GoodVietnamEvening,

Local landmark Que Huong guides the new Biddeford.

BY COLIN W. SARGENT

e leave the lights of the City eater on our right as we head down Main Street past the mills toward the Saco River is is where a lot of the new development is happening downtown—Batson River Brewing & Distilling, the new Lincoln Hotel. But let’s get real. At 49 Main Street you’ll nd the motherland: Que Huong, the nexus of a newly cool, traditionally Franco-American mill town as it meets Indochine

“We’ve been here 17 years,” the owner laughs. “Too long!”

With a bottle of frosty Saigon Beer, we plunge into fried spring rolls in rice paper with sh sauce; fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce; and our favorite, tight bundles of fried shrimp wrapped exquisitely in rice paper with a chili sauce.

Curry In A Hurry

Mi X ao Don ($15) is “beef with red peppers, broccoli, celery, bamboo shoots, carrots, and snow peas served on crispy fried yellow noodles.” e Com Ca Ri ($13) is steamed rice topped with a avorful chicken curry “containing celery, carrots, snow peas, peppers, and parsley.” It’s a bold stroke, thrilling and memorable. Curry is a spice concept

Wthat worked its way across Asia and quickly conquered the British Empire. According to “A Brief History of Curry in Vietnam” on saigoneer. com, the roots of Vietnam’s curry, or “com cà ri” (“com” means rice; say the rest in a hurry and you’ll hear “curry”) reach back to the former French colonial ports of Saigon in Vietnam and Pondicherry in southern India. “In addition to the redistribution of raw ingredients between seaports, a population of roughly 6,000 migrated from India to Vietnam.” Follow the taste buds. e colorful Steamed Vegetables ($2 added to any entree) are a beautiful, bright medley of textured avors that perfectly captures the right combination of crisp and give-to-the-teeth. Like every inch of this place, it's the antidote to the coldest Maine winter.

For dessert, we sneak some Vietnamese iced co ee and pair it with Rémy Martin 1738 as we ponder our indolence. What fun it is to travel the world so close to home. We’ll be back. n