Your first glance inside the brightly lighted Monaco, near Uptown’s epicenter, will be deceiving. A mere six cherrywood circular tables fill the sparsely decorated dining room. A giant color TV is mounted against the back wall, and each of the tables holds only a condiment caddy. But unlike most of the other Vietnamese and Laotian restaurants in the Broadway/Argyle area, this newcomer offers more than 160 menu items.
Simple starters include spring rolls ($2.75 for two) and Vietnamese egg rolls ($3 for three). The spring rolls, a bundle of rice vermicelli noodles with crisp mint, cooked shrimp and bits of pork, are wrapped in silky white rice paper and served at room temperature with a sweet hoisin sauce flecked with carrot and peanut. Their crunch gets things off to a good start. The egg rolls resemble their Chinese cousins (the restaurant does cook several Chinese dishes, but the emphasis remains Vietnamese): a very average deep-fried wrapping surrounds bits of seasoned pork and carrot. But we liked the dipping sauce, in which julienned carrots float atop nuoc mam, or Vietnamese fish sauce.
Soups represent a large portion of the menu at Monaco, and while you could start safely with a crab and asparagus version or a delightful corn soup (both $2.25), we opted for a hearty bowl of the mi tom cua, or shrimp, crab and egg noodles ($4.50). A large bowl, enough for two, brims with cooked shrimp, imitation crab and loads of herbaceous cilantro and crisp green onion, tucked into a tangle of satisfying egg noodles and broth.
Pho (pronounced fuh) is the ubiquitous beef soup of Vietnam, and here there are seven varieties. We especially liked the pho tai nam ($4.50), a bracing bowl of rice noodles with eye of round steak and shards of well-done flank steak bathed in a rich broth with cilantro and green onion.
All soups come with a plate of condiments: crisp bean sprouts, anise-scented Vietnamese basil, a few slices of jalapeno chili and a couple of wedges of fresh lime to squeeze as you wish.
Entree choices are overwhelming. We stayed away from the predictable sweet and sour chicken and beef and broccoli (both $6.95), and instead sampled some house specialties. The ca kho to, or simmered catfish in a clay pot, is a hearty, slightly spicy entree for $7.95. Pieces of catfish, still on the bone, melt in your mouth, and are complemented with salty yet earthy slivers of fatty pork, all bathed in fish sauce, sugar and black pepper.
The Monaco Special Plate ($7.95) is a must-have: steamed Vietnamese rice–a short-grain type slightly smaller than jasmine rice–is nutty and soft, resting beneath a jumbo prawn (listed as “shrimps” on the menu, but we were served just one) as well as thinly sliced, boneless pork rib seasoned with pepper and chili. Bits of pork skin are embedded within the rice, and the entire dish is meant to be dressed with the fish sauce/carrot mixture at the table, presenting a variety of flavors simultaneously: sweet, sour, salty and spicy.
Con dop, or spicy mussels ($9.95), are steamed and then bathed in spicy chili oil, salty oyster sauce and stalks of slightly sauteed green onion. The dish comes with a side of salt and pepper and a lime wedge. The intention is to squeeze the lime juice onto the salt and pepper, making a paste for dipping the mussels.
Dishes can be washed down with Vietnamese iced coffee ($2) or tropical smoothies, including durian, jack fruit or coconut (all $3). Monaco hopes to receive its liquor license soon, but for now diners can bring their own.
Service is friendly and attentive, but depending on your server, English explanations may not be readily available. The cozy dining room does have one drawback: If some diners choose to smoke, you may be stuck downwind as we were one night. There is a karaoke bar behind the restaurant, and on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights, it may make for a pleasant escape. Food this good is worth singing about.
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Monaco
(3 forks)
4941 N. Broadway
773-878-8811
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily except Tues.
Credit cards: A, D, M, V
Noise rating: Conversation-friendly
Wheelchair accessible
Ratings key:
4 forks: Don’t miss it
3 forks: One of the best
2 forks: Very good
1 fork: Good
Reviews are based on anonymous visits by Tribune staff members. The meals are paid for by the Tribune.
