Hard to Choose and Hard to Go Wrong

The tortilla may have been invented in Mexico, but the burritos and soft tacos that are created whenever one of these flat, savory breads is wrapped around the chosen filling are just variations on a theme popular in many cuisines.

The Vietnamese approach goes one step further by wrapping the bundle in a lettuce leaf. In Vietnamese cookery, the bread is a translucent rice pancake, tender when absolutely fresh but rubbery or crackly-dry if exposed too long to the air.

Fillings can be just about anything, and are as likely to be cold as hot, but virtually always include garnishes of herbs and slivered, pickled vegetables added in quantities that precisely suit the diner’s taste. Textures, flavors and even temperatures all contrast quite interestingly as the teeth bite through the successive layers.

The diner suits his taste because, in most cases, he does the work of assembling these tasty packages. Kim’s Restaurant, which offers Chinese as well as Vietnamese cuisine and is situated in the food-rich Lumberyard shopping center in Encinitas, sends out many appetizers and entrees accompanied by platters of lettuce, mint and cilantro; stacks of rice paper pancakes; dishes of slivered carrot, cucumber, turnip and shallot, and bowls of sweet, savory or spicy dipping sauces.

Because of the inclusion of a variety of standard Chinese dishes--none sampled for this review--the menu stretches out to a boggling 249 dishes, not including dessert. The management evidently devoted much more effort to writing the menu than to designing the decor, which is quite plain, but this is hardly a fault, and the cooking by and large is excellent.

This much choice can make it difficult to make choices, but newcomers to the cuisine can feel confidently guided by the page marked “Vietnamese specialties,” which lists just 18 dishes and hits many high notes. The appetizer and salad lists are also manageable in length and full of good choices; where the menu really gets rolling is in the soup and noodle departments, both staples of Vietnamese dining and here available in remarkable array.

Enjoyable starters include the shrimp and pork rolls and the “special” Vietnamese spring rolls, which are stuffed with shrimp and crab. The shrimp and pork rolls, decidedly burrito-like, reverse the usual Vietnamese practice by rolling the lettuce inside the rice paper coverings; the layerings go through sliced shrimp to roast pork, herbs and finally a core of ultra-slim, refreshing rice noodles. A dark, soy-based dipping sauce, moderately spiced and garnished with chopped peanuts, brings out the savory qualities of the rolls.

The spring rolls, tightly bundled and fried, burst with fresh ingredients, among which, despite its delicacy, the crab shines through. This is one of the items that the diner garnishes at will (try one with mint and another with cilantro) and wraps in lettuce before dipping in a classic, tart-sweet sauce based on nuoc mam , a fermented fish sauce.

The salad list, if one chooses to be adventurous, includes an offering based on abalone, shrimp and jellyfish, but there are simpler choices garnished with beef, chicken or a combination of shrimp and pork. Rather more elegant is the beef “with lemon flavor,” for which the kitchen recently and quite successfully substituted paper-thin slices of lime.

Flavored with chopped peanuts, mint and tomatoes, the basic salad of iceberg lettuce and sliced, cooked beef is moistened with a potently spicy dressing that brings all the flavors together; taken all in all, this salad, also available in a shrimp model, can be viewed as quite an experience.

Dishes from the specialties list include the “ancient hot pot,” a sort of fondue in which guests cook beef, shrimp, chicken and vegetables at the table in a kettle of simmering broth; the beef fondue, while similar, substitutes seasoned vinegar as the cooking liquid. A small grill is brought to table for the preparation (again by the guests, who do work hard!) of the sliced beef marinated in tart lemon grass, which, when cooked to taste, is rolled with herbs and vegetables in rice paper and lettuce.

The same accompaniments garnish both the classic beef broiled in wrappers of pig’s caul, a sheet of fat that melts away during cooking but gives crispness and flavor to these spiced, finger-shaped rolls of chopped meat, and the spiced ground shrimp spread over lengths of sugar cane and charbroiled. Other choices include whole roast Cornish hen and roast duck with pineapple.

Kim’s offers several fresh seafood specials daily and recently served Maine lobster in ginger-garlic sauce for the rather reasonable price of $12.99. The sauce was delicious, but the dish was discouragingly messy to eat, since the meat had not been removed from the segments of shell.

Kim’s Restaurant

745 1st St., Encinitas

Calls: 942-4816

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Cost: Most entrees under $8; dinner for two, with a glass of house wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $45.

For capsules of previous David Nelson restaurant reviews, please see “Just a Taste” on Page 10.