By Mark Kent
The Vietnamese La Tre Restaurant at 249 East Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton (561-392-4568) is a family owned Bistro that seats 50 diners for dinners only, 7 days a week from 5PM to 10PM.
From an extensive menu we chose a cabbage roll soup with scallions and a chicken pate ball soup with shitake mushrooms. Both had a light, delicate broth and each taste quite distinctive. Three other hot soups are also available.
Ten appetizers are listed – we had a sweet, grilled scallop with a bit of a bite from special homegrown Vietnamese basil. Then appeared a grilled shrimp roll with onion, cilantro, basil and a fine peanut sauce. Next was a roll containing mushroom, onion, bean sprouts and parsley. Both these rolls had wonderful flavors. Now a big surprise – superior, crispy ringlets of calamari with red peppers, celery and a great tamarind sauce. Truly, we have not had better anywhere – a must try!
The entrees, twenty six in number, included a spicy curried shrimp marinated with coriander pesto and served with shitake mushrooms and snow peas – leaving a tingle on the palate. Then the smooth flavor of caramelized shrimp in hot garlic sauce, served with broccoli and cauliflower was well received.
We are beef people and the shaking beef dish of cubed filet mignon, marinated in a special sauce of ginger powder, apple cider and vinegar – sautéed with garlic on a bed of water cress simply melted in the mouth. The somewhat spicy beef sate with shitake mushrooms, snow peas in sate sauce satisfies the need for a little heat. Vegetables with this dish included crisp carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.
We loved the boneless breast of chicken sautéed with straw mushrooms, baby corn and assorted vegetables – namely broccoli, string beans and cauliflower.
Known for fine fish, we anticipated an outstanding dish – the thang long style fish. We were not at all disappointed with the sautéed filet with its dill, scallion, herbs and spices, topped with peanuts and served with spicy sauce and rice. A great signature offering.
La Tre has a separate vegetable menu including appetizers, salads and soups – all quite flavorful to please the purists.
With five desserts listed, we selected a wonderful lemon mousse – light and fluffy with a deep lemon flavor – a great finale.
LaTre’s pricing for this array of excellent food is extremely reasonable – well worth the visit. Go and Enjoy!