nhut quang!

the way i remembered the name was nhut=nut and quang= the sound that happens when you hit someone in the head with a copper pipe. (or, like the fight scenes in the batman t.v. show with adam west: "pow!" "bap!" "kwang!")

after an ill-conceived trip to ikea (tears shed near duvet covers taste particularly humbling; i have done it, my dears, so you don't have to.) k. and i remembered we wanted to try this vietnamese vegan restaurant -- or, as he calls it, veganamese -- on SE 82nd and Fremont.

the location is unassuming ( it's in a tiny parking lot, next to a shell station) and the interior is stark, but as we have learned, candle holders and street name are not the most important factors in our happiness with a meal.
we have, in the past, paid over a hundred dollars for the two of us to eat completely forgettable meals and walked away feeling like we eat better at home. and other times we've been over the moon about eating with plastic forks at a sticky table in a cramped space for ten dollars total.

a nhut quang affair lands squarely between those experiences. it's as presentable as all of the asian eateries on and around se 82nd, and as cheap as a replacement goldfish, but what made k. and i rub our hands together in anticipation was this: WE COULD EAT ANYTHING ON THE MENU! AND NOT HAVE TO ASK THE INGREDIENTS!

we happily devoured:
flat noodles with faux-chicken.
lemongrass faux chicken. (the f-ing best! i think it's wheat gluten mixed with glass noodles.)
green beans with two kinds of faux meat.
brown rice.
and a weird, pink, white and green layered dessert, the bastard child of jello and pudding.
two iced coffees.
total: 27 dollars!

the perfect antidote to the i-cried-in-the-semi-disposable-scandanavian-furniture-store blues! there were no left-overs and k. even did the Happy Food Dance (reminiscent of a kid in the Charlie Brown cartoon dancing, but done sitting down) which cannot be faked and is a definite sign of return visits.

we return tomorrow and i will post photos, which i didn't take today because my hands were too busy with chopsticks. yum!
xo