Quang Restaurant: A taste of Vietnamese Cuisine
Written: Feb 14 '06
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Pros: Large menu offering. Casual atmosphere. Inexpensive. Large portions.
Cons: Some aspects of the service.
The Bottom Line: Quang Restaurant has been serving authentic Vietnamese cuisine since 1989. I hope to visit again and to be familiar with the menu choices beforehand.
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| trailhound's Full Review: Quang Restaurant |
I have been adventurous lately in trying some different ethnic foods, and recently decided check out a Vietnamese restaurant. A friend and I went to Quang Restaurant in Minneapolis, which has been serving authentic Vietnamese meals since 1989.
Menu Choices
We visited on a weekday for lunch and found that they served a full array of choices for the noontime meal. My friend emphasized to me that this is different from Chinese food, and I should not try to order a dish that was comparable to something found in a Chinese restaurant. With that advice I promptly ordered what I thought was a cooked Pork and Shrimp "Egg Roll" for an appetizer ($3.25).
What I got was the Pork and Shrimp Spring Roll, which was nothing like I had expected. This dish had two translucent and chilled spring rolls filled with sliced pork, chilled shrimp, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, rice noodles, and tomatoes. It was accompanied with fish sauce for dipping.
I didn't really care for the gummy texture of the spring roll, which is made from rice paper. The pork was fresh and thinly spliced and the vegetables were also fresh and plentiful. However, the shrimp was chewy and lacked flavor. It was "OK" as something different, but I had wanted a cooked appetizer.
For my main meal I tried ordering Crispy Chicken with Ginger Sauce. However, the waitress waved her hand and said "No". So I changed my order to Roasted Chicken served on a bed of rice ($6.25). I got a wonderful small chicken, split right down the middle. It was hot, very tasty, and had a tangy coating. There were some fatty spots and I was not used to seeing a small chicken split open like that, but it did taste good.
The rice was wonderful: hot, and just a bit sticky but not gummy. The meal also had some dipping sauce and a small salad consisting of iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, and rice noodles, which was mediocre in taste and quality.
My friend had a cup of Pho ($5.95), which is noodles in beef broth. It was a large serving – enough for a whole meal. To be honest I don't remember if she had something else or not, but she thought the Pho was served hot and was tasty.
Some other foods served here are salads with shrimp or beef, marinated pork chops, duck, and Vietnamese meatballs. Most dishes are $6-$8 and the portions are quite large.
Décor/Atmosphere
Quang has an informal atmosphere with a very open dining area with well-worn carpeting. There are large windows across the front and sides with booths in these areas. The rest of the dining area is glossy laminated tables with somewhat uncomfortable padded chairs. The white walls have a few Asian-themed prints but are otherwise bare. It was not too noisy but the wait staff was often hurrying back and forth through the dining area.
Service
Our service was "OK" but we had a few problems. When we arrived it was not too crowded but we had to wait about 5 minutes to be greeted. We were then greeted warmly and shown to a table. There was a variety of wait staff coming and going and we were not sure which person was actually waiting our table.
Our waitress was rather curt and wanted to take our order quickly and be done with it. However, I had some questions about the dishes, which were unusual to me. This was when I ended up ordering a cold Spring Roll (when I wanted something heated) and she abruptly waved me off from my first meal order. We got our meal in about 15 minutes and I'd describe the service as "average" for the rest of our time there.
Overall
I liked Quang Restaurant overall; the main meal was good. But there were a few things I did not like such as the appetizer and some aspects of the service. We also had problems leaving their parking lot when a delivery truck parked right behind us and the deliveryman had to wait several minutes for someone to assist him.
There is a small parking lot (where we got trapped) and plenty of free parking on nearby streets. This part of Minneapolis is called "Eat Street" and has numerous ethnic restaurants up and down Nicollet Avenue.
I do recommend Quang Restaurant, but overall my experience here as just OK. Their hours are 11AM – 9PM every day except Sunday, when they close at 8:30, and Tuesday, when they are not open at all.
I think if the server had been more cordial and I had ordered dishes that appealed to me it would have worked out better. I hope to visit again sometime in the future now that I better understand Vietnamese cuisine.
*Thanks to Megu for adding this to the database.
Quang Restaurant
2719 Nicollet Ave.
Minneapolis MN 55408
612-870-4739
© trailhound. 2006.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations If you are not familiar with Vietnamese food it would be best to do some reserach ahead of time. Some items on their menu are very unusal and may be differnt than you expect.
Best Suited For: Friends
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