**** Que Huong has closed
I know you're wondering….why so many "short" posts. Work has been quite hectic, and though I meant to do these as a single long post, I just haven't been able to make the time. So my apologies…
After my Chicken Feet Salad visit, I mentioned that Que Huong had a new menu to the Missus. The menu was wide and varied, and it was obvious that not everything would "work", but at least the 2 dishes I had tried had flavor. The Missus had little use for boneless chicken feet, "what's the use? You take away the most fun part of eating chicken feet…the gnawing and sucking." But when I told Her they had Bun Rieu, She decided that She needed to check it out.
We arrived to an empty restaurant, and had a seat at one of the tables. The Missus noted that the place looks a bit more worn than when we first visited. Of course She got the Bun Rieu($5.95)
I thought the Bun Rieu broth to be very clear and mild, and the ground "seafood" had a pretty strong flavor. The noodles were fine, if a bit on the soft side. The Missus told me, this isn't too bad, in fact, this almost tastes like what we had in Hanoi. The Missus really enjoyed the fresh and sparkling herbs, and there was a generous portion of banana blossom.
Though nowhere as good as the Bun Rieu at Mien Trung, the Missus thought this to be a passable version.
Why did I want to return to Que Huong? One of the reasons was that they had Cha Ca Thang Long($12.95) on the menu. It wasn't cheap, but because I enjoy this dish so much, I wanted to give it a try. Cha Ca Thang Long is a turmeric-flavored fried fish dish, that uses what some consider to be some atypical ingredients when it comes ti Vietnamese Cuisine. That would be turmeric and dill.
Much like the version at Ha Noi Restaurant in Westminster, this was served on a sizzling plate, with dill, onions, and green onions scattered on top. One thing we noticed, was that, the version we had at Cha Ca Thang Long in Hanoi used the dill as a vegetable, and it was used in great quantity, at Ha Noi Restaurant, and here at Que Huong, it is treated like a garnish of sorts. This version used snapper as the fish, which added a bit more chew, and made it less moist, but flavor wise it was pretty close to other versions we've eaten. Another difference was that much less oil was used for this, which for me took away some of the richness and moistness from the dish. There was a huge amount of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, pickled vegetables(nice and tangy), but the amount of Bun (rice vermicelli) was a bit lacking. And what to do with the huge leaves of lettuce? This 
isn't Banh Xeo! The SOP sesame crackers and peanuts were made available, as was a bowl of Mam Tom(Fermented Shrimp Paste) mixed with sugar and chilies which was so good, the Missus asked for another bowl.
If you've never had it before, this isn't a bad introduction. Not the best, but much less oily than other versions……
By this time, we'd become a bit of an oddity here, and had gotten to know one of the young men who ran the place. He brought us a sample of the Ốc len xào dừa. Snails braised in coconut milk.
He also gave us a quick demo on how to suck the snails out of the shell. I must say, these were fresh and tender. Forget about the rubbery Ốc we usually get with Bun Rieu. The coconut milk based broth had a little bit of a chili kick to it.
As we drove out of the parking lot, the Missus looked at me and said…"man that fermented shrimp paste tastes so good when you're eating it, but the after taste is hell!" She then turned to me and said; "we're coming back in a few days."
Stay tuned for part 3!