Restaurant: Oc & Lau Restaurant [1, 2]
Location: 9892 Westminster Blvd Unit R, Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 583-8100
Date: June 1, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great
This crawl returned to Oc & Lau 2, which is tucked behind the Garlic & Chives.
Interior of location 2 — much bigger than 1.
Big menu.
And the denser “covid” menu.
Sauces on the table.
Mien Xao Cua Oc. Stir Fried Glass Noodles with Escargot and Crab.
Fried quail (Chim Cut Rotti). Much like the Chinese style quail. Great!
So Diep Thai Thuong. Grilled King Scallop with fish eggs (and other stuff).
Some garlicky goodness here.
The check.
Restaurant: Garlic and Chives [1, 2]
Location: 9892 Westminster Blvd #311, Garden Grove, CA 92844.: (714) 591-5196
Date: June 1, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great
Then we moved next door to Garlic and Chives, which oddly, was very empty (even though historically — aka before the pandemic — it was mobbed).
The minimalist interior.
Salmon Belly Chien Gion. Very fried!
Oc Len Xao Dua. Coconut Seasnails. One of our favorites.
House Special Lobster with garlic noodles. Sautéed in house special sauce with garlic, onion, jalapeños, on a bed of noodles. This was AWESOME. Tons and tons of flavor, particularly over the noodles. Way better than the Crustacean and probably 1/4 of the price.
The check again.
Restaurant: La Xanh Green Leaf Restaurant.
Location: 5425 W 1st St, Santa Ana, CA 92703. (714) 714-0442
Date: June 1, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Small menu, but good
Moving on to stop 3.
La Xanh is a small specialty lunch place.
Tiny little interior.
Even more tiny menu.
Herbs for various dishes.
Bun Rieu Oc. Special shrimp soup served with small rice vermicelli, fried tofu, pork blood, and shrimp cake. Very flavorful (and reasonably priced) soup.
Banh xeo dac biet. Crispy crepe with pork, shrimp, and squid. Fabulous “omelet” eaten with the herbs and sauce.
Fish sauce.
Sweet tapioca or corn and coconut milk dessert.
Bank breaker!
Restaurant: Favori [1, 2]
Location: 3502 W 1st St, Santa Ana, CA 92703. (714) 531-6838
Date: June 1, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great old school place
Today we finish up at a new classic, Favori.
Favori has been a staple down here in Garden Grove/Santa Ana since the early 80s.
The menu.
Fish sauce.
And super fermented fish sauce.
Chilies.
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.
Crispy whole catfish! A touch dry, but delicious. Served with rice crepes, herbs, vermicelli, fish sauce etc.
Herbs.
Vietnamese coffee to go.
The check.
Overall, even with “only” 4 stops this was a gluttonous and delicious crawl. The lobster and some of the favori dishes were very large and so some people tapped out. Favori was so good, and had such a good menu, that we resolved to come back later in the summer for a full wine dinner. More on that soon!