Qua Brings Bold Chinese-Vietnamese Fusion to Fountain Valley

Ivy Dai
14 minutes ago
3 min read

REVIEW: Chef Viet Nguyen's newest restaurant excels when it blends Chinese traditions with Vietnamese influences in shareable dishes.

High ceilings and a central bar give a refined ambience to the 10,000 square-foot space at Qua restaurant. Photo by Ivy Dai, Culture OC

Qua, the latest addition to the Kei Concepts brand, may be the restaurant group’s most ambitious project yet. After six years of research and an $8 million investment, the Chinese-Vietnamese fusion restaurant opened seven months ago.

The 10,000-square foot space boasts a 32-person central bar that draws your eye up toward the 15-foot-high ceilings. The location seats nearly 200 diners, and is home to the brand's research and development kitchen.

The menu and décor are inspired by chef-founder Viet Nguyen’s memories of growing up in Saigon’s Chinatown, Chợ Lớn. His grandmother, Vũ Thị Lan, fled North Vietnam and raised her 10 children there. The entrance wall features a photo of her on a bicycle balancing two large baskets with a cheerful smile.

The restaurant is located in the Albertson’s Shopping Center on Brookhurst Street and Edinger Avenue in Fountain Valley, and flanks Kei Concepts sister restaurants Vox Kitchen, Kin Craft Ramen & Izakaya, Rol Hand Bar and Ini Ristorante. Founded in 2014, the restaurant group also owns Nep Cafe, Kei Coffeehouse and Sup Noodle Bar. Nguyen was a James Beard semifinalist for best chef in California this year.

The cocktail menu has several inventive offerings, like Gan Bei with bourbon, shochu, orchards, peach amaro, honey and Taiwan pomelo beer, and Drunken Master with cachaca, rum, calvados, baijiu, green apple and pandan. There are also zero proof drinks like La Vie en Rose, with seedlip grove zero-alcohol spirit, elderflower, strawberry, salted plum, mint and passionfruit.

The dining menu boasts over 50 savory items, from hot and cold appetizers to dim sum, noodles, soup, vegetables and house specialties. Happy hour is 2-5 p.m. Monday through Friday with $10 cocktails and $8-$12 dishes.

For the first-time diner, the expansive menu can be overwhelming. Qua’s chefs nail dim sum classics authentically, but where the culinary talent really shines are the fusion dishes featured on the house specialty and hot appetizer menus. This is where diners should focus their attention. The dishes are served family-style, and are big enough to share.

One of the chef recommended items is a house specialty – roast duck. It is marinated in five spice, salt, sugar, cooking wine, soy sauce, fermented bean curd and oyster sauce and then roasted for an hour and a half. A half duck is served with the classic accoutrements of handmade mooshu pancakes, thin slivers of cucumber and hoisin sauce. There is also a hearty duck bone soup to share. For $49, the dish is a great value.

PHOTO 1: Mapo lamb dip with cumin-spiced lamb, Sichuan chili oil, sesame, whipped tofu and served with flatbread. PHOTO 2: Garlic prawns with glass noodles - steamed prawns, scallion garlic sauce, soy sauce, chili and cilantro. PHOTO 3: Barbecue pork puff pastry - filled with sweet and savory black char siu and finished with sesame. PHOTO 4: Marinated cucumbers with vinegar dressing, garlic, chili and sesame. Photos by Ivy Dai, Culture OC

The mapo lamb dip served with whipped tofu and flatbread is creamy and piquant with hints of numbing spice, and sweet and savory minced lamb.

An impressively substantial yet delicate dish is the garlic prawns with glass noodles. Prawns are poached in a bold, spiced broth that enrobes glass noodles, soy sauce, chili and cilantro. It’s a deal at $27. Despite the economy and restaurants raising prices, Qua has actually lowered some of its menu prices.

The barbecue pork puff pastries are light and flaky on the outside, with a sweet black char siu filling.

On the regular menu, lighter offerings include a marinated cucumber salad with cilantro, scallions and a light garlic sesame dressing. Another classic is the citrusy truffle chicken salad with Chinese celery and crispy onion. The shrimp fried rice had perfectly chewy grains of rice and delicate flavors.

To finish, the forbidden rice dessert with house shaved milk ice, green tea ice cream, longan and fresh mango is a fragrant and creamy ending.