Nu Eatery, Hoi An

We agree. This could be one of the best dishes either of us have ever eaten. We reach for more of the grilled pineapple, pomelo and long pepper salad, topped with toasted baby coconut. We’re hungry, but this isn’t one of those “it’s good because it’s food in front of our faces” kind of situations. Rather, this is one of a handful of dishes either of us have ever eaten that is truly spectacular.

You might say we stumbled upon Nu Eatery. While we’d read a few good things about the restaurant, we were actually looking for another place before we ended up spotting the glowing teal sign in front of Nu. A simple two story restaurant, dropped smack in the middle of Hoi An’s ancient town (near the Japanese bridge), every one of our five small dishes were memorable. The poached beet and Sapa apple salad, the pumpkin and coconut milk soup, and the rice with grilled eggplant, daikon and mushrooms were all excellent. We ended our dinner sharing a scoop of homemade lemongrass ice cream.

Huddled upstairs, you get the feeling you could be anywhere in the world. But take a look beyond the small deck, and the tiled rooftops of Hoi An's old buildings quickly bring you back. There are very few other places to eat a meal this good, for so little money, in such a wondrous city.