“It turns out, vegetables can be good.”
My husband was recovering from a cold that had left him craving nothing but junky breakfasts for the last several days. When I told him we were going to a vegan restaurant, he was cranky. There would be no buttered pancakes or piles of bacon there. A lesser meatless restaurant may not have swayed him. But Chay Restaurant in Lincolnia is no ordinary purveyor of faux protein.
The large menu at Chay goes beyond the phos and buns that fill most area Vietnamese menus. The one here is indeed packed with greatest hits, but those include dishes like bo luc lac (shaking beef) and bun cha Hanoi, both of which can require a little more searching in our region. The menu, in fact, reminds me a bit of the one at my favorite restaurant in Eden Center, Hai Duong, which specializes in Hanoi-style dishes. But the vegan spin takes the already feather-light fare into the stratosphere.
But first, we had to try the summer rolls, the latest seasonal addition to Chay’s menu. These drew the quote at the top of this article out of my paramour. One of my favorite dishes anywhere is the chay (vegetarian) goi cuon at San San Tofu in Houston’s Asiatown, one of the city’s many chay restaurants. But those rolls profit from meatless versions of pork roll and shrimp. The charm of the iteration at Chay is that they are memorably flavorful with nothing but a collection of herbs, vegetables, and vermicelli, dipped in a creamy peanut sauce. Perhaps it’s the presence of avocado that adds enough fat to make the cucumber, bell peppers, carrots, and lettuce seem substantial, but somehow, I didn’t even miss the fake meat.
But when I got to try chef-owner Lan Tran’s soy-based creations, I tasted why her work has been attracting so much attention. Bo luc lac is typically made with tender chunks of beef — sirloin or filet mignon, most frequently. At Chay, Tran crafts cubes of ersatz meat that are more like mini meatballs, but thanks to a trip through the wok in a sweet soy-based sauce with peppers and onions, it’s a pretty convincing doppelgänger. The chef innovates further with a version of the dish that includes chewy rice pasta, rendering it even more comforting.
The large menu has lots more to bring me back, including other favorites such as sizzling clay pot fish and spicy bun bo Hue soup. But whenever I return, I plan to order the bun cha Hanoi again. Toothsome pork patties and belly are typically the centerpiece of the meaty dish, but in Tran’s hands, the purple-ish brown rice vermicelli, fresh vegetables and herbs, and spicy sauce gain marquee status. Assembled from deconstructed elements on my plate, I found myself going back for more and more until I was beyond capacity.
Chay is about as healthy a restaurant as they come, provided that you dine in moderation. But achieving that is the challenge. After all, vegetables can be good.
6351 Columbia Pk., Ste. 201, Falls Church
Feature image by Alice Levitt
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s Food & Drink newsletter.
