MYSTERY DINER: Drive by the little house at Oakwood Avenue

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Drive by the little house at Oakwood Avenue and Sycamore Road around lunch or dinner, and you’re likely to see it’s buzzing inside. It’s clear that a lot of people know something good is cooking inside. We finally made it to Bea’s Wok-N-Roll recently, after too many of these jealous drive-bys.

Bea’s specializes in Vietnamese food, which, at least on the surface, bears similarities to food from other parts of Asia. Egg rolls, spring rolls, noodle dishes, rice dishes all are on the menu, with their own twist. There are more adventurous choices, too. But those intimidated by “ethnic” restaurants will be relieved to see everything’s written in English and there are few ingredients they won’t recognize.

Little birds who know say diners should explore the specials menu on the wall for the best of the best. Sugarcane chicken ($7.90) sounded intriguing, and when four sacue-smothered, sugarcane-skewered pieces of chicken were delivered on noodles, it officially was intriguing.

The sauce was the same one we’d had with our tofu spring roll ($4.95). It’s not the peanut sauce you’re used to in Thai restaurants. This one is the color of a deep, funky roux – it’s redolent of peanuts, but also of something tangy and spicy. The waiter rattled off a few ingredients – peanut butter, soy sauce, more – and then trailed off: “She puts some other things in there.” The mystery makes it more interesting.

The chicken peeled easily off the skewers, and the sauce oozed nicely onto the rice noodles beneath. Crispy cold vegetables – iceberg lettuce, julienned carrots and cucumber – were a welcome relief to the warmth of the saucy chicken.

One dining companion’s fried rice with peapods and chicken arrived with a mound of deep red minced peppers on top. A little bit, scooped up tenuously with the tip of the tine of a fork, exploded with smoky goodness. It was heat with a purpose, not just a pain factor. Yes, by the end of the meal, my dining companion was sweating a bit.

Everyone else at the table chose meals off the regular menu – noodle dishes with meats and vegetables, mostly, and they all started with crispy, properly fried egg rolls. Silence, interrupted only by pops of crunch, was their collective stamp of approval.

If you’ve never been to Bea’s, you’ve driven by a thousand times. It’s the odd little house-like structure across Oakwood Avenue from Jewel, right on Sycamore Road.

The restaurant is hardly glamorous – lights are flourescent and the walls linger between pale yellow and mint green – but its photos, paintings, signs and worn-in-ness make it completely comfortable and welcoming. Bea, herself a constant presence in the restaurant, plays a role in that at-home feeling. The only feast your eyes need here is the one that’s delivered to your table.

Bea’s Wok-N-Roll

Where: 1402 Sycamore Road, DeKalb

What: Vietnamese food

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays and holidays

Phone: 815-756-1660

Web: www.beawoknroll.com

Kids OK? Yes

Other: No alcohol is served and diners cannot bring their own