Little Saigon Adventures

Thanks for confirming!

You’re welcome. Also of note the OG Trieu Chau, the broth wasn’t as flavorful (still good) and the egg noodles got pretty soggy quick.

Did they move an Uncle to the new location to prepare the broth?

Also there was some remodeling done at OG Trieu Chau, no more open kitchen where you can see the vat of pork bones boiling away and the Uncles working.

@attran99 I anticipate your review! I think this location is more convenient for you?!?

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@matthewkang
@gsny

How about an Eater article on Hu Tieu Nam Vang/Kuy Teav?

Southern California has some of the largest Cambodian, Vietnamese, and ethnic Chinese from Cambodia/Vietnam population. This dish originated with Chiu Chow people in Phnom Penh and made its way to Saigon, in which the Vietnamese has flipped into 3-4 distinct styles. Can be served dry or wet with a huge variety of toppings. Egg, rice, tapioca(Viet), or a combination of the above.

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Just got to make the 6 mile drive south. Going to try this week with the holiday and some time off from the office. The oldest chowpup will be excited for duck noodles.

Pho Hong Hung


Bun Rieu Cua Dong

With cua dong meaning Rice Paddy Crab! The broth is light but very flavorful on its own. There is no need for mam in this bowl. Is this the only or one of the few places in Little Saigon using Cua Dong for Bun Rieu? I’ll have to come back to try this broth some more

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God tier cafe sua da @ Phin Smith in Garden Grove. I was skeptical because the coffee was premixed and I couldn’t control condensed milk levels but yeah this was great. Not too sweet, real nice nutty after taste. Just fantastic.

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Noted. I am going for a Costco run today anyways so I’ll check it out.

I second Phin Smith. I would be at that place quite a bit were I in the area more often.

Men’s room pic lolz

Indeed Phin Smith’s Cafe Sua Da is very good. Smooth taste, not filled with ice, and if I read the website correctly the beans are from Vietnam.

I would rec’ed when in Little Saigon

Thank you @Ns1 I usually write off these new school 2nd gen places

Plenty of seating mostly occupied by Asian college students and I saw plenty of laptops which I am guessing they have WiFi

I still like Ngu Binh’s Sua Da, can’t beat a breakfast of Bun Bo Hue, Banh Beo, and Cafe Sua Da. Phin Smith might have the best one in the hood!

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Hard agree. Started drinking the cafe sua da before the photo though.

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Can’t wait for your epic review on Ngu Binh

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I just like to jump in when somewhere has not had a bunch of praise already… I could not possibly find more ways to say nice things about Ngu Binh that have not already happened many times over. Thanks to everyone for the great recommendation!

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Phin Smith - LEGENDARY

If you want it more dank they will happily add additional black coffee to the mix. Dude behind the counter says they were working on the recipe for 5 years and it tastes like it. This large didn’t even last the 15 minute drive to my parents.

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Secret Pho (Garden Grove)


Clay baked chicken and with further questioning from the owner this is from South/Saigon. There is NO ONE doing this in Little Saigon to my knowledge. I got the whole because these are smaller chickens.


Dipping sauces…the green is slightly spicy and the other is lime-salt-pepper (your bo kho dipping sauce). Got a nice plate of garlicky greens for a few dollars, no crazy markup like at the Cantonese places in SGV lol


Pandan Mung Bean Sticky Rice! Yummy


The dark meat pieces were nice and slightly smoky, and the white pieces were juicy. The skin is slightly crisp to nicely crisp depending on which part of the bird you get.

They even save the head for you!!!

The 2 dipping sauces went really nice with this chicken. This was pretty good!!!

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Best drinks in Little Saigon:

-Original Cococane
-Phin Smith Cafe Sua Da

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You go I go lol

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100% I could drink 2-3 larges of that CSD pretty damn easy.

Shout out to the Mung Bean drink at 7 Leaves, not quite to the standard of Phin Smith or Cococane and sweet as hell but so damn good.

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Lucas and Chef Shawn visit Banh Cuon Luu Luyen

Should’ve listened to @JeetKuneBao. Went to Hanoi Corner on Bolsa. Place was 90% full and pretty much everyone was Vietnamese. Got the bun cha hanoi which I did see on a few tables. It wasn’t great. I could see someone liking it though because it tasted very home-cooked in a somewhat povertyish way. Almost everyone had some crispy egg noodle thing, and saw tons of seafood (snails, clams, etc) and some noodle soups I didn’t recognize. Might be back to try those.

After that disappointment, went and got the Vietnamese iced coffee at Phin Smith. The barista asked if I had it before, and she was nice enough to let me try it before paying. It was really good and I would certainly drink this more if you could adjust the sweetness. Americans would love this if someone could figure out how to market it.

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They will add additional black coffee for free

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