In just about an hour, a group of Budapest's most enthusiastic gourmands will descend on a non-descript storefront restaurant near Nagyvárad tér in Budapest's District IX for a much-anticipated culinary event. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to the dinner organized by the Lucullus Baráti Társaság at the Felszálló Sárkány Vietnámi Étterem ("Rising Dragon Vietnamese Restaurant"). Instead we did something maybe even better: slipped in a few days earlier and tried it out for ourselves, without having to share or make small talk.

So what are the folks from Hungary's most discriminating culinary association likely to experience? Well, as far as we can tell, decent to very good Vietnamese food, in a slightly un-atmospheric but still cozy setting. We tried the following: pork nem (that's fried spring rolls, not "no" in Hungarian, Ft 1,250 for eight big pieces); some salt-pepper fried squid (Ft 2,850); green vegetables with garlic (Ft 1,000) and a big bowl of Pho Bo (Ft 1,200), the beef noodle soup that is to Vietnam what gulyás is to Hungary, except even more important.

Having once spent a month in Vietnam, and having loved Vietnamese food for years, we've always been aggrieved by the lack of local Viet-options. Currently, there is only one other full-service Vietnamese restaurant in Budapest, the (for us) far-off and (for some who have written in) often-patchy Hanoi. So just the mere existence of the Rising Dragon, which opened up sometime in mid-summer, is cause enough for celebration.

Anyway, back to the food. The nem were good, if a little less crunchy than we like, and the veggies were, well, veggies. Meanwhile, the squid was downright strange, being spiced with - believe it or not - dill. But all was forgiven when we got that big bowl of Pho, which featured a killer broth and several luscious slices of bo just like you get in Hue or Ho Chi Minh. And as an added plus, the (Hungarian) waiter who served us was probably the friendliest of the species we've ever encountered.

About the only non-dill-related gripe we can think of is that, at over Ft 5,000 head, the whole thing seemed a little on the expensive side. (And we doubt we're alone; when we were there on Tuesday night, we were the only ones in the joint.) But if there's one thing worse than slightly expensive Vietnamese food, it's no Vietnamese food at all.