The 2000 Vietnam restaurant, located on the corner of San Mateo and Zuni, pushed me to exercise the aphorism, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Why? It shares a building with Saigon Emissions Testing.
Putting aside fears of emission-tainted food, I entered the restaurant only to be greeted by overdone decorations, but that's not so unusual among Oriental restaurants.
Culture shock is a term thrown around rather loosely, but it fits well for 2000 Vietnam. The waitress warned me against exotic foods that would send my taste buds into a coma, such as the pickled lemonade.
The menu is staggering, about seven pages front and back, and features color pictures for those who are unfamiliar with spring rolls or udon soup. Had I not been so hungry, I would have explored the menu in greater depth, but my stomach got the better of me, so I ordered the fried egg noodles and a spring roll to be on the safe side.
My spring roll came out in good time, not so fast as to make me think it had just been thawed out, but not so long that it suggested a lazy chef. The spring rolls were presented with a bowl of spicy sauce, and their flavor made me forget all about being an American in a Vietnamese restaurant. Tightly wrapped and packed with freshly shredded pork, bean sprouts and lettuce, the rolls were the first indicator that my meal would be worth any feeling of being an outsider.
After about 10 minutes, the fried egg noodles made their way to my table. Slices of chicken, pork, shrimp and crab could be seen amongst the green shoots of snap peas and cucumbers, which rested lightly on a tousled bed of soft yellow egg noodles.
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Arming myself with chopsticks, I began my meal. The noodles were perfectly soft and covered with a thin veil of juice so they would slide during a slurp, if necessary.
The noodles went fast, leaving me with a scattering of meat and veggies to spear with chopsticks. The meats came in large slices and provided plenty of work for my incisors. The veggies were less exciting. The cucumbers were thickly cut and a bit soggy, and the carrots had the appearance of being frozen 20 minutes earlier. However, the tenuous nature of meats and moist noodles far outweighed a few dry carrots.
The menu, overall, is fairly priced. The entrée was $7 and the appetizer was $3, well worth the cost considering how full I felt after the meal. The drinks, however, are overpriced. I paid $3 for a glass of warm lemonade. But water is free and comes with lemon, so all's well.
2000 Vietnam will probably leave any non-Vietnamese person feeling a little confused, but the authentic food will leave most everyone happy, with a wide selection of dishes that are gut-busting and affordable. Just watch out for the pickled lemonade.
