Where are the centrally located Vietnamese restaurants disappearing to? It seems as though the entire community has packed up and moved to the southwest side of town. So it is heartening to see a Vietnamese restaurant open up right on the edge of downtown, let alone one that is both attractive and excellent.

The interior is spacious and maybe a little sparse, with low lighting, avocado-green walls, and a few pieces of Southeast Asian art here and there. It translates to a contemporary coolness that doesn’t extend to the very warm and friendly staff—mostly family, it seems—that works there. They like to talk to customers, and they like to talk about food.

And for good reason: the food here is made with much more care and talent than we’ve seen at other Vietnamese restaurants in town. Even the most pedestrian dishes are transcendent. Pork spring rolls, for example, are served in opaque white rice paper that is much more thick and toothsome than the translucent kind found in ordinary Vietnamese spring rolls. They’re also stuffed with the usual ingredients, like charcoal-grilled pork, lettuce, mint, cilantro, and sprouts, but the pork is more flavorful and less dry than elsewhere, and the ratios are much more careful. Cha gio, in most restaurants, is just an oily fried egg roll served with greens and fish sauce, but here, the wrapper appears to have been shredded before it was fried, resulting in an intriguing crunchiness and cleaner taste.

Bun bo Hue here is also a cut above the quotidian noodle soups found in lesser restaurants, with components like pig’s feet and clotted pig’s blood. Plus, they make their own noodles. The family who owns Huynh recently immigrated from Hue, so it makes sense that this dish would be more deeply flavorful and transportive than the American-safe versions around town. And do yourself a favor and ask for the short ribs. Cross-cut, each slice is marbled beautifully and charred to a crisp on the edges. You may never eat them again elsewhere.

Better yet: despite Huynh’s modern décor and its superb and sometimes creative take on standard Vietnamese dishes, the prices are completely in line with those of its inferiors. There was no booze as of press time, but a $1.50 per person corkage is more than hospitable. It’s great that it’s centrally located, but Huynh, no matter where you live and work in Houston, is worthy of the trip.

Thanks, FC, for the very good and thoughtful review of a restaurant that has zoomed to the top of my personal favorites list over the past year.

Barbara McKnight - 2009-12-21 19:09

My husband and I ate there tonight. Everything was fresh, delicate, and full of flavor. The shrimp in coconut curry sauce was one of the best dishes I've ever eaten in my life. The staff couldn't be nicer nor the ambiance more warm. BYOB!!

Janne Alt - 2010-07-15 22:57

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