Over-rated
After moving away from Toronto, I missed all the ethnic cuisine that the city had to offer. My hope was that London's immigrant communities would be able to deliver the same in terms of flavour and authenticity. Upon my arrival to London, the first restaurant I visited was the Ben Thanh. The atmosphere and location was pleasant and the restaurant was busy (which I took to be a sign of quality). However I was rather disappointed with the food. Thinking that perhaps this was a "bad day", I returned but subsequent visits were equally unsatisfactory. Pad thai is a comfort food. And the pad thai was merely another noodle dish that was noodle rich and other ingredient poor; it lacked complexity, authenticity and warmth. A chicken vermicelli soup was watery and the chicken consisted of lots of noodles, a few stringy pieces of dark meat and a paltry sprinkle of green onion. The soup was not served with either basil leaves or lime slices. Spring rolls consisted of nothing but vermicelli noodles! I will never go back. I felt as though the lack of authenticity catered to lack of knowledge that the average diner has about Asian cuisine.