The end of the war saw an influx of Vietnamese refugees to the Bay Area, and some opened restaurants to make ends meet. Now, they are the second largest Southeast-Asian group, after Chinese.
Vietnamese cuisine takes much from Chinese and other Aisan cuisines, but is is even more strongly influenced by the French who dominated Vietnam for many years.
Vietnamese cuisine is many-sided. The staple of Vietnamese food is the Pho, a noodle soup with pieces of beef. There are a number of restaurants in The City that call themselves Pho, and specialize in noodle soups. There are also upscale French-inspired restaurants that specialize in fondues and flame-broiled dishes.
Then there are a number of small coffee shops which provide a haven for lonesome Vietnamese nationals; they serve a few pho and rice dishes, and French-type sandwiches on baguettes, with a smattering of liver pate’ and their own kind of pickled carrots and the like, as well as fresh cilantro. They cost $1.50-$2.50 each, a great deal.
Finally, there are a number of San Francisco Vietnamese restaurants that combine several styles, with traditional appetizers and salads, fondues, flame-broiled dishes, and their own drinks and desserts. All use Vietnamese spices, such as lemon grass, coconut milk, bean curd, curry.
For Part 1, I have chosen two San Francisco restaurants that show many sides of Vietnamese cuisine.
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Golden Flower
667 Jackson St (Grant/Kearny), 433-6469.
This simple restauant, with 48 seats, is located in the heart of Chinatown, and caters mainly to Chinese visitors, with a large sprinkling of Vietnamese, few Caucasians.
The Golden Flower Vietnamese restaurant has a large menu that includes special appetizers, flame-broiled dishes (their specialty), beef and seafood-noodle soups, rice and noodle dishes, as well as an array of seafood, pork, beef, chicken, and vegetarian dishes, and a number of Vietnamese drinks and desserts.
Appetizers, soup, include imperial roll $4.25 (ground pork, noodle, carrots, onion, black mushroom, served with fish sauce), shrimp and pork salad roll, $4.25, flame-broiled pork or beef $4.90 (served with rice noodles, vegetables and fish sauce), lemon rare beef $5.95, flame-broiled beef, pork, or chicken with an imperial roll & rice noodles $5.25, Vietnamese sweet & sour fish soup $7.95, house-special hot & sour soup $7.50.
Beef & seafood noodle soups, large bowl, served with fresh basil, bean-sprouts, and lemon for seasoning, $5.15 for extra-large and $4.25 for large bowl, e.g., with rare meat, beef balls, well-done steak, brisket, beef-tendon etc. Seafood $4.95-$5.15.
Chicken, BBQ pork noodle soups, all $5.15, e.g., 5-spice chicken, BBQ pork.
Chow mein and chow fun noodles, include combination seafood $5.25, beef/pork/or chicken $4.95.
Rice dishes, include 5-spice chicken grilled over charcoal $4.15, with flame-broiled pork chops $4.95, broiled beef with lemon grass $6.35.
Pork, chicken, beef dishes, include lemon-grass chicken or pork (spicy) $5.50, shrimp & pork fried rice (special) $5.25, sauteed ginger chicken $5.25, sizzling beef with vegetables $5.65, spicy curried beef $5.65.
Seafood, includes spicy lemon-grass curried shrimp $5.95, fresh catfish in clay pot, with black-pepper sauce $6.75.
Flame-broiled Specials include pork & shrimp with rice noodles $8.50, pork & vegetables $7.50, flame-broiled chicken, done at table $7.60.
Vegetarian, includes vegetarian salad $4.60, combination soup $6.50, mixed vegetables & curry sauce $5.25, combination vegetarian rice $5.95.
Beverages, desserts, include expreesso black coffee or condensed milk ice coffee $1.95, rice bean with coconut milk $1.95, rice bean with ice cream $2.50, ice tea 55 cents, grass jelly drink $1.20.
Seven Courses of Beef Dinner, $13.95
San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant reviewed 04/15/02 by Louis Madison
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Anh Hong Phu-Nhuan
808 Geary St (Hyde), 885-5180
3-9:30pm, Tues 5-9:30pm.
Attractive Vietnamese restaurant with 91 seats.
Anh Hong Phu-Nhuans specialty is Seven Courses of Beef. $13.95 per person. It actually consists of seven different dishes with beef — beef rice soup with chopped beef & onion, beef salad, steamed beef pate’ (meat balls with nuts, mushrooms, spices), beef fondue (for cooking at table), grilled beef sausage charcoal-broiled, beef wrapped in Hawaiian leaf (cook at table), grilled beef with lemon grass.
A tip—ask the waiter to serve all dishes separately, since they tend to put the last three dishes on one plate. This is a truly fun meal, taken slowly.
Soups and appetizers, include asparagus soup with crab meat (specialty) $2,95, seafood soup $2.95, mixed appetizer (egg roll, shrimp on crab leg, deep-fried shrimp, 2 won ton) $5.95, shrimp & beef salad $8.95.
Fondue dishes, for self-cook at table, served with rice paper for wrapping as well as mint, carrots, cucumber, radish, and cilantro, for garnish — beef fondue $10.95, beef & shrimp $12.95, shrimp $14.95.
Lemon-grass dishes, for self-cook at table, served with same accompaniements as the fondue above — marinated beef or chicken $11.95, beef & shrimp $13.95.
Special dishes served with vegetables & rice paper, include beef in Hawaiian leaf $8.50, grilled beef with lemon grass $8.50.
Combination plates, include grilled chicken , egg roll, mixed salad $6.50, Korean BBQ ribs & egg roll $7.50, prawns with coconut milk, curry, & rice $8.50, rice with chicken & shrimp in earthen pot $7.95.
Side orders of rice $1.25, rice noodles $1.50.
Beverages – Imported beer $3.25, wine: glass $2.50, 1/2 liter $5.50, liter $10.50.
San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant reviewed 04/15/02 by Louis Madison
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click images to enlarge
Anh Hong Phu-Nhuan entrance
Interior at
Anh Hong Phu-Nhuan
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