Take the earlier start of Chinese restaurants in this country, add the large Cambodian community in Rhode Island, and then the relatively small Vietnamese population. It's no wonder that: 1) Vietnamese dishes tend to be tucked away among other Southeast Asian and Chinese items on menus, rather than available on a street full of Little Saigon restaurants; 2) you won't find nime chow on the menu at HONS, the most prominent, if not the only, Vietnamese restaurant in the state.

You see, nime chow is the Cambodian name for the Vietnamese spring roll so popular that Cambodians like them, too. But HONS -- which stands for House of Noodle Soup -- has plenty of them on hand, along with variations -- and not under aliases.

Among the dozen and a half appetizers, each $3, more than a third are "rice paper" rolls that are either fried or left springy. Cha gio, with pork, shrimp, and taro root, and served with fish sauce, is fried, as is cha gio tom, which replaces green bean sprouts with mung bean sprouts and adds black mushrooms. One spring roll, bi cuon, has shredded pork and pork skin. Non-rolled items range from fried banana and fried quail to thu linh chien don (which probably translates to truth-in-advertising): "crispy fried large pork intestines."

Not in an innards kind of mood, I was attracted to the chao tom,described on the menu as grilled shrimp cake wrapped around a sugar cane stick. My sweet tooth tingled and my Dada-attuned antennas quivered at the prospect of a shrimp lollipop. It was pretty good. A spongy mixture of shrimp baked around slivers of sugar cane, letting me chew out some sweetness. There are two servings per order.

From a page of nearly two dozen vegetarian items, Johnnie chose the meatless spring rolls, bi cuon chay, which was similar to the nime chow we're used to. Our helpful waiter, Anthony, said the first appetizer on the menu, goi cuon, is closest to the Cambodian version, served with satay sauce, which also came with my companion's spring roll. Also set before us was something reminiscent of the loose "sauce" we, and apparently other customers, are used to having with nime chow, although instead of crushed peanuts the rice vinegar dip had the mild and pleasant tang of fish sauce. By any name, it was good. Firmly wrapped rice vermicelli, with Thai basil and sprouts, plus an unidentifiable crispy component that made Johnnie glad she knew it came from a plant, rather than an animal.

Besides the prominent list of pho (pronounced "fuh") and other soups, there are several dishes available over vermicelli ($5.95), even more that come atop rice, and some that you can have with either, such as curried chicken. Among a dozen "other specialties" are salmon or catfish steamed with ginger sauce. The most expensive dishes are $9.95. I had the com ga nuong xa ot ($5.50), which was described as "spicy lemongrass grilled chicken." It was tasty, but not from hotness or lemongrass, neither of which came through to either of us. Squeeze bottles of hoisin sauce and chili sauce are on the tables, however, and the sweet sauce on my rice helped rescue the moist meat from blandness.

My dining companion was looking forward to her pho, which we'd gotten fond of in Seattle, where these cheap soup shops have caught on. Her "regular" bowl was only $4.95 and the "extra large" one before an enthusiastic regular diner at the next table was easily twice as large -- for only a buck more. Pho is simmered with rice vermicelli and your choice of main event -- options include eye round and tripe, meatballs, or seafood. Johnnie had tofu in vegetable broth, which was joined by tomato, celery, and such. You add fresh Thai basil and mung bean sprouts to your soup, and squeeze in lime juice to taste. We both enjoyed it a lot.

The décor is simple at HONS' original Cranston location and it gives a well-scrubbed impression. Green vinyl banquettes line one side, and a preternaturally colorful painting of horses fording a stream is displayed on one wall. Beer and inexpensive wine is served, plus numerous soft drinks. The most interesting-sounding are the fruit shakes, featuring everything from avocado to the exotic fruits duran and soursop (guanaba). I went for the familiar, and the mango shake ($1.95) was quite refreshing. As was my dessert, che thung ($2), which was mostly tapioca and peanuts in coconut milk.

Speaking of the familiar, if you want bee bong (or boong), another Vietnamese item that has become popular around here, you won't find it on the menu at HONS.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.

Issue Date: September 6 - 12, 2002