Que Nha Vietnamese Restaurant

After returning from sampling the delights of Europe it was time to continue trying the delicacies of University Avenue. I have to say that the blend of French and northern European cuisines  that constitute my home country Belgium's cookery seems much less exotic than what BARF-SUAVE finds along University Avenue.

Que Nha is located on the NE corner of University and Victoria.
849 University Ave
St. Paul MN 55103
651-290-8552

Joel had seen a short item about Que Nha (849 University Ave., on the NE corner with Victoria) and we decided to go. I did not recall having been there before until we walked in. Indeed, I had been here for takeout a few years previously, which had been quite good.

Joel was going for the bún, a rice noodle salad. When he ordered it with shredded pork, our server suggested that he should take the BBQ pork instead. She said something to the effect that Americans tend not to like the shredded pork. Joel complied and while we both wondered what the shredded pork would have been like, the BBQ pork was delicious. I am a big fan of bún, almost always selecting it when eating Vietnamese. I generally pick an egg roll bún and I was surprised to see that at Que Nha the bún included both egg roll and meat. I will definitely order this next time!

BBQ pork bún on top and goat tay câm at the bottom

I ordered the goat meat with egg noodle and vegetables in an earthen pot (de tay cam). The goat stew was delicious, I was a little worried that I might wreck one of my ageing teeth biting a piece of bone. The vegetables included carrots, onion and what I initially thought might be fennel, but I think it must have been Chinese cabbage hearts because it was lacking the characteristic anise flavor. Goat, noodles and veggies were delicious and a special treat awaited at the bottom of the bowl: a rich and tasty broth that contained and made me re-savor the flavors of the entire dish.

I picked up some rice noodle soup to go for James. Service was friendly and overall we had an excellent experience. I made a note to self to come with my sons the next time Lynn's out of town on business.

One word of caution: if you use the parking lot on Victoria,
mind the sidewalk jutting out. Looks like I wasn't the only
one to take this along.