The folks behind Saigon Babylon and Cicada have caught lightning in a bottle with their upscale nouvelle spins on traditional Vietnamese dishes. Both are destinations where it’s important to book ahead or forever be waiting. That said, what’s long made Vietnamese cuisine so endearing is its homestyle comfort, best exemplified by hearty and healthy bowls of pho (best found at Le’s and Pho’n Rice) and braised pork, chicken or tofu, pate and pickled veggie bahn mi sandwiches where those wonderful flavors and textures get packed into a crisp French baguette (best found at Bon Me and Saigon Tiger). Town and gown, if you will, but Vietnamese cuisine is not an either-or, and that’s where An Nam fits in nicely: It offers those comfort-food staples as well as other street fare and more traditional dishes that can’t effectively be whipped up under a bazaar tent, namely the ca bong lau, or caramelized clay hot pot with catfish, alone well worth a trip to An Nam.
An Nam (the name refers to the general South Pacific region before Vietnam was a formal country, back during the Chinese dynasty era) has locations in Assembly Row and a new outpost in Harvard Square, downstairs in the Galeria where Menya Jiro Ramen used to be. (Menya Jiro is owned by the same restaurant group; Harvard Square has at least three other ramen bars within 200 yards). Most of the fun on the menu you don’t see at other area Vietnamese restaurants have to do with shrimp: the chao tom, surimi or shrimp paste breaded and fried on a sugarcane stick for easy eating; crispy shrimp cake lined as banh khots; and tom nuong, whole fried, head-on white Chinese shrimp. Whatever you do, don’t peel these crunchy and flavorful shrimp, because you’ll be losing the salt-and-pepper bite packed into the light batter. Most everything comes with a side of sauce, such as the traditional Vietnamese fish sauce and creamy-peanut satay.
Your classic fresh spring roll (vermicelli, shredded veggies and shrimp or tofu in a rice wrapper) is here to dip into some of that tasty satay, but the reason to hit An Nam besides the shrimp treats are the hot pots, specifically the one with tender catfish filets. The caramelized bottom of the pot is a combination of fried shallots, scallions, pork belly bits made sweet by rock sugar and given some of that salt-and-pepper bite. The filets are pleasing, flaky, moist and seasoned with all that goodness from the bottom of the pot. A side of rice comes with.
Other expected items on An Nam’s vast menu are bao buns, vermicelli dishes, wok-fried noodles and other big bowls of soup. The Assembly Row locale serves alcohol; the Harvard Square shop was still awaiting its license at the time of our last visit.
An Nam, 57 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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