Vietnamese Food 101: Cha Gio, Com Tam, Chim Cut Quay

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

My absolute favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the area, without a doubt, is Hai Duong in Eden Center. Let me tell you a little history of this restaurant. I started going to this restaurant when I was in elementary school, almost a decade ago. It wasn’t the size or even in the same location as it is now. It used to be farther back down the hall and was so small that it could only fit five tiny tables. The notorious thing about Eden Center is that rent is really high since it is a good location for Vietnamese businesses. In fact it is so high, that many businesses end up closing within their first year because they can’t manage to generate the money needed to pay the rent. However, Hai Duong eventually made enough money to move to its current location at half the size (there used to be a jewelry shop at the window). Once the jewelry store ran out of business, Hai Duong bought that location and expanded to out to the window that it now has.

What was most memorable to me in these past years? It definitely has to be their “cha gio”, also known as Vietnamese egg rolls. When I was younger, my sister and I would order at least five orders of these for dinner instead of an actual entrée. Who can blame us? It was fried to a perfect crisp, stuffed with delicious fillings, and paired with a really good mixed fish sauce (you’d be surprised how many Vietnamese restaurants have a bland nước mắm). Now that I’m older, their egg rolls are still as I remember it, but I do order an entrée because I know I can’t live off of egg rolls alone.

One of the dishes I normally get for dinner is “com tam,” which is crushed rice that is generally served with grilled pork, shredded pork, pork meat loaf, easy over egg, pickled carrots, and sliced cucumbers. Just pour the mixed fish sauce over your rice to your preferred taste and enjoy. It’s a really simple, yet delicious Vietnamese entrée that Hai Duong manages to cook very well. I’ve been to another Vietnamese restaurant that specializes in com tam but their pork was extremely thin and hard to chew on (isn’t that a bad sign when you can’t even cook your specialty right?).

My absolute Vietnamese dish is the “chim cut quay,” or roasted quail. It’s roasted quail covered in this slightly sweet and flavorful sauce on top of a bed of lettuce, cooked onions, carrots and watercress. It is served with a salt and pepper mixture, and lime. You’re supposed to squeeze the lime over the salt and pepper, and dip the quail in it, but I find that the quail is already flavorful enough on its own.

Since I’m a creature of habit, I haven’t tried everything on their menu yet. They do serve an amazing “bun bo Hue” (Hue-style Vermicelli noodle and beef soup). It is a beef based soup with Vermicelli noodles, pork knuckles, cubes of pork blood, tons of flavorful seasoning, and is mildly spicy. Pork knuckles and pork blood? Yep, you heard me right. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, then this dish is for you. I’ve never ordered it on my own since I’m not adventurous enough to eat pork blood for dinner, but I love sipping on the soup when my parents order it.

Hai Duong
6795 Wilson Blvd. #7
Falls Church, VA 22044
703-538-5289

- Mai Nguyen

Tags: cha gio, chim cut quay, com tam, eden center, egg, Egg Rolls, Gut Check, Hai Duong, Mai Nguyen, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Quail, rice, Roasted, vietnamese