My lunch companion and I walked into the Vietnamesisches Restaurant May without any expectations.

The place looks rather generic and doesn’t stand out from the residences surrounding it in Feuerbach, a small neighborhood on the west side of Stuttgart. The inside isn’t extremely unique either.

The only thing setting this place apart from its surroundings and competitors is the authenticity of the Vietnamese food and cultural habits of the Vietnamese family that owns and runs the place.

While we waited for our food, a young woman constantly cleaned areas that seemed to already be clean. She even paused a moment to place a few small glasses of tea or some other beverage at a small Buddhist shrine before lighting a candle there.

Scanning through the menu, I noticed a few interesting pages. There was a how-to article on using chopsticks, an article on how Vietnamese men drink coffee and many others about Vietnamese culture.

Then the food arrived, and we were pleasantly surprised.

My meal began with a soup, a clear broth filled with mushrooms and vegetables. It had a very hard-to-describe taste — a hint of spice accompanied by a slight mint taste. There were other flavors in it, but I couldn’t identify them, no matter how hard I tried. However, it was very tasty.

My companion had a lettuce and grated carrot salad dressed with shavings of peanuts. He described it as a “pleasing taste to warm you up to the bolder flavors to come.”

Our main courses came with a single large bowl of steamed white rice for us to share.

I had fried shrimp with lemon grass, celery, chili peppers and sugar peas. I couldn’t get enough. It has a spicy (scharf) label next to it on the menu, but I found it to have just the right amount of spice without getting uncomfortable. The sweetness of it was spot on, as well.

My companion had fried pangasius, a type of catfish, with lemon grass, coconut milk and red curry sauce. He was more than a little pleased.

The most expensive dish on the lunch menu was 7.50 euros. The dinner menu prices averaged about 12 euros. We left with a sub-20-euro bill and full stomachs.

Location: Fahrionstrasse 7 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Directions: Parking can be painful in that area, so the best way to get there is to take the U-bahn and get off on the Wilhelm-Geiger-Platz stop. Once there, walk south on Grazer Strasse until it ends at a T-intersection. Turn left, and two blocks down you’ll find the restaurant on the right. The walk shouldn’t take more than five minutes.

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30-11 p.m.; closed Sunday.

Food: Authentic Vietnamese.

Prices: Lunch menu dishes run up to 7.50 euros; dinner menu prices average 12 euros.

Clientele: German.

Menu: German only.

Dress: casual.

Phone: 0711 8560470

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