Little Saigon Adventures

Pho and Bun Rieu is closer to the Northern style (Ha Noi), less sweet and less veggies condiments, more focus on broth and freshly made noodles vs dry noodles. Hu Tieu is closer to Southern style, where it originated but again, less sugar in the broth and meat marination, less veggies, less noodles, more toppings…

  1. Pho: Clearer broth, same with Bun Bo Hue, Central cooking focus on lighter palate and less oily, not over seasoning or not getting a bit too sweet. The noodles are mostly fresh and a little wider and flatter than the thinner noodles in the south. Noodles and topping ratio is much better, not to try to over fill you up. We didn’t use hoisin sauce when I was growing up, only spicy red sauce (not Sriracha, I don’t remember lol) and different veggies.

*Portion in Central region is much smaller imo, overall. Everything is small dishes and sides, even a bowl of noodles is of 2/3 of what served in the South. It’s normal to bang bang breakfast with a few stalls with different kinds of food when I was a kid. Eating was super fun, always.

  1. Bun Rieu: Same notes on the broth, very different much more real crab flavoring. The crab patties are made of purely crab without the added shrimp and pork in Southern style, leaning towards a much stronger seafood broth than the southern variation. Noodles (bún) is the smaller one and not the extra large like what used in Bun Rieu and Bun Bo Hue in Southern style, resulting much more flavorful slurp because it carries the broth much better. Noodles and topping ratio is similar to Pho, not to fill anyone up with too much noodles.

  2. Hu Tieu Nam Vang: Fresh variety of noodles to pick from, broth is again very clear and lighter than the south but very flavorful and never too much of anything, especially sugar :wink:

Anyways @JeetKuneBao it’s progressing more towards the tourist’s preferences for a lot of popular restaurants anywhere to easily sell the food. Smaller shops are much better.

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What is the current state of Northern/Hanoi-style pho in OC (or LA/SGV for that matter)? I’ve searched the thread and it seems like most reports are pre-pandemic. I saw the below options mentioned:

Pho Huynh
Pho B
Mai Phung

Are these still best bets for northern style pho? (I also saw Quan Bun Co Giao Thao, which doesn’t seem to have pho but looks great for other dishes.)

Paging @JeetKuneBao

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There is also Pho Ngoon in SGV for northern style pho.

I been out of the loop for a few years I am temporarily on the east coast at the moment.

I can tell you that in NYC I like Hanoi House in the East Village for northern style pho.

I’ll have go study the menus thru Yelp and look for “pho bac”.

I am inclined to steer you towards the SGV spots. I think pho bac is a little more subtle. Sometimes the timing can be off and you are left with a mediocre bowl. Little Saigon didn’t really have a go-to spot for pho bac when I was active in that scene a few years ago. Pho 79 was/is the spot for pho (I heard good things about Pho 101 by Bella Terra same family)

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I consider Mai Phung one of Little Saigon heavy hitters.

It’s a very tight menu.

I can’t remember if I had the pho or not. But I recommend all of their noodles dishes.

Definitely give it a visit.

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Is Cococane and Phin Smith still great?

Yes

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Thank you! Your input in this thread has been super helpful. :smiley: I’ll have to start trying these some of the places–hopefully they are still around & good.

Brookhurst/McFadden. OC has come a long way since I lived here…

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Wow al pastor! That would be good in some banh mi

Years ago the al pastor was pretty rare to find in OC even in Santa Ana and Anaheim.

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Mai Phung for lunch a few weeks ago. My first experience with banh canh tom qua and I enjoyed it. Got there, all tables inside were taken but they took my order (by which I mean, the guy said “you want udon right?”) as they put my name down on the list, then when I sat down it was ready for me more or less immediately. Had bites on its own, with lime, and with the incredible hot sauce (now kinda kicking myself for not buying some to bring home…though it’s probably a little too hot for the rest of the household) and it was just so good. Seafoody without being too funky, substantial yet good enough that I finished the entire big ass bowl. Put it together with the loud club music (funny given a solid 2/3 of the clientele were middle aged ladies arguing with each other about who would pay the bill), the framed picture of Trump and a dollar bill behind the counter, and it is everything I want from my weekly(ish) lunches in Little Saigon: something that wouldn’t exist in a million years in Santa Monica.

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Went Hanoi style today.

Finally got egg coffee at DaVien Cafe. Not the ambience of the :goat: Cafe Dinh (look upon this hipsters and weep https://nhipsonghanoi.hanoimoi.com.vn/tin-tuc/am-thu/822988/ca-phe-dinh---noi-luu-giu-ky-uc )and I never had egg coffee on ice in Hanoi but definitely scratched the itch.

Then Pho Thin for lunch. Garlicky goodness.



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Got the hot egg coffee from DaVien this morning. A bit weird that the egg topping was cold and the coffee was hot but still liked it more than the iced version.

Got the pho banh mi from Yummy. It…really tastes like pho! And good bread. Not really the classic banh mi flavors but a damn good sandwich.


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Looks like they back. Bang bang with Pho Thin or Brodard 5 mins away.

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SEN Vietnamese Cuisine - Westminster

A Northern Vietnamese specialist has entered the scene in Little Saigon. Not sure exactly when they opened but haven’t heard much chatter on this spot.

As you arrive, definitely add your name to their Yelp waitlist as it was fairly crowded with about a 15 minute wait, which was manageable.

Ordered the banh mi pate que appetizer which are little mini baguette filled with pate, pork floss and their house chili sauce. Excellent start! :heart_eyes:

Had to try their pho bac dac biet. The broth is more delicate than its Southern counterpart, and they use a thin flat rice noodle here. Pretty darn good and the noodles cooked nicely. I added their house made chili sauce which is highly addictive with a more than decent spice kick. :heart_eyes:

Lastly, the pho tron sen (kho) which is a mixture of shrimp, shredded chicken, BBQ pork with some thin flat rice noodles and their house sauce. It comes with a bowl of soup on the side to dip. Definitely brings tons of flavor and add some of their house chili sauce and some pickled garlic and pow, it hits you with that 1-2 combination of flavor. :heart_eyes:

Everything was delicious and can’t wait to go back and try their fried chicken with sticky rice, bun cha, and chao w/ donuts.

If you are in the Little Saigon area, do yourself a favor and stop in for a meal.

SEN Vietnamese Cuisine
15619 Brookhurst St
Westminster, CA 92683

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This looks so good!
I think I’m hungry, again.
And I had dinner over an hour ago!

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Welcome to FTC!!!

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Went back to SEN and had some more dishes including the bun cha Hanoi (which was excellent) and the fried chicken sticky rice.

Dessert at Yummy, their black egg custard banh bao is amazing! The dough is so light and fluffy and the custard so rich and flavorful.

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No pics today because I just played the hits, but egg banh mi at Ba Le and cococane at cococane hit the spot as usual.

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Hello old thread

This was from months ago





Don’t remember the details but I liked the one with grilled beef in it.

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Have you or anyone had Banh Khot Lady recently? This seems like one of the bigger openings in Little Saigon in the past few years (or should be).

Those KEI concepts people kinda took over the neighborhood looks like.