Mantra Philly - Vietnamese @ 122 South 18 Street

I have never been to a Vietnamese restaurant before. I always wanted to try them, but did not do. I was browsing the internet other day and found this fusion Vietnamese restaurant on 18th street couple blocks south of Market close to the Rittenhouse square. I perused their website and found their lunch menu interesting.

At first I wanted to go out with my work team but was never able to gather a group lately due to scheduling issues. So one Wednesday, I decided to go there myself but luckily two other colleagues agreed to join me.

The waitress was courteous and seated us on a table. The ambiance was great and has an instant appeal. She asked if we needed anything to drink and I said water should be fine. She asked bottled or 'Philadelphia's finest' to which I replied bottled but I was served regular water. I did not complain as I did not care as I was busy looking at the menu shocked. Shocked at the prices that were way off of what was on their menu online.

The lunch menu online has several sandwiches and wraps at $6.50 and to my surprise there was nothing on the menu of what I had seen online. I asked the waitress and she replied that they had changed the menu recently and did not update the website. I had to apologize to my colleagues as we were not ready for what we saw in the menu. I was ready to leave but stayed back as my colleagues were willing to stay.

After feeling cheated with the whole fiasco, I began to look at the menu. I ordered shrimp salad that was $12. My one colleague requested a burger and the other a salad that were $10 and $12. The menu was filled with other items that were high 10s and 20s. I said to myself that I am not coming back here for lunch unless it is paid by someone else.

Having made up my mind as such, I waited for the food nonchalantly. The salad was actually good surprisingly. The shrimp was cooked and breaded but was not greasy. The lettuce was crisp with cranberries. The combination was perfect. I was eased into regular conversation after a surprisingly good food. My colleagues were also happy with their food and that helped ease my guilt.

The check came to $14 per head after taxes and tip. This was equal to 2 or more regular lunches that I am normally used to. But that was fine once in a while and even better if it was not for the non-pleasant surprise.

In all this is not a place if you are looking for quick inexpensive food. This is good for a nice dinner or an office party. The food was great and the ambiance splendid. The people were courteous too. I am going back only for dinner with my date or if it paid by someone else. Expensive but good food.