Missed The Circus But Ended Up Going For Vietnamese Dinner

Restaurant Reviewed by: Jane Ong

Not convinced that Manchester Township and Toms River are some of the most boring towns in New Jersey, I decided to go check out the visiting Kelly Miller Circus at nearby Lakehurst. Unfortunately, I had so much trust on the Google Map on my iphone that I didn't bother to look up the map of the circus' location before I drove out.  I thought I just needed to voice my command to the Google Navigation App on my phone and it would guide me to the Fuccile Sports Complex.   After all, Google had been able to get me around a lot of cities in the world, and it never failed me.  I was so surprised that Google was unable to map this particular sports complex in Lakehurst. Did Google not bother to put this place on the map because it assumed no resident in Lakehurt would be out looking for fun? The sports complex just isn't on Google map.  This is the first time Google failed to find a destination that I wanted to go.  So I got lost and I gave up looking for it. 

I went back to this Vietnamese restaurant that I like for dinner instead.  This time I ordered the Sweet & Sour Vietnamese Fish Soup ($12.95), which was a broth based soup made with tomatoes, chunks of salmon, bean sprouts, cabbages and pickled cabbages. It was full of flavors and very appetizing. It tasted pretty good to me even though not as good as the ones from my favorite Vietnamese restaurants back in Los Angeles.  

I also like the Vietnamese Fried Rice With Chinese Sausage ($10.95).  Chinese sausages, when sliced thin, have similar textures like pepperoni.  But in my opinion, the flavor in Chinese sausages is more dimensional than pepperoni.  This fried rice dish is one of my most favorite Vietnamese dishes.  No two Vietnamese restaurants make the same tasting Fried Rice.  I'm happy that I can have this dish here in Toms River and it was delicious.

I realize that Vietnamese food here in Toms River is much more expensive than Los Angeles.  The better Vietnamese restaurants in Los Angeles cost 40% to 50% less than this place.  But well, this is one of a handful of restaurants I really like in this area of New Jersey, I am willing to pay more.  It's just interesting that the perception that cost of living in Los Angeles is more expensive may be not too accurate.  The average cost of dining out in Southern California and Los Angeles is certainly much cheaper than Manchester Township and Toms River.  The quality of restaurants is also much better in California.

But for anyone who is visiting Toms River like I am, I highly recommend this Vietnamese place.  It's one of the few decent restaurants here...

Restaurant: Vietnamese Cuisine 

Address: 1222 Rte. 166, Toms River, NJ 08753 

Tel: 732-349-7777