Pagolac

We decided to eat at Pagolac in Westminster last night since we needed to do some kind of celebration for our 9 year wedding anniversary.  We've been so busy that we never found the time to plan a vacation.

We used to eat here back when we were dating (I guess that would be about 15 years ago).  The place is not quite as I remember it.  The interior feels much cleaner but the food is not as good.  Although I did enjoy Bo La Lot a whole La La LOT. :-)

They had no rice or noodles.  I forgot about that.  I'm still getting used to my new-found knowledge of the differences between North and South Vietnam cooking.  I was told Pagolac is North.  What I noticed was the lack of Nuoc Cham, rice and noodles.  They had a pungent shrimp based sauce which I've had before and never quite grown a liking to.  It tastes okay but the smell ... oh the smell!

I also ordered some kind of meatball like pork which was still pink inside.  I gave it the benefit of the doubt that it might have been some kind of coloring and gave it a taste.  Nope! Uncooked. You can't do that to pork ... what were they thinking?  Also, the wax for the grill spilled on our table upon delivery burning the paper place mats. Oy!  That's gotta be some kind of violation.  I couldn't move my children far enough since the tables were pretty small.

It did feel light though ... there were hardly any carbs except for the rice paper and I managed to skip that.  Overall I would recommend the place for the experience of grilling your own food and possibly cooking meat in vinegar broth.  As far as the food goes, there was nothing special about it that you couldn't find anywhere else in Westminster for half the price.