Prior to its closing in 1995, Pasteur was widely considered to be the finest Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago. Well, Pasteur is back — in larger and far spiffier surroundings — to reclaim a title that it never fairly lost.
It was the first day of the 1995 Taste of Chicago when an apartment fire above Pasteur’s former location caused severe damage to the restaurant. Owners Kim, Tuan and Dan Nguyen (the latter two Kim’s brother and husband, respectively) managed to honor their commitment to Taste, but the restaurant site was gutted.
The Nguyens continued to operate Pasteur Cafe, a tiny, no-frills space on Chicago Avenue, in order, as Kim put it, “to keep the name alive,” but Pasteur Cafe barely took in enough money to cover the high rent. How high? Kim says the mortgage payment on their new building — the whole building — is lower than her rent on Chicago Avenue.
But it took Kim nearly a year to obtain that mortgage and many frustrating months to turn the space into a restaurant. Pasteur reopened in May, just six weeks shy of the fire’s second anniversary.
From a patron’s perspective, at least, the wait has been worth it. At the original Pasteur, one had to overlook the dismal decor and meager creature comforts to enjoy the terrific food. These days, diners at Pasteur don’t have to lower their expectations at all.
The entrance, flanked by a half-dozen or so outdoor tables, opens into a narrow hall leading to the host stand. To the right are a small bar and lounge trimmed in bamboo. To the left is the main dining room, a 90-seater with sorbet-colored walls (lemon, melon and lime), black ceiling fans and tropical plants. Four 8-foot-tall paintings depict scenes from Vietnam regions.
Tables are topped with white cloth and butcher paper. Wood chopsticks may be leaning against porcelain rests in the shape of fu dogs (mythical half-dog, half-lion beasts), or perhaps not; the chopstick rests are so cute that customers keep stealing them.
Low-slung chairs with iron frames and rattan seats and backs are stylish, although back support is nil. Sconces resembling iron birdcages provide soft lighting that make the room look romantic, although the noise level on weekends is too high for true romance. There is, however, a 20-seat dining room a few steps away that is suitable for intimate dining.
The menu is easy to follow. Dishes bear their Vietnamese names but come with detailed English descriptions and are numbered for convenience in ordering. (I prefer to use my invariably butchered Vietnamese pronunciations; the waiters are too polite to correct me.)
Begin with chao tom, a Vietnamese staple in which minced shrimp is formed around a stalk of sugar cane and grilled. Pasteur’s version is tastier and larger than any I’ve had. (You aren’t meant to eat the fibrous cane.) Also very good is the nam nhoi, grilled portobello mushroom caps filled with a mixture of ground pork, jicama, chopped cellophane noodles and fleshy straw mushrooms.
Messy and fun is the banh xeo, a pan-seared crepe filled with chicken, shrimp and mushrooms. A side plate carries lettuce and bean sprouts; you’re meant to tuck some crepe into the lettuce, roll it up and dip it in the savory nuoc mam sauce in a nearby saucer. The sauce is thin and you’ll wind up wearing it if you’re not careful.
Beef salad (bo tai chanh on the menu) is outstanding. The seared strips of rare beef are tossed with lime juice, lemongrass, mint and plenty of chilies, garnished with a powder made from toasted rice. It’s definitely spicy, but fabulous. More sedate is a salad of shredded green papaya and shrimp, the papaya contributing a nascent sweetness and crunchy texture.
Do not skip the pho (pronounced FA), an aromatic beef broth containing bits of beef, vegetables and vermicelli noodles; it’s seasoned with basil, but additional goodies are provided on a separate plate (including plum sauce and a hot chile sauce) for you to custom mix. First-timers should know that even using every bit of the chile sauce does not make the soup infernally hot.
If you like heat, the spicy sauteed chicken lives up to its billing, seasoned with chile peppers and tempered ever so slightly with a cooling lemongrass sauce. Tom sa-te, jumbo shrimp sauteed in garlic sauce, is an aggressively spicy dish, as is its cousin, muc sa-te, which features battered calamari.
Whole fish are uniformly excellent, from the crispy deep-fried snapper in spicy garlic sauce to the steamed sea bass with a gingered soy sauce. The market price for the dungeness crab can hit $23 or more, but the heavily garlicked, sweet and messy crab is worth the cost.
There are but a few dessert options, but what’s offered is pleasing: mango mousse layer cake topped with shaved white chocolate, and a white cake with guava filling, blanketed with shredded coconut. Lighter eaters can opt for one of several sorbets.
With Tuan Nguyen patrolling the dining room, service stays on its toes. Waiters are knowledgeable and quite confident; ask for a recommendation and you won’t get a wishy-washy response. Waiters are particularly good at recommending wines from Pasteur’s compact, food-friendly selection.
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Pasteur
(star) (star) (star)
5525 N. Broadway
773-878-1061
Open: Dinner Mon.-Sun.,lunch Mon.-Sun.
Entree prices: $8.95-$23
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Other: Wheelchair accessible; free parking lot
Rating system
(star) (star) (star) (star) Outstanding
(star) (star) (star) Excellent
(star) (star) Very Good
(star) Good
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
