Vietnamese cuisine in San Francisco, Sep 2008

Laugh all you want but I'm always craved for Vietnamese food when I travel. For my trips to US and Canada, I always had to get at least some Vietnamese meals or instant noodles. American food doesn't really appeal to me, after a few meals. That is quite sad, I guess, cos I didn't manage to explore more of the food scene of the cities I travelled to. But I always think I have to enjoy every calories I take in. Or else, it's a waste of money and kilograms.

When I was visiting SF, I had been staying for over a week, so obviously, I needed my fix of Vietnamese food. And there is Little Saigon in SF, which I had to visit, made it easier to plan for meals.

So where could you have good Vietnamese food in SF, in my opinion?

Chinatown - Not surprising, I guess. Vietnamese restaurants are often found in Chinatown due to a good (but competitive) business environment and some other reasons I can't think of at the moment. No less than 10 Vietnamese restaurants and supermarkets were spotted in SF


After walking around for a while, I had decided to have dinner here


The condiments to eat with pho. And yes, I did order pho bo


Pho bo here is delicious. Better than 90% the noodles I had tried in Saigon. The beef was tender, the soup was yummy and the noodles were what we always have in the South of Vietnam. Not only that, the red sauce here was really good, not those chilly sauce they are using in Saigon nowadays (Darned! I hate that)

Moving on another part of the city. I don't think you could imagine of finding a shop selling "banh my" (Vietnamese baguette) around Union Square, but yes, there is one and the food is amazing. Authentic and yummy are what I could describe "banh my" here. You can't find it in Singapore, even Singapore is nearer to Vietnam than America is. Ironic, isn't it?


Dolci Cafe on Market St, near to Powell St


The menu. I love the ham and pate baguette


Other food available here, i.e "xoi" (sticky rice), "banh da lon", etc.


And this is the yummy baguette. I really miss this.

Another area is Little Saigon. Well! It makes sense, doesn't it? Getting Vietnamese food from Little Saigon. Of course, I had to go there to see how Vietnamese community lives in SF. A bit quiet but much cleaner than Chinatown. And yest, all the Vietnamese food you can have.




Here it is. Little Saigon in SF


The famous Lee's Sandwiches


"Xoi", "bun tam bi", "banh day"...


Plenty of "nem chua"


Different types of desserts


Menu of available Vietnamese baguettes and sandwiches


"Banh da lon", "banh khoai my", "banh tam bi", etc.


Where you place your orders


And what did I buy there? A huge and delicious avocado milkshake. My fav drink.


How about some pho? Let's go to "Pho Tau Bay". It is also a famous brand of pho bo in Saigon.


Some special if you are not in the mood for pho


Another bowl of pho bo, not that I will ever get tired of this.

6th St - A slightly questionable neighbourhood. But if you want to try some Northern pho bo and good "bun thit nuong" (grilled pork with rice vermicelli), then you can come here. An advice though: Try to take out your food.


Tu Lan restaurant on 6th St


I didn't really like this version of pho bo, but it was a good experience


Grilled pork with rice vermicelli

Fisherman's Wharf - It might be the last place to find a Vietnamese restaurant. But I had an amazing plate of grilled pork with rice here. So yeah, you should try it if you are in the vicinity.


Darren's Cafe is the place to go


Yummy grilled pork and rice. I love grilled food.