T-Wa Inn

555 S. Federal Blvd., serving from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 303-922-2378

• What: authentic Vietnamese cuisine with some Thai thrown in, everything from accessible items like chicken curry to exotics such as catfish with bean sauce and stuffed squid

• How cheap is it? soups from $1.75 (cup of won-ton) to $6.95 (full bowl of shrimp tofu); egg rolls $3.95 (pork and shrimp, vegetarian) to $5.95 (Vietnamese); appetizers and create-your-own rolls from $10.95 (shrimp on sugar cane) to $16.95 (T-Wa specialty roll with shrimp, chicken, pork and egg); entrees from $5.95 (broiled chicken rice noodle bowl) to $16.95 (broiled lamb racks)

• Our deal: Clearly, we weren't going to touch such interesting appetizers as Cua Rang Moi (Dungeness crab cut and sauteed in spicy butter sauce, $14.95) or the self-serve De Nuong Banh Trang (thin-sliced lamb with lemongrass, broiled and served with rice paper, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint and a house special sauce, $13.95), which must be something, given their entree-esque price tags. For starters, we split a cup of Thai hot-and-sour shrimp soup ($2.75). Then we split a bowl of the Bun Bo Hue (hot and spicy noodle soup with thin-cut beef, $6.95) and an order of Thit Heo Xao Xa Ot (sauteed pork with lemongrass and chili pepper, $8.95). We also ordered two cups of tea ($1 total).

• So how's it taste? Vietnamese food doesn't rely on the heavy breading and cloying sauces familiar from Chinese takeout menus everywhere. Preparation tends to be more bare-bones: sauteed meats with fresh vegetables, soups with rice noodles, everything with lemongrass. The Thai hot-and-sour shrimp soup was unlike any other version of hot-and-sour we'd had. The spicy, chile-laden broth was tinted a deep and satisfying orange, and every spoonful lingered on our tongues like a happy nuclear accident. We had to restrain each other from tilting the cup back for the last droplets. The beef noodle soup turned out to be a little more than we'd planned for - the bowl itself was twice the size of any we'd ever seen in a restaurant. When we'd finally forged past the crunchy bean sprouts and daikon on top, through the just-there spice of the broth and to the slurpable rice noodles at the bottom, it was belt-loosening time. The spicy pork dish was a revelation, laden with jalapeños that perfectly complemented the ubiquitous lemongrass.

• How's the place? Like its South Federal surroundings, a little run- down. The T-Wa Inn could use a paint job and some updating. The ceramic elephant, bas-relief artwork and generally beige room could have been found in any Asian restaurant in the country; it might behoove the owners to make the place more identifiable with its Vietnamese roots. The high ceilings did provide a nice sense of depth in space, but the blah color scheme and overall lack of light - the only windows face east - tended to minimize the effect. We did enjoy the Vietnamese music. Our server was helpful, prompt and didn't hesitate to offer his opinion on food choices, which we newbies appreciated.

• Who else eats there? Families were the order of the day on this particular night. We noticed the kids at the table across from us ordering tea containing a pearl of tapioca, exactly the kind of thing we'd have bawled for as youngsters. The bar is small but well-stocked. If you find yourself on Federal wanting a fruity cocktail, you could do a lot worse than the T-Wa.

• Deals we wish we'd tried: We'd take our waiter's recommendation and go for the Thit Keo Kho Tieu (old-fashioned spicy pork, $9.95) simply because the other pork dish was so wonderful. The adventurer in us both would be interested in the Ca Kho Tuong Hot (catfish with bean sauce, $11.95), and the extravagant spender that lurks next to the adventurer - they're pretty small in each of us, really - would order the De Nuong Xa Ot (broiled lamb racks with white wine, curry, garlic powder and lemongrass, $16.95).

• Final damage: Alas, we ruined the conceit - our bill was $21.25, including tax, plus a $4 tip, for a total of $25.25. One lousy quarter . . . maybe we could re-title "Two for $25.25"?

• Find John Lehndorff's dining reviews, columns and 2007 Dining Guide at RockyMountain News.com. To nominate a restaurant for $25 for Two, e-mail spotlight@RockyMountainNews.com.

Alex Neth is a news assistant for the Rocky Mountain News.