I say this as a Cambodian American, who grew up eating southern Viet cuisine from the huge…read moreVietnamese population and community in Philly - Nam Viet Kitchen might be some of the best Vietnamese food I've ever had.
My understanding is that most of the Viet community in Prague has their roots in Central and Northern Vietnam. This showed up in little ways, with dishes I was familiar with being named differently (cha gio :: nem ran), as well as having twists on them that I wouldn't have thought to prepare for myself.
But whoowhee, if you are a fan of Viet cuisine, this place is not to be missed.
It was so good my wife and I ate there twice in two nights. We had to go back and try new things from the menu.
First night, we had the mango salad with shrimp, nem ran, and this thinly sliced grilled pork belly over rice and salads. Second night, the beef salad, nem ran again because damn, stir fried udon with mixed veggies and shrimp,
First, the mango salad - it was similar to Viet papaya salad in flavor profile and ingredients, and I was expecting underripe/sour mango in the way it would appear in Cambodian cuisine. But, this salad included julienned mango that was in that stage of ripeness between sweet and sour, and came with these perfectly fried panko coated shrimp - fried so well that the tails were crispy and edible.
The nem ran - cha gio by another name - was excellent. And, they fried it in rice paper, a preparation that is generally considered too fussy to be worth it around most Viet spots in the US that I've been to. As someone who has made them myself hundreds of times, I tend to agree, but the rice paper preparation is hands down superior every time... as long as I'm paying someone else to do it, na mean? Haha. Supremely crispy on the outside and juicy and flavorful on the inside, this barely required the nuoc mam dipping sauce that always accompanies them.
The pork belly dish... phew, this might have been my favorite. The pork belly itself was sliced into ribbons, think thick cut bacon, but was marinated in some kind of sauce that I wasn't familiar with. The only ingredient I might be able to point out was oyster sauce, but it wasn't the standard lemongrass pork marinade that we know so well from Southern Viet. The pork was grilled, giving it a crispy chewy texture, and the flavors were actually subtle. But subtle in the way where, if we weren't so full by this point, might have made us order another. It came with a dark soy and vinegar kind of sauce, and again, the subtlety of the flavors were such a contrast to the punchiness I'm used to from my experiences eating Vietnamese food my entire life.
You've surely had Vietnamese carpaccio - the beef salad on Nam's menu is one that is much more vegetal and herbal. The meat itself takes a bit of a back seat, comes pre-marinated in whatever seasonings they use, and is folded into a bed of shredded lettuces, cabbages, carrots, julienned lotus shoot, fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, and Vietnamese coriander, and topped with peanuts and fried garlic. Weirdly, this is much closer to the Cambodian preparation of this dish. Or maybe there's a Lao in-between that both cultures were copying from. Either way, once again, this was familiar flavors and textures in a presentation I wasn't expecting, and it excellent from the first bite to the last.
Finally, stir fried udon with shrimp. The sauce and preparation here was similar to a Khmer dish called mee kontang, which is in turn inspired by southern Chinese beef chow fun. But, they used udon noodles, and a little bit more of a caramelized dark soy flavor. But once again, what seems like a slight change - noodle type - resulted in a dish that was both familiar and unexpected. The udon is a lot chewier than wide rice noodles, and doesn't absorb the sauce as much, leaving a contrast between the first few seconds of a bite to the last. Almost like how a whiskey can be harsh up front but all caramel and toffee in the back. Hard to describe exactly, but this dish is worth a try.
Oh wait, we also had the ginger lemongrass lemonade (just as good as it sounds) and the cucumber konjac jelly - the latter was refreshing. Comparable to pandan jelly but a little more vegetal.
If you're from the US and love Viet food, or if you just love Viet food, check out Nam Viet Kitchen for sure.
Not to mention that with the USD to CZK exchange rate, our self selected three course meals were each under $30. Tip these guys, they work FAST.
