September 15th 2014: Dinners in the Cleveland Circle Area

Today after work, I had a meetup dinner to go to at Sa Pa, a modern Vietnamese restaurant located in the Cleveland Circle area of Boston.

I was over an hour early, so I decided to walk around the area for a bit, choosing to stop at the Eagle's Deli and Restaurant a few doors down for a quick bite. This fast food burger place was actually showcased by Man Vs Food once for their Eagle's Challenge, which consists of 6 lbs of burger, 24 pieces of bacon, 24 pieces of American cheese, 5 lbs of fries and 1 deli pickle. I decided to just go with the Border Burger (Lettuce, jalapenos, avocado, and cheddar cheese, topped with onion rings),

which wasn't too bad, although I've had better.

Sa Pa itself is like a Starbucks as well, where one has to go up to the counter to place one's order and then collect it from the other side when it's done. My friend informed us about a coupon for a free bowl/sandwich/burrito, which we all gladly got. On my side, I decided to get the Beef Vermicelli Noodle Bowl with Chili Fish Sauce, and a bowl of Pho Noodle Soup (24 hour simmered soup broth with  Beef Broth & Slow Braised Beef),

while my friend got the Banh Mi Sandwich (Pickled carrots and daikon, mushroom and walnut pate spread, cucumber, cilantro, house made miso or spicy mayonnaise, served on a toasted baguette with slow braised beef), Hue's Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls.

I have to say, this has to be one of the worst meals I have had to date. The soup tasted horrible, while the spring rolls all stuck to one another. Even the eggrolls had bits of bone in it. My noodle bowl was okay with the fish sauce, but it definitely needed a lot more sauce. I don't even know how they have their flagship store in downtown Boston.

At least the company was good.