It's tough
to provide a complete listing of Viet restaurants in America because (1)
there are too many of them and (2) I mostly eat at small eateries in Vietnamese
enclaves in California, where the food is pretty down home and cheap.
But, I've compiled a short list of noteworthy spots for you to check out
or just to know about:
Mid-range:
Casual nice High-end: Fine dining restaurants with beautiful
décor and beautiful people
For efficiency's
sake, try the tips section to locate
good restaurants. Also, use the searchable databases of major newspapers
to find Vietnamese restaurants; in the major cities, you'll get the reviews
of savvy restaurant critics and food writers. Vietnamese community websites
are not always reliable. They charge for advertising so their listing
is paltry. The best one I've found is the business directory of Viet
San Diego site; use the restaurant (nha hang) link to access their
listing. Chat-based websites such as chowhound.com
or egullet.com may also
be useful.
Pho
Noodle Soup
Beef
Noodle #1
1611 East Capitol Expressway Suite 206, San Jose, CA 95121 (SW corner
of Capitol Expressway and Silvercreek)
Highly reccommended by a visitor to this site. Here's what he wrote:
"They do only one thing, Pho . . . Their [beef pho] soup is the
thing. Try going on a weekday as Sat/Sun are packed and the soup gets
watered down towards the end of the weekend. During the rest of the
week this place's soup hits on all notes. A dive, but delicious. Try
not to park too close to the dumpster unless you like that as part of
the experience."
Pho
Bac
On Brookhurst Avenue, about 5 miles east of the 405 freeway. It's my
favorite spot for pho in Little Saigon. Look around, the place is packed
and the soup is hot! Named to indicate that it's the real north Vietnamese
pho. (Bac means north.)
Pho
Bac So 1 and Chez Croissant
1090-1092 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 297-1102
As the name implies, the restaurant will sell you an authentic northern-style
bowl of pho. The pho here is quite good and if you want something French,
the restaurant shares space with a bakery that offers up sweet and savory
baked goods.
Pho
Bang
1705 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95122
408-251-0896
My favorite in San Jose. The service is lightening fast. Multi-ethnic
multi-racial customers slurp away at small and large bowls of soup.
After a satisfying bowl, cross the street to Lion plaza to browse the
Viet shops.
Pho
Hoa www.phohoa.com
A franchised chain that I don't like, but people may know it; locations
are in Canada, WA, CA and TX. They are extremely user-friendly with
a lovely full-color menu. The stock, however, is way too sweet for my
taste.
Pho
79 www.pho79.com
This is a Southern California chain that's not bad. Long before pho
was "big," Pho 79 was it for most people.
Pho
999
12905 Sherman Way North Hollywood
(818) 982-9370
Recommended by visitor Asfren Bautista.
Pho
Nguyen Hue
10487 Bolsa Ave. (@ Ward), Westminster, CA 92683-6757
714-839-8916
Great pho and homey Viet classics in this tiny strip mall location.
Pho
Ga An Nam
740 Story Road, #8, San Jose, CA 95122
408-993-1211
Go for chicken pho or two doors down is their sister restaurant devoted
to spicy beef Hue noodle soup (bun bo Hue)
Viet
Restaurant PHO
209 S. Vermont (Koreatown), Los Angeles
213-381-3300
Recommended by cooking school instructor Farid Zadi.
Other
choice cheap joints in CA and out of state
Pho
Ao Sen 200 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94606
(510) 839-6821
Katie says that this is her personal favorite place for Pho in Oakland:
"The broth is delicate, neither too salty or too sweet. The place
is no frills, and isn't even very clean, but the pho is delicious. I
have only rarely had anything there besides the pho, and it wasn't memorable."
BBQ Express
9721 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA 92683
714.775.8123
Great Chinese roast pork, duck, etc. and rice plates.
Ngoc
Hue
10212 Westminster, #113, Garden Grove, CA 92843
714.636.7039
Presents central-Viet food.
Vien
Dong
14271 Brookhurst, Garden Grove, CA 92843
714.531.8253
One of the oldest restaurants in Little Saigon. Specializes in northern
foods, like bun cha (grilled pork with rice noodles).
Quang
Da
348 E. Santa Clara St. #A, San Jose, CA 95113
408-297-3402
Specializes in central-Viet food. The banh beo rice pancakes (there
are two versions, one in the bowl and as mini pancakes) are great. Good
service. East Santa Clara has a number of other Viet restaurants. For
non-Viet speakers, there's a color photo album of the food to help you
with the menu.
Miss
Saigon
1455 Landess Avenue, Milpitas, CA 95035
408-942-1240
They have a sister restaurant in Saigon and in CA, they offer 7-course
fish along with other well-crafted foods. There's great pride and care
at this restaurantl
Saigon
Bistro
15470 Magnolia Street, Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 895-2120
This Viet chic restaurant marries Vietnamese and French concepts. Located
in a bland strip mall between a laundromat and hair salon, you enter
the cool environs and not know where you've been transported. The interior
is actually quite attractive. Service is polished. It's a sophisticated
place where you can eat the intersections of Vietnamese and French traditions.
Select from lobster bisque, escargot, Hanoi grilled pork noodles, green
papaya salad and chicken Cordon Bleu. I like this place. It's cheap
too, about $8 to $13 per person.
Lee's Sandwiches www.leesandwiches.com
9261 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 901-5788
An emerging small chain of sandwich (banh mi) shops in San Jose and
Westminster, CA, Lee's aggressive marketing may put mom-and-pop delis
out of business. Worth checking out for its marketing and McDonald's
like approach to banh mi. As of October '02, there are four Lee's Sandwiches
outlets.
Song
Long Bakery
9433 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 531-0792
One of the first bakeries in Little Saigon. Nice croissants, little
French butter cookies, and savory pates chauds.
Tai
Buu Paris
9039 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 895-6114
Beautiful French pastries here at low prices. The baker studied with
the famous Gaston Lenotre in France. The savory items are served sort
of cafeteria style. I'd stick with the pastries.
Anh
Hong Restaurant
1818 Tully Road, #150, San Jose
10195 Westminster Ave., Garden Grove
808 Geary St. (at Hyde), San Francisco
8748 E. Valley Blvd., #A, Rosemead
Specializes in the infamous 7 course beef meals. For about $13.95, you
get beef prepared 7 ways. It's pretty hilarious, and they just keep
bringing out the food. You cook some yourself (hot-pot style) and wrap
most of it in rice paper with herbs and lettuces. The secret is not
to order too much. Each full order really feeds one and half people.
On the other hand, it's pretty darn cheap for a wild meal. Note, for
a poor country like Vietnam, this is a special occassion meal and not
indicative of typical homey fare. It's fun and sometimes raucous. It's
nhau (celebratory) food.
Tour
Eiffel
200 State Street, Los Altos, CA 94022
(650) 917-1328
Located in downtown Los Altos, this minimalist spot offers diners Vietnamese
dishes with a French twist, such as bo kho (beef stewed with carrots
and tomato). You can order food with baguette or rice noodles.
Outside
of California, folks recommend these cheap joints:
Pho
Hai Yen
810 Rainier Ave South
Seattle, WA
Cindy reports that this place at the southern fringes of Little Saigon
is excellent. She writes, "We've found another Vietnamese restaurant
that the vietworldkitchen.com readers should check out . . .We've passed
it many times on our way back from visiting my mother-in-law. Julian
got takeout there last Sunday while I was working on a grant. It has
excellent bun bo Hue, some of the best that I've had from a restaurant.
They offer almost as many variations of it as they offer variations
on pho. We also tried bun nem nuong cha gio, grilled minced pork and
egg roll vermicelli bowl. I liked the cinnamon flavor of the minced
pork, although he wasn't too thrilled by it. We had ample portions for
leftovers.
Viet
Kieu Restaurant
510 Jefferic Boulevard
Dover, DE 19901
Ms. Hoa, the chef and owner, has about 30 years of experience cooking.
She offers classic Viet fare as well as a special 4-course fish meal.
Bac
Nam
1117 South King St., Honolulu HI 96814
808-597-8201
Go to this eGullet.com
posting for the review and discussion. Sounds like a nice place!
Tamarind
Tree www.tamarindtreerestaurant.com
1036 S. Jackson, St. A, Seattle WA
206.860.1404
Warm, friendly service, provincial-style (rustic) food in the Seattle's
internationall district.
Sinh
Sinh
9788 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036-3402
(713) 541-0888
Go for Chinese dishes, reasonable prices, and quick service
Saigon
Cuisine
4205 High Point Rd, Greensboro, NC 27407
(336) 294-9286
A well-loved institution owned by the Nguyen brothers. Visitor Cindy
writes, "t was written up in the Saveur
100 in 2000 or 2001. The food there is first rate, especially the soft-shell
crab. In addition, the oldest brother ("Duckie") is a hoot.
He runs the front of the house, while Nick runs the bar and Donnie does
the cooking. We frequented several of the other Viet restaurants in
Greensboro, but Saigon Cuisine was head and shoulders above the others."
Monsoon www.monsoonseattle.com
615 19th Avenue E Seattle
Hip room, great wine and good Viet-Chinese-French food from siblings
Eric and Sophie Banh. Monsoon site
Thanh
Long
4101 Judah St. (at 46th Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 665-1146
Located in the Sunset district of San Francisco. Supposedly has some
terrific roasted crab dish. Is the precursor of Crustacean restaurants.
Le Cheval
1007 Clay St. (near 10th Street), Oakland
(510) 763-8957
Some of my non-Viet friends have eaten here and like it very much. Apparently
Oakland mayor Jerry Brown likes this place lots. It's a downtown joint
and he's into revitalizing downtown. Le Cheval has been around for a
while. It's reliable.
May
Hong[Sorry, closed!]
417 7th St. (at Broadway), Oakland
(510) 268-9099
Selected by East Bay Express as one of the East Bay's best restaurants
in 2003, this spot offers delicious authentic Vietnamese home cooking.
While the atmosphere may not rival that of high-end joints in the City,
the food is just as good (if not better) and the prices are way lower!
Michelia
Europe Asian Bistro
8738 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 276-8288
Is new and located on 3rd Street, a hip high-rent part of town. I've
not eaten there but hope to in the very near future. It's supposed to
be good and casual-chic—so L.A.
Pho
Van Vietnamese Bistro
1012 N. W. Glisan Street, Portland, OR
503-248-2172
Written up in Gourmet magazine's restaurant issue (October 2002)
as a neighborhood gem.
Gingergrass
2396 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles
323-644-1600 LA
Times review
Hanoi
Cafe
2002 Sawtelle Blvd., West Los Angeles
310-477-4885 LA
Times mini review
KP's
Vietnamese American Deli
2616 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles
323.913.1818 Blog
review
Ana
Mandara www.anamandara.com
891 Beach Street at Polk
415.771.6800
Miami Vice star Don Johnson owns this place, a beautiful restaurant
devoted to "modern Vietnamese cuisine." He brought the chef
from Nha-Trang, Vietnam. I've heard that it has great decor, good food
and high prices.
Crustacean
9646 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90210
(310) 205-8990
Incredible décor in the high-rent district of Rodeo Drive adjacent.
The prices are high.
Le Colonial
20 Cosmo Place, San Francisco
(415) 931-3600
149 E.
57th St., New York
(212) 752-0808
Another pricey joint. They opened in L.A. but closed after a few years.
Lemongrass www.lemongrassrestaurant.com
601 Munroe, Sacramento
(916) 486-4891
Owned by Mai Pham, chef and cookbook author. The food is Vietnamese
and Thai. It's supposed to be great. She sometimes teaches at the Greystone
Culinary Institute of America in Napa. Occasionally Pham writes for
the San Francisco Chronicle Food section. She knows her Viet
stuff.
S
Vietnamese Fine Dining www.sfinedining.com
545 Westminster Mall Drive, Westminster
(714) 898-5092
Probably the first high-end restaurant in Little Saigon area. L.A.
Times Review
Slanted
Door www.slanteddoor.com
1 Ferry Plaza (Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street), San Francisco
(415) 861 8032
Considered a very hip joint in the Mission district. Bill and Chelsea
Clinton ate there when she was still at Stanford. The chef's name is
Charles Phan. The food is supposed to be wonderful and made from mainly
local, organically grown ingredients.
Tamarine www.tamarinerestaurant.com
546 University Ave at Tasso, Palo Alto
(650) 325-8500
Written up in the Bay Area newspapers (San Jose Mercury News
and San Francisco Chronicle), this restaurant is the latest entry
from the ladies who own the Vung Tau restaurants in San Jose and Milpitas.
On April 13, 2003, the SF Chronicle Magazine included Tamarine among
their "Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants".
