An Family Opens ANQI in South Coast Plaza
Posted on January 26, 2010
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I confidently mention the An family name in my title, but to be honest, until I stumbled upon the family’s ANQI Gourmet Bistro and Noodle Bar inside Bloomingdale’s at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., I had never heard of them.
Now it turns out they have a chain of restaurants, two by the name of Crustacean (Beverly Hills and San Francisco), along with another in San Francisco and the just-opened ANQI. All are dedicated to serving classic Colonial Vietnamese-French cuisine except for the bistro, which is a hybrid affair (note my Japanese dashi-based repast described below and pictured above). I took a dinner menu home, and it looked to be as much Japanese as Vietnamese, along with some interesting things like their Chorizo Corn Dog.
Only the noodle bar was open when I stumbled upon ANQI, so on the server’s recommendation, I tried a Balsamic Soy Japanese Eggplant noodle (soba) soup. I thought it needed some salt, but it was probably just too healthy for my taste. I should’ve followed the waiter’s recommendation to try the An Family Garlic Noodles.
When I first saw garlic noodles mentioned, I recoiled since I’m not a fan of garlic, but as I was wrapping up my soup, the waiter told me that the An family at each of its locations maintains a secret kitchen inside the larger kitchen, where only they can venture and prepare the secret garlic noodles. No one can see in, and no word comes out of how the noodles are prepared. Or so went his story.
Anyway, read more about the An family on their Web site. Crustacean is now on my list of restaurants to try, as Vietnamese food is just about as good as food gets. Better, actually.
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