“When you said Vietnamese, I thought we were going to a hole in the wall,” my friend says upon entering the glass door of the warm, white-bricked and blonde-wooded Can Tiin. Hipsters hovered over cocktails at the long, pale stone bar.
Can Tiin is a new modern French bistro in downtown Bridgeport, next to the renovated Bijou Theatre. The name is pronounced “canteen,” and the drinks list is well-chosen, “curated” to use the current term, a delicious and interesting list of beer, bubbles, sake, reds and whites.
Ciders caught our eye. Etienne Dupont organic, unpasteurized cider from the Normandy region of France, is slightly hazy, crisp and complex, with a trace of fresh apple sweetness, and cleansing bitterness. Downeast Cider from Boston is sweeter. Beer ranged from tasty Belgians, like Ichtegmen’s Grand Cru Flemish Red Ale, a tangy, dark cherry, balanced with malt and tannin. It’s a blend two-year aged oak ale with a fresh malty brew. Hipsters can also get down with a black and tan Yuengling in a can.
Fried pork and crab rolls, their wrappers crisp, dark brown, shattered beneath our teeth into the filling of soft pieces of pork, black mushrooms, shrimp and carrot. The dipping sauce, nuoc mam, a blend of fish sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, hot pepper and carrots, amped the flavor. A crepe made of rice flour and coconut, with crisp edges and puffy insides, was filled with slices of well-seasoned pork belly, charred bamboo shoots, and crisp bean sprouts.
Fried chicken on bland steam bun ($6) was paired with iceberg rather than pickled vegetables. Our garlic-hating friend, looking for mild flavors, asked for it without the garlic-honey. The request was graciously granted by young, attentive servers.
Can Tiin’s take on the burger: Put a mini burger topped with epoisses, the rich sticky cheese, on a steamed bun dressed with mignonette sauce (vinegar with minced shallots). Bahn mi, French-Vietnamese sub on a baguette, is layered with house-made pate and chicken liver mousse and pickled vegetables.
Smoked rare brisket pho ($12) had a deep beef flavor drizzled with roasted garlic sauce and showered with crisp fried shallots. The noodle were cut up, like the chef was afraid the customers couldn’t handle long noodles. Soups are served with a long handled, wide bowled spoon that’s kind of fun, and chopsticks. We missed the abundance of herbs that make Vietnamese soups so fragrant.
It’s still early, so I’ll give Can Tiin a break on the lack of flavor in the chicken soup and the spicy tofu soup. We doctored them with sriracha, , hoisin and even the nuoc mam. The spicy miso soup wanted more miso and spice, but the light, panko-crusted balls of tofu, soft, nourishing boy cho and crunch of charred bamboo shoots were nice. Soup add-ons include egg, pork belly, mushroom, tofu and kimchi.
Can Tiin is a good addition to downtown Bridgeport.
Can Tiin, 269 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Information: 203-540-5002 or cantiinbridgeport.com.
