Quan Hy

Back in 1997, when virtually no one in the United States had any idea that there was a central Vietnamese cuisine, Quan Hy opened in Westminster and became a torch bearer for Hue-style foods. Even though the cuisine is still somewhat obscure outside of Vietnam and Orange County’s Little Saigon, a growing number of restaurants (including Hue Kitchen) and night markets now regularly feature Hue-style foods, and Quan Hy remains a very good place to sample some of its delicacies.

We almost always order a set of nine little Banh Beo dishes, each balancing tapioca/rice discs with shredded shrimp and spicy fish sauce, as well as the grilled beef Banh Cuon/Uot – steamed rice rolls that are now done best by local specialists, but worth trying here because of their harder to find beef filling. If we have room, we grab the consistently delicious and complex Banh It Ram dumplings for their alternating crispy and soft textures, as well as the almost gelatinous, translucent Banh Quai Vac tapioca dumplings, which are the best of their kind we’ve found locally. Cha Gio crispy spring rolls are available everywhere, but here they’re served semi-opaque, with herbs and vegetables that make them feel wild and exciting even before you eat them.

Quan Hy also serves variations on more common Vietnamese entrees, including rice dishes such as Com Hen (minced Manila clams with broken rice), noodle dishes including the central Vietnamese yellow noodled Mi Quang, and Hue’s famous beef noodle soup Bun Bo Hue. There are better places in Little Saigon to order all of these items, but few places that also serve all the appetizers mentioned above.