I was in Los Angeles about 6 years ago on a short business trip. Time was tight and most of my meals were on the go, eating in transport. I do remember getting one good meal though, a lunch in Little Saigon. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant but I do remember that the bowl of Pho was so good, particularly the heart warming stock, that when I got back to NY, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the mediocre pho again. I literally didn’t eat any pho for several years.
After landing in LA, my first order of business was to spend the day eating through Little Saigon, but only the night before, I realized that I had no clue how to navigate the area. I frantically contacted two local blogs for help. Hong and Kim at Ravenous Couple and Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple were quick with responses and saved the day with great suggestions, so they get this week’s Weekend Shout-out! Big hugs to you!
To be really satisfied I would need about a week in Little Saigon, visiting some restaurants or shops multiple times to tackle their selections, but with just about 10 hours, we didn’t do to shabby.
First, we had lunch at Quan Hy 9727 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA 92683, known for their Hue dishes, something we drastically lack in NY. You’ll see Banh Beo on every single table there. I’m not kidding. Sometimes a table of two to four people would have two trays on their table. It’s such an interesting steamed rice flour cake, cooked in little individual dishes with fried shallots and shredded shrimp.
We saw a giant salad with black sesame and rice crackers on the table next to us and had to try it. It was Goi Hen, which had a dizzying amount of ingredients, teeny clams, sweet fresh onion, a touch of shiso, the crunch of peanuts, refreshing scallions and cilantro,and possibly banana bud. Maybe there was more. We loved the freshness and vibrant pop of sweet, sour, and spice. This huge plate was only $10 and practically a meal in itself, but more was coming.
Already full, we still had a bowl of Bun Bo each. I had the classic. The broth was ginger-y and spicy, and rich with pork and beef. The noodles were cut into shorter pieces, bouncing and snapping as I slurped. I wish this could be delivered to me for NYC winters.
Lon had one with shrimp cake.
It came with the freshest pile of bean sprouts, lettuce, onion,and shiso.
We were stuffed but saw that many people were buying these fried sesame balls at the register so we took two too. This is very similar to the ones at dim sum except the filling is mung bean paste instead of red bean or lotus paste.
More on Little Saigon soon…
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Oh yum! What a fantastic adventure in dining! Thanks for taking us along.
waw!!! the food looks quite fabulous!!
I bet it tasted delicious!!
Jessica,
The presentation of these dishes is superb! No wonder you had the extra. I would like to visit a Vietnamese restaurant next time we go to London but we are cooking on that occassion, however it’s going on the “to do” list…can’t help but wonder if it will be similar.
p.s I’m hungry now! lol
FYI you can get passable banh beo and bun bo hue at cong ly (hester and chrystie).
Lesley, Vietnamese food should not be missed. I LOVE it.
Becca, you have to go with us to a Vietnamese restaurant when we get back so I can be directed around more dishes that I haven’t had before.
jessica: glad you guys enjoyed it! we really like goi hen as well! really enjoying your LA/OC posts.