Unknown Kitchen Vietnamese -- West LA

Was driving to get my pickup order at North End Pizzeria (totally decent local joint, BTW) when I noticed that the former Wahoo location has a HUGE sign saying “Unknown Kitchen” w/ “Taste of Vietnam” underneath. My cursory internet search didn’t turn up anything. Doesn’t look open yet.

Anyone know anything about the place?

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hahahahhah funny I was wondering about that place -mostly because of the name and the size. The layout makes it look bigger than how the Wahoo’s had it at first glance. Have driven by there a couple times -sure looks open or at least ready to open since it was before 7a when I saw it.

Will try and stop by when i have time and see whats up

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+1

Used to be able to walk there for an impromptu snack.

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Place is definitely open (drove by during lunch). Still no website that I can identify. There are already Yelp reviews (and the kind of reviews that give me a rash and make me hate Yelp). No link to the reviews b/c they don’t seem quite, er, authentic and candid to me.

wtf is this

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Not the jicama tacos, I presume. Should I be scared of Vietnamese places using what appear to be mayo-based sauces???

Where did you find the pic (I didn’t see it on Yelp)?

2nd to last photo

Photos for Pho N' Mor - Yelp

and yeah I would be very skeptical of any vietnamese place serving fried goods with mayo based sauces and/or aiolis

found a “clean” version:

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Made it to this place tonight after work. I’m shocked…SHOCKED… that the usual suspects didn’t beat me to this restaurant. :wink:

As mentioned before, they took the space of a Wahoos. Happily, that means there’s a decent parking lot, which is a must for this stretch of Wilshire in Brentwood. From this link, it looks like the owners also are behind the chain Onos Hawaiian. https://whatnowlosangeles.com/wahoos-fish-taco-shutters-on-wilshire-will-soon-reopen-as-unknown-kitchen/

The restaurant has been a bit spiffed up, and the atmosphere is a bit like a casual dinner pub where you can grab a drink. Looks like they have a beer and wine license.

Here’s the menu. They are offering a 20% discount the rest of this week during their soft opening.

Ordered egg rolls (cha gio), pho with filet and brisket, and a cough kale salad (please try not to break out in hives @Ns1 :smile: ).

The egg rolls were actually really good, and they were made with rice paper, which is uncommon in this part of town. Option to order 3 or 5 pieces. They included a small bottle of fish sauce to season with.

Those Yelp “reviews” used the word “fresh” quite a bit but the veggies here were pretty fresh. You didn’t have to toss away 1/3 of the veggies because they were brown or wilted.

The Pho, the main event, was decent. The broth had some nice beef plus star anise flavor. There was a really high ratio of meat to broth and noodles, and the meat was of decent (though not sublime) quality. The yelp photos of the pho are pretty non reorganize not flattering.

The brisket was evenly sliced, partially but not overly gristled, and the filet was tender and slightly overcooked. The noodles were somewhat hard at first before softening and separating in the broth.

I haven’t been to many Pho places in the west side. Of these - Nong La, Phorage, and Pho Saigon, I like Nong La the best, not least for how they coat their noodles in oil before dropping them in the soup, or their banh mi with cha lua, or their three colored dessert drink. But I think this place might be better than the others, and it’s actually a cool venue where you could grab dinner with friends / family while enjoying a beer or wine.

Service was friendly and reasonably knowledgeable. I think this is worth a try if you’re on the westside, but not a destination worthy place by any stretch. Would be curious to see what you all think.

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you mentioned about sublime meat in soup noodle… was to reply to you but let me start a new topic on Viet Noodle Bar

Popcorn Squid. :grimacing:

:clap: Good report @NYCtoLA.

Tried it yesterday for the first time and agree. The place had been renamed Pho N More Kitchen awhile back; since the menu appears identical, I assume it’s the same owners.

Eggrolls were excellent. Light, nicely stuffed, but just a touch greasy. Pho is… adequate. The broth doesn’t have the depth of flavor that I’d like it to have, and, yes, meat was overcooked (but still pleasant enough). There was a side of hot sauce and something that looked like – but didn’t taste like – hoisin sauce, both of which helped. Lots of noodles, so respectable QPR here. Partner’s Bun had decent char on the chicken (he prefers chicken to pork) .

They also have banh mi here, so I’ll give that a try in the future.

Yes, not at all destination place, but it def scratches the itch, if you’re a local.

Will have to give Viet Noodle Bar a try, too…

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