A Regal Repast at Viet Royale

I occasionally like to issue proclamations. For instance, this past weekend, in between furiously stuffing shreds of green papaya salad into my mouth, I proclaimed Vietnamese food to be my favorite of all the world cuisines.

This is significant because for the past several years I believed that Afghan cuisine held this distinction. I had even convinced AKC that we should seriously consider holding our rehearsal dinner at a particularly well-regarded Afghan restaurant. We ended up choosing the Brewer’s Art instead, thus forgoing the inevitable confusion that would have occurred as family members and close friends attempted to navigate such obscure fare as aushak and quorma kadu.

I’ve always admired how Vietnamese cuisine absorbed the French colonial influence into a seemingly natural fusion, as opposed to the forced fusion of too many upscale eateries. And yes, I realize that the colonization of Vietnam itself was forced, but I’m making a distinction between the slow and natural evolution of a cuisine resulting from two distinct cultures in proximity to one another and an overly ambitious chef forcing two distinct cuisines together as quickly as it takes to pen a menu.

But I also love the prominent role that fresh aromatic herbs and other salady accoutrement play in just about every dish. This refreshing and healthful tangle of herbs is the perfect balance to grilled meats, squares of vermicelli, and tart and fishy nuoc cham. It also has the additional benefit of enabling me to repeatedly make a pig of myself at a Vietnamese restaurant without hating myself afterward.

Though I’ve enjoyed bahn mi, Vietnamese coffee, and other products of the Vietnamese/French fusion, I somehow had never ordered a Vietnamese crepe. But a recent perusal of U.S. Airways Magazine, which included a photo of three such crepes, convinced me that I had to have one as soon as possible. So we schlepped out to Eden Center. And this time, rather than going to the much-lauded Four Sisters, I was determined to try a different venue. We had previously been underwhelmed by Huong Viet, so we decided to have a go at Viet Royale instead.

We were excited that in place of the usual lemon soda, Viet Royale distinguished itself by offering a refreshing lime soda instead. And the fresh summer rolls were well-constructed.



But their green papaya salad topped with strips of sesame-flecked beef jerky blew me away. The fibrous shreds of green papaya act as a bland, but coolly refreshing moderator to all of the strong flavors in this dish. The beet red jerky was topped by fresh basil and hot sauce arrayed on a heaping mound of green papaya bathed in nuoc cham. I chased its surprising heat with sips of lime soda, but I’m hopelessly addicted to spicy food and plowed through the salad until my mouth was on fire.

The crepe, also know as banh xeo and the whole reason for our expedition, turned out to be a real winner as well. The plate arrived crowded with a veritable herb garden that loomed over the crepe, which was folded over like an omelette. The brittle crepe held bits of shrimp and pork in its thin and crispy pancake layers, concealing a mound of steamed sprouts within. The rice flour crepe tasted faintly  of sweet coconut milk which was a relief after the unrelenting fire of the papaya salad. I broke off piece after piece of crepe, wrapping each fragment in lettuce along with some steamed sprouts, a tear from the sprigs of mint and basil and a few bits of pickled carrot, and dipped the whole bundle in nuoc cham. Awesome.

We’ll definitely be back to see how Viet Royale handles some of our other favorites, particularly beef wrapped in grape leaves.

Check out Viet Royale for papaya salad and bahn xeo:

6795 Wilson Blvd.
Falls Church, VA
703-533-8388

-AC