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Don't know if it's within 28205, but these are close:
Both Lang Van, on Shamrock, and Ben Thanh, on Central Ave. close to Sharon Amity are *awesome*! Incredibly fresh food, cooked perfectly. I dream about their lemongrass tofu! yum, yum, yum
Ben Thanh was opened by family members of the owners of Lang Van, folks who had worked at Lang Van for years. Their menus share a lot, they're both really great!
I've never had Vietnamese food. What do you recommend for a newbie?
It depends on what kind of food you like. I LOVE their spring rolls - shrimp, rice noodles and basil wrapped in rice paper, dipped into a yummy peanut sauce.
I usually go for the lighter options - the lemongrass tofu I mentioned is a salad at the bottom of the bowl, with lettuces and sprouts, then rice noodles, topped with tofu that's been crusted with lemongrass. You get a kind of sweet & sour sauce to go over it. Holy cow, it's good!
They have soups, and hot pots - The hot pots are popular, they're pots of veg & soup, and they give you items to dip in and cook.
My son likes their yellow pancakes. Eggy crepe-like pancakes around shrimp & sprouts, you take a piece of the pancake and wrap it in lettuce.
I also like their coconut curry, which has sweet & white potatoes in a coconut curry sauce, served with rice.
They have pineapple fried rice, served in half a pineapple, that has shrimp and pineapple and onions...
Wow, I'm hungry now!! They also have more meaty dishes, with beef or pork.
One thing both Ben Thanh & Lang Van have are VERY helpful, friendly servers, they'll answer any questions you have and help you find something you'll enjoy.
Thanks, CharlotteGal! We live in 28205 and drive past some of the restaurants mentioned all of the time. I live to support local businesses so we will have to stop in and give Vietnamese food a try!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlotteGal
It depends on what kind of food you like. I LOVE their spring rolls - shrimp, rice noodles and basil wrapped in rice paper, dipped into a yummy peanut sauce.
I usually go for the lighter options - the lemongrass tofu I mentioned is a salad at the bottom of the bowl, with lettuces and sprouts, then rice noodles, topped with tofu that's been crusted with lemongrass. You get a kind of sweet & sour sauce to go over it. Holy cow, it's good!
They have soups, and hot pots - The hot pots are popular, they're pots of veg & soup, and they give you items to dip in and cook.
My son likes their yellow pancakes. Eggy crepe-like pancakes around shrimp & sprouts, you take a piece of the pancake and wrap it in lettuce.
I also like their coconut curry, which has sweet & white potatoes in a coconut curry sauce, served with rice.
They have pineapple fried rice, served in half a pineapple, that has shrimp and pineapple and onions...
Wow, I'm hungry now!! They also have more meaty dishes, with beef or pork.
One thing both Ben Thanh & Lang Van have are VERY helpful, friendly servers, they'll answer any questions you have and help you find something you'll enjoy.
Ben Thanh's food is really good (we went there a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday), but it's closed very early though. We went by on a weekday around 8pm and it's already closed. Maybe it's because of the location, who knows. We finally settled for Saigon Bistro and has some food there last night, it's pretty decent and they have very large portions. Pho is everyone's favorite, if you haven't tried it, it must be on your top list.
oh , we used to love van lang, that was until on the nite our two friends shared a shrimp dish that , shall we say , kept them up for 24 hours, sitting down with a bucket in their lap.
same nite my dish was served with a black hair in the food , waiter just stuck his thumb on
the plate and wiped it off and put it back down in front of me!!!
no exscuse , no notting!!
hard for me to ever gon back there, I am sure their food is still delightfull , we just had bad timing.
have eaten at Ben Thanh's many times and love the food .
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