Sweetbread wrote:2) Pork and Catfish in a Clay Pot (#166) Wow, just wow. The pork ended up being pork belly which ends up saturating the catfish, and creates a silky sauce which can be poured over the rice and condiments that accompany it. If you plan on going to Nha Hang anytime soon (and I know some are), write the number "166" on your hand right now, and don't wash it until you eat this dish.

news alert, this dish is no longer 166 as I had to wash the ink off of my hand last night after seeing the menu (it is now in the 150s somewhere) I had this dish and it did have a deeper flavor than the catfish in claypot I get from Tank (one of my favorite items to order in the area), I have to believe the pork belly has something to do with this. Regardless the dish was a stunner.

Mrs Sweet Willie ordered the lemongrass/ginger chicken, this flavor profile sings to her and it was good, but I personally wouldn't order again as there are so many other things to order.

To start we had split an order of the rare beef salad that was promptly inhaled by the two of us.

I really wanted to order the sour fish soup canh chua ca but could not find it on the menu, but based upon how good our meal was last night, we'll be back soon.

stevez wrote: I'm not sure if these crackers were made in house or not, but they were remarkably better than the normal styrofoam-like, multi-colored ones served elsewhere. As you can see from laikom's picture, they were much larger, but that's not the only difference. They had a much fuller flavor than any other shrimp cracker I have ever tasted. They had structural integrity, too and maintained their crunch even when soaked with the delicious dressing from the salads.

I have to admit Steve, after I read this I was a bit skeptical, after all it is just a shrimp cracker right??? After having them last night, they are great tasting and sure helped me with my limited chop stick skills, pick up every last bit of salad.

Seriously - is Nha Hang 2 still happening on Fullerton near Kimball? I can't see any work being done on any space in that area (I walk past that intersection every day on my way to work) and I REALLY want this to happen...

drschwitters wrote:Seriously - is Nha Hang 2 still happening on Fullerton near Kimball?

Well, the best way to find out would be to make a trip to Nha Hang and ask them. I'm sure there must be an intrepid lther up to the task.

I ate here with a friend--somehow our first visit here, ever--last night. We were very impressed by the food and service (really, the friendliness of the owner (?)/waiter. I tried to do a little due diligence at this website before going there, but then, last-minute, I tried to ask the waiter for his recommendations and think, though again the food was excellent, that the recommendations may have led me somewhat astray and I could have benefitted from more due diligence here and even a post asking for suggestions. So--anticipating another visit to the restaurant sometime in the very near future, and more visits after that--does anyone have any strong recommendations for me (I eat everything/anything, but tend to gear toward the less carby stuff, if possible) and for my usual companion (vegetarian who will look the other way if, for example, there's a speck of meat in something or a meat-based broth, and generally does not eat any meat of any kind, but will eat any fish/seafood)? One of the dishes we tried was the catfish in the clay pot, I thought I ordered the one others had recommended, and it was very tasty, but I neither saw nor detected the taste of any pork (or pork belly) and we had a bit of trouble with all the little bones. Thanks!

Here are some of my favorite things to order:

Spring Rolls with shrimp
Banh Xeo sizzling pancake stuffed with bean sprouts
Chicken Wings marinated in fish sauce
Steamed rice noodle with grilled pork (the pork is awesome)
Any of the salads depending on your mood (chicken, rare beef, lotus root, papaya, squid)
Catfish and pork in clay pot (note there are two catfish preparations that are quite similar)
Bo Luc Lac (french style beef with watercress)
Beef stir fried with sour mustard
House Special Crabs (not on the menu, but pictured on the front of the menu)
Soups (Pho Bo, Pho Ga, Bun Mam, Bun Bo Hue, or if you're with a big group one of the hot pots)

It's a big menu that can be hard to navigate, but fortunately I've been there enough that I know what I like to order.

To add to Turkob's recommendations which are great, I've enjoyed the deep fried frog legs and beef stew. My friends who love bitter melon also like the stuffed bitter melon soup.

buttercream wrote:My friends who love bitter melon also like the stuffed bitter melon soup.

Thanks for mentioning the bitter melon soup. It reminded me I never posted about a meal nearly a year ago at which that soup was the most important dish.

We started with goi ga, an excellent, herb-heavy version.



The dressing is balanced but, like a lot of NHVN's dishes, it skews toward the sweet side of the spectrum.

Next came the crab.



I have a feeling I'm the only one here who isn't a huge fan of this dish. Don't get me wrong, I love NHVN and would hardly turn down a hunk of this crab but I find it too sweet. I appreciate the craft involved but it's simply not a match for my taste buds.

Then another sweet one (I realize we bear the responsibility for ordering an unbalanced meal) — catfish and pork in a clay pot.



This is the best version of the dish I've had. The almost-burnt notes from the bubbling caramel and plenty of nước mắm balance the syrupy sauce. I'm sure their catfish-only dish is excellent but pork belly is such a perfect complement that I'll probably never find out. A wonderful dish.

After that sugar overload, stuffed bitter melon soup came to the rescue.



Talk about contrast! The austere broth with bitter (but not over-the-top) meat-stuffed rounds was just what the doctor ordered. It almost felt therapeutic after the fatty sweet richness of the belly-n-catfish. And maybe it is. I doubt I'll ever stop by alone for a bowl of this stuff but it's well worth knowing about to balance a meal.

Nha Hang Viet Nam
1032 W Argyle St
Chicago
773-878-8895

Rene G wrote:


Talk about contrast! The austere broth with bitter (but not over-the-top) meat-stuffed rounds was just what the doctor ordered. It almost felt therapeutic after the fatty sweet richness of the belly-n-catfish. And maybe it is. I doubt I'll ever stop by alone for a bowl of this stuff but it's well worth knowing about to balance a meal.

I enjoyed this soup quite a bit as well. If you're a bitter melon fan, this is a very good expression of it. The ratio of meat filling to bitter melon to soup is ideal.


I've also been really enjoying Nha Hang's chao (Vietnamese congee) dishes lately. It's lighter/looser in style (soupier) than most Chinese renditions and all chaos I've tried there have beautifully bold base broths that work quite well with the lighter Vietnamese rice. This congee, especially the chao ga (chicken), makes for a lovely weekend breakfast.

I don't have a ton to add to my prior post, but since I went back to Nha Hang last Saturday, I have a few follow-up comments. I can't recall what all of us ate since we couldn't fully share (two omnivores, one vegetarian who eats fish/shellfish, and one who doesn't eat pork or shellfish), but the biggest hits, it seemed, were the catfish and pork in the clay pot and the Banh Xeo sizzling pancake stuffed with bean sprouts and shrimp. Last time I ordered the catfish and pork in the clay pot but got the similar preparation without the pork. Big difference. The "with pork" preparation way better. We also had the spring Rolls with shrimp, and the crabs pictured on the (but not listed in) the menu. The crabs looked great but were just too damn messy for me to eat--or, I suppose, involved too much mess for not enough crab meat. I wouldn't order that again. I liked the chicken wings with the tamarind sauce more than anyone else. I can't recall the names/numbers of a lot of the other stuff; I need to take better notes and some pics next time. And, if you have recommendations, I'm still looking for stuff the vegetarian can eat. I do just fine there, but she seems to wind up with what looks like the standard-fare veggies and noodles she'd wind up at any Thai place, so she isn't too excited about this place (yet) and I need help finding stuff she can eat that makes the place shine.

RonnieO: Just how strict is the vegetarian? Does she avoid fish sauce and any soups that aren't made with vegetable stock? If she refuses to eat fish sauce, then i think she's out of luck with the majority of the dishes. Assuming she's okay with the fish sauce, for my veggie friends, they often get the fresh spring rolls minus pork and shrimp- just loaded with tofu and veggies. I would also recommend the Banh Xeo sizzling pancake, but again omit the shrimp and replace with tofu. Regarding the catifsh in claypot, I'm curious as to how fried tofu would stand up against the sauce. I actually make that dish at home with catfish, and I may try to making my own tofu version. I wonder if the owners would be willing to try it with tofu. Might be worth asking. I think any of the salads would taste great without any seafood or meat- i'm thinking of lotus root and papaya salad in particular. I've had pineapple and okra soup at some vietnamese places. I'm not sure if Nha Hang has it but if they do, just ask them to leave out the meat or shrimp. Hope this helps.

RonnieO wrote:I...Last time I ordered the catfish and pork in the clay pot but got the similar preparation without the pork. Big difference. The "with pork" preparation way better...

I make this at home, from a recipe by Andrea Nguyen-- but I use bacon instead of pork belly. The light smoke from the bacon, the richness of the pork, and the sweet, salty sauce make for a superb combination. I think her recipe also uses salmon steaks instead of catfish-- very rich.

Pie Love: I just made Andrea Nguyen's chicken pho recipe from her website last weekend. Turned out very nice. I'll have to check out her salmon and bacon clay pot recipe. sounds wonderful.

Finally hit this place with my cheap eats club and it was a big hit with basically everyone. My wife and I shared a simple steamed vermicelli noodles with grilled pork and the pork and catfish in clay pot and both were just fantastic. Definitely going back and very thankful to you LTHers for introducing me to this spot and for pointing me in the direction of the claypot dish, which was a revelation.

Late Nha Hang lunch on a cold, actually very cold, Chicago winter day.

Goi Cuon Tom #17


Pho #48


Fast, friendly, filling, warming, delicious. Perfect for a wind whipped 8° Chicago afternoon.

Nha Hang, count me a fan!

I am eager to try this place now that I've just returned from Vietnam. I had some terrific pho in Hanoi's Old City and even took a cooking class in Hoi An where we prepared spring rolls and onion omelet.

My table was next to Gary's on that very cold last Monday ( Dec 23) at around 2:00 PM , and I second his opinion: Viet Nam's food is more than ever comforting, honestly prepared, and the blend of sweet and spicy is nicely balanced.
And as always the gracious and smiling owner and his charming wife, quite an accomplished cook, along with their adorable 1 year old little girl, will do everything they can to make yourself at home and to satisfy your most specific taste.
While Mr Wiviott seemed happy with his Pho, I was myself enjoying one of my favorite dishes there, Hu Tieu Xao Ga, Large rice noodles, pan-fried to crispness along with chicken white meat, with a variety of perfectly cooked vegetables that include baby Bok Choi, onions, carrots,mushrooms, bell peppers, lettuce, and last Monday purple broccoli florets. This colorful and very tasty dish is seasoned with freshly ground pepper in a delicate light brown sauce, whose components I have never been able to precisely identify, but nevertheless very soul soothing.
This small restaurant is a real little gem.
And as Gary said, count me as a fan, since I go there for lunch every week.

My wife and I went here on our anniversary in December, as we didn't feel like straying too far from home since the weather was so bad, and we didn't want the expense of our original choice (Le Colonial) for what we already knew was just "good" Vietnamese food. We both prefer to focus on the food, and we both wanted Vietnamese, so I stumbled upon this thread, and we decided to go. Thank god we did! The meal was fantastic!

We had the spring rolls to start ( I have to try everyone's spring rolls ) which were very good, but not the best that I've had, and the Bahn Xeo (the crispy pancake with pork, shrimp, etc..), which was out of this world! My wife had the catfish and pork in a clay pot, and I had the lotus root salad. Everything was great. I can't wait to go back and sample some more dishes, as there's so many things that I want to try.

Thanks for turning me on to this place, everyone!

I went here last night and it was easily twice as good as the other restaurants I've eaten at in the neighborhood (which I picked randomly). I'll definitely be back here again.

I want to thank LTH for bringing this place to my attention. This puts all Vietnamese food I have had before to shame.

I have eaten here I think 4 times in 2 months I am so in love with it. Everything suggested in this thread is good if not outstanding. On the same day I had the best pho I have ever eaten here and then the best noodle soup ever with the bun mam. I used to only stick with basic Vietnamese like Pho and vermicelli noodles with nuoc cham, but first Pho Lily (which is not regarded well here though it was our go to spot before we found this place) and now this thread have opened up a whole bevy of delicious options. It's hard ordering a cuisine you don't know much about, but when you can depend on the restaurant to be top quality in nearly all of its offerings and the wisdom of LTH it's not as bad.

The salads are one and all great here, lotus root, papaya, rare beef, you name it. I feel like they dress them slightly differently too so that they are all uniquely delicious.

I can also vouch for the bahn xeo, chicken wings in fish sauce, catfish hotpot and the rice vermicelli with grilled pork. The latter is also the best we have eaten which I found surprising as how can you improve such a simple dish? But they really did it perfectly for us.

Lastly, I want to submit the beef stew in the bahn mi section to the canon. This is an amazingly hearty and flavorful stew that I would order a much larger bowl of if it were on the menu.

After all that praise, the last time we were here we brought friends and it wasn't quite up to standards (though still good).
We ordered a mix of old and new.

Rare Beef Salad - Not as funky and sweet as our first time, maybe just a bit light on the dressing.

Woven Rice Cake - All of us found the rice paper very fussy for little benefit. Very similar to the rice vermicelli (noodles here are glass type) with grilled pork and I would order that instead for the same flavors.

Chicken wings in Tamarind Sauce - These seem to be the fish sauce wings sauced in tamarind, think Vietnamese buffalo wings. I prefer the fish sauce version for the crisper exterior and better flavor, but these are good if you like your wings a bit sweeter.

Bun Mam - Not as dunk your head in the bowl delicious as before. I hear the leftovers were much better, so maybe our bowl was just too fresh? I find soups always get better with age. But I also think it was a bit light on the fish flavor this time.

Bun Cha Ca - For my money, this was better than the accompanying Bun Mam. Light and a little fruity, completely different from Pho or Bun Mam.

Catfish with Pork Hot Pot - This was the second time I have had this and it was actually better this time with a bit more caramelization. This serving could compete with Pho Lily's catfish hot pot whereas the first time it could not.


So yeah 3/4 amazing meals and one just really good meal. Favorite restaurant in Chicago at the moment.

Had a stellar dinner here last night under the watchful eye of SteveZ and the rest of the crew in the GNR photo hanging on the wall.

Mi Xao Thap Cam for me. My wife had the Com Suon Bi and our friend had Mi Xao Rau Cai. Neither my wife or our friend bothered to offer me a taste of their entrees. All three of us were in the Clean Plate Club.

Easy street parking. Lightning fast service. Great food and company. A good night indeed.

I had a pleasant dinner as usual last night. For the first time, I tried the Mi Quang. Delicious. It was topped with pork, shrimp, hard boiled egg, and thai chili peppers. I broke up the shrimp crackers that came along with it and let it absorb the broth. This dish is SO satisfying. My husband had shrimp fried rice and catfish in the clay pot which came along with a side of pickled cabbage and carrots. My son had rice noodles with grilled beef and shrimp.

Has anybody tried any of the rice soups? I'm wondering if it's like congee. I think this may be the next dish I try.

Cheers!

buttercream wrote:I had a pleasant dinner as usual last night.

Had not been in a while, standard solo order, shrimp spring rolls and pho, absolutely terrific, as always. I did think the house chili oil was a little hotter than usual, which made me happy.

Nha Hang, count me a fan!

laikom wrote:We were offered a new noodle dish, which ended up being the reportedly elusive Mi Quang, a tumeric noodle dish from Quang Nam. It was really rich and savory, screaming “home cooking”, a touch of lemongrass and some spice from fresh peppers

Now a regular menu item, #45, Mi Quang made for a spectacular cold weather lunch.

Nha Hang Mi Quang



I am totally charmed by the owner, the amount of goodwill, care and general niceness he transmits without a word of English borders on a magic trick.

Nha Hang, count me a fan!

G Wiv wrote:Nha Hang, count me a fan!

I've been on a string of just-okay to terrible meals out the past month. Early in the fall I mistakenly found myself at a locked door Nha Hang on a Tuesday ready to usher in soups and stews season with a bowl of my favorite bun bo hue. It had been quite awhile, but I took a crack at Tank. Though I was gringo-ed on my cube of congealed pork blood (for better or for worse) I found their offering– in fact, the first bowl I'd ever tried– quite satisfying. Last week I returned to NHVN to help shake my recent bad luck streak and fulfill my promise to a bowl of their BBH.

Generally this dish kinda exemplifies the problem with most Vietnamese food in Chicago– the complex flavors and interplay of fresh and long-cooked ingredients are there, but the quality of the proteins is always low rent, or at least not prepared in such a manner to elevate them beyond their condition. NHVN transcended on this recent bowl. Pork cake, as pictured above, hard to f up (house made or no?); nicely rendered chunks of stew beef; and most tellingly, a very tender, pliable section of pork hock, falling off the bone, no rubber band effect to the gelatinous skin. And, yes, pork blood cube was there and dutifully dispatched of. Broth fiery as hell, spiciest thing I've eaten lately + layers of complexity: sweet, aromatic, funky stinky. Pristine garnish, purple shiso for bonus points.

Nha Hang, count me a fan too!

G Wiv wrote:

laikom wrote:We were offered a new noodle dish, which ended up being the reportedly elusive Mi Quang, a tumeric noodle dish from Quang Nam. It was really rich and savory, screaming “home cooking”, a touch of lemongrass and some spice from fresh peppers

Now a regular menu item, #45, Mi Quang made for a spectacular cold weather lunch.

Nha Hang Mi Quang



I am totally charmed by the owner, the amount of goodwill, care and general niceness he transmits without a word of English borders on a magic trick.

Nha Hang, count me a fan!

Whoa, Nelly. Tried the Mi Quang at Nha Hang today for the first time, and it was all that has been promised above. Although Mrs. JiLS and I have been attempting to eat our way through the entire Nha Hang menu, one Sunday at a time, and have yet to hit a dud on that path, I am tempted to circle back for another dose of this delightful dish. It hits way, way above its weight. Goodwill and care, indeed. A tremendous level of care goes into this dish and others at Nha Hang. Get in there if you have not yet.

Based the input above, I stopped in for Mi Quang for lunch yesterday.

First off, I love this place. Wonderful people, excellent food.

That said, when I ordered the Mi Quang, the waitress tried to dissuade me and started making alternate suggestions. She seemed to think that I would not like the noodles and that I would think that there was not enough broth in the bowl. I persisted and enjoyed the Mi Quang. I think, however, that I understand her caution. The noodles themselves are egg noodles. Egg noodles of the type you might find in chicken soup. I have a feeling some may have ordered this dish in the past expecting something more unusual or exotic and been disappointed. I was not disappointed, I really enjoyed the dish. I was, however, surprised by the noodles- which, of course, I should not have been since they are pictured above.

Ah, but the magic of mi quang noodles is that they are NOT egg noodles like one might find in bubbe's chicken noodle pot. They are rice noodles, tinted yellow with turmeric. The absence of good quality mi quang noodles on Argyle once made this increasingly available dish either unavailable or "wrong" on that strip.

Yeah- I know there are some (OK- quite a few....) folks who are loyal to this place -
maybe for the charm of the sweet owner-maybe for the "cozy" character of the lights and other
Vietnamese-centric knick-knacks, but if there were ever a "throw-down" between the taste and quality
of the Mi Quang here-

Mi_Quang_ by Man_of Steel, on Flickr
versus the AMAZING
version of Mi Quang I prefer at Dong Ky- on Broadway- I'd have to say that Dong Ky's version's a hands-down winner.

Mì Quảng @ Dong Ky = a' big ol' bowl of Yummmmm by Man_of Steel, on Flickr

Why?
OK- so glad that you asked .....1st- visually- I like the colors and vibrancy of the version @ Dong Ky. Each-of the individual "elements" are so strong compared to the limp "meat-loaf....lacking any "soul" at all..... (except- the salted shrimp @ Nha Hang scored a minor-uptick in the voting...) The noodles are chewy- and not properly cooked- IMHO- and the brothe lacks the depth and unami rich character ever-present in Dong Ky's version.
And-- of course there' the price difference- with the Nha Hang version being closer to 8 bucks than the 6.95,
more yumm/per $$$ @ Dong Ky.

So if anyone ever wants to compare dish-per-dish @ Hna Hang versus say Tank or Dong Ky, it would be an interesting
"Battle" (in the sense of a Herb-Kent-The-Cool-Gent-Dusties-On=V103- Battle" )
For example- I favor the Catfish-in-Clay-Pot-W/Pork-Belly at TANK- over the one served at Nha Hang.....

So- although my dining companion favors the "ambiance" of Nha Hanf over the lighting/decor/"warmth" of Dong Ky-
you will often see me gettin' my Vietnamese groove on over at Dong Ky!
(and- I 'll never be able to forget the image of the 50 lb sack of MSG I'd once seen in the hallway-on the way to the Bathroom @ Nha Hang- an image I'd chosen not to post for fear of "offending" the loyalists of Nha Hang- but,
one that will forever be seared into my memory banks/hard drive)

I prefer Nha Hang's Mi Quang over Dong Ky's version. Reason being I really enjoy the chewier texture of the noodles used by Nha Hang. Additionally, I prefer the ratio of broth to noodles; i find Dong' Ky's version slightly too soupy for me. I will say I much prefer the pork in Dong Ky's version. The pork loaf in Nha Hang's just has way too much white pepper for my taste. Thank goodness I don't have to stick with one. On days where I can't get Nha Hang's version, I trek on over to Dong Ky to satisfy my Mi Quang craving. Regarding the bag of MSG you spied in Nha Hang, did this bother you because you avoid MSG? Does Dong Ky not use MSG?

Regarding the bag of MSG you spied in Nha Hang, did this bother you because you avoid MSG? Does Dong Ky not use MSG?

Regarding MSG- Once when I was managing a catering Business w/in a large Nightclub/Live Music Venue in Chicago (The infamous China Club)- I had the good fortune to use a variety of outside Vendors-
one of whom was a lovely Vietnamese lady from the 'burbs who made THE MOST amazing "cigar" shaped rolled Eggrolls- that I really liked- so that I ordered several cases for an event.
A kid who worked there- as a Bar-back- made it his mission to route his way through my kitchen & when
I wasn't looking snatched a handful of the freshly baked morsels.
Later, I was summoned to the boss's office- in the middle of my EVENT!?
WTF???- Why?turns out, said kid had an allergy to MSG- and-
had a reaction that constricted his airway(s) to the point of near asphyxiation-
and after 911 was called to take him to The ER- they asked me- "Why didn't you tell anyone- they had MSG""?!

After that embarrassing moment of panic- shame and guilt-
for NOT BEING BETTER INFORMED-
I have always suspected/assummed that most Asian Cooks/Chefs do use MSG- and
I will often request it NOT to be in my food-
which I have before at not only Nha Hang and Pho 666; and I'll always get
as sideways look- and usually some push-back as well.
Ask- any of the TOP CHEFS (no- not TV Chefs- real Chefs!) that you may (or may not) know
if they subscribe to The MSG channel-
meaning do they feel their food needs to be "enhanced" with a chemical additive?
I'll betcha- NOT!
Point being- any "good chef" - that cannnot assemble a decent flavor profile- honestly and authentically- without using this "secret" ingredient, isn't that good a chef- IMHO.
Nuff said.
As to "chew" versus properly cooked- and "Spam-like-pork loaf "versus real pork w/ bone and knuckle, versus,
low broth- or heavy-hand-ratio of broth- to each his/(or her) own-
and- I'm certain that both establishments sell enough to keep em busy enough.