only challenge is finding parking if you drive. Otherwise, better to Uber or other modes of transport. This place fills up as the evening continues. Of I were anyone, I would start coming here before the place begins to have 2 hour wait times to dine. Definitely a place to return to...