Lugar: Vietnamese AND Taiwanese tapas
Yesterday, I posted 8 Songs’ review of Lugar. Here’s my take on the same spot based on a late September visit.
Lugar is usually billed as serving Vietnamese food, but I went because I heard the place does some mean Taiwanese dishes. A thumb up for the deep-fried combo, which had “three-level meat” (skin, fat, and meat), sweet potatoes, string beans, breaded chicken, and shrimp balls. Another thumb up for the Taiwanese sausage plate, a pungent and powerful dish with ample spices, garlic stems, and sliced chili.
Less enthusiasm for the squid with rice wine, which I found a bit rubbery though creative (the stuffing included carrot, pork, and rice noodles), and for the tofu roll, which had mushrooms, vegetables, and other ingredients, but a too-thick wrapper.
These foods would go perfectly with Taiwan draft, the version that comes in the big green bottles, but given that stuff has a shelf life of two to three weeks, we are unlikely to ever get it in Beijing. So, my friend PW and I settled on cocktails. She had a refreshing house special that included lemongrass, rum, mint, and soda water – call it a Mojito with more zing. I tried the Oriental Bourbon, with ginger, lemon, and orange, and found it OK, though next time I would stick for straight Bourbon, especially given that Lugar stocks about 100 different Whiskeys. The owner is also making some infused rums.
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