Restaurant Review #225: Pho So 1, Simi Valley

Charbroiled beef, eggrolls, vermicelli, and vegetablesIf you want Vietnamese food in Ventura County, you don't have a lot of options. There's Pho Saigon in Port Hueneme, Pho Oxnard (guess where), and two branches of local chain Pho So 1, which has been around for 20 years. After those, Yelp! starts suggesting Thai and Chinese restaurants. Or you can drive, for a long time, to get the really good

Restaurant Review #223: Golden Deli Vietnamese Restaurant, San Gabriel

Eggrolls

Golden Deli is supposed to be the best Vietnamese restaurant in LA, so I came with high expectations. I braved an hour's worth of scary freeway driving with lots of large trucks to eat my favorite cuisine (or is sushi my favorite?), which I don't eat nearly often enough.

The restaurant was easy to find, thanks to the exterior shot I'd seen on Yelp! and the good fortune I had to hit a

Restaurant Review #210: Absolutely Phobulous, Encino

Chicken sticks

Absolutely Phobulous is a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in Encino on Ventura Boulevard (where else?). As you might guess by the absence of lucky numbers in the name and their trademarked slogan, "Vietnamese with a modern sensibility," it's fairly different from the other Vietnamese joints in town. The menu is as much shorter as the clientele is whiter.


Papaya salad

Restaurant Review #193: Cafe Orient, Chatsworth

Orange ChickenWhen you're in the Northridge/Chatsworth area, there aren't a lot of unique dining options--almost every restaurant is a large, loud chain. Cafe Orient is an oasis in the desert, serving homemade Chinese and Vietnamese food in a hand-decorated, cozy, lavender setting. Despite being small, the restaurant was uncrowded enough that we were able to be seated right away. Fortunately, we