A taste of northern Vietnam in Tacoma at new Lincoln District restaurant

Taped to the walls of VK Viet Kitchen, a plain sheet of paper with “today’s specials” calls attention to a dozen dishes that, elsewhere, might be just that. On subsequent visits, you realize those signs never come down, and that the chalkboard with — let’s call them house specials — leaning against the back wall is a permanent fixture as well.

The first named, bò né (which translates loosely to sizzling beef), provides an ample serving of medium-rare steak, dolloped with housemade pâté that melts into the meat. Served in a hot skillet with its juices and a sunny egg, the server at first didn’t bring a loaf of crusty bread, the same used for bánh mì, but quickly realized the meal was incomplete without it.

Topped here with thinly sliced white onions and speckled generously with white sesame seeds, the platter carries plenty of juice for dipping a tear of bread.

OK, it’s steak and eggs. But the Vietnamese version — seasoned rather simply with salt, pepper and oyster sauce — should replace the rubbery, brown wads of meat at diners everywhere. A giant bánh xèo (the fried rice flour crepe, no eggs!) would make a solid breakfast or lunch as well, golden yellow with turmeric and filled with bean sprouts and shrimp.

In offering these dishes, the couple that owns VK, Thien “Vincent” Chu and Khoa “Kenny” Dao, wanted to “do something different.”

To an extent, Chu told me, “Phỏ is phỏ.” Not that every bowl is created equal — “phỏ is all about the broth,” he said — but you can get phỏ everywhere. You can also get it here, because the couple knew they couldn’t have a Vietnamese restaurant in Lincoln without it. The brisket I tried hit the spot and arrived with a side plate of the requisite sprightly herbs.

On one visit, a couple at another table said they came here specifically for the specials. The woman had seen a picture online of the mực nướng sa tế ($14): grilled squid, served whole, with a sauce of condensed milk and kaffir lime leaf on the side. Dao talked with them throughout the meal, sharing tips on how to dip the squid into the sauce and recommending they try the bò né. (They did.)

VK also cooks another rare sight in the U.S.: chả cá lã vọng, a beloved fish dish from northern Vietnam. Chu’s family emigrated from the region more than 60 years ago. One restaurant in Hanoi, named after the only dish it serves, became a tourist trap after Andrew Zimmern visited it on his show Bizarre Foods. Other cha ca joints cropped up in its wake, so many that the city renamed the street.

Bite-sized chunks of halibut — or any whitefish — stew in a bath of turmeric, ginger, garlic, shallots and fish sauce. They typically are baked or grilled, traditionally over charcoal, before being pan-fried, swimming in oil fragrant from the turmeric and herb medley of scallions and dill. The latter herb might seem unusual; it’s most often used in Vietnamese fish dishes. VK tops its chả cá ($12) with plenty of crushed peanuts.

Chu encourages scooping a piece or two of fish, a spoonful of its juices, a twirl of vermicelli and perhaps a bonus basil leaf into a wide lettuce leaf. Ask for a side of homemade mam tom, the pungent fermented shrimp sauce with chopped garlic and chili peppers.

VK also satisfies for Vietnamese staples, including a dozen varieties of phỏ and bún (noodles) and drinks like iced coffee and milk tea. Chu curates a simple wine and rotating packaged beer list. A bottle of Elysian’s Avatar, a jasmine IPA, fit in nicely.

The generous portion of two large gỏi cuốn (spring rolls) arrive with an addictive peanut sauce with just the right texture ($4). Get grilled pork rolls for the same price. For $5 per order, try chả giò cá, a lightly fried roll with salmon, or chân gà chiên giòn, crispy chicken feet.

These heavy savory flavors demand some yang. Find it in an order of gỏi xoài ($8), slices of green mango with carrots and daikon marinated in a funky, sweet-and-tangy lime dressing. The large plate arrived with ample roasted and crushed peanuts for optimal textural dissonance. Even my choice of crispy tofu, though you can opt for shrimp or beef, added an extra layer.

A NEW ERA IN LINCOLN

An engineer by day in Olympia, Dao has always loved cooking and longed to open a restaurant. Chu is a dental technician, but now he spends most of his days managing VK, bringing experience from a friend’s Thai restaurant in Bonney Lake and from a few years at Emerald Queen Casino.

The name could be shorthand for what it is — a Vietnamese kitchen — but in fact it stands for their initials.

Their parents, worried they would burn out, tried to dissuade them from opening a restaurant, especially in Lincoln, where new streetscaping has limited parking. Chu’s sister had run a teriyaki restaurant on Sixth Avenue until a new owner bought the lot and forced her to shut down. The couple heard the space at 758 38th St. was available, just down the street from Vien Dong and across from Bambu.

“We will have the spirit,” Chu reassured his mom and dad.

The space definitely looks toward a new era for Vietnamese restaurants in Tacoma. It’s bright, with white walls and blue booths, big light-bulb letters (VK, of course) lean high on floating shelves adorned with seasonal decorations (in this case, pink and red hearts and bears for Valentine’s Day). An oversized black-and-white print of Vietnamese women in áo dài, the traditional long silk dress, connects the old with the new.

For elders, said Chu, “It brings back their memories.”

When I asked Dao if he felt they were ushering in the next generation of business owners, he quickly agreed.

VK Viet Kitchen

▪ 758 S. 38th St., Tacoma, 253-474-3992

▪ Details: Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Monday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.