Restaurant: Favori [1, 2]
Location: 3502 W 1st St, Santa Ana, CA 92703. (714) 531-6838
Date: June 1 & July 9, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great old school place
We enjoyed Favori so much on a recent crawl that we decided to book a wine dinner here.
Favori has been a staple down here in Garden Grove/Santa Ana since the early 80s.
The menu.
Our big table.
Fish sauce.
And super fermented fish sauce.
Chilies.
Goi Cuon. Vietnamese fried spring rolls.
These are served with herbs
You wrap them up like this with the herbs and fish sauce — delicious.
Escargots. Snails in white wine and garlic butter sauce. These are the classic French style and were quite nice. They could have had even more garlic, but they certainly had plenty.
These are served with some garlic bread.
Goi Bo Tai Chanh. Rare Beef Salad. Fabulous version of this dish. Very herby with lots of beef flavor.
Beef rolls wrapped in Betel Leaves. These had a very interesting but strong flavor. I loved them, but they weren’t for everyone.
Ngheu Xao Hung Que. Stir-fried clams + basil leaves. Awesome Thai basil flavor.
Luon Xao Lan. Stir-fried Eel with Curry Sauce. Great curry with rice noodles that soaked up the sauce. Flavorful eel as well, but beware the little bones.
Ech Xao Xa Ot. Stir-fried frog legs + lemongrass & chilies. Incredible chili garlic flavor from this dish. Really spectacular.
Cua Lot Chien Bo. Deep fried soft shelled crab.
Roasted Quails. Interesting prep. Not as good as at Oc & Lau.
Fruits de mer au Gratin. Seafood Baked in Cream Sauce. Ugly but tasted great, although the goopy texture was reminiscent of cream of mushroom soup.
Canard a l’orange. Duck in Grand Mariner Orange Sauce. Like it was pulled through time from 1981! This was the worst dish by far.
Ca ri nam bo. Beef tendon curry. great curry with beef/tendon chunks and potatoes.
Crispy whole catfish! A touch dry, but delicious. Served with rice crepes, herbs, vermicelli, fish sauce etc.
Herbs for the catfish.
Vermicelli for the catfish.
Rice crepes for the catfish.
Bun Cha Ha Noi. Charbroiled Pork with Vermicelli. Delicious pork. Great with fish sauce.
Orange Old Fashioned Sorbetto — Cold Pressed Orange and Tangerine Juice, Knob Creek Bourbon and Angostura Bitters! Topped with cherries — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Really tastes like an Old Fashioned –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #orange #tangerine #bourbon #KnobCreek #bitters #Angostura
Almond Amaretto Truffle Gelato — Amaretto Zabaglione (egg yolk, amaretto, and sugar custard) Sicilian Almond gelato base with stacked layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #almond #amaretto #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle
Overall, Favori is a great place with a great kitchen and very solid service. They really treated us right. Sure the atmosphere is that dark 80s “old school” charm, but the food is very good. Every Vietnamese dish was fabulous. The weakest stuff is the French style dishes. The escargots were fine but the Duck L’Orange was “interesting” at best and the Fruits de Mer were goopy (even if I liked them). Oh but that lemongrass chili sauce — so good! I over-ordered of course — always do :-).
