The Gossiping Gourmet:

And now for something completely different: Nhu Y Ca 8 Mon, a Vietnamese restaurant posing as a quaint little cottage with a deer head in the foyer, leading to a faux indoor garden replete with faux trees, Christmas lights, faux foliage and booths surrounded by faux trellises dripping with faux flowers. There is also a very fancy VIP room complete with karaoke bar, which is available to all diners unless there is a special event. Even more unusual is the restaurant’s signature dinner featuring eight courses of fish.

Ensconced in our comfortable, kitschy-yet-charming faux bower booth, expecting a Vietnamese waiter, we were surprised yet again when the voluminous menu was presented by José/Joseph, a gentleman who was half Israeli and half Guatemalan and totally delightful. He was extremely helpful in navigating the Vietnamese-Chinese menu.

Of course, we ordered the eight courses of fish, which is a must. It’s not as overwhelming as it sounds. The fish in all of the dishes is a very fresh-tasting, delicate filet of sole. The first two courses are cold: a classic Vietnamese spring roll with fish instead of shrimp, nestled in vegetables and rice noodles, then rolled up in rice paper. This traditionally rather bland appetizer is served with a spicy peanut sauce to liven it up. Arriving at the same time was a Vietnamese version of cole slaw that was tasty and crunchy, with bits of fish, slightly pickled carrots and shredded cabbage in a piquant rice vinegar dressing.

The next four courses arrived on a single plate, two small pieces each of four different preparations of fish. This comes with a stack of rice paper rounds and a big bowl of warm water for making the rice paper pliable. Then there is a large platter of lettuce leaves, four types of herbs including mint and Thai basil, mung bean sprouts, carrots, cucumbers and strips of unripe banana. Finally, there’s a bowl of rice vermicelli.

The idea is to roll up the fish, noodles, herbs and vegetables in the dampened rice paper, which is very thin, yet surprisingly resilient, so that whatever you put into the roll seems to stay put. Now you dip it into the delicious sweetened fish sauce seasoned with chilies and ... enjoy.

Two of the fish fingers were fried, another was in a fried egg roll wrapper, and the last was encased in a Hawaiian leaf. None had a particularly distinctive flavor, but all tasted quite nice wrapped up in the Vietnamese style. Each bite yielded a variety of textures and tastes.

The seventh dish was fish filet, sizzling on a skillet, topped with chopped peanuts and sautéed onions. Wrap it as you please, or don’t. The finale is fish porridge, cream of rice with some strips of fish. The flavor is mild and delicate but somewhat intriguing. It kind of grows on you. This feast is almost enough for two people, but we wanted to try a few other dishes.

We particularly enjoyed a new version of fried calamari strips. This one was stir-fried with butter, basil leaves, jalapeño rings and seasoned with lots of black pepper. It came on a bed of romaine lettuce, lightly dressed with the flavorful sauce.

Soft-shelled crabs came fried with tamarind sauce. Buried under the heavy sauce was a generous amount of crunchy, plump small crabs. Although there was too much sauce, it was still very tasty with red onions, green onions, jalapeños and bits of tamarind. Less sauce would have allowed the crabs to keep from drowning.

On our next visit, we would order the gorgeous whole catfish we saw presented at the next table. It comes in sizes small to large. It also comes in the classic Vietnamese style with rice paper, vermicelli, vegetables and herbs.

Dining here is a bit of an adventure with a big menu to explore and an atmosphere that is offbeat and fun.

Nhu Y Ca 8 Mon

Where: 10830 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley

When: Noon to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday

Prices:

Appetizers $3 to $19.99

Entrées $7.99 to $29.99

Eight courses of fish $21.99

Desserts $3 to $7

Wine:

Bottles $16 to $45

By the glass $4.25 to $6.25

Corkage fee $10

Contact: (714) 963-1700

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned A La Carte for 20 years and can be reached at themarkos755@yahoo.com .