Nén Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine

Our early introduction into Vietnamese cuisine in the GVRD was mostly represented by the South.  However, as time passed by, we started to see Northern Vietnamese enter the market, starting with Mr. Red.  More recently, we have seen Chén Vietnamese open up shop on Hastings in Burnaby.  Now we have a Central Vietnamese restaurant in Nén Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine taking over the space in a strip mall on Canada Way at Edmonds. 

We started our meal with a Central Vietnamese dish originating from Huế in the Bánh Bèo (or steamed rice cake).  These were texturally delightful with an initial firmness and then a silky and bouncy finish.  They were topped with a full-flavoured minced pork sauce that had hits of umami.  Textural contrast was provided by the crunchy fried shallots and crushed peanuts.  This was an excellent version of the dish.

We got an order of their Cánh Gà Chiên with garlic butter.  This actually came quite late in the meal, possibly due to the restaurant being slammed during peak dinner time.  These featured whole wings there were fried pretty crispy with the skin being well-rendered.  The meat was not exactly juicy, but it wasn't dry either.  With copious amounts of butter, we could smell it while it sat on the table.  Flavourwise, it was definitely buttery and could've used more hits of garlic.

We had a few of the bigger plates from the menu including the Nén Special Platter.  This featured 3 types of meat.  The grilled pork with lemongrass was charred well, but pretty dry.  The grilled beef wrapped in betel leaves was a bit better, but still dry.  It did taste good though with hits of brininess, herbaceousness and sweetness.  The most tender and juicy of the bunch was the sweet ground pork skewers.  We found some rice noodle sheets, pickled daikon and carrot, herbs and lettuce to wrap the meat.  For $27.75, this was a lot of food and enough for 2 people.

We went for a bowl of the Nén Special Phở or their version of Phở Dặc Biệt.  The most prominent meat in this bowl was the whole back rib.  In addition we found tender slices of AAA brisket and AAA sliced beef along with beef meatballs.  The one thing that was quite evident with the first sip of broth was the amount of fat.  It really did add aromatics and meatiness, but at the same time, there was just a bit too much of it.  Otherwise, the broth was intensely meaty and full-bodied.

Full-sized and stuffed with bean sprouts and sliced pork, the Bánh Xèo was super crispy with a medium thickness.  Inside, the sprouts were still crunchy while the pork was tender.  Since they plated the shrimp on the outside of the pancake, they remained in their optimal doneness.  They were meaty with a rebound texture.  When combined with together with some fish sauce, we had plenty of textures and flavours.

With my son around for this dinner, we knew a plate of Lemongrass Chicken was incoming.  They didn't skimp on the chicken as we found 2 large deboned and marinated chicken legs on the plate.  They were charred nicely and completely caramelized.  There was so much sweetness and savouriness from the marinade that the chicken ate well with the rice without the need from the nước chấm.

With the same tender chicken, the Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi featured a crunchy and fairly light baguette.  As you can see in the picture above, they stuffed the baguette full of chicken, so it ate hearty with plenty of flavour.  Overall, we were pretty happy with our meal here.  The portions are massive, so the higher prices are justified.  Furthermore, the food is tasty.  Would come back for sure.

The Good:
- Tasty eats
- Large portions
- Some unique items

The Bad:
- Service was polite, but not enough servers, so hard to flag someone down
- Is pricier than other spots, but the portion size justifies it