Restaurant: Góc Ha Noi Corner
Location: 8516 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 867-6665
Date: November 11, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Excellent opener
Our previous OC Viet Crawl — in which we drive down and spend the afternoon “crawling” between Vietnamese restaurants — was such a success, that it spawned a mini crawl and this followup sequel — all new places!
First up is this place — 11am, almost time for breakfast.
Clearly some other kind of restaurant before it was Vietnamese.
Maybe a diner?
The counter has an altar-like aspect.
The big menu.
In case you wonder where the bodies are buried — must be in here.
Someone needed an iced tea.
Gio tai (crunchy sausages). The description made me order them. There were slightly crunchy bits inside what seemed to have a texture similar to a fishcake — spongy. Meaty taste of course.
Herb salad to go with other stuff, and some kind of sauce.
Bun Rieu Cua Lot Ha Noi. Ha Noi soft-shelled crab tomato tofu vermicelli soup. Tangy sweet and sour soup. Quite delicious.
Banh cuon thit cha nurong ha noi. Steamed thin rice paper with Ha Noi grilled pork, fresh herbs, and fish sauce. Really nice meat flavor and as ever great contrast with the herbs and soft rice paper.
Bank breaker!
We didn’t get these, but they made for a pretty photo.
Overall, nice little place with friendly service and tasty food.
Restaurant: Mai Phung Restaurant
Location: 8415 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CA 92683. (714) 890-1155
Date: November 11, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Excellent opener
Stop two is this little parking lot side place.
We had to wait a bit as there was a crowd already at noon.
Smaller more focused menu.
They make and sell their own hot sauce here — it was hot!
Bun Cha Na Noi. Special Na-Noi style grilled pork served with vermicelli. More grilled meats on noodles.
Fish sauce as usual. Dumped over the meat and noodles this was supremely tasty.
Banh Canh Tom Cua Thit Heo. Crab, shrimp, and pork thick noodle soup. This is one of the main specialties here. Both the broth and the noodles (like udon) were thick. Mild, but delicious and great texture.
Another crushing blow to the wallet.
Overall, small place, small menu, but it was tasty — and popular.
Restaurant: Quan Hy Restaurant
Location: 9727 Bolsa Ave, Westminster, CA 92683.
Date: November 11, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Excellent opener
Place three is a bit larger and more upscale.
Their was also a line, both inside and out — and on a random Monday!
The inside is more upscale.
With a cool fish pond in the floor.
Which Yarom somehow didn’t notice until he stepped right into it!
The menu.
A bit of wine — it’s afternoon after all.
Banh beo. Steamed rice cakes with shredded shrimp etc.
Gratuitous zoom. You put a bit of fish sauce on these and slide them down. Soft gooey texture.
Mi Quang doc biet co sura. Yellow noodles with shrimp, pork, vegetables, and jellyfish. Jellyfish! Yay.
Cam suran ram. Grilled ribs and vegetables served with steamed rice. Lots of grilled meats today!
Oooh, $10 more! What shall we do?
Overall, they had a slightly bigger menu, but not huge — still I’d like to try some other dishes.
Restaurant: Hien Thanh Restaurant
Location: 9741 Bolsa Ave #108, Westminster, CA 92683
Date: November 11, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Excellent opener
Our penultimate place is just around the corner from the last so we hoofed it.
This is even more mom & pop.
Tiny really, without much decor.
But a huge menu.
Not much English on the menu, but this was a kind of steamed eggplant. Texture was like fish, or perhaps jackfruit, but it tasted great.
Carmel Fish. Scrumptious. A bit of an oily thing flavor, but in a good way.
A kind of stuffed tofu in tomato sauce.
The usual.
Overall, a surprising place. It was a bit old school so I was wary — but the food was great, particularly the fish.
Yarom and kirk pose at the mall entrance.
Restaurant: Tan Cang Newport Seafood Restaurant
Location: 10541 Bolsa Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92843. (714) 554-3996
Date: November 11, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese Chinese
Rating: More of a Chinese restaurant, and pricier, but great lobster
Yarom has been wanting to come here for a while since we go all the time to the SGV location.
This is the original — and clearly it’s a bit “Vietnamese.”
But it also looks like a Chinese restaurant — and basically is a Chinese restaurant.
Lobster tank.
From my cellar, some sparkling rose.
Clams in basil sauce. Savory and delicious.
House Special Lobster on garlic noodles. This was a big 4 or 5 pound lobster with tons of meat and a fabulous sauce — although they billed it as a 6.5lb lobster. ha!
The noodles were thick and eggy but particularly delicious under the lobster — still I like Garlic and Chive’s version a hair better.
Pea Tendrils sautéed with garlic. The usual tasty colon sweeper.
Oranges.
The price here was considerably higher — particularly because of the lobster. The owner was incredibly nice and hung out with us for awhile. If she was a touch younger Yarom would have proposed (again)!
