In a city where pan-Asian menus often blur into one another, Vietnamese cuisine remains surprisingly underrepresented. Yet, few things are as comforting as a bowl of hot pho on a peak Delhi winter evening. Bringing that cosy experience to the season is Sahil Sambhi’s Vietnom, one of NCR’s Vietnamese restaurants.
Vietnamese cuisine is defined by its clean palate — built around fresh herbs, balanced seasoning, and minimal cooking. Designed by chef Aakash Nakra, Vietnom’s latest menu reassures the palate with a sharpened focus on regional Vietnamese flavours, along with subtle twists on familiar classics.
The revamp, explains chef Bheem, operations head at Vietnom, is less about reinvention and more about refinement. Associated with the brand since its pre-opening days over six years ago, he brings with him nearly 15 years of experience in Southeast Asian cooking. “Vietnamese food is very simple and home-style. It’s light, healthy, and built around natural flavours,” he says.
For diners seeking lighter fare leaning towards the healthier side, the menu offers a variety of summer rolls, which we tried at the chef’s suggestion. The fresh vegetable summer roll and salmon-avocado summer roll, wrapped in delicate, chewy rice paper, are refreshing and balanced — punctuated by crunchy cucumbers and beetroot, and brought together by a creamy sriracha, sweet chilli, and coconut milk-based sauce. Alongside, the pomelo and papaya salad stood out for its interplay of flavours: the tang of pomelo and raw mango, a gentle sweetness from the mayo-coconut dressing, a hint of papaya’s bitterness, and crunch from peanuts and fresh herbs.
The dim sum selection offers a more indulgent turn. The cream cheese chilli dim sum is a soft, delicate pouch filled with velvety cream cheese, carrots, and sweet potato, melting effortlessly on the palate. This is followed by the prawn kaffir lime khargao, which captures Vietnamese cuisine’s signature balance of flavours — sweetness from the beetroot-infused wrapper, bitterness and citrusy tang from kaffir lime, umami from prawns and bamboo shoots, and gentle heat.
Among the mains, the chef recommends the lemongrass chicken, fragrant without being overpowering, reflecting the cuisine’s reliance on aromatics and herbs. One can also opt for the sweet mango chicken curry — an aromatic, mildly sweet curry with a coconut milk and mango purée base, layered with garlic, onion, chilli, carrots, and sweet potato, served alongside fragrant blue pea flower jasmine rice. The grilled sea bass with sesame chilli sauce leans into smokier, more robust flavours, while seasonal indulgences like lobster and lamb chops add heft without overwhelming the menu’s otherwise light profile.
Those drawn to the classics will also find pho and banh mi in multiple versions — from seafood and pork to chicken, tofu, and mushrooms for vegetarians. A conscious nod to broader Asian influences appears in dishes like duck pancakes and duck mushroom rolls, inspired by Chinese cooking yet comfortably placed alongside Vietnamese staples.
But no Vietnamese meal is complete without coffee, and Vietnom’s traditional Vietnamese brew is an experience in itself. Prepared tableside using a slow-drip filter and mixed with condensed milk, it allows guests to customise sweetness while appreciating the quiet ritual behind the drink.
"The new menu marks a definitive shift in approach. Rather than revisiting older dishes, it introduces an entirely new repertoire," says chef Nakra. "The current offering explores Vietnamese cuisine with greater nuance and confidence. It dives deeper into regional flavours, refined techniques, and layered textures, presented through a contemporary lens. You’ll find dishes that echo the streets of Saigon, the flavours of the Mekong, and the spirit of Hoi An — reimagined through the lens of modern culture, global curiosity, and India’s bold, expressive palate."
Available at Saket, DLF Cyber City, and Worldmark Gurugram. Open daily from 11.30 am to 12 am; Rs. 3000 (without alcohol) for two.