Que Nha Restaurant

The Food Snob
Frankly, it was difficult to snub my other favorite Asian restaurants along University Avenue and try Que Nha. With Tai Hoa just across the street, Hoa Bien up a couple of blocks and Cheng Heng (not Vietnamese I grant you) down a ways, the idea of trying a new place was making me insecure. Too many choices can drive a person mad.

Que Nha, in the Brownstone building on the corner of University and Victoria, is bright and clean with friendly service and fast cooking. Of the five entrees we sampled, all were tasty.  The Bachelor’s Curry Mock Duck ($6.25) was spicy and savory with plenty of vegetables.  He vacuumed it up in a hurry.  I tried the Steamed Rice in Earthen Pot ($6.95) and enjoyed the crusty bits of rice that formed on the bottom.  The Cheapskate, who loves the hot and spicy chicken at Vina, ordered it here ($6.25) and got quite a tasty version, with real grilled chicken (not the stuff with the painted on grill marks).

We brought two guests to Que Nha. The bassett hound lover with the pointy hairdo proved to be a good and adventurous eater.  He sampled the hot and spicy goat ($9.95), which tasted pretty generic and swam in a cornstarch-thickened sauce.  Our final guest, a sassy young Jodie Foster impersonator, ordered the noodle egg roll salad ($5.95).  Whoever was working the grill in the kitchen isn’t afraid of high heat, and her meat slices were thoroughly incinerated.  Otherwise the dish was fine.

Que Nha is a perfectly fine restaurant. It will have trouble finding a place in my heart because of my many other favorites along the same street.  But a favorite restaurant is a very personal thing. Stop in – this may become your new top choice on University Avenue.

The Chow Hound
When we walked into the building, I was pleasantly surprised at the surroundings. On one wall there were kimonos, and on the other some sort of string instruments. Compared to my recent trip to Hoa Bien (where the walls are mostly empty) it felt quite welcoming. While it might not make the perfect romantic setting for one of The Bachelor’s mythical dates, it was great for lunch.

I took one look at the menu and immediately my eyes crossed. Just as The Food Snob points out, too many choices can drive a person crazy. Luckily I was spared the trouble. Before I had a chance to begin reading, The Food Snob volunteered me to try the hot and spicy goat.

While we were waiting I sampled a shrimp spring roll that came with an especially tasty sauce. I also had the pleasure of trying shrimp on sugarcane, which looks like an orange tire tread, but has an amazing sweet grilled flavor. When the spicy goat came, I had shoveled in at least five bites before realizing that the sauce left something to be desired. It wasn’t bad, but I think The Food Snob’s description of “cornstarch-thickened” is accurate.

Thanks a lot, Food Snob. In the future, I’ll take my sweet time with the menu.

The Bachelor
In case my loyal readers have not noticed by now, your beloved bachelor can be a little thick at times. Daylight savings time, Martinizing, courtship … these concepts have long mystified me.

Another of nature’s enigmas that has haunted me is that of mock duck. I went years without mustering up the intellectual wherewithal to ask myself, “Just what IS this mock duck?” I had the fuzzy notion that it was some sort of cynical Chinese waterfowl – one that I was not particularly interested in grinding between my molars.

Imagine my surprise when someone (no doubt that know-it-all Food Snob) eventually slapped me to my senses and explained that mock duck was not a bird at all (hence the “mock”), but rather a bean curd-based substance, or at least that’s how I explain it now. Of course, the need to make this gelatinous brown goo look like freshly plucked duck’s skin is beyond me.

So, with mock duck now an established part of my eating repertoire, it was with the serenity of the Buddha that I ordered the Curry Mock Duck with Vegetables (just $6.25). I squealed with glee when my food came well before the entrees of my companions, and downed half of it before their meals arrived. (I steadfastly refuse to abide by this ridiculous social more of waiting until everyone receives their food before eating – that’s an offense against instant gratification.)

As seems to be the case with the 13,000 or so Asian restaurants along University Avenue, the portions at Que Nha are huge … just the way I like ‘em. The dark brown curry sauce that puddled at the bottom of my plate had a kick to it that I wasn’t quite expecting, but it worked well with the sweetness of the coconut milk. The thinly sliced carrots retained their firmness, and the mock duck retained its goose-bumpy squishiness. The rice was plump and chewy, with just enough stickiness to keep me entertained while I picked it off every conceivable surface area around me. I left a happy bachelor.

Now if someone could please explain what bean curd is, I’ll be happy.

The Cheapskate
As a rule, I view appetizers as a tax on the impatient. They reel in the likes of the Bachelor and the Food Snob, people who cannot wait eight minutes for their entree and cannot envision that in 35 minutes they will be staggering out the door, groaning and holding their bellies, wondering why on earth they ordered appetizers.

When it comes to spring rolls and egg rolls, however, I always have to eat my words. Those are appetizers I can’t resist. Chopped up into little bite-size morsels, with a good sweet/peanutty sauce to dip into, those are well worth the $2.95 you will pay at Que Nha for a pair of either fried or fresh rolls. I also broke another cardinal rule of cheapskateness by actually purchasing a beverage. I can’t resist the sweet, strong, creamy Vietnamese Ice Coffee.

Naturally the Snob had to also order the most expensive appetizer her eye fell upon, the $4.95 Grilled Shrimp on Sugar Cane. That money buys you two grilled shrimp, each spread-eagled over a short stick of sugar cane. They tasted good, but $4.95? We’re talking entrée money here.

My undivided recommendation at Que Nha is the Hot and Spicy Chicken. Don’t worry – it’s not THAT spicy. You can get it with vegetables or just with sliced onions, either way for $6.25. As the Snob has noted, the chicken had a fresh-from-the-grill flavor that was outstanding, and the sweet-hot sauce hit the spot. Considering that several of my fellow diners kept coming back for more while their own entrees languished, I feel I can recommend it without reservations.

Another reason I recommend Que Nha is the bright, clean simplicity of the space. The Vietnamese décor is understated, and the place just feels clean and open. We found the staff extremely friendly, ready to talk over recommendations, and very quick. The Snob may find herself torn among too many Vietnamese restaurants along University, but I say that the combination of good food, excellent price, top-notch service, tasteful décor, and uncrowded and unharried atmosphere is not all that easy to find. I’ve got both thumbs up for Que Nha.

Que Nha Restaurant

849 University Ave.

651-290-8552

Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Sun. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.