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Vietnamese Restaurant

Lily, San Francisco

Posted on May 12, 2022

Why did we dine here? – Lily is a Modern Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco is inner Richmond District. Sort of a neighborhood joint kicked up a notch. The Chef Rob Lam used to run restaurant Butterfly on the waterfront. There are a ton of VERY good restaurant options nearby including Burma superstar, Chapeau!, Wako, and Mamahuhu. Traditional Vietnamese restaurants are a block away. We have been here twice for lunch during the Pandemic.

Gao Viet Kitchen, San Mateo

Posted on August 1, 2021

Why did we dine here? – Gao Viet Kitchen is a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown San Mateo. The same folks run several, casual Ben Tre restaurants in San Mateo and Millbrae.
(Which we like for casual fare.)

Pho Hanoi, San Jose

Posted on January 1, 2021

Why did we dine here? – Pho Ha Noi is a Vietnamese restaurant located in an outdoor mall Vietnam Town Plaza in San Jose. The area is full of high quality Asian restaurants and shops. Their pho is some of the best in the SF Bay Area. This restaurant also has a location in Cupertino.

Tamarine Restaurant Review, Palo Alto

Posted on May 13, 2019

Elegant Vietnamese in Palo Alto.

Tamarine is a popular Vietnamese contemporary restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on busy University Avenue. They focus on small plates and serve food family style. Tamarine features light, but flavor-intensive culinary delicacies of Vietnam. This place is similar to Slanted Door or Xanh in Mountain View. We find the food pretty accessible with many items for mainstream palates. The owners family runs the more traditional Vietnamese restaurant Vung Tau in San Jose and a more casual spot Tam Tam in Palo Alto. Our last visit was in 2020.

Best Pho in San Francisco

Posted on February 18, 2019

Last Update: November 2019

We are big fans of Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup. Slowly but surely, we have eaten at many of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best Pho restaurants. Here’s our constantly evolving list of the top 10 in search of the Best Pho San Francisco and beyond. Please leave comments with suggestions for other places we should try.

Hit List: More San Jose Pho Places – Do you have favorites we should try?

Pho Filet, Rosemead

Posted on January 30, 2019

Why did we dine here? – Far better Pho than San Francisco! The SGV (San Gabriel Valley) is home to some fine Asian cuisine. We passed by Pho Filet on our last trip and ate there in 2018. Only 3.5 stars on Yelp, but way up there in our books.

Hanoi Street Food Tour Review

Posted on April 24, 2018

Hanoi Vietnam is known for its dynamic street food scene. The language and culture are definitely big barriers to going it on your own. A street food tour was definitely a must.

We took our hotel’s Street Food tour to sample the local restaurants in the Hanoi Old Quarter. This was a fun and useful tour. We dined at several places that we would have been scared to approach ourselves. The guide explained the different types of local food and asked us about specific items we wanted. It lasted about 3 hours, cost $30/per person and included all food and drinks. Cheaper than other tours we saw.

Duong’s Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

Posted on April 17, 2018

Rated 5 on Trip Advisor over 1000 reviews

Red Bean Trendy Restaurant, Hanoi Vietnam

Posted on April 4, 2018

Highly Rated 5 on Trip Advisor

Ben Tre Restaurant, Millbrae – San Mateo

Posted on May 9, 2017

Why did we dine here? – Ben Tre (A city in Vietnam) has three locations on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Brodard, Westminister

Posted on September 19, 2016

Why did we dine here? – Famous Vietnamese restaurant Brodard, in Southern California. Home to the largest Vietnamese population in the US, you would expect to find some great restaurants. Many Yelp reviews mention dining here whenever they are down here. We had to give this place a try on our latest SoCal trip. The place was packed and very loud.

Pho Ao Sen Restaurant Review, Oakland

Posted on September 16, 2013

Why did we dine here? – Pho Ao Sen is renowned to be one of the best Vietnamese Noodle houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. We finally got a chance to visit them as we were passing through the East Bay. Last visit was in summer 2014.

Turtle Tower Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on August 24, 2013

Why did we dine here? – Turtle Tower is a popular Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco with several locations. Hà Nội Style Vietnamese Cuisine is their focus. We dined at the original, located in the heart of the gritty Tenderloin District of San Francisco. It moved down the block and reopened in June 2013 and added banh mi sandwiches. Our last visit was in February 2014.

Vung Tau Restaurant Review, San Jose

Posted on August 19, 2013

Why did we dine here? – Vung Tau is a Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose (near San Jose State) owned by the same family as Tamarine Restaurant in Palo Alto. Having heard good things about this place, we decided to give it a try the next time we were in the vicinity. On our last visit was in early 2014 for dinner. We had previously dined here for lunch. Vung Tau also has a location in Milpitas.

Ferry Building, San Francisco

Posted on April 11, 2011

The Ferry Building Marketplace is one of our most favorite destinations in San Francisco. Filled with restaurants, food stands, and gift shops, this place is on any foodies must visit list. Here are some of our favorite shops to visit and dine at.

The Slanted Door Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on July 26, 2010

The Slanted Door is a famous modern Vietnamese restaurant located in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Legendary chef Charles Phan’s empire includes several Out the Door restaurants and Hard Water. He failed at Heaven’s Dog and Wo Hing General Store. They use a lot of local, organic, sustainable ingredients and focus on essentially California cuisine with the Vietnamese influence.

Pho Miss Saigon Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Posted on October 23, 2009

Pho Miss Saigon is an inexpensive Vietnamese noodle place in downtown San Mateo. You can order a bowl of noodles and have them in 5 minutes, making this a good alternative to fast food.

Xanh Restaurant Review, Mountain View

Posted on April 10, 2009

Xanh Restaurant is an Vietnamese Asian fusion restaurant in Silicon Valley on Castro street in Mountain View. They – “fuse the culinary traditions of Vietnam with modern aesthetics and complexities” To survive on this street packed with tons of place, you have to have good food. They used to be located across the street in a smaller location. Their Lunch menu has more moderately priced items.

La Petite Camille Restaurant Review Millbrae

Posted on September 10, 2008