it was kinda early but we were already hungry for dinner. we really just wanted to quickly grab something simple like burgers and fries and watch a movie at home. but there's really nowhere close by that makes good, cheap food for vegans. hence our constant dilemma. thus, i looked online at vegetarian restaurant listings in case some place new opened up or there was a place i wasn't aware of. i read good reviews of a vietnamese vegetarian restaurant in little saigon in westminster and we decided to eat there then go home to watch a movie. we went to van hanh vegetarian restaurant and it was a very weird experience. due to the lack of english spoken, it was like we were actually in vietnam. there was hardly any description of the dishes on the menu, if they had a description at all. this was very much a for vietnamese speakers only type of place. i tend not to go to those kind of places because i want to know what i'm fucking ordering! the japanese places that are sorta japanese only treat me weird but i can handle it because i know japanese, ya know? at this place, i was at a loss. the staff didn't know enough english to answer simple questions. for example, there is a drink made with milk and i wanted to know if they used regular milk or soy milk. i gave up when i said "cow milk? milk from a cow" and the lady didn't understand. i wasn't about to pantomime milking a cow. after saying "soy milk" enough, the lady finally said "soya milk?"--damn british english. so i said yes to that, thinking my drink would come with soy milk. nope, they served me soy milk instead. pretty pure stuff too--i was just drinking tofu water.

anyway, i tried to order the items i had read reviews about. (a picture i saw of the items looks so delicious). everytime we tried to pick one of those dishes by pointing to the menu and saying the number of the item like at a chinese restaurant, the lady would suggest something else, claiming it to be very good. we didn't order a single item we had wanted. we ordered only her suggestions. at one point while we were in indecision, another lady came out and just quickly said something like "you want #1? it's good, yeah" and walked away, like that's supposed to influence our decision? (the difference between #1 and #2 is this: one of them comes with peanut sauce but that is not written on the menu.)

when the items came, i wasn't happy with her suggestions. it's like the default things to give to the white people or something. a plate with some lettuce, tomatoes, and fake meat on top. that's it. it wasn't enough vegetables to be a salad. it was just a plate of fake meat with some garnish. the other thing we got was something that we have had before and i think it was because it was recommended too! (note to self: memorize these food names so we stop ordering them.) it's a nest of crunchy noodles with vegetables on top that you pour sauce on. this one was better than what we've had before but i was still disappointed. while we ate, no one ever came out to check on us. then the kerosene fumes of the open kitchen started getting to me. i wasn't happy. i wanted to leave. we bought some of the ready made items at the deli counter at the front. while we waited to pay, practically everyone else had service before us. it's like they didn't want us to pay. i should've walked out but that's not me. i waited and waited for service and finally paid and walked out. i didn't leave a tip. that's only the second time i have done that and it was completely appropriate the first time. this time, i felt a little bad because i'm so used to tipping but i was at the point that i didn't care what they thought of me if i didn't tip.