(This venue is closed.) Ironically, dill is the most authentic component.
Cha ca la vong, one of the most storied dishes of Hanoi's Old Quarter, features fried or grilled fish paste, prepared tableside and served atop rice vermicelli with an assortment of seasonings. Xie Xie's redundantly named fish cha ca la vong sandwich ($8.75) decorates slabs of tilapia with sweet onion jam and sparingly spicy Sriracha mayonnaise. At a casual restaurant "celebrating the vibrant flavors of Asia," it's not critical that neither the fish nor those condiments are typical of traditional cha ca la vong. But as for the dill, there's simply too much; repeated swigs from my lager didn't shake the flavor.
Xie Xie
645A Ninth Ave. (5th-46th Sts.)
212-265-2975
www.XieXieProject.com
