Thirsty Thursday: Luc Lac

I have a new favorite happiest hour. There’s a new Vietnamese restaurant, Luc Lac, near my office. Everything I had heard was outstanding. Then by chance I met the bartender at an event. Just one more reason to check this place out.

The space is open and the decor is great. Whenever I walk by on my lunch there’s always a line. I had some trepidation going for happy hour on a Friday. But, I walked in and grabbed a table with the greatest of ease. And a table for 6 to boot! Should I be concerned that it is this empty?

Happy hour stayed sorta quiet. That may be because it was spring break, but I’ll never stray from this place. All the dishes on the happy hour menu were $2 and $3 and just about everything we had was great!

The signature dish Luc Lac, seared beef with greens was divine. We ordered several of those. I had the pork and shrimp salad rolls and could have easily eaten a few more. There was a repeat order of meat skewers and cream cheese wontons. The only thing I had that wasn’t worthy of a reorder was the sugarcane shrimp. Not terrible, just not great.

My drink was worthy of an Oscar. I had the O Mai with gin, ginger syrup, lemon and herbsaint. I’d been playing with some of the same flavors at home, but this may be my summer cocktail.

If you are downtown and need a snack or a meal, this is a great place to check out. The woman at the table next to us said it was the best Pho (pronounced phuh) she has ever had. She confessed it was her 6th time there this week. If you stop in tell Lacy I said hello.