The healthy simplicity of Vietnamese cuisine with its minimal use of oil and a reliance on herbs and vegetables is evident at the Embankment in Causeway Bay where the dishes on the newly revamped menu look to appeal to our five senses – the aromatic ingredients stimulate the nose, the enticing plates treat the eyes, sounds comes from crisp ingredients, while the texture is felt by our fingers before the five spices are detected on the tongue. While appealing to our senses each Vietnamese dish has a distinctive flavour which reflects one or more of the fundamental taste elements: spicy, sour, bitter, salty and sweet.
The 7000 square foot restaurant on the 2/F of Cigna Tower at 480 Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay has been working hard to eliminate MSG (a common complaint from diners under the previous owners) and enhance the freshness of the ingredients – but as Nelson Tam one of the new owners comments “We’ve done everything we can to eliminate it”. “With the recent change of management, as well as a new team of highly experienced Vietnamese chefs from Vietnam who have joined our team we hope to introduce some of most authentic cuisine from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City available in Hong Kong. We are proud to introduce our new menu and renovation to our customers to create a value for money dinning experience”.
What makes Vietnamese food special – the fish sauce! At Embankment the home made fish sauce features complex but delicate layers of sweetness, lime, garlic, chilli, saltiness of dark fish sauce and vinegar. These fragrant elements and fresh herbs feature in most of Embankments signature dishes which include: 
Roasted minced prawn w/ sugarcane – the sweet sugarcane juice soaks into minced prawn for a unique flavour when roasted.
Stir fried garlic diced beef & tomato served w/ tomato rice – marble diced beef marinated with sweet basil, garlic, and slightly dark fish sauce, to enhance the original flavour from the beef. Stir fried with fresh basil, tomato, onions, topped with dried garlic, serve with tomato rice.
Deep fried chicken wings w/ butter & garlic seasoning – a unique cooking process merges 3 delicate procedures in order to bring out the prefect butter chicken wings. 1. marinate with lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce. 2. deep fried with precision timing between high and low temperature. 3. low heat stir fried with butter and garlic, in order to absorb the essence of the taste and scent of butter and garlic.
Marbled beef in Vietnamese vinegar hot pot – marbled beef cooked in a vinegar beef soup, merging the original sweetness of the beef, with a soft scent of vinegar and herbs
Nelson is also a foodie and for those new to the delights of Vietnamese dining he offer this piece of advice “When ordering remember a good meal will have balance, where the texture and flavours contrast the temperature and spiciness of the food.”
Embankment
2/F, 470-484 Jaffe Road,
Causeway Bay,
Hong Kong.
Embankment paid for the meals written about in this review.