Michael Eats Oregon - Silk by Pho Van

The day I was to leave the sunny west coast I spent in the Pearl District of the city of Portland. Needing something delicious for dinner that wouldn’t sit too heavily in my stomach on the return flight, I opted for the Asian end of the cuisine spectrum. Having come across Silk, a Vietnamese restaurant, one night earlier in the week I was eager to try the items on their menu.

The restaurant is beautiful in design, sporting walls carved in a wavelike fashion that are up lit so as to provide the most dramatic effect. The floor is dark wood, which gives an austere quality to the space. After being sat, we were present with beautifully bound menus containing both your general Vietnamese far and assorted specialties of the house. I chose to go with traditional fare of spring rolls for an appetizer and a chicken soup, served with vermicelli noodles and sides of hoisin sauce, hot sauce, lime, basil, and bean sprouts. My dinner companions went a bit more outlandish, having the crispy spring rolls as an appetizer and jumbo prawns in a bird’s nest for their entrée. As we had all consumed much too much alcohol the day before we opted out of the extensive, and fascinating, bar menu and chose instead to go for their more refreshing smoothies and teas. All in all, we ended up taking a mango smoothie, avocado smoothie, and mango infused black iced tea.

I was a little distressed to find that my iced tea came in a very small glass; however, as I was soon to find out, the refills were free and prompt; a waiter came around periodically to top off my deliciously refreshing concoction. The food was absolutely to die for! Firstly, my soup was huge, and the noodle to chicken ratio was perfectly balanced. While I cannot say for myself (having filled up entirely on my giant soup), my friends informed me that their dishes were delicious. The prawns certainly looked amazing, glowing bright orange on top of a crunchy bird’s nest of fried noodles.

The best was to yet to come…we asked for a dessert menu and were informed that there was no permanent dessert menu but the waiter could inform us of the desserts for the day. The day’s offering was a fruit infused crème brulee and banana bread soaked in coconut milk with tapioca. So as not to miss any of the fun we decided to order both and split them. Both were beautifully presented on brightly colored plate. Each held an absolutely fantastic flavor; the crème brulee just bursting with fruit and the banana bread, warmed to perfection, melted in the mouth leaving your tongue satisfied and happy. I have never had a banana bread that had such a dense flavor, but felt so light in my mouth.

After all was said an done the bill came to about $115, which is not so bad for four people enjoying full meals, appetizers and dessert included, though I think I would have been a bit scared to see what the bill would come to if we had opted for alcoholic drinks. Silk was definitely an enjoyable and classy place to spend an evening; I highly recommend it.