What are the odds you find a risotto dish inside a Vietnamese restaurant? My experience with Vietnamese cuisine thus far has been mostly indulging on the rice noddle dish pho (not infrequently as a hangover cure following late nights of drinking with friends), so I would’ve been very surprised to a dish that would seem alien to Southeast Asia. In Virginia’s Falls Church, a young Vietnamese American woman named Tuyet Nhi Le is looking to change the preconception about Vietnamese food at a fairly new restaurant called Nue Elegantly Vietnamese, with a mission to bring the rich culinary tradition of this country through modern interpretation. Our visit at Nue recently taught us that we should explore more of these ambitious projects.  

Before we got into the aforementioned risotto, my wife Jun and I wanted to try a few small bites. The chili oil wontons (with wild gulf shrimp and pork inside) didn’t have the kind of spicy kick we had encountered at Chinese restaurants, leaning on the sweeter side but still very solid. The Vietnamese fried egg roll (or chả giò) with wild gulf shrimp, lump crab and pork was also a worthy appetizer. Unfortunately, what would’ve been a highlight of the night turned out to be polarizing. The risotto, with coconut curry base, was a little too sweet for our taste (Jun couldn’t help but overhear nearby diners who looked like Vietnamese natives mildly complaining why the food was so sweet). It was the Hokkaido scallops, which we added as a $19 supplement, that saved the day with very nice texture. On the other hand, the other main dish that we ordered, a deboned wild-caught fluke, was quite fantastic. Jun was somewhat puzzled why we were given lettuce wraps (typically we had seen in Korean BBQ settings), but they somehow worked with the crispy fish. I also really liked the dessert we shared, a sweet yuca cake (which came along with dulce de leche ice cream) that gave a very alluringly chewy texture that made me reminisce about my childhood enjoying chapssal donuts growing up in Korea.  

Getting a reservation at Nue isn’t too challenging but the dining room was nearly full by the time we were wrapping up our early dinner, so booking in advance is always recommended. I also liked the charming decoration of the dining room giving the sexy Indochina vibe. For beverage, the restaurant has a number of smartly crafted cocktails that would do well to complement the food. Vietnam is one country that I would love to visit with Jun one day to explore the underrated versatility of its cuisine. In the meantime, we would happily explore restaurants on the stateside like Nue that seeks to push boundaries on the traditional Vietnamese cuisine from a unique angle. I have a feeling we would find more memorable dishes than the risotto on our next visit to the restaurant.    

KenScale: 7.75/10 (Jun’s Score: 7.5/10)

Address: 944 W Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046

Website: https://nuevietnamese.com/

Reservation via OpenTable