"Lotus Pond has brought quality Vietnamese food to the under-the-radar Haller Lake neighborhood. Bo la lot (charbroiled beef wrapped in betel leaves) are an ideal starter, especially when dipped in the accompanying pineapple-anchovy sauce. The menu includes a wide variety of noodle soups, such as the hard-to-find Hai Phong-style crab red noodle soup with wide red rice noodles, and the woven vermicelli plates come with intricate bundles of thin noodles alongside an array of protein options, like lemongrass beef and shrimp cakes." - Jay Friedman