Disclaimer: This is an independent review, I paid for my food and drinks
In Portland, which I visited last year, food trucks are everywhere and giving the opportunity to young chefs to test the ground and make themselves a reputation before they commit to signing a lease that they can't really afford when they're starting off. Will red tape regulations ever be lifted to allow the development of street food in Dublin? I seriously hope so.
Milly Murphy and Alex Gurnee from Vietnom found a clever way to sell street food from their food truck by parking it in an unexpected location: the beer Garden of the Glimmer Man pub in Stoneybatter. I made the mistake of entering the pub via the lounge and felt like I was awkwardly stepping into a different world, in which Irish men were all staring at a TV screen while enjoying their afternoon pints. Oops. Past the lounge (or if you use the correct entrance) there's a very spacious bar area clustered with random objects but which made you feel in a 'real' Irish pub. The beer garden is quite something, with half a car stuck to a wall, a table made out of a Vespa and eclectic furniture all around.
And then, there's a rather cute red truck which you'll find at the back on Thursdays and Fridays from 5.30pm to 10.30pm, Saturdays from 3pm to 10.30pm and Sundays from 3pm to 8.30pm. Besides having a great name, Vietnom serves some seriously tasty vegetarian grub inspired by Vietnamese street food and using organic ingredients whenever possible. The menu changes regularly and features items priced at €7 and €8.
The Teriyaki paneer banh mi (€8) is a tasty adaption of the famous Vietnamese meat and vegetable sandwich that comes in a baguette. The paneer cheese was soft and not rubbery at all, encased in a fresh sourdough baguette with crunchy organic leaves from Mc Nally's farm, spring onions, grated carrots and just the right amount of sriracha aioli. I'm was very satisfied even without the meat and so happy to finally see a place not using industrially made baguettes for a banh mi.
The highlight of the meal though is a not-so-Vietnamese but incredibly good 'tostada (€7)'. It's all about fusion food after all: a giant crispy rice cracker (I believe) topped with spiced organic potatoes and rainbow chard, red chilli, picked red onion, fresh coriander, spring onion, coriander and sesame seeds. Once again, the combination of fresh quality ingredients makes all the difference, it's vibrant and so punchy that I kept saying how good it was at each bite.
We also had the pleasant company of Layla, a friendly dog who belongs to Vietnom's owners and was hanging around the beer garden.
Washed down with a Dublin red by Irishtown Brewing Co. and blessed with intermittent burst of Dublin sunshine, this €15 feed (not including drinks) shared with Mr. FFID made me want to go back for more.
Vietnom
The Glimmer Man
14 Stoneybatter
Dublin 7
Vietnom's website
