A filling birthday dinner at Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly

At Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly, a whole fish smothered in fried onions and scallions recalls a time when food was prepared with only fish sauce, below.

Owner and Chef K.T. Tran described this as a ginger fish sauce.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I picked Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly to celebrate my birthday on Tuesday night, enjoying three wonderful seafood dishes and even trying a few spoonfuls of dessert -- warm sticky rice bathed in sweet milk.

Owner and Chef K.T. Tran prepared an off-menu whole fried fish with onions and scallions, a bowl of fish sauce on the side ($19.95).

That followed summer rolls stuffed with carrots, rice and shrimp; an appetizer of broiled mussels and a plate of crunchy cooked vegetables.

Summer Rolls with Shrimp are wonderful when dipped in a peanut sauce ($8.50).

Broiled New Zealand Mussels in a ginger wasabi sauce ($8.50).

A plate of sauteed mixed vegetables.

The restaurant's specialty, Pho, an anise-flavored noodle soup, here with beef ($14). My wife and mother-in-law shared Pho with Seafood ($12).

Garnish for the soup includes fresh cilantro, bean sprouts and jalapeno peppers.

Complimentary desserts: Fried bananas with ice cream and warm sticky rice covered in sweet coconut milk, below.

Simply Vietnamese, 1 Highwood Ave., Tenafly; 201-568-7770. BYO, free street parking.

Web site: Fine Vietnamese Cuisine