Restaurant Review Que Me. By Dennis Gilbert.

WHENEVER A NEW Asian restaurant opens in town it is tempting to start making comparisons. It is also easier to be tempted than to discover those aesthetic points distinguishing the newcomer from all the others. The similarities

are often more remarkable than the differences, as Asian food is selVed up in Portland at least.

Yet some of these restaurants are bonanzas while others seem to be marking time. Why? Is it because certain chefs are better able to bring us the specialized and unique character of their native cuisine, true and unchanged? More likely,Asian restaurants are successful in Portland because they are astutely managed and well-located and especially because they are able to adapt an exotic cuisine traditionally practiced with thrift and restraint to the hefty Amer-

Congress Street's New Vietnamese Restaurant

ican appetite. istics of good cooking which cross

In most Asian cooking, for instance, cultural lines. 'Home cooking' has the meat or seafood is treated as a garnish same connotation in many languages, rather than as the centerpiece around and as expressed at Que-Me, it deswhich to rally the lesser victuals, but cribes food which is simple, in America it is not vety sound restaur- s t ra igh t forward, tas ty, an d ant sense to skimp on the flesh. It is inexpensive. equally unwise to spare the syrup, This does not mean that the food is . which is why much of the food selVed artless. A distinguishing quality of a by these restaurants is sent for a swim good cook is his ability to assure the in the sauceboat just before being diner that the food is strictly fresh. brought to the table. The latest Not by lifting the burden of age newcomer to Portland's small compli- chemically or by the use of disguises, ment of Asian restaurants refrains but by starting with fresh ingredients from many of those practices which and restraining himself from interferwould make it unmistakably Asian- ing with them. This is apparent in American. Que-Me's Bean Sprout Sour Soup, a

Que-Me - pronounced Way Mee clean vegetable broth refreshed not Cr): "The Mother Countty" - is a only with the crunch of crisp bean Vietnamese restaurant which adver- sprouts but also with the flavor of tises its fare as home cooking, and cilantro and the nuance of adding the while I cannot say with authority that rice vinegar at the last moment so that its cuisine is authentic, I do under- it doesn't deteriorate under too much stand that there are certain character- heat. Or in the Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls, not fried but lightly steamed, invoking the season with cilantro and fresh basil because they are selVed cool, at room temperature.

Our waiter informed us that QueMe's Vietnamese customers favored the rice vermicelli dishes, and so we ordered Beef With Lemon Grass. This dish is not only consistent with the protein-as-garnish principle but also with a balance of seasonings (a series of surprises rather than a heavy blend) and a style that make one dish complement another rather than repeat it. The Hatvest Fish, for example - flaked haddock selVed in a tomato-based red sauce - would be a flat contrast of course-grained fish and tart sauce if the onions were not treated with the same light hand, still crunchy and coaxed into their sweetness and no further.

By far the best dish we tried was Que-Me's Wine Roast Chicken With

Que Me, Portland's excellent new Vietnamese Restaurant, has opened for business at S Congress Street. .

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Vietnamese Sauce. like many of the sauces, this one is on the sweet side, but it is served in small amounts and so acts as a foil to the chicken, which is flavored with cherry wine and roasted, then sauteed, but remains surprisingly moist.

All of the dishes we tried were not as successful. The Tofu With Mushrooms could have been crisper (it was the only dish overwhelmed with sauce), and the pu pu platter of appetizers is a fifty-fiftyprospect at best. But overall the food isvery good. No buckets of sauce. No fat lady portions, but very reasonable prices. Que-Me has much to recommend it.

Denois Gilbert, a graduate of Colby College, is an accomplished writer and chef. Over the last 10 years he has worked as a chef in many restaurants in Maine, including The Vinyard, and written for many New England magazines, including Yankee. He has also worked on the Time/UFE "Great Meals in Minutes" series as a contributing writer for the French Provincial cuisine chapters.