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Dining at New York's Le Colonial Restaurant - The Indo-Scene
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Clint Brownfield Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: Hungry? New York City: The Lowdown on Where the Real People Eat! (Hungry? City Guides) (Hungry? City Guides), by , (2007, Hungry City Guides)	Hungry? New York City: The Lowdown on Where the Real People Eat! (Hungry? City Guides) (Hungry? City Guides)

NEW YORK CITY, USA -- In the fall of 1969, I was sitting in an auditorium at the University of Missouri waiting for an anthropology class to begin, when a friend asked me what my birth date was. After I told him he consulted a list in his newspaper and informed me that my draft number was 80 (let's just say I didn't need a laxative that day). But, I had at least two more years of college and figured there was really no problem. Well, guess what...when I graduated, the war was still going on. So, I did what a lot of guys did then...I joined the National Guard. For six years I protected such hot spots as Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama and New York's Finger Lakes region against communism and anarchy.

Growing up, the "TV War" seemed to go on forever and the last thing I associated Vietnam with was food...much less a cuisine. Thankfully, that attitude was changed this winter, when two of my "assistant eaters" and I had dinner at New York's Le Colonial restaurant.

This is a "high concept" place that works. You step off east 57th St. and into a dream world of what one hopes French Colonial Vietnam was really like in the 1920-30s (see photo). You get the impression that you could take your drinks out on a veranda and not really crash through the wall of Hammacher Schlemmer next door. There's a little Casablanca thrown in too.

We told our waiter that we'd never been there before and asked him to select three first courses and three second courses for us. What followed was an evening of beautifully blended food...an amazing variety of tastes and textures. And, here's the best news...this food is completely satisfying and, we all agreed...Calorie Free Too!

We started off with Cha Gio, spring rolls made with shrimp, pork and mushrooms...the lightest spring rolls I've ever tasted. We also had Banh Cuon, steamed ravioli with chicken and mushrooms; and an order of Goi Bo, spicy beef salad with lemon grass and basil (see below for one of the "assistant eater's" tips on how to make this at home).

Our second courses were: Ca Chien Saigon, crisp-seared whole red snapper with a spicy and sour fish sauce; Cari Tom, sauteed jumbo shrimp with eggplant in a curried coconut sauce; and Bo Sate, sauteed filet mignon with sate spice, yams and string beans.

You can see from just this sampling (the menu lists 18 first courses and nearly as many second courses) we had dozens of layers of tastes provided by dozens of ingredients (the beef salad alone has 12 ingredients). The food is spicy...but doesn't burn. The leading drink at the table was bottles of Saigon Beer...perfect. If you prefer wine, it seems likely that something from the Sancerre/Fume Blanc families would be a good choice.

The two desserts we tried, key lime tart and a chocolate cake in the shape of a pyramid, were really good...but certainly not necessary to feel completely satisfied.

Before, or after dinner, if you're feeling young and gorgeous, head upstairs where there is a great bar (smoking is allowed) and more intimate seating. This is the mating-game "Indoscene" ...where pretty girls in little black dresses and young, handsome, masters (real or imaginary) of the universe size each other up.

Chef Viet Tran, who was born and raised in Saigon, learned the basics of Vietnamese cooking helping his mother prepare the family's meals. He moved to the United States in 1974 to attend the University of Texas, where he began to cook in Vietnamese restaurants as a means of supporting his studies. He started cooking professionally after moving to New York in 1981 and was hired as the executive chef of Indochine, where he remained until 1988. He became the chef of Le Colonial when it opened in 1993. An additional branch was opened in Chicago in 1996 and a third in Philadelphia opened last year. He lives in Flushing, NY, with his wife and son.

He was kind enough to provide us with some of the recipes that have become hallmarks at Le Colonial...Enjoy!

Recipe Notes
Chef Viet Tran's recipes provide a wonderful opportunity to sample his unique dishes at home. Goi Bo (Spicy Beef Salad) is a good place to start. If you maintain a pantry of Asian ingredients, you will find it quick, easy, and reasonably priced. If you do not have everything at hand, allow some time to seek out ingredients and be prepared for some "start-up" costs.

You can find all you need for Goi Bo in the markets of New York's Chinatown and in specialty makets in other large metropolitan areas. In other locations you may have some trouble finding mirin, Vietnamese chili sauce, Asian basil, or fresh lemongrass. (editor's note: in Los Angeles, we can find all of this in the supermarkets)

Mirin, a light and sweet rice wine, adds complexity to the sauce. As a substitute you might try it's more potent and less sweet cousin, sake, or even pale dry sherry or dry vermouth. If you can't find Vietnamese chili sauce you can switch to Thai chili sauce or another Asian variety. Carefully sample any substitution or risk a result so firey as to bring tears to the most ardent fan of spicy foods! For the Asian basil you can substitute the fresh basil found in your local market without too much loss in authenticity. Lemongrass must be fresh. The dried powdery version is worthless here. If fresh lemongrass is not available, you might use the grated zest of one small lemon.

The cost of your first two portions of Goi Bo may come as a surprise. When I made this dish at home it came to over $20. A 5 ounces bottle of macrobiotic mirin alone was $7.39. (I later found a less elevated version for $2.85 for 12 ounces which shows the importance of knowing your ingredients and where to find them.) Vietnamese chili sauce rang in at $4.39 for 18 ounces These items have good shelf life and the cost per serving is reduced considerably as you return to the recipe over time. But if you rarely prepare this type of dish at home, the price is something to consider.

I do have two suggestions for when you try this recipe. Many home cooks have come to disparage iceberg lettuce. In this case, it's the best choice. Other varieties don't stand up as well with the sauce and become a soggy mess. And, with apologies to the chef, I suggest tossing the beef in the sauce before assembling the salad. The meat absorbs the flavors much better and there will still be enough sauce to drizzle over the salad as the recipe suggests.

Follow Chef Viet Tran's recipe for Goi Bo and you will not be disappointed. But if you only occasionally prepare Asian food, or have trouble finding the required ingredients, head for Le Colonial. The chef's results are better and, surprisingly, cheaper!

Le Colonial
149 East 57th St.
New York, NY 10022
212 752-0808

Clint Brownfield is a New York based food, wine and travel writer. He is a former contributing editor here at Fabulous Travel where he wrote the "Out To Lunch In New York City" column.

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