Get away from it all at Quan Ngoai O

As a newcomer to the capital, I’ve been sampling the thousands of restaurants serving local cuisine to foreign travellers, and not many of them made the grade. So when a colleague suggested I try Quan Ngoai O, I was a bit sceptical and put it off for as long as possible.

But by the end of my dining experience, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to have found a place with the right combination of a relaxed decorum where "nobody knows your name" but that’s just fine; easygoing staff, good food and price.

Quan Ngoai O is tucked away on a quiet street that feels more like the suburbs than the centre of a growing metropolis and is eerily absent of xe om drivers. It does have screaming neon lighting outside, but when you enter the restaurant the intensity calms and the city noises drown quickly.

The restaurant had five tables occupied, all by locals, which was a promising sign that the Vietnamese cuisine was up to scratch. Quan Ngoai O has indoor and outdoor seating, but is not a large venue, which adds to its quaint interior.

Even though it’s a little nippy for those of us that grew up in the tropics, I would suggest sitting outside where tables are arranged under a small, high-ceiling hut that is similar to many thatch roofed structures seen across Melanesia and other parts of the Pacific.

The decor is a bit ethnic with the hut and bamboo furniture, but is in no way tawdry.

Since it was a bit cold, I decided to start with the seafood soup (VND19,000 a bowl) and Ngoai O Spring Rolls (VND48,000 for eight). Across Asia spring rolls are a constant if you ever need a gauge to how good a restaurant is, order a plate.

I use spring rolls as a gastronomic barometer because they are such a simple, yet labour-intensive, dish that requires a degree of skill to make and ingenuity in terms of what combination of vegetables, spices and meat to use as stuffing.

The Ngoai O Spring Rolls are not wonderfully mind-blowing, but they are quite good, which they should be since they are named after the restaurant.

The chef gets an "A" for effort when it comes to the presentation of the rolls. They are served pegged to a pineapple that has a candle within its hollowed out center. Squares are cut into the pineapple to allow the candle light highlight the plate and spring rolls.

The seafood soup hit the spot with the chill in the air. It was served Szechuan style in a kind of congee with chunks of shrimp, crab and squid. The hearty soup also had a hint of thyme, which gave it a slight tangy, earthy flavor.

Quan Ngoai O is worth a visit on a cold night just for this dish with a side of oolong tea or a small brandy.

For the next course, I went with the Cua Bay Sot Toi Cay, deep fried soft-shell crab in a chili and garlic sauce. The garlic was not overbearing, and the chilies were not wow-I-can’t-feel-my-tongue" hot, which can be the case in Cambodia and Thailand with similar dishes.

The restaurant certainly has other seafood fares, like tortoise, eel and lobster, but a price-conscious diner will get their value for money with the crab.

The final dish was Com Chien Thap Cam (VND25,000), which is basically yang chow fried rice for anybody that has spent time living near a Chinese take-away in the West. Of course, I am not comparing Quan Ngoai O with a cheap take-out joint; the restaurant rates several notches above.

Again, the chef balanced the otherwise intense flavours. The dish did have a slight kick with fried flakes of lemon grass, which complimented the soft-shell crab.

The combination of fried crab and stir fried rice does sit a bit heavily in the stomach, so an after dinner aperitif or, for the health conscious, a pot of tea goes nicely.

For anybody new to Vietnamese cuisine, diners can request a menu with pictures and a few of the staff know enough English that a patron can ask for recommendations. There is also a specials menu with whatever seafood and fruits are in season.

Quan Ngoai O does offer European cuisine, like pork stuffed cabbage, red beet soup and a cold-cut platter. Strangely, the European dishes are absent from the non-picture menu.

As for the wine list, it is far from comprehensive, but there is a selection from France and Italy in the VND200,000-400,000 range, an indication that the restaurant owners are trying to cater to their clientele.

A lot of the dishes on the menu are typical of Asia in the sense they have distinctive flavours. Therefore, a Bordeaux or Merlot may not be the best choice, but something a little earthy and rough around the edges would do better.

Source VNS