Hum: La Nhau's small plates, soups and drinks celebrate Vietnamese flavours

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Vietnamese beef carpaccio at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Jean Levac /Jean Levac

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I’m also a fan of La Nhau’s very snackable clams in tamarind lemongrass butter sauce ($24), which the three of us polished off in just a few minutes because they were so delectable, and the extra-crispy, nubbly, Northern Vietnamese style spring rolls (four made with pork and shrimp for $14, three made with crab for $15).

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Clams in tamarind lemongrass butter sauce at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar on Murray Street. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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Pork and shrimp spring rolls at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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Crab spring rolls at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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Banana blossom salad with sirloin beef ($20) was a pleasant discovery. Banana blossoms, it turns out, taste not at all like bananas, but are mild and neutral, like hearts of palm. They figured in an appealing salad of sirloin beef, herbs, peanuts, shrimp chips and a sweet fish sauce dressing that I thought could have been more pungent.

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Banana blossom salad with sirloin beef at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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I felt the same way about the fish sauce-glazed chicken wings ($18) — quite tasty, admirably meaty and great texture, but the kitchen could have gone harder with the fish sauce. Tran confirmed what I’d suspected, that the glaze had been toned down for palates that don’t love that fish sauce-funk. But that’s the point, I’d argue. Happily, the kitchen will dial up the fish sauce if you ask, Tran says.

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Fish sauce-glazed chicken wings at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum / Postmedia

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Two of La Nhau’s starchier plates caught my eye because a) they both feature crab and b) both are on the Lunch Lady menus in Vancouver and Toronto. At La Nhau, crab fried rice ($28) was solidly made and generous, with lots of flaked red crab and leg meat, and a sauce of sweetened, cooked-down soy sauce and shallots to make the dish as sweet as you would like. Crab-enhanced garlic noodles ($28) were smaller portioned and sweeter.

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Crab fried rice at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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Garlic noodles with crab at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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In case you were wondering, the Lunch Lady versions of these dishes were more deluxe, and they were very crab-forward. These dishes were also pimped up with XO sauce for extra umami, and roughly $10 more than what La Nhau charges.

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When it comes to pho, other soups, and vermicelli bowls, La Nhau takes a more curated approach. From the pho menu, I was very pleased with the Phở Bò Tái Lăn ($20 for a small bowl, $24 for a large). It was blessed with a superior beef broth and buttery, wok-seared sirloin, and Tran told me that this kind of pho is all the rage in Vietnam these days. He added that for a flavour boost, I could add some of La Nhau’s house-made lemongrass sate condiment. This was good advice.

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Pho with wok-seared beef at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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Another soup of distinction at La Nhau is the Bún Bò Huế Đặc Biệt ($28), also known as the house special spicy beef noodle soup, made with a spicy but not overwhelming broth, beef shank, pork, pork sausage, a crab patty, a chunk of oxtail, and round rice noodles. As we were in a sharing mood, three of us split a bowl. Some other time, though, I might just have to have a bowl for myself.

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House special spicy beef noodle soup at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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The only two dishes that I wouldn’t order again were the grilled lemongrass chicken on vermicelli ($22) and the shaking beef ($29). Those dishes were fine, but I just think the other dishes are more special.

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From the cocktail menu, I’ve tried just one drink: the Ca Phe Martini made with Vietnamese coffee and coffee liqueur in lieu of espresso ($16). Potent in more ways than one, it was almost worth the insomnia. Tran tells me that he has some other creations in the works, including a sate-influenced Negroni and a drink that riffs on pho spices. The latter is something I’ve enjoyed at both of the Lunch Lady restaurants.

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Ca Phe Martini at La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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Service at La Nhau was quick, friendly and attentive. Servers could impart a bit more to customers about little touches that make the restaurant special, like that off-menu lemongrass sate condiment. Why do I think this? Because that’s what the server at Lunch Lady in Toronto did in early May.

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But to be fair, I should stop with the Lunch Lady comparisons. Does it serve readers to tell them that they can find even better Vietnamese food in Toronto or Vancouver? I hate when I read haters dissing Ottawa’s restaurant scene on those grounds.

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Better to stress that La Nhau is off to a strong start, and that it, as well as the like-minded, next-generation restaurant Co Oi Kitchen in the Glebe, has the potential to really broaden Ottawa’s appreciation of Vietnamese cuisine.