Fan Si Pan

1618 W. Chicago Ave.
312.738.1405
Vietnamese

I have been wanting to try this place for awhile now since I love spring rolls and I thought the concept of a spring roll-based restaurant was interesting. Well, I tried it for lunch one day and let me tell you, I was truly disappointed. Maybe this was because I have eaten real pho up at Argyle and other authentic Vietnamese restaurants. The pho was horrible! (I know that it is not a dish that they are "known" for, but I figured I had to try it.) It was watered-down beef broth with tiny scraps of beef, thin rice noodles and some green onions. I don't know if people who haven't even tried real pho would consider it good!
I also tried the tempura fried green beans. These were ok--the tempura batter was good, however a little too thick. The wasabi sauce that you dip it makes the appetizer decent.

Let's get into the spring rolls. They have a handful of different varieties of spring rolls, which you can get either rolled the traditional way or deconstructed in a salad. I opted to try the traditional shrimp roll with shrimp, mint, basil, rice noodles, and bean sprouts wrapped in a rice shell. The spring roll is huge and loosely wrapped, which to me, was too hard to eat. I like my spring rolls wrapped tight so you can get all the ingredients in one bite without losing anything. There was nothing really special about the roll and I had a really hard time not being able to dip my roll into my favorite hoisin sauce with peanuts. (What kind of Vietnamese restaurant doesn't have hoisin sauce at the table?) Although, I have to admit the main thing that was good about this place was that they had some other tasty sauces: chile-lime garlic sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and wasabi sauce for the green beans. Oh, and that they had wet-naps at the tables. That is always a plus!

I would not go back there if I wanted Vietnamese. I would go the extra mile up to Argyle street where you can find good Vietnamese food.