Quan Mii

Years after we first experienced Quan Mii, there’s still something exciting about the experience of visiting one of this small Central Vietnamese restaurant chain’s locations – the sense of feeling briefly overloaded by a table full of interesting-looking small plates, then enjoying each of them with sweet, tangy fish sauce.

Quan Mii is best known for its crispy yellow Banh Xeo crepes, which are large and consistently delicious, filled with bean sprouts and your choice of mushrooms, pork, shrimp, squid, and/or scallops, somewhat akin to a Vietnamese version of tacos. Try one of these for sure, but be sure not to miss their banh beo, a collection of tiny dishes filled with steamed rice flour discs, then topped with shredded shrimp and pork. They’re fun to pry out of their dishes with fish sauce, when you learn the trick.

Another great experience at Quan Mii comes from build-it-yourself rice paper rolls, which can be ordered with your choice of pork patties, pork shank, lemongrass pork, egg rolls, or Hue-style shrimp. Either using soft, handmade banh uot rice paper or pre-made translucent discs that you dip in hot water to soften, you can build hand rolls with vegetables and your preferred protein, which is simultaneously fun and an easy way to develop appreciation for the perfectly made spring rolls found at most Vietnamese restaurants.