RESTAURANT REVIEW:

The choices for New Year’s Day dining are traditionally pretty slim. Most restaurants, having spent a great deal of money and effort on the night before, often take a well-deserved rest the following evening.

That of course didn’t stop me from trying to find some place to eat. Worse yet, I decided to start looking around 8:30 at night.

Paella was on my taste buds so I went to Habana Cabana in Huntington Beach, but they were closed. Then I thought maybe Inka Café might be open, but they were not.

Near them though, Luu Luyen was open. The girlfriend and I thought we would give it a try and be a little adventurous in the new year.

The restaurant was definitely different. It is beautifully decorated with wood floors and art on the walls. The wood table and expensive chairs were a nice touch, as well.

We were seated by a young woman wearing very high heels and a mini skirt.

The dining room was large, and the waitresses walking in those heels made a sound that echoed off the walls. It was then the night got a little weird.

A woman was singing karaoke with a man playing on an electronic keyboard. The music was Vietnamese and though I couldn’t understand the words, I enjoyed the melody.

As I was looking at the duo performing, I looked at the picture to their left and saw the photograph of a woman who was topless, though covering her breasts with her arms.

That was when the waitress leaned up against me and asked if we were ready to order, and I wondered aloud after she left if we were in a David Lynch movie.

We decided to be adventurous with our meal and that wasn’t difficult considering the restaurant’s entrees.

I wanted to try the bamboo shoots and fish pot, but Rosa doesn’t like fish. That meant the live oysters and steamed clams with ginger was out as well. I didn’t even offer up the snails with fish sauce or grilled squid.

No problem, I thought, there were plenty of other exotic items on the menu.

It was then I discovered the extent of Rosa’s adventurous nature. She shot down the fried frogs with butter and vetoed the roasted deer.

She did accept the steamed shrimp with coconut and then flinched when the shrimp came with the heads on them, but still ate two of them with the fried rice and Chinese sausage.

I was pretty happy with the meal. The food was prepared well, and the roasted quail I got over Rosa’s objections was crispy on the outside, but quite moist on the inside.

Rosa was ready to go, especially when four men in their 30s came in and sat at the table next to us and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

They apparently hadn’t gotten the memo about the smoking ban. Neither did the couple who followed them and sat on the other side of us and immediately lit up.

While I am an opponent of that silly law, the smoke did bother Rosa and did affect the meal.

We got some to go containers and the check, and I figured I could mix the meat and seafood with the rice, add a little garlic and we could enjoy it at home, but Rosa had me drive through a Taco Bell.

Though adventures worked with Lewis and Clark, I believe my future culinary adventures will be solo.

LUU LUYEN

ADDRESS: 8780 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley

PHONE: (714) 842-5241

CUISINE: Vietnamese

SPECIALTY DISH: Shrimp hot pot

ALCOHOL SERVED: beer and wine

ENTRÉE PRICE RANGE: $7.99 to $26.99

FAMILY FRIENDLY: no

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: MasterCard and Visa

RATING: ** 1/2 out of 4

JOHN REGER reviews restaurants for the Independent.