Restaurant: Little Sister
Location: 523 W 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017. (213) 628-3146
Date: October 27, 2016
Cuisine: Modern Vietnamese
Rating: Tasty
As I mentioned in my review of Simbal LA seems to be developing a strong Vietnamese “trend.”
Little Sister is a fairly casual downtown Vietnamese “pub.”
grilled prawns, cabbage mix, mango, cucumber, onion, cashews, lemongrass-cilantro dressing. One of those “typical” Vietnamese salads with the shredded vegetables and the bright sweet sauce.
goi cuon ‘fresh spring roll’ with shrimp & pork, dipping sauce. Also a very typical Vietnamese dish. Not usually my favorite here in the states, although in Vietnam itself they had a more intense flavor. These were pretty good. They did have an interesting crunchy bit in there.
‘ga xao xa ot’ spicy lemongrass chicken, fried garlic & dried chilies. Very fried but the sauce, although super salty, was to die for. Really nice tangy/sweet/salty sauce.
shaky shaky beef, watercress, baby tomatoes, burnt butter soy with tomato garlic fried rice. The Little Sister version of the classic “shaken” or “French” beef. Not bad. Meat was a little chewier than I might have liked.
saigon lemongrass beef, vermicelli noodle, herbs, cucumbers, chili-lime dressing. Also another great dish. The beef had a lot of flavor.
Overall, Little Sister had good strong flavors and was quite tasty. I liked the pubby atmosphere too. Basically classic Vietnamese food with prettier plating and better menu descriptions. I didn’t really see anything “reinvented” substantially. Kitchen execution was fine, but not superlative. I mean, it’s Vietnamese flavors, so that gets you pretty far, but things weren’t perfectly on point. And really really salty. Still, I’d definitely go back because I love a flavor punch.