Wednesday, March 5, 2008

It's Purple! - Monkey Bridge is Now Open

After a few months of setup in the former pharmacy location at 1723 NW Market, Monkey Bridge Vietnamese Cuisine opened today. It will probably be another couple of days before they're serving beer and wine since liquor license applications have been backed up. It sounds like a lot of permits have been slow going for new restaurants and bars lately. This family run business had hoped to open in January but just got through some of the final hurdles.
We stopped in for a quick bite today and would have lingered longer if the wine had been available. The decor and the staff were both welcoming and the couple of dishes we tried were very flavorful. What can you expect to find? If you're looking for Phở, they offer several options (including vegetarian) in a more comfortable atmosphere than other neighborhood spots. They also offer Bánh mì sandwiches, several salads and a range of noodle and rice based dishes like Ginger Chicken, Lemongrass Tofu, and Vietnamese Rhubarb and Beef.
Their dinner special entrees featured salmon and sea bass and looked like they'd be worth a splurge (in the $15 range) on a night when I'm hungrier. Most of the other menu options cost between four and eight dollars.
Besides the atmosphere and great prices, I was impressed by the descriptions on the menu, particularly the fact that all the soups actually specified what type of broth they contained. This is rare and really helpful for picky eaters like myself who avoid the chicken and beef ones.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw their big sign today as I grabbed lunch across the street at Skillet! Did you know the airstream is behind the Old Peculiar every Thursday?? I was so happy I screamed! Monkey Bridge looks pretty cool. More food in Ballard. YAHOO!

Anonymous said...

Great Restaraunt! I work accross the street at the Jeremy Olson Allstate agency and the woman that took my order said that she would be happy to run an order accross the street anytime I am too busy. How cool is that? Try the fried bananas with coconut milk, you will dream about them at night.

LittleNorwegian said...

I had lunch here this week. While my food came out in a reasonable amount of time, my companions was a solid 30 minutes after. The food was good; the service friendly but inefficient.

Anonymous said...

Went there for lunch today and the food was great and reasonably priced. I had the Monkey Bridge Special and it was very good, but the baguette sandwich across the table looked even better. Maybe next time. We are planning on making this one of regular spots.