Tag Archives: vietnamese

Banh Mi, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Pho Vietnam

February 7, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little spot is currently my new favorite Vietnamese food joint. It’s nice and clean inside, new-looking, and the food is really tasty. My wife and I tried a few items as a base level test run to decide if we would come back.

The pho: very flavorful, a good size, fresh ingredients. In fact they keep a jar of sliced jalapeños right there on the table next to the chopsticks, spoons, napkins, hoisin and sri racha.

The banh mi sandwich: nice and traditional, great bread, lots of filling and at least a foot long.

Next, one of my wife’s favorites: banh cuon. Really good quality shit here. Nicely cooked noodles, ample filling inside, and good slices meats and herbs.

Last was my noodle dish that had cut up spring rolls and sliced lemongrass BBQ pork chop on top. Simple and delicious.

We will definitely be coming back for more. Sit tight until then, when I can supplement the review with more deliciousness.

Okay so here’s the update as of 2/7/15:

Unfortunately this trip was not as good as the last. The avocado shake was less avocado-et, the banh cuon had grainy noodles.

The other two dishes we ordered contained meat that was a bit chewy.

I grabbed the bun bo hue, wanting to sample the more authentic flavors of this dish as opposed to the more fusion style of Obao.

For $7.50 you get a shitload of food. The bowl is huge:

The unfortunate thing about my order, however, was that the noodles were too soft (perhaps overcooked) and most of the meat was very chewy. For a stewed type dish I was hopping for softer meats.

I had the same issue with the pork casserole, or clay pot pork. The meat was pretty chewy, but the flavor was good.

Egg rolls are decent.

The avocado shake was not as sweet or rich/flavorful as other times I’ve had it:

But my wife had a decent cup of Vietnamese coffee:

PHO VIETNAM
87 Chrystie St.
New York, NY 10002

Midtown West, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Thai

Obao

January 23, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

I’ll definitely be heading back to this part-Thai, part-Vietnamese joint VERY soon. My wife and I dropped in to sample some of their noodle soups. We were greeted by a gigantic bar.

But we first stated with an app of fried tofu.

These were awesome. If this is what being a loser vegetarian is like, then I’m in! They were coated with a nice and tangy lime-fish sauce, but still retained their great crisp coating.

The soups were all amazing. I had heard great things about the pho here, so I had to give that a try.

This baby was LOADED with beef brisket and eye round. You can add meatballs for an extra $2.

The pho was good, but the noodles were a bit busted up and not the best quality. When tasting it side-by-side to the bun bo hue, there was just no comparison.

This “Vietnamese ramen” was jammed up with generous portions of thick-cut, soft, juicy pork belly AND thin sliced beef brisket. The noodles were a soft, thick buckwheat style.

The tangy bun bo hue broth was contrasted with the milky-white, creamy laksa broth.

This, too, was PACKED with meat. This soup came with thick sliced pork belly and jumbo shrimp – both of which were cooked to perfection.

It’s tough for me to choose a favorite between the bun bo hue and the laksa. Regardless of which you choose, you will be a happy eater.

UPDATE 1/31/15

As promised, I returned to try some more shit. First, a pair of really nice apps.

Sambal spiced fried squid. These were really tasty. Perfectly cooked, although the breading was a little soggy due to the drizzle of fish sauce.

The other was pork rib wrapped around sugar cane. This was excellent. The meat was similar to a braised belly more than what I expect from rib meat. The sugar cane was not quite as sweet as I had hoped.

For the entrees we tried the Southeast Asian fried rice, which included shrimp, pineapple, tomato, onion, and Chinese sausage. I liked this a lot, though there were too many large pieces of tomato.

The other entree was Pad Kee Mow, or “drunken noodle.” When put up side-by-side to nearby Noodie’s version of this dish, I would shave to choose Noodies. That doesn’t mean this dish isn’t good, however. Quite the contrary – it was delicious. But Noodies has ground shrimp in the dish in addition to the chicken, so that just takes it up a notch over this one.

OBAO
647 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

Banh Mi, New Jersey, Pho, Vietnamese

Phu Khang’s

January 2, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I dropped into this joint on our way to Philly, so this isn’t a NYC joint. We were shocked to see an Asian market and two Vietnamese restaurants right in the same strip mall. We had to try the basics.

The soup was great, better than most NYC places for damn sure. Its unfortunate how bad NYC is with Viet food.

The sandwich was kickass too. The bread was correct, and they used a good ratio of the various meats inside.

And my favorite dessert of all time: the avocado shake. Delicious.

Banh Mi, Midtown West, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

CoBa 53

December 23, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

My wife and I came to this joint to try some of the Vietnamese basics. We started with some drinks. I had “33,” which is a beer from Vietnam, and my wife had a lemonade mixed drink.

The first staple item to order is the spring rolls. These were not a hit for us. They were a little bland.

Next, the banh mi sandwich. This had good flavor, but the bread was all wrong (it needs to be a French baguette), and it needed more pate and another layer of meats to really fill it out. I would have liked some more slices of jalepenos and also less cilantro stems and more leaves.

The next big item to get is the pho. I liked the broth. It needed just a slight more oomph, but otherwise it was pretty enjoyable. It had sliced eye round as well as brisket. I added beef balls for an extra $2.

This next items isn’t necessarily a staple item to order, but my wife and I are fond of clay pot dishes. We got the pork belly version and it was really great. It was packed with lots of great porky and fatty meat, a boiled egg, fried tofu, squash and lemongrass.

For dessert we had the coconut lemongrass ice cream. It was a little gummy in texture, but otherwise was an interesting flavor.

Here’s the Willy:

COBA 53
401 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019

Pho, Queens, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Pho Bang

December 22, 2014 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Pho Bang in Elmhurst has been touted as one of the best places to get a bowl of the increasingly popular Vietnamese beef noodle soup. I liked the broth flavor here: it was rich in beefy flavor, though not as light-feeling and aromatic as it should be. Since it was a little bit of a hike for me, I’d probably not go back since I can get a bowl that is on-par if not better downtown.

The main problem for me with this bowl of soup was that I found a piece of thick, food-grade plastic bag in it. When I told the waiter, the manager came over and explained that it was just part of the bag that was snipped off to either unload the pre-packaged broth.

Anyway, I was hungry, so I plucked it out and ate it. But this would probably be a nail in the coffin of “not coming back here again” for most people. Here’s the piece of bag – it was about the size of a fingernail:

PHO BANG
8290 Broadway
Elmhurst, NY 11373

Banh Mi, East Village, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Sao Mai

December 3, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I stopped in here for some banh mi sandwiches after eating some pizza at Motorino around the corner. We tried a classic sandwich, and a pho sandwich (sliced beef and the toppings you usually get with pho, like bean sprouts, etc). Both were pretty good, but I think I liked the pho sandwich better. Both were pretty spicy without having to ask for it, which I like. Check out the pics:

SAO MAI
203 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Banh Mi, Brooklyn, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Hanoi Vietnamese Kitchen

November 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Stopped off in this place to test out their banh mi sandwich – classic style, of course. The bread was toasty and warm, and the veggies and herbs were all nice and fresh. Not my favorite, but it was okay for a much needed fix.

The pho here is pretty good as well. Nice robust flavor. I’ve had better for cheaper, but the quality of the ingredients here seemed to be a little better.

HANOI VIETNAMESE KITCHEN
448 9th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Banh Mi, Brooklyn, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Hanco

November 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Walked past this little banh mi and pho shop on the way home from Talde and picked up a classic style sandwich to try. It was a little pricey for the size, but it was tasty nonetheless. I’ve had better at other places, but this place is okay if you’r win a bind and need a Vietnamese banh mi fix. Here it is:

HANCO
134 Smith St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Banh Mi, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Saigon 9 West Vietnamese Cafe

November 4, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little place is on 47th Street just east of 9th Avenue, and is almost never open, despite two signs saying that they are open from 9-9 or 10-10. The people who run the joint also run the dry cleaners next door, which is a very busy place. So, as you may guess, the folks over there don’t always get to open up the food shop. They’re sweet as hell – I just wish their storefront was reliably open.

They have a big menu, and a little space.

The food is pretty decent, although not ideal, yet all I have managed to try so far is the traditional banh mi sandwich.

Good for a needed fix, but the ‘hood is lacking in Viet food to begin with, so take this joint with a grain of salt (if it is open when you go).

THIS PLACE HAS OFFICIALLY CLOSED FOR GOOD

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Thai Son

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This was our old standby for Vietnamese food in the old neighborhood. It’s not the best around, but on average it was better for the things we ordered every time. Certain other places had items that we loved that were not on the menu here (like the avocado shake), but this place was cheap and consistent, so we frequented it pretty regularly. Some of the highlights: summer rolls, spring rolls, pho, banh cuon, and that wacky shredded ice drink with all the sweet beans, carrots and jelly thingies in it.