Vietnamese restaurants in North America
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Doyers Vietnamese Restaurant
A huge part of the appeal at Doyers is the fascinating street it's on - it used to be known as the 'Bloody Triangle' during the area's gang days. The menu's as long as your arm and has veggie and meat dishes, served in the below-ground dining room.
reviewed
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B
Pho 75
For a no frills dining experiment offering only pho (a beef noodle soup), this place is amazingly successful. Hordes of tourists, locals and Vietnamese pack communal tables each slurping their own unique variation of the soup - some add brisket or tripe, meatballs or flank steaks; others douse it with lime, hot sauce and Asian basil. Whichever you choose, odds are it will be delicious.
The name means soup, but this local chain is so much more than a beef noodle soup shop. For a cultural experience visit on a Sunday, when fathers teach their first generation American daughters how to slurp slippery white noodles simmering in richly flavorful broth.
reviewed
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C
Phnom Penh
Arrive early or late to avoid the queues at this locals’ favorite eatery. The dishes here are split between Cambodian and Vietnamese soul-food classics, such as crispy frogs legs, spicy garlic crab and prawn and sprout filled pancakes. Don’t leave without sampling a steamed rice cake, stuffed with pork, shrimp, coconut and scallions, and washed down with an ice-cold bottle of Tsingtao. This is the kind of place that makes Vancouver Canada’s most authentic ethnic-food city.
reviewed
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D
Phó Bang New York
Near the gateway to Chinatown, Phó Bang New York has decor and service geared more toward Westerners who want to have their pho (noodle soups) in swisher digs. The food here is still good and regularly makes people’s ‘top’ lists, but it lacks the kind of manic energy that makes the other Vietnamese places on this drag so atmospheric. The pho here tends to be leaner than at other Chinatown spots.
reviewed
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E
Phõ’ Hu’ng
Bloor-Yorkville ( [tel] 416-963-5080; 2nd fl, 200 Bloor St W; subway Museum) Clipped service and infernally busy tables are the price you pay for Phõ’ Hu’ng’s awesome Vietnamese soups. A few dishes may be a touch too authentic for some (what, don’t you like pork intestines and blood?). A fair-weather bonus is the patio.
reviewed
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Indochine
Simple and unpretentious, this discreet food room is a gem. Signature dishes include the likes of Vancouver crab sautéed in lemon, garlic and wine. Plenty of vegetarian, fried rice and stir-fry noodle options too. Finish with a Vietnamese coffee or a disconcerting-looking purple rice dessert.
reviewed
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Tamarine
Palo Alto's most beautiful restaurant is this contemporary Vietnamese place. The dishes have a slight seafood bias and are finely prepared in the style of California cuisine. Most mains are suitable for sharing, and this is one of the Bay Area's best destinations for exotic cocktails.
reviewed
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Saigon Sister
A stylish retreat from Yonge St’s subwoofer chaos. Head straight for the gorgeous garden patio, or position yourself amongst potted cacti to dine on soups, salads and stir-fries, memorable fruit drinks, teas and cocktails.
reviewed
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Pho Pasteur
One of three branches in the area, this Vietnamese restaurant is almost always crowded. Regulars keep returning for big bowls of spicy stir fry and delicious vermicelli at prices you can't beat.
reviewed
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Lemon Grass Cafe
In the International House Hotel, Lemon Grass is the chic culinary atelier of chef Minh Bui, whose highly original menu borrows freely from French cuisine as well as the cooking of his own native Vietnam. Main dishes change frequently, depending on what's locally fresh, but may include lacquered duck, smoked with five spices and served over black bean sticky rice, or Viet bird nest, which is a bed of crispy yellow noodles piled high with sautéd seafood and vegetables.
Many diners here graze on appetizers, such as summer rolls (a riff on traditional spring rolls, with avocado and a heavenly peanut sauce) and jumbo scallops seared and drizzled with a sweet chili sauce. For…
reviewed
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Four Sisters
Four Sisters is, and has been for some time, the best Vietnamese food in the DC metro area. Originally located in the Eden Center strip mall, the business this joint raked in has allowed it to open new digs in a stand-alone location. That says something about their confidence, by the way – shutting down your business and building a new location isn’t an easy move, but the clientele have roared back to the new Four Sisters. The food is a trek through the endless varieties of Vietnamese cuisine, from Northern-style bun cha (pork with rice noodles) to clay pot fish to rice-paper crepes. The food is deceptively simple and the execution is flawless; eat here, and you will …
reviewed
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Vietnam Georgetown
We have to admit: if we plunked Vietnam Georgetown next to some other Vietnamese places we’ve been to, it might not warrant too much praise. But in this neck of the woods, when we want pho (beef noodle soup), we come here. The lunch buffet is particularly good value, the setting and the staff are charming, if somewhat frazzled, and the garden out back is especially attractive on a summer evening. Part of the appeal of this place is the history; this was the first Vietnamese restaurant in the DC area. The owners were staff at the old South Vietnamese embassy, and this was a favorite spot for Reagan, Bush Sr and Clinton staffers during the ’80s and ’90s.
reviewed
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Hy Vong Vietnamese Restaurant
In a neighborhood full of exiles from a communist regime, it makes sense to find a Vietnamese restaurant. And it’s telling that despite all the great Latin food around, Little Havanans still wait hours for a seat here. Why? Because this great Vietnamese food (with little touches of Florida, like mango marinade) combines quality produce with Southeast Asian spice and a colonially inherited French penchant for rich flavors. Just be prepared to wait an hour or more for your culinary reward.
reviewed
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M
Hai Yen
Many of the dishes at this warm Argyle St eatery require some assembly, pairing shrimp, beef or squid with rice crepes, mint, Thai basil and lettuce. For an appetizer, try the goi cuon, fresh rolls of vermicelli rice noodles along with shrimp, pork and carrots. The bo bay mon consists of seven (yes, seven) different kinds of beef. Order sparingly, or ask for some help from your server – like the bo bay mon, many of the dishes are large enough to feed an army.
reviewed
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Golden Star
Elementary school cafeterias could outclass the Golden Star for atmosphere – but if you know pho, you know this is the place to go. Five-spice chicken pho is the house specialty that warms the bones on a foggy day, but on a hot day, branch out and get the bun (rice vermicelli) topped with thinly sliced grilled beef, imperial rolls, mint and ground peanuts. Except in understandable cases of extreme noodle gluttony, your bill will be under $8.
reviewed
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Baoguette
Part of the current bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwich) obsession is this little joint, which puts its own spin on what is traditionally a stack of smoked, sliced pork piled high with fresh cucumbers, pickled carrots and hot sauce on a baguette. You can get that here – along with catfish, barbecued chicken and the odd option of spicy red curried corned beef with hot peppers. It’s a great place to stop and fuel up during an afternoon of exploring.
reviewed
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Pagolac
Right in the hard heart of the Tenderloin is this inviting nook that’s all warm wood and candlelight. The seven courses of beef may be overkill for anyone who’s not a famished gaucho from the pampas, but the sugarcane shrimp and barbecued chicken are sublime. Pagolac also does a good pho with meatballs and bo tai chanh, lemon-marinated rare steak slices as extravagantly beefy as a Polk St men’s bar.
reviewed
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Q
Gia Lam
Sunset Park has Brooklyn’s ‘Chinatown’ – a host of noodle shops and dim sum places running along Eighth Ave between 50th and 60th Sts, including local fave Gia Lam. It looks more like a well-lit tavern than a noodle shop, but it’s Sunset Park’s go-to for Vietnamese food like pho bo (beef noodle soup), canh chua ca (sweet-and-sour fish soup) or mi xao do bien (stir-fried noodles with seafood).
reviewed
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Tank Noodle
The official name of this spacious utilitarian eatery is Pho Xe Tang, but everyone just calls it Tank Noodle. The crowds come for banh mi, served on crunchy fresh baguette rolls, and the pho, which is widely regarded as the city’s best. The 200-plus-item menu sprawls on from there and includes banh xeo (crispy pancakes), catfish and squid dishes, and a rainbow array of bubble teas.
reviewed
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Tamarind Tree
Serving upscale food at lowbrow prices in a beautiful dining room, this elegant place has a huge menu, including everything from satays and salad rolls to big bowls of pho and a tasty version of the traditional scallop-prawn-pork-mushroom fried crepe. It also donates some of its profits to the Vietnam Scholarship Foundation. Reservations are recommended on weekends.
reviewed
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A Saigon Café
Follow the locals to this backstreet gem serving the finest Vietnamese fare on Maui. Start with the Buddha rolls, a delightful combination of tofu, veggies and fresh basil served with spicy peanut sauce, then move on to the hearty pho noodle soup or one of the aromatic lemongrass curries. It's tricky to find: take Central Ave to Nani St and then turn south on Kaniela St.
reviewed
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Saigon Sisters
They are indeed two sisters, and they ladle out Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) and banh mi (baguette sandwiches) in the French Market in the Ogilvie train station. Eclectic creations include the Frenchman (a sandwich of duck confit, candied kumquat and smoked paprika mayonnaise) and the Sun Tanned Cow (with coconut-milk-braised beef ribs, lime leaves and ginger).
reviewed
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Nam Viet
Probably the best Vietnamese within the city lines is served here. The cooking is uncomplicated, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent, especially the rich pho. The layout is from the ‘every-Vietnamese-restaurant-you’ve-ever-been-in’ cookie cutter, but the quality of the food elevates Nam Viet several notches above the pack.
reviewed
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Omai
Serving Vietnamese delights in a romantic cubbyhole, Omai has cultivated a following for its wok-seared monkfish with peanuts, chili and basil served over sesame rice crackers, crispy rice crepes with shrimp, chicken and bean sprouts, and unexpected combos like grilled shrimp on sugarcane with angel-hair pasta and peanut sauce.
reviewed
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Le Lan
A joint venture of two of Chicago’s most respected chefs – Roland Liccioni (of Les Nomades) and Arun Sampanthavivat (of Arun’s) – yields Chicago’s most venerated Asian fusion. Enjoy the exquisite marriage of French and Vietnamese cuisine in a brick-walled setting.
reviewed
