4. Expect new interpretations of Vietnamese flavors.
While the nine-course tasting menu is set to change seasonally, there are a few things diners can expect year-round.
“The menu is really an intentional effort to elevate Vietnamese cuisine by using fresh, high quality, ingredients, and taking each dish out of its traditional execution,” says Nguyen. “Our fish is never frozen, and the use of fresh fish in Vietnamese cooking is definitely something I highlight,” she adds.
When it comes to signatures dishes that are expected to remain menu staples, there are two: The dry-aged Khaki Campbell duck phở and Hawaiian head-on shrimp mochi.
While most Vietnamese restaurants use beef or chicken for their phở base, Maison Sun uses duck — and more specifically, it’s a wild species with a much gamier essence that originated in Gloucestershire, England.
Similar to Nguyen’s unique phở, the mochi is an item that’s not often seen in professional Vietnamese kitchens. “Our menu aims to educate people and bring awareness to Vietnamese dishes they’ve never had before. Even for New Yorkers who’ve been here [for] years, it’s the first time that most people have tried this,” says Nguyen about her mochi dish.
Named bánh ít ram in Vietnamese, the dish is traditionally a dumpling with a soft, chewy exterior served atop a crispy pancake. Chef Nguyen’s delicate offering includes two types of dough, a crispy rice dough and mochi dough, the latter of which is made fresh and is then presented in a mini bamboo steamer.
“It’s similar to when summer rolls sit around, it gets hard and you can’t eat it anymore,” she explains. “The mochi dough has to be made on the spot. It’s meticulous and the extreme attention to detail has to be there.
“The place where this particular mochi dish makes sense is here in fine-dining, rather than a high-volume Vietnamese restaurant,” she adds.
Dining and Cooking