Oh my OMAI

One of my favorite cuisines is Vietnamese . It is my comfort food and I would be more than happy to eat it everyday of my life. I love the balance of clean, fresh, and bold flavors that embodies Vietnamese cuisine.

Recently I had dinner at Omai and oh my was it delicious. This place is a hidden jewel in the city. Most of the Viet places here in NYC are down and dirty neighborhood joints. Don't get me wrong I do LOVE these places but what we need is a restaurant like The Slanted Door in San Fran that offers Vietnamese fine dining. Omai is as close as you can get in NYC. The restaurant itself is quaint with its brick walls and white parchment covered bistro tables. I find that many fancified Asian restaurants in NYC, that are mainstream for the American Folk, lack bold flavors and are not authentic or dumbed down for the masses. Omai has all the wonderful flavors that Vietnamese cooking should have, fish sauce offers that umami flavor, pungent herbs offer freshness and punch, garlic, fried shallots, it's all there. I highly recommend their apps. I had grilled calamari over cucumber, lettuce, tomato with a tamarind vinaigrette. The calamari was grilled perfectly. It was tender and soft unlike many places that serve it chewy. The banh cuon, shrimp ravioli topped with fried shallots and aromatic herbs, is delicious and their banh xeo, crispy rice crepe filled with chicken, shrimp, and bean sprouts, is the best I've ever had. I'm still craving that!

For the entrees I had the grilled prawn and scallop over grilled vegetables, rice noodles, in lime basil sauce and the sauteed chicken in spicy lemongrass sauce. Both were very good, a slight bit salty but delicious over rice. Portions are pretty big here. The two entrees can feed 2-3 people with rice. However I do recommend ordering lots of apps because they are really really tasty. I'm already planning out the apps for my next visit. I want to try the lemongrass beef roll in fresh rice roll, sesame seed and lime dipping sauce, the wok seared monk fish with peanut, chili, basil, served with sesame rice crackers, the grilled baby back ribs with five spices, and I would also get the shrimp ravioli and crispy rice crepe again! Prices are very reasonable too!

Omai
158 9th Ave (btwn 19th & 20th St)
212-633-0550