From the moment it opened in the River Oaks District, Le Colonial — the upscale Vietnamese eatery by veteran restaurateurs Rick Wahlstedt and Joe King — has been packed. In the same breath that people lauded its opening and decor, however, came criticism that the restaurant was pricey.

While that may be empirically true, it’s rather unfair to judge the restaurant in that manner. When you travel to Vietnam, street food is abundantly available for a few coins; yet a similar meal in an upscale hotel like the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi — to which Le Colonial bears more than a passing resemblance — can run 10-fold the price you pay on the street. When you look at it that way, Le Colonial is a relative bargain.

Currently, there is no other Vietnamese restaurant in Houston that offers the same sort of experience that you can have at Le Colonial. Channeling the gilded, glamorous exoticism of 1920s French Colonial Indochina, the dining room is one of Houston’s finest. Add in well-crafted cocktails, an excellent wine list and a contemporary Vietnamese menu by celebrated chef/cookbook writer Nicole Routhier, and it’s easy to see why the tables are so coveted. And, where you wouldn’t want to get dressed up for a night on the town at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown, you can and should for a visit to Le Colonial.

That said, the newly debuted Le Bar Bites offers a more casual, affordable way to experience Houston’s most upscale Vietnamese restaurant. Launched in tandem with several new Spring additions to the main menu, Le Bar Bites, available in the bar and lounge upstairs from 5 to 7 pm Monday through Saturday, entices with small plates and cocktails all priced at just $8. We recently attended a media preview to get the skinny on the new offerings.

There are six bar bites and four cocktails on the Le Bar Bites menu. Made with fried rice paper sheets stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, shrimp and Asian mushrooms, the cha gio is an easy favorite. A classic Vietnamese appetizer, the eggrolls are cut in half and served with lettuce, shredded carrot and herbs, with a side of mild chili lime dipping sauce, a finger food that is easy to share.

Another fun bite was the goi ga (photo at top). On the main menu, this red and green cabbage salad with shredded chicken is served in a large, entree-sized bowl. During the social hour, the salad is piled into little mounds on top three thin discs of crisp taro root, like mini Vietnamese tostadas.

Chicken wings on Le Colonial’s Le Bar Bites menu

New from the kitchen are the canh ga nhoi thit (photo above), chicken wings stuffed with minced pork and shiitake mushroom, which are breaded in panko and fried to crisp. Served on top of a tamarind and lemongrass sauce, which had sweet and sour notes, they can be messy if you eat them with your hands, but are fairly easy to eat with a fork and knife. People who love dim sum will also love this bite, which reminded me of the stuffed crab claws found on many dim sum menus.

Because it’s a bar menu, you gotta have French fries. The Le Bar Bites version, Vietnamese frites, are medium-cut and flavored with five spice and served with spicy aoili dip. Those who prefer to skip the fried stuff can also order the universally loved goi cuon spring rolls – rice paper rolls filled with shrimp, pork herbs and springy rice vermicelli noodles.

Banh mi sliders on Le Colonial’s Le Bar Bites menu

My favorite bite of the night ended up being the banh mi sliders (photo above). Essentially a banh mi sandwich cut into four slider-sized mini sandwiches, these bites were more gourmet than what you’d typically find at a Vietnamese sandwich shop. Filled with tender, high-quality chargrilled pork belly and the standard banh mi garnishes of pickled carrot, cucumber and cilantro, Routhier’s spicy aioli spread and choice of delicately crisp, not-too-doughy French baguette made these bites a pleasure to savor.

We also loved how well Le Bar Bites cocktails paired with the food. I tried the “Passion,” a passion fruit cocktail with lime and Belvedere mango vodka. The three other cocktails — a “Red Buffalo” made with Belvedere, muddled strawberries, Thai basil and Thai chili, “Ginger Blossom” made with Glenmorangie 10-year whiskey, fresh lemon juice and honey water, topped with shaved ginger and the “Crimson Crush” made of Belvedere grapefruit, St.Germaine, grapefruit juice and topped with Sprite — were big hits with the others in my party, too.

Le Colonial, 4444 Westheimer G-140 at Kettering Dr., 713-629-4444, lecolonialhouston.com
Hours: Lunch 11 am-4 pm daily; Dinner Sun. to Tues. 4-10 pm, Wed. to Sat. 4-11 pm; Lounge Sun. to Wed. 5 pm-midnight, Thurs. to Sat. 5 pm-2 am