(City Weekend)
Updated: 2008-01-18 10:07

If you think Vietnamese food equals "Pho," think otherwise before going to Golden Bull. It is a Vietnamese restaurant emulating the northern region where the cuisine is influenced by South China, differing from what we think of as typical Vietnamese cuisine which is actually South Vietnamese–fresh herbs, soups and fresh spring rolls.

We started with the assorted meat platter (RMB150) which included spring rolls, shrimp balls on stick and pork kebabs served with a satay-hoisin dipping sauce. The shrimp balls had too much flour and spring rolls were lacking in fresh herbs. The roasted duck on prawn crackers (RMB30) was enjoyable yet required some herbs to balance the flavors. The curry chicken in hot pot (RMB42) and the too-sweet duck ? l'orange (RMB45) were tender but their sauces too thick, preventing us from fully appreciating the whole dish. To replace rice, we had French bread, but the excess of butter and garlic killed the flavor of the above dishes.

Nevertheless, we were delighted with the steamed pork meat rolls with Vietnamese coldcuts (RMB24), green vegetables sauteed with dry shrimp in fish sauce (RMB32) and the young coconut pudding (RMB22) as they provided a more authentic North Vietnamese taste.

Golden Bull
Add: 1-2/F, 1 Xiangyang Bei Lu
Tel: 021-5404-2180