Nha Trang Series: Family Run Heaven [Nha Hang Yen's Restaurant]

Target: Nha Hang Yen’s Restaurant

Address: 3/3 Tran Quang Khai | (next to the Ha Van Hotel), Nha Trang 058, Vietnam, +84 121 955 6861

Being in China with some time off in the summer, we decided to make a week long trip to the culinary paradise that is Vietnam!  Now, with only one week at our disposal, it was really only feasible to see either the North (Hanoi, Halong Bay, etc.)  or the South (Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, etc.).  Having decided to do the latter, we found ourselves in the beautiful, beachy Nha Trang for a couple nights looking for a quality meal.

After a long day of wakeboarding and jetski’ing, we decided to explore Nha Hang Yen’s Restaurant (the #3 restaurant in Nha Trang according to Tripadvisor.com).  If you’re ever on the lookout for this place, look for a small alleyway on the corner of the street that the address indicates.  The reason I say this is because when we were asking for directions, we were nearly tricked by a neighbouring restaurant who claimed that they were Nha Hang Yen’s and that they recently changed their name to “Oasis”!

When we finally arrived, we automatically noticed the comfortable setting of this intimate, family-run establishment.  The service is more than friendly and they were extremely helpful when explaining some of the items on their menu.  The selection of food was pretty limited, but what it lacked it quantity, it certainly compensated with quality.  Whatever it is you ended up ordering, you could tell it was a specialty.

       

To start, we indulged in their deep fried meat spring rolls (40,000VND – 2USD)!  Perfect amount of crunch, and not ridiculously oily like some of the other local places we had been to.

Next up, an obvious choice.  Pho! (Rice Noodles).  But this time we chose not to go with the traditional Pho Bo (w/ Beef), instead opting for the Pho Ga (w/ Chicken) (40,000VND – 2USD).  You can tell a bowl of pho is made well when the soup is clear, as it was in this case.  The noodles were also the perfect texture, not too chewy and not too soft.  Make sure you add a generous amount of bean sprouts and the other veggies that they give you on the side to maximize the flavour!  Also don’t forget to squeeze in the lime juice.  Overall, one of the best pho’s we had the privilege of consuming over the duration of the trip (and we had at least one bowl of pho every day).

Here we have a Vietnamese crepe (40,000VND – 2USD), something I’d never heard of until visiting Yen’s.  What a treat it was.  The proper way to eat this is to cut a piece of the crepe, wrap it in one of the leaves on the side of the plate, and then dip it in fish sauce.  The crunchiness of the crepe’s outer layer and the leaf was spectacular when mixed with the aromatic vegetables/herbs and delicious shrimp and pork underneath.

As we finished our meal, happy and satisfied, monsoon rains began to pour outside in buckets.   This was actually a blessing as it let us relax and enjoy the home-y-ness of the restaurant for a while longer while sipping on an additional glass of their super-refreshing fresh lemon juice (15,000VND – 0.75USD).

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Verdict:  An absolutely amazing meal.  Everything was made to perfection and the family-owners couldn’t have been more friendly and accommodating.  As the beautiful Nha Trang begins to explode into the highly popular tourist destination that it will inevitably become, expect Nha Hang Yen’s to be right there at the center of it.  Lets just hope that amidst all of the incoming fame and attention (that it rightfully deserves), it doesn’t lose it’s cozy and intimate feel.

- BMI40

Vancouver Series: Walking the Distance [Phnom Penh]

Target: Phnom Penh

Location: Chinatown, 244 E Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6A (Sky Train: Main Street)

How far would you go for food? Would you wait in line for hours? Drive 100 miles from home? Spend a fortune? BMI40 and I have been talking about visiting Phnom Penh for over a month, and each time it seems we’re either too lazy or we miss out on getting a ride with other people and it’s too long of a trek. But then our friends came back raving about this place, and we were so jealous and curious about the food we made the plans to go. Food adventure time!

Not having a car in Vancouver sucks, public transportation is pretty convenient, but it’s a pain to get to Phnom Penh. We had to bus it, take the Canada Line, switch to the Millenium/Expo Line, and then walk at least a couple blocks. Seriously, Chinatown is SKETCH. I’m not sure if it’s because it was dark at night and most stores were already closed, or because sketchy people tend to roam the streets at night. Either way, I’m glad BMI-40 was there with me. So we finally arrived at Phnom Penh, only to see a ton of people waiting to be seated. We were told to wait from 30-45 minutes. Bummer. So since we came all the way, we would of course wait it out.

So we decided to take a walk around Chinatown. You know, explore the area? There was nothing to explore. Everything’s closed, and it’s seriously kinda creepy at night. It was also quite chilly, so we wanted to find a place to sit down, maybe have a drink. The ONLY option we had was this British pub right round the corner from Phnom Penh. Okay, I guess that’ll do. People were really rowdy and drunk, and it wasn’t even 8:30 pm yet. So we sat down and ordered a pretty typical British drink: Snakebite. (A mix of Strongbow, Lager and blackcurrant syrup) Only it turns out they did it wrong, but whatever, at least March Madness was on. We wait for 30 minutes in the pub before heading back to Phnom Penh – we didn’t want to miss our turn.

So finally, we get seated, the place still uber crowded – but I like that kind of atmosphere! I was so hungry by this point, even though I had just chugged an entire pint of beer. HERE WE GO!

Phnom Penh is a popular hole-in-the-wall type restaurant that serves up Vietnamese and Cambodian dishes!

The famous Luc Lac Beef Rice with Egg ($9.50). Look how beautifully raw that yolk is! The beef was really tasty, there was a good amount of sauce, but it didn’t blow me away. It’s really good when you mix everything together, even with the salad on the side, cause it adds a nice crunch.

Mango Moo Shake ($4.50): DELICIOUS! Definitely a item you must order. Thick, creamy, tangy, refreshing slushie that isn’t too sweet. It’s really the perfect balance to all the chicken wings in the background….

Deep Fried Chicken Wings – Full Order ($12.50): Hands down, best chicken wings EVER. So crispy, yet so tender on the inside… Good amount of spice in the coating, LOVE the dipping sauce (lemon juice with black peppers and perhaps some other stuff). This is delicious. I had chicken wings at Wings downtown the week before….they don’t even COMPARE to Phnom Penh!

DESTRUCTION!!

(not pictured) Green Papaya Salad ($14.50): BMI-40 isn’t really a fan of ordering salads in restaurants. No wait, he isn’t a fan of eating salads in general. But I have a real soft spot for green papaya salad – so I had to try this! It was light, refreshing, but oddly there was some kind of beef/pork jerky sprinkled on top? Still good.

We were so full by the end of the meal, but we went ahead and ordered dessert anyway! This is a layered sticky rice dessert! It reminds me of Kuih Lapis – this type of dessert is commonly found in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. They served this warm, and whilst it was quite sticky, it wasn’t hard to chew. It wasn’t too sweet either, which is good.

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Verdict: If you like Vietnamese/Cambodian food, you must visit this place! The food is simple and tasty, and it won’t make a huge dent in your wallet either! There’s a lot of variety on the menu, so it’s probably more ideal to come in a group to sample a range of stuff! Do keep in mind this place is really popular, so you’ll likely have to wait during rush hours.

Burp,

Muffin Top