There’s a vibe you get the moment you step through the door at QUA Contemporary Chinese Cuisine. At 9,000 square feet and with high, 15-foot ceilings, the space is large and well-appointed, with decor that’s modern and chic but relaxed. A large, 32-seat bar gleams near the center of the restaurant, where mixologists craft cocktails with names like Forbidden Jade, Afternoon Tea, and Melon Ball. And it’s welcoming. The staff greets you warmly upon entering, and a collage of family photos hanging from a wall near the door helps set the tone. The black-and-white pictures show children and their parents smiling widely at the camera. In one, a woman on a bicycle balances two large baskets fixed to each side near the rear tire—it’s Executive Chef Viet Nguyen’s grandmother, Vu Thi Lan. At the center of the display, a framed sign reads “The Heritage Wall: Honoring our roots, our families, our legacy. The foundation of Kei.”
That would be Kei as in Kei Concepts, a local group of uber-popular restaurants, five of which can be found at the same modest shopping center at Brookhurst Street and Edinger Avenue in Fountain Valley. There, QUA joins VOX Kitchen, KIN Craft Ramen & Izakaya, ROL Hand Roll Bar, and INI Ristorante—the latter was featured among Orange Coast magazine’s Best New Restaurants in 2023. Other Kei operations dot the O.C. landscape—SUP Noodle Bar in Buena Park and Irvine, a second VOX Kitchen in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza, NEP Cafe in Fountain Valley and Irvine, and Kei Coffee House in Westminster. Each spot is unique. But QUA—which means “to overcome” in Vietnamese—stands out among the others. It’s a passion project that draws inspiration from Nguyen’s grandmother and the Cho Lon Chinatown district of Saigon, where “Grandma Vu” settled with her 10 children after fleeing North Vietnam. “Before QUA was a restaurant,” notes the website, “it was her kitchen, and we honor her legacy with dishes inspired by the meals she once made.”
“For years, I created what people asked for,” says Nguyen. “This time, I’m sharing something from my own life. … (These are) the flavors that shaped me.”
It’s authentic, for sure, but approachable. Nguyen does a great job of balancing dishes—all served family style for sharing—that might be considered a bit too exotic for some diners with offerings that are likely to fall within anyone’s comfort zone. Think Sichuan Pig Ear (thinly sliced pig ear in a chili sauce with scallion and fried peanuts) right alongside Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken that’s essentially the same dish, but with free-range chicken instead of pork.
Still, not being a connoisseur of authentic Asian cuisine, I was a little overwhelmed. The menu is vast, with offerings like chicken cartilage with mala barbecue spice, salted egg yolk lava bao (a beautiful dark bun that, when pierced, releases a mystifying flow of delicious yolk), and various stir fry options, noodle preparations, and dumplings.
Our server, Cory, helped my husband and I navigate the menu, asking about our palate preferences and offering suggestions. We started with XO abalone and fried tofu, both served hot as appetizers. The abalone was superb—mild in flavor and firm but not too chewy, and the XO butter sauce gave the dish a wonderful complexity. Originating from Hong Kong back in the 1980s, XO sauce is made with aromatics like chili, garlic, and shallots; dried shrimp, scallops, abalone, or pork; soy sauce or soybeans; oyster sauce, which is salty and sweet; and oil. Slices of toasted baguette were served on the side—perfect for dipping into the flavorful XO concoction. Breaded and fried to a delicate crisp, the tofu was soft inside and paired with a garlic-spiked soy sauce that gave just the right oomph to the otherwise flavor-neutral bean curd.
We followed that up with shrimp har gow from the dim sum classics category. The preparation was simple but well-executed, with four plump dumplings arriving per order, the translucent wrapping soft to the bite. I wondered how that thin, gossamer blanket of dough was able to hold such a substantial piece of shrimp without breaking apart. They were fresh, familiar, and delicious.
Next came two house specialties—the crab roe and Dong Po pork belly. Both are standout offerings. A bowl of warm, thick, flavorsome seafood stew that’s more blue crab than sauce is the centerpiece of the dish, which comes with a choice of clear wide noodles, wheat noodles, or rice. We chose the wheat noodles. Small bowls filled with marinated wood ear mushrooms, pickled cabbage, and slivers of ginger accompany the dish. Cory advised us to pour the stew over the noodles while everything was still steaming. We gave it a good mix to ensure even distribution among all the noodles, and then we dug in, placing helpings of the mixture onto each of our plates and adding the mushrooms, ginger, and cabbage to suit our individual tastes. It’s a must-try—the kind of dish you keep thinking about for days.
A classic dish from China’s Hangzhou region, the Dong Po pork belly was certainly the most indulgent of our choices. Two sizeable squares of the fatty cut were braised in a salty-sweet mixture, and served with a few stalks of baby bok choy, a bowl of jasmine rice, and a pair of kitchen shears, which were used to cut the soft, jiggly blocks of meat layered with fat. It was rich and satisfying—and a pork belly lover’s dream.
Because we were there during the restaurant’s soft opening, Cory was diligent in asking for feedback on everything we tried. The practice of seeking customer input is a signature of Kei Concepts’ approach to menu creation and finessing. “We draw inspiration from the communities we serve,” the company’s co-CEO, Ivy Ha, told me last year. “Their feedback, support, and love fuel us to keep innovating and striving for more. By keeping people at the center of everything we do, we’ve managed to maintain this incredible momentum.” And I can’t wait to taste what comes next.
16121 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley
quadining.com
HOURS
Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Closed Monday and Tuesday
PRICE RANGE
Appetizers, $8 to $27
Dim sum, $4 to $12
Rice, $16 to $20
House specialties, $22 to $59
Noodles and hot dishes, $12 to $27
Desserts, $8
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