THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408160053
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: A La Carte
SOURCE: Donna Reiss
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
AlTHOUGH THE nearest restaurants to specialize in Vietnamese cuisine are in Newport News and Williamsburg, several Virginia Beach and Norfolk restaurants offer Southeast Asian meals worth seeking.
The best dishes are light, crisp, gently aromatic, subtly peppered and varied; they may be flavored with coconut, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and mild or hot chilies.
Nuoc mam, a surprisingly light liquid based on fermented anchovies, is the heart of much Vietnamese seasoning, serving as an ingredient or as a dipping sauce or condiment to taste.
Influenced by French and Chinese culinary traditions, including the strict vegetarian diet of the Buddhists, Vietnamese cuisine shares some flavors and cooking techniques with neighbor Thailand. However, Vietnamese dishes are often lighter and subtler. Raw vegetables, including large leafy herbs as beautiful garnish and edible treat, and oil-free cooking are especially appealing for health-conscious lovers of Asian flavorings.
La Caravelle in Virginia Beach, the most elegant local Vietnamese restaurant, emphasizes classical French fare but also includes a small selection of authentic Vietnamese dishes. Nguyen Huy Loi and wife Tam, the chef, offer a half-dozen dishes representative of Saigon's upper class. Recently, we were delighted by an off-menu special of tempura-fried soft shells and an exquisite sauce scented with garlic, ginger and crisp shoestring vegetables. Crab and asparagus soup is a Vietnamese tradition, here served with white asparagus and a generous serving of crabmeat.
Decorated like a soothing French country inn at the Seashire Inn on Laskin Road, La Caravelle is open for dinner only. Call 428-2477.
Also in Virginia Beach, the Great Wall is an informal Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant with a substantial selection of Vietnamese dishes, including several variations of that nation's specialty, noodle soups. Some are made with plain noodles or egg noodles or rice-flour noodles or cellophane (mung bean) noodles.
Light stocks are the base, and condiments come on the side to enhance the flavorings to taste. We stirred in crisp mung bean sprouts plus a touch each of medium-hot chile sauce and super-hot chile sauce to achieve the right balance of peppery flavor. At 875 Lynnhaven Parkway beside the Farm Fresh, the Great Wall is strip-shop casual and has karaoke at night. Call 468-1212.
In Norfolk, the Mekong makes delicious goi cuon, rolls of shrimp, shredded radish and a fragrant herb we couldn't translate. Wrapped in translucent steamed rice flour crepes, they are refreshing alone, spicy when dipped in fish sauce. Soups are clear, seasoned with fresh cilantro and filled with noodles.
Never mind that the menu of this big take-out shop furnished in kitchenette classics also includes Chinese foods, fish and chips and steak with onion rings. Somebody back there knows how to make Vietnamese food with skill. If you live nearby, call them at 423-3140 for home delivery; or drive through at 1005 W. Little Creek Road.
For the best variety and strongest focus on the foods of Vietnam, try two restaurants on the Peninsula. Newest is Mai, 14346 Warwick Blvd. in Newport News, where broken rice dishes are offered on the extensive menu. We tried to imagine Vietnamese chefs chopping rice into tiny pieces before cooking them but decided instead simply to savor these small grains topped with two styles of pork and garnished with fresh cucumbers and carrots. Traditional Vietnamese shrimp paste was the heart of chao tom, rosy balls wrapped around sugar cane stalks. One of the most unusual dishes on the menu, it was an acquired taste, we decided.
Not far from Colonial Williamsburg, at Williamsburg Shopping Center on Monticello Avenue and Richmond Road, is the older Chez Trinh. With its more selective menu and consistently excellent dishes, Chez Trinh would be our first choice for Vietnamese food.
Bo bia features stir fried pork, julienned vegetables and transparent rice paper crepes in which to roll the other ingredients. An evening special of fresh asparagus came garnished with excellent shrimp and chunks of tender chicken. Both restaurants served appetizers of splendid yellow rice-flour pancakes stuffed with ground meat and bean sprouts; both offered tender dumplings filled with meat.
On each table was a pot of ground red chilies and a bowl of nuoc mam (fish sauce) for adding heat to the moderately spiced dishes. Many main courses at both restaurants cost less than $10. Substantial portions of fresh foods are cooked lightly with little or no oils and garnished with fresh vegetables. Call (804) 874-2700 for Mai, (804) 253-1888 for Chez Trinh.
Bon Appetit at Oyster Point Square Shopping Center in Newport News is mostly French but has a small selection of Vietnamese dishes, including a curry, tasty chicken marinated with lemongrass and served on rice noodles, and several other grilled dishes. Phone (804) 873-0644.
Quick bites
Kyushu, one of the first sushi bars in Virginia Beach and a Flavor Favorite for 1993, is shifting its emphasis from eat-in to carry-out. Plans are to close at the end of August and reopen around mid-September. Call 499-6292; a new number, listed in the new phone books, goes into effect in mid-September. riding boots, says owner Frank Spapen. Slated to open by the end of September, a bistro behind the elegant contemporary-Continental restaurant on Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach will be tastefully informal. ``I'll always have white tablecloths,'' Spapen says. But customers will pay $8 to $12 for meals, many of them cooked on imported rotisseries in the open kitchen that will be the centerpiece. MEMO: A la carte is published biweekly in Flavor. Send restaurant news to: a
la carte, Flavor section, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, 150
W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. Items must be received 10 days
before publication.
by CNB