[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]

It's easy to write off Viet Café in Tribeca as a trendy, overpriced Vietnamese restaurant where a bowl of pho runs $12. Especially when Chinatown and $6 pho is a short walk away. But the food at Viet Café is quite solid and there's one dish in particular I often revisit for lunch: thit bo khoai tay. Or rather, Vietnamese Steak Frites. The regular portion of this entree is a pricey $22, but you're best off with a slightly smaller, lunch-appropriate portion for $15. Hand-cut fries, thick and liberally salted, serve as a base for the sliced steak, a saucy and succulent indulgence marinated in a mix of garlic, nuoc nam, soy sauce and sugar. The best part is when the steak juices and fat drip onto the fries and seep though the potato surface. A squeeze of sriracha and no regrets. The entrée comes with a side of watercress salad, a crisp, if not bitter buffer to the indulgent lunch. Finish the meal on a light note, with a glass of iced Vietnamese coffee.

Viet Cafe

345 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
212-431-5888
viet-cafe.com