Sizzling shrimp and tender chicken at Nhu Quynh

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/11/2017 (2858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are times when making a dining decision in Winnipeg is a daunting one. I recently got my hands on a brochure entitled “Taste the World — Winnipeg’s West End Dining Guide.”  

Thinking I could make an easy choice, I perused it to find that there were 189 listings (although that did include 40 convenience stores). I narrowed it down to the 15 Vietnamese restaurants that I had not yet visited. I then got on the phone to ensure they were open Sundays, were wheelchair accessible and had adjacent parking.

We arrived at Nhu Quynh Restaurant (which is so named for the owner) early and had our choice of tables. By the time we left an hour later, most tables were occupied with large groups dining together. I think they were families assembled for their Sunday supper. This also meant that our service started off pretty well, but deteriorated as more guests arrived. In fairness to our server, there were only two of them to take care of tables, answer the phone and take care of the cash desk.

The restaurant had an enormous menu and even though I have a pretty good handle on Vietnamese cuisine, it was difficult to make a nutritious selection. We started with summer rolls (goi cuon). They were pretty to look at but a wee bit bland until dunked into the terrific peanut sauce that accompanied them.

After this, dishes arrived at the table in a staggered fashion, starting with pork and vermicelli noodles. Charbroiled pork and cold vermicelli noodles is called Bun Thit Nuong and typically come over a bed of greens (salad and sliced cucumber), herbs and bean sprouts. In this case, there was a scattering of these on top. Still we loved the crunch of the roasted peanuts and the small bowl of nuoc cham (sweet fish sauce).

Chicken, veggies and more soft noodles arrived next. The chicken was tender and it was plentiful enough for our daughter to take a portion home for her lunch. Sizzling shrimp and onions arrived last. The dish was so steamy hot, that I had to wait for it to cool to take a clear picture without my camera lens fogging up.

We were left to ourselves so had a lovely visit, which in the end is what our Sunday dinners are all about.

Kathryne Grisim is a local food and travel writer and blogger: foodmusings.ca. She believes food = love.