Pho thin #4 stir fried medium rare beef
So good! Beefy, garlicky with a lot of green onion flavor. Loved it. Reminds me of eating pho on the side of the road in Hanoi.
Didn’t get the youtiao because I had other stops but this will definitely be in my regular pho rotation.
Got the level 5, seven bucks which as I commented upthread is pricey as hell but great chocolate flavor and that shit is like rocket fuel, so strong
M&m donut - blueberry piping hot with no line probably because of the rain. It was solid but I would definitely prefer sidecar any day of the week. Especially if there was a line.
Brodard chateau- nem nuong same price and same quality as the other Brodard with less wait and better freeway access for most of us.
Would recommend grabbing some if you’re in the area.
Hoang Gia.
They have small area to eat in. Some dishes need to be ordered days ahead. Nha Trang specialist. Spring rolls and squid salad seem to be the move here. They also have Singaporean chilli crab and black pepper crab. Some of you have asked for catering well here you go.
Have not been. It just popped up in my feed from a beautiful Vietnamese food influencer so I watched the whole thing lol but it looks legit.
Bake & Che (Westminster)
As I get older, I find myself drawn back to the desserts of my childhood and remembering how I kind of liked them growing up…only to go more American/Euro-centric because it was easier to assimilate.
Bake & Che has 2 locations and making a lot of the items I grew up eating with my parents.
Wanting to try items out so I could get a better sense of the menu, I made a couple of visits.
The che (puddings/soup-y iced desserts) are really quite good! They aren’t super sweet, but you do need to add ice to tamper down the sweetness and to make sure it’s super cold…super refreshing on a hot day. I’ve tried the che Thai (jackfruit, longan, house made pomegranate seeds, house made jellies, and coconut milk), suong sao bot loc (house made grass jelly and pandan dumplings in coconut milk), and the house tofu pudding with fresh coconut bits and coconut milk. They were all great. But I might like the tofu pudding slightly more.
The bakes…are all baked cakes made with either mung bean, taro, cassava, palm sugar, or pandan layers. The pandan layers sandwich durian layers and I’m not a durian fan…so there’s that. I do enjoy the taro and cassava cakes. They’re about the size of a muffin bottom so they are easy to eat and even better because it’s not too sweet. I haven’t had one in ages, so these were a nice remembrance of the snacks my parents loved when we were growing up. Bake & Che has cute and efficient sampler/gift boxes, too.
They’ve also a selection of gelatins in coconut, coffee, and longan. I have yet to try them, so jury is still out.
One last creation they have is their flan cheesecakes…it’s a flan custard that sits atop a Japanese soufflé cheesecake base. It looks promising, and I have yet to try that one, too.
The operation is family owned by first generation Vietnamese-American. They’re doing some really nice things that pay tribute to their heritage.
So if anyone is looking for dessert, this is a great option.
I’m pretty stoked on the legs of this thread and the continued contributions by the community. Trung Nguyen Legend is on my short list of coffee spots to hit next.
like the operation too but wish they would change the ice up to a chewable ice and not so big and chunky or it really needs to crushed ice. The eating experience of a spoonful of che with smaller ice crystals would be much more enjoyable.
the flan cheesecake dessert was good and fine, didn’t think it was revelatory.
Agree 1000% on the ice! I felt the same when I was eating the che.
Ngu Binh - Fountain Valley
Bun Bo Hue - damn this was tasty, spicy and savory with a nice clean but flavorful broth
3 Items Combo - not sure what I ate other than the banh beo which was fine, the noodle part was a bit overcooked for my liking. The banh bot was my favorite of the three.
Bao and Baguette - Fountain Valley
Cold cut banh mi 
- really enjoyed this, the bread was excellent and the cold cuts really flavorful with the pate being the most prominent flavor. My only minor gripe is one of the cold cuts was a little thick and chewy and tended to pull out of the sandwich when taking a bite. But definitely a delicious sandwich. It doesn’t reach the heights of Ba Le or even Lynda but still tasty nonetheless and a definitely a nice second lunch before/after Quan Mii.
Quan Mii was ridiculously crowded on Mothers Day so we had to pivot to these right next door.
