After travelling Vietnam, I've come to have pretty low expectations of Montreal's Vietnamese food scene (every menu seems to be 70% pho, 20% pan-Asian cuisine and 10% grilled meat dishes and few fresh herbs in sight).
Nhu Y is not one of those places. Yes, there's pho on the menu (one type) and there's the typical pan-Asian (general tao, pad thai, some curries, spring and imperial rolls). BUT there are things on the menu I had not seen outside of Vietnam. Bahn xeo (outta this world), fried sweet potato and shrimp cakes (be still my heart), catfish soup and shrimp pâté with sugar cane (I'm eyeing those for future delicious) And the caramel fish.
Everything comes with a mountain of varied fresh herbs, the food is perfectly balanced and spiced and my god-- even the pork is cooked exactly like I've come to expect on my travels! ... and well it should be-- the lovely lady who runs the place is from Ho Chi Minh and even after thirty five years of being away from home, still has the charm and hospitality and tradition fare I'd been craving.