Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine & Chow’s Asian Bistro
by Lyn Searfoss
This month finds us in two restaurants that go outside the normal food patterns for some of us. Our taste buds were tired and needed a lift, something with zing to bring a smile to our faces. We found the right restaurants: Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine and Chow’s Asian Bistro.
Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine is located at 2430 Cerrillos Road, in the same shopping center as Smith’s Food and Drug Store. Lots of parking. Lan’s can be accessed from Aldea in about 15 minutes or so by using the Siler Road Bridge (still new to some of us), turning left on Cerrillos and .5 miles on the right is Lan’s. 
The restaurant is true to the finest traditions of old Vietnam using time-honored recipes with the freshest organic ingredients and spices available in Vietnam. For lunch, we ate spring rolls, a perennial favorite, and these were excellent. Then we browsed over the appetizer of the day, scallops on crispy noodles with hints of several spices, both sweet and sour, topped with organic thinly sliced vegetables. Our vegetarian partner enjoyed Banh Cuon, marinated organic tofu with lemongrass, lemon leaf, pineapple, noodle cucumber, bean sprouts and fresh herbs and peanuts. 
Other items on the generous menu included smoked, grilled eggplant (Ca TI’M Nuong), and marinated, grilled lamb (De Noung), and chicken curry with organic vegetables and coconut milk served with jasmine rice (Ca Ga) to name a few.
Lan’s is open for lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:00am – 3:00pm and dinner also Monday through Saturday from 5:00pm – 9:00pm. Closed Sundays. Phone number is (505) 986-1636. Takeout is also available along with catering. Google: Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine, Santa Fe, click on Menu.
Chow’s Asian Bistro is located at 720 St. Michael’s Drive in the same shopping center as Smith’s Food and Drug Store. “Gourmet not buffet” is the motto of Chow’s. It has been locally-owned and operated by the Zeng family for over 14 years and has won the best Chinese food award for the last 10 years (Santa Fe Reporter).
Chow’s specializes in Asian fusion, taking aspects of Chinese cooking and blending it with the styles of other cultures to create new and exciting dishes. My partner and I arrived for lunch and were given a friendly greeting at the door and shown to a quiet corner table. The decor is elegant and simple with large pots of fresh orchids (grown by the owner) throughout the restaurant. The menu is extensive.
We chose two items from the eight daily specials. My Dragon Well Shrimp had fresh sugar peas, red bell pepper, broccoli sautéed with delicious shrimp in a light Dragon Well tea ginger sauce served with either brown or white rice (I chose brown). My partner had Pad Tai with rice noodles, chicken breast, eggs, bean sprouts tossed in a spicy, tangy sauce and topped with crushed peanuts and lime wedge.
Our food was served with warm plates. The food was excellent and the portions large. Add a glass of chardonnay and we were in heaven. The regular menu features Appetizers (try the Pig in a Cloud), Soups and Salads, Entrees (try Coffee Chicken, Orange Peel Beef, or Seafood Magic), Noodles, Vegetables, as well as Seasonal Specials. The wine list, while not extensive, is carefully selected.
