Rice & Spoon Vietnamese

Sometimes, even on vacay, I don't want to be too creative and travel far for food.  Yes, that is right, I get lazy and want to do something convenient, cheap and somewhat healthy.  That is why we ended up at Rice & Spoon Vietnamese in Newark.  Just a few minutes away from our hotel, it required very little effort and for once, very little money.  When we first arrived, we thought we had to order on the tablet at the counter, but in the end, the nice man came to take our order.

Initially, we were suppose to have all 5 of us (including my mom) go eat here but my son wasn't feeling well.  He seemed pretty well when we got come In-N-Out of him...  Suspicious...  Anyways, we started with the Double Decker Spring Rolls.  These were essentially a spring roll wrapped in a salad roll.  I've had something similar before and I feel this is the best way to go.  Normally, one would wrap a spring roll in lettuce anyways, so adding rice paper to hold it altogether made it easier to eat.  This was good where the wheat wrapper was crispy and the rice paper had a nice chew.  Only thing that could've been better was the filling as it ended up being dense.

Viv went for her ol' standby being the Pho Tái Bò Viên.  As its name suggests, there was beef meatballs and rare beef sitting in the hot broth.  The beef was fairly tender while the meatballs were at their bouncy best.  The broth was decently meaty with it bordering on being salty (without it going over).  Could pick out some sweetness as well as some charred onion vibes.  The amount of noodles was modest and cooked perfectly where it was al dente and not clumpy.

For my daughter, she also went for her usual in the Phở Gà.  Personally, this would never be my choice as the Phở Dặc Biệt ticks more boxes.  But I get it, she doesn't like the tendon and tripe...  So this version featured a clean and clear soup.  It was mild and sweet where the addition of fried garlic provided aromatics.  The noodles were just as good as the previous bowl being chewy.  There was a good amount of chicken breast which was not dry, but not juicy either.

For my mom, she had the  Bún Riêu which was loaded with noodles.  Unlike many other versions, the pork and crab meatballs were firm and not loose.  There was the usual tomato, prawns and tofu though.  In terms of the broth, this is where it got somewhat controversial.  She really didn't enjoy it since it was considerably more briny and fishy than usual.  But for me, I love it when it is more briny as that is the point of this dish.  However, I can also see how some people might feel otherwise.

Since my son wasn't with us, I represented him by ordering the Grilled Chicken with rice and fried egg.  Yes, it is his favorite Vietnamese dish but this one was lacking in char.  Despite that, the meat was still juicy and tender with enough marinade so we had some salty, briny sweetness.  Overall, the food at Rice & Spoon was serviceable and inexpensive.  The guy behind the counter was super nice and helpful.  Good option in the area.

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Competent food

- Generous portions

The Bad:

- Competent, but there is better