Duc’s Place | New Haven
We walked by this new place a few times and there was always a long line, with people beckoning us, telling us it’s delicious and we have to try it. Once we stopped to look at the menu and the couple sitting in the window gave us big smiles and a thumbs-up. So of course we had to try it, not to mention it’s so conveniently close to our apartment. My first observation was that they have avocado smoothies! Yum! Unfortunately there has been some inconsistency in my smoothie experience depending on who is running the blender, so some days it’s better than others. Their mango smoothie is also interesting, with a slightly different mango flavor than most mango smoothies have. I’m not sure what their secret ingredient is. We’ve also tried their pho which comes conveniently deconstructed when taken to-go. There have been days when we’ve purchased three banh mi sandwiches at a time, my favorite is the pork but the tofu and fish are also quite good. I think the banh mi is better than the pho which is then better than the bun, the vermicelli noodles, but hey, to each their own. Apparently the owner used to be a post-doc at one of the Yale Medicine labs, but gave it up to start a restaurant. They’re still ironing out some kinks: the Perka rewards program isn’t quite up and running, and some of the newer employees are still pretty unseasoned, leading to incomplete orders for instance, but I expect all this should improve over time. Overall a delightfully fresh addition to Orange street, I just wish they were also open on Sundays so I could eat there every day!
Clover Eats! 