For avoidance of doubt:
IMO get #49 or #50 for your first time
What is the difference between the two? Pork versus pork chop? What kind of pork is it in #49, if you happen to know?
Any idea what Vietnamese sausage or pickled pork are (from the other selections)?
Yes, it is pork “slices” vs pork chop. If you’ve had a pork banh mi, it’s the same meat in #49. I have no idea what cut of pork this is TBH. VN pork chop is always sliced thin for maximum marinade effect. So never go in expecting Sotto style chop.
BBQ pickled pork is the same pink-ish pork sausage thing that they use in the Brodard style rolls
Vietnamese sausage is same as chinese sausage
Siu Mai can be either a meatball or a patty depending on the region of Vietnam the restaurant serves.
With regards to BMCC and Lee’s, I’m pretty sure BMCC came first. My Dad is an old village friend of the Le family, and they were still doing food trucks when BMCC first opened down here.
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Oh, forgot to answer this - yes. They were the first game in town (IIRC) to do the fresh in house baked bread thing and banged them out all day. Due to volume the bread you got was always got and fresh. Hot and fresh French bread > *. If you’re getting the baguettes, they are admittedly terrible.
I don’t. I just know that I have been to the place you bookmarked a few times and it was meh.
All these places are great, in no order:
Ngu Binh https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ngu-binh-restaurant-westminster-2
Kang Lac https://www.yelp.com/biz/kang-lac-bakery-westminster
Binh Dan https://www.yelp.com/biz/binh-dan-restaurant-westminster
Dat Thanh https://www.yelp.com/biz/dat-thanh-westminster
Phat Ky Mi Gia https://www.yelp.com/biz/phat-ky-mi-gia-restaurant-garden-grove-2
Saigon Deli Restaurant https://www.yelp.com/biz/saigon-deli-restaurant-pho-cong-ly-garden-grove
TP Banh Bao 2 https://www.yelp.com/biz/tp-banh-bao-2-garden-grove
And of course, the star of the thread, Trieu Chau is one of the very best places in all of Orange County. Hell, it’s on my list of must-eats for the whole greater LA area.
Any particular dishes one should order from each? Have only had mi quang at Ngu Binh, was pretty great. Have had chicken chao at Kang Lac, pretty good comfort food when you have the flu haha
The Banh Baos look pretty interesting, guess that one is self-explanatory haha thanks!
Oh, Yelp says Dat Thanh is closed btw, you know if that’s true or an error?
You know, I should’ve mentioned my recs come with a grain of salt since I worked in westminster several years ago.
You can get all the same stuff and more at Brodard. I liked Dat Thanh a trivial amount better.
Ngu Binh bun bo hue
Kang Lac is like a Vietnamese/Chinese joint, at least that’s how it appears. They do steamed buns, a Vietnamese style hainan chicken (one of the best ones, IMO) a great beef noodle soup. It’s a Vietnamese style of all these dishes, which is a bit different in an appreciable way.
Binh Dan does this crazy 7 course goat thing. To be honest, I just thought the goat rolls in caul fat and some herb were amazing, and there were one or two dishes I really liked as well, I can’t remember. But usually I’d just get those rolls to go and so hit up Dat Thanh which (was) right next door.
PKMG makes an awesome duck soup in this sweet, herbal, dark broth with egg noodles. It’s an egg noodle place.
SDR bun bo hue also
Dat Thanh is indeed closed.
I used to buy cafe sua da from Kang Lac by the dozen. Sadly they got sweeter over the years.
They make a great goi ca hong binh dan (with lotus roots). Good stuff.
Ngu Binh makes an incredible cafe sua da. It changed my whole outlook on what it is supposed to be. It is deeply roasty, and dark, yet nearly like a milkshake in viscosity. I recall getting a cafe sua da from somewhere else and it being so bad that I drove an extra 15 minutes out of my way to get one from Ngu Binh to waste the taste out of my mouth; and I was kind of really craving cafe sua da. Mmm
The 7 course of goat sounds rather great, and appears to be absurdly cheap at $18/person (possibly menu shots on Yelp are outdated though).
The idea is to also order other stuff as well? Do the rolls in caul fat come as part of the 7 course?
Yeah they’re one of the courses. The 7 course meal is definitely worth doing at least once, just for the experience of it. It certainly takes you on a food journey to another place. But most of the dishes for me skewed more “interesting” than “appetizing.” They’re good enough to enjoy, fun to experience, but I found there were only a couple dishes worth going back to again and again. The rest of the menu, however, has some really interesting and tasty stuff. I regret not trying more of it, but it’s definitely buyer beware if you’re like me and this isn’t familiar cuisine.
The rolls I mentioned before are on the menu as “De nuong la lot mo chai”
From my many months in 'minster, I gather that “De” = goat, nuong = grilled, “la lot” are the leaves they’re wrapped in (betel, I think) and mo chai must mean “crack cocaine” because these things are pretty addictive!
The cuisine is what I learned is called “quan nhau” – basically drinking food. It’s man food. Weird, gamey meats, clams, blood, offal, and it all goes great with beer.
The quan nhau places in Westminster are very off the map, underexplored and for the most part, not at all user-friendly. Not a lot of English spoken there so it kind of helps to be able to speak ‘menu’ like I learned to. There are some great meals in this genre out there, though. For the bold!
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I don’t currently speak any Vietnamese, are you saying you actually need to study it a bit to get to a light conversational mode before going to these places?
I am pretty down for unusual stuff most of the time.
It’s funny to me that offal has a “manly” reputation. The only time I’ve known of any kind of gendered distinction in food has been out with Korean friends, and the girls always like the intestines more than the guys, and they said that is quite common. So to me offal is like a woman’s thing more than a man’s thing if it’s any such thing at all (although I don’t think it is…).
I certainly never studied Vietnamese. I don’t know any words in Vietnamese that aren’t on a menu. That’s what I mean by “speaking ‘menu.’”
It’s just like with any food from a country that speaks a different language. If you eat enough of it and pay attention, eventually you can navigate a menu pretty well. I mean, for most cuisines’ food, I only know their word for it. There is no standard English common name for ‘khao soi,’ for example.
Vietnamese food might take a little more work because most of us probably aren’t as familiar with ‘bo nuong’ as we are with ‘carne asada,’ just by virtue of where we live. You might need a little of that familiarity when you go to a Vietnamese place with no English menu, but you can always use google to help you. either to translate or just doing an image search for what you see on the menu. Another little challenge is that pronouncing Vietnamese words correctly (or even understandably) isn’t nearly as easy as you’d think given that we use the same alphabet. I butcher it obscenely, I’m sure.
I haven’t quite gotten this trick to work at places where the menu’s all in Chinese yet… 
Thankfully, the only Chinese-menu-only places I’ve been to are liberal with the pictures. I think we’re all fluent in food pictures! In my experience, Vietnamese-only menus also probably won’t have pictures.
I’d say out of all the weird places I’ve eaten at, the Vietnamese bar-food places had the greatest barrier to entry. It’s a worthy adventure for the bold and so-inclined. Plenty of one-star yelp reviews out there for the people who don’t know what they’re getting themselves into, though.
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Sorry if this is too long. I hardly post cause we’re in SELA, don’t get out much & have had mouth surgeries, but I do read most of the posts & fantasize.
Friend of son recommended Pho 79 (Bib Gourmand) in GG so they went last wk & he liked it. Yesterday, after son donated 12 tubes of blood (not really donation but Dr.’s order. I go w/him cause he’s passed out when lab asked him to confirm his name on tubes).
I offered to treat him for late lunch & he said he wanted me to try Pho 79 but cash only. I wasn’t expecting this or I would have brought cash, he had $10 & I had $20 so we stopped at ARCO to get gas & cash. Lo & behold, Pho 79 is closed Tuesdays😂.
We thought w/good reviews, Pho 54 would be a good alternative, no wait and only 2 other single patrons. As soon as we sat, the man (sorry, I wouldn’t call him gentleman, too surly) came over to take our orders. I said nicely that we’ve never been here before and need a few mins. Even tho our plan was to get pho, son wanted to check the long menu for other combos w/tripe or if he wanted another meal & I was trying to find something soft to eat due to implant infection. Man returned after couple of mins & I said again nicely we’re trying to figure out what to order, he then turned the menu pages & said order here pointing to pictures. Finally, we decided egg rolls, large pho for son & I asked for large bowl of broth only (my son would give me some of his noodles). Man said no, no, too small, he showed me small size w/his hand, told me “piqueno” (I’m not Latino & didn’t correct him) even after I said I can’t eat. He brought bowls out to show me & he told me I need the bigger bowl of noodles & broth. By this time we were exasperated so my son said just get the rec, I can give him most of my noodles & he would give me some of his broth. Forgot to take pix of how his pho & my noodles w/broth first came out, pix is after I gave him most of my noodles. The smaller bowl in foreground was my noodle bowl after I showed him how to add sriracha w/sliced onions, sawtooth, bean sprouts & other accoutrements—I could only eat the noodles & broth.
Great egg rolls wrapped in rice paper, son said better than Pho 79. I haven’t seen these in a long time cause most delis & restaurants use regular egg roll lumpia wrappers.
We noticed unlike some restos that drop off our bill w/the food or shortly thereafter (I don’t mind cause I know I can pay when I’m ready so I don’t have to wait to get anyone’s attention). Man was seated 2 tables from us looking directly towards us so I raised my hand w/1 finger thinking like a lot of places that he would understand we needed something. He just stared at me-
Finally, when he came over I said I didn’t want to be rude & flail my arms, snap my fingers or whistle. This whole time I continued to be nice and even thanked him & other servers in Vietnamese. I asked for to go box for the egg rolls, waited for the bill & finally told son I guess I have to go to the counter, ask then pay. On our way out, I thanked him again in Vietnamese but just got the stare. Wow, there were no other patrons by this time, never got busy so I just told my son he’s the ultimate SMH kinda guy. I’ve eaten at many different restos having lived close to Koreatown, Miracle Mile, Hollywood, No OC (at the time there was only 1 Vietnamese Resto close to us on Euclid before the 91) & now SELA (we only had 1 when we moved to the area, run by a family, they closed then reopened yrs later at what is now Nanking) + have travelled to many countries so I’m not that sensitive & have developed thick skin. Would I go back? Yes for the best egg rolls we’ve had but maybe to go or ask for someone else if surly man is working. I wouldn’t consider it the place to “eat my feelings” cause experience was unpleasant; we have Pho Tasty & their relative @ Pho Pioneer, Benley, Flavor Pho, Sup (alas they left Cerritos but not too far in Buena Park) & more now in the surrounding areas. Pho was good but I’d still want to try Pho 79 to compare so SO can come w/us & get beef stew w/bread (SO is a Brit & very slowly developing taste buds, very, very slowly, that’s why I taught the kids to eat different types of food so we can hang out).Man sat the whole time in front of the orchid pot facing us. Son said don’t take it personally, I said I’m not cause I continued to be nice but I said I guess man just hasn’t evolved & treating customers/people is not his specialty.
Before leaving the area, I asked son to try to find Saigon Bakery. I went to the wrong biz & she was nice enough to tell me to go 3 doors down. Got baguette, round breads & 2 cups coffees, no ice for SO; also got some egg rolls for son to compare to Pho 54 (not as good but not bad). Young man was helpful & no surly attitude. Someday I’ll come back for other foods I can chew & get Banh Mi Che Cali Sammies, donate 2 to the homeless people I came across cause SO only eats tuna sandwich on 
like @ Lee’s & son is currently eating low carb, high protein (he only ate 1/2 of the noodles).
Maybe others can enlighten & educate me on how to have a better experience? I’m not a mean person, don’t have probs if I have to wait, don’t retaliate in kind cause not my style. Usually, we look at the menu before we choose a new resto but this was a quick choice due to Pho 79 being closed. Yrs ago when I wanted to try intestines at a now closed Korean resto on Beach in Buena Park, man said no, I then chose something else & he said no again & he told me tofu, bibimbap & other dishes I’ve graduated from. I finally said just bibimbap, & because I like spicy, I kept adding gochujang not knowing he was watching me. He told the waitress to take it away & I told him I’m willing to pay extra for the sauce. He said, no, too spicy, cannot eat so I said I’d be happy to pay before I finish if he was worried I’d walk out without paying. I was on a work lunch break wearing a suit so I hardly looked like an eat & dash customer. So I put him on my do not eat list & found out they eventually closed. In general I’ve not had problems at most restos, owner @ Favori noticed I was enjoying their peanut sauce so he asked waitress to bring more then he personally brought more. I offered to pay extra & he said no so we added to nice tip, he even gave us 2 breads for SO.
Again, sorry for my long dribble. I guess it makes up for all the times I’ve wanted to comment but I just bite my tongue instead & enjoy ur comments. Tks for reading & TIA if you can educate me on how to act/respond to surly servers.
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You got better service than most - typically they just stand there and stare you down while you look over the menu.
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@Ns1 is right.
It’s not you, @WeFlipBurgers.
Some uncles are just like that.
Bright side is you had a good meal.
I hit the La Mirada branch of Pho 54 on the regular, and I can guarantee that those folks will give you solid customer service. Pho broth will be similar, but the egg rolls in La Mirada are made with egg-based wrappers and not rice paper.
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I’ve been there, great hu tieu. Cash is preferred, as there is a $15 credit card minimum… Long lines.
When I went there was a Kim Hung bakery pop-up outside.
Took an hour and 15 minutes even with a Yelp waitlist and just 1 person (myself); totally inaccurate wait time. Sat morning starting at 9:45 AM.
They also have Brick’s macaron ice cream sandwiches for $3.25; 298 calories.