Meal in a Bowl

Twin Dragon

Mon-Fri, 11am-2:30pm, 5-10pm; Sat-Sun, 11:30am-10pm

When you step inside Twin Dragon, you’ll find a pleasantly Oriental atmosphere, reinforced with taped Vietnamese music of groovy-yet-mellow, twangy guitar and drum machine sounds. The overall effect is one of a comfy and cozy spot that welcomes the diner to the nicely padded chairs, after you stroll past the requisite lobster and fish tanks.

Many Austinites are familiar with Twin Dragon as the home of William “Wild Bill” Wong, the dim sum chef of Rainbow Inn repute. And Twin Dragon does a bang-up business every weekend from 11am to 3pm for the dim sum feast it puts on. The restaurant is smack-dab in the center of what has become one of Austin’s powerhouse Oriental food megaplexes, with Classic Thai, Little Bombay, T & S Seafood, and Emperor Garden all within a two-block radius. Twin Dragon has a weekday lunch buffet for $4.99, but the majority of the dishes are Chinese. And, indeed, you’ll find a fairly typical Chinese menu inside the covers when you spread the menu open.

But we were there to sample the Vietnamese fare, so we went straight to the separate Vietnamese menu.

The first visit was for a late lunch with a friend who is a big fan of Bun, or Vermicelli Noodle Bowls. A very affable waitress greeted us and took our orders efficiently. We ordered Bahn Bao (Steamed Meat Dumplings, $3.95) to start, and were told that the dish took about 10 minutes, which we expected.

Six of the delicious steamed meat packages arrived right on time, served with a sweet and tangy soy-based sauce with ginger. The dumplings were surprisingly large, but what really stood out about them was the lightness of the steamed dough wrappers. So often, steamed dumpling skins found around town are thick, dense, and chewy, and don’t provide much textural contrast to the filling (and textural contrast is a desired element in Far Eastern cuisine). The skins at Twin Dragon have the requisite thickness, but the consistency is pliant, tender, and light, providing the ideal textural counterpoint to the nicely spiced coarse-ground pork filling. Overall, the dumplings are the perfect choice for an appetizer.

Next out was one of the finer soups I’ve had in Austin in recent memory, Cahn Chua Ca (Hot and Sour Soup With Fish and Shrimp, $9.95). The huge bowl (easily accommodating four diners as a starter) arrived with appropriate fanfare and careful jostling of the brimming bowl onto the table. Since we all eat first with our eyes, a scan of the ingredients is in order: a clear broth swimming with tilapia steaks, shrimp, slices of jalapeño and okra, cabbage, bamboo shoots, onion, scallion, tomato wedges, chunks of fresh pineapple, cilantro, and sprouts. The aroma hit immediately upon arrival, with a fresh hint of the sea, the tang of fruity pineapple, the spiciness of the chiles, and the herbal muskiness of cilantro. But it is the first taste that is pure ambrosia — an explosion of flavors from the rich stock, laced with tartness from the lime, but balanced perfectly by the sweetness of the fresh pineapple chunks. The tilapia steaks are poached lightly in the stock, and the shrimp just-cooked. The steaks of fish are bone-in, but scooping one out onto a small plate, dissecting the backbone and ribs from the meat, and placing the meat back into the smaller serving bowls makes eating it a painless procedure. Perhaps I shouldn’t gush so endlessly about one single dish, but the praise is warranted. It is also available with eel, which I really wanted to have in combination with the fish and shrimp. However, due to the dynamics of portion control in the kitchen, this was not to be. Our waitress gave it her best shot, however, lobbying heavily with the chef on our behalf. We will return for the eel version very soon.

Next arrived a large bowl of Bun Tom Xao (Vermicelli With Shrimp and Lemongrass, $4.95). The noodles were perfectly al dente, and the bowl has a very nice proportion of veggies (cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, onion, and cilantro). The shrimp were bountiful, and were jumbos, which is unusual for a bowl of noodles. What made the shrimp stand out is the fact that they were marinated, with bits of garlic still clinging to them, and cooked to that delectable point of opaque perfection. So often in Bun joints around town, the shrimp will end up rubbery and overdone. We respect a chef who honors the sanctity of his seafood. The Nuoc Cham sauce, which is poured over the top, could have used some julienned carrot, a little more fish sauce and lime, and some chile. But overall, it was a nice bowl o’ Bun.

The second visit to Twin Dragon was good, but not quite as impressive as the first. Dau Hu Xao Lan (Crispy Tofu With Curry and Coconut, $5.95) comes with cubes of golden fried tofu bathed in a dark, rich curry sauce infused with coconut milk, and with onion, strips of cloud ear fungus, and chopped peanuts. The sauce is “thickened” with clear cellophane noodles, which was unexpected but enjoyable; Twin Dragon’s version of the dish isn’t too sweet, as some other restaurants’ are.

Dish No. 2 was Ga Xao Xa Ot (Chicken With Lemongrass and Hot Pepper, $6.25), a pleasing combo of breast and thigh fillets in a nicely spiced sauce with just the right hint of garlic, chile, and fish sauce. Here again, the letdown is that the primary vegetable is onion; the dish could have benefited from the addition of bamboo shoot strips or broccoli.

Waiter No. 2 was nice enough, but was occupied with cleanup and setup for the evening shift. He never refilled my water glass, nor did he bring us the receipt that we requested. Both are quirks that irk us, and the restaurant was nearly empty, so being too busy definitely was not the reason for the oversight.

Twin Dragon will be on our return visit list, but it will be extremely difficult to order anything except the Hot and Sour Soup With Fish and Shrimp (or eel) and a side bowl of rice. It is so good that this particular bowl of soup will be etched indelibly in the memory files for all future visits — a superlative meal in a bowl.

This article appears in February 4 • 2000.