Vietnamese Cuisine.

Baron · Sep 27, 2008

A bunch of Vietnamese-for-hipster-yuppies spots have opened up in the greater Silver Lake area over the past few years. By far the best one is Viet Cafe on Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village. The owner is some kind of soy master, and he makes soy skins and tofu and soy milk from scratch, all of which are extraordinary. They also do regular vietnamese dishes with meat and fish, and the menu is relatively small, but the food is all very, very good (and cheap), and the room is pretty cool, too.

Pho Cafe at the corner of Sunset and Parkman is a bit overrated (I think it's the only pho place most of the locals have ever seen) but they did expand their menu recently and now you can get tendon in your soup, which is a personal favorite.

SoCal2NYC · Sep 28, 2008

Just those yummy sandwhiches.

Wes Bourne · Sep 28, 2008

I like my xe lua bowl of pho tai sach bo vien as much as the next guy, but huu tieu mi is what it's all about. I'm surprised some of you eat pho for lunch (and go back to work after)...Are you all immune to the dreaded pho facial? Or do you simply not care about walking around with the smell of pho on you for the rest of the day?

DNW · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

I like my xe lua bowl of pho tai sach bo vien as much as the next guy, but huu tieu mi is what it's all about. I'm surprised some of you eat pho for lunch (and go back to work after)...Are you all immune to the dreaded pho facial? Or do you simply not care about walking around with the smell of pho on you for the rest of the day?

The bigger problem is to be able to keep your eyes open after a big bowl of Pho xe lua.

Matt · Sep 28, 2008

what is 'xe lua'? (other than train!)

poly800rock · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by m@T

what is 'xe lua'? (other than train!)

it's pho with everything

Matt · Sep 28, 2008

hmm, never seen that here (or maybe I've just never looked)

poly800rock · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by m@T

hmm, never seen that here (or maybe I've just never looked)
it's just a slang for an XL pho bowl with all the toppings. Instead of having to say all the individual stuff, you just say xe lua, and they'll know to put everything in there, REALLY surprised you haven't heard that term....

whacked · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by poly800rock

it's just a slang for an XL pho bowl with all the toppings. Instead of having to say all the individual stuff, you just say xe lua, and they'll know to put everything in there, REALLY surprised you haven't heard that term....

I think they only have it in Vietnamese restaurants in the States.

Wes Bourne · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by m@T

what is 'xe lua'? (other than train!)

xe=car, lua=fire, together they mean train

Originally Posted by poly800rock

it's pho with everything

Originally Posted by poly800rock

it's just a slang for an XL pho bowl with all the toppings. Instead of having to say all the individual stuff, you just say xe lua, and they'll know to put everything in there, REALLY surprised you haven't heard that term....

not necessarily all dressed, but x-large size

From my understanding, it came about as a result of someone getting creative with the abbreviation xl. The choice of xe lua was natural because trains are kinda large.

There's usually 2 sizes to choose from:
-Ngo translates into small = smallest size bowl
-Lon translates into big or large = medium size bowl
-Xe Lua transaltes into train = biggest size bowl

You have to consider that the Vietnamese language being what it is, the alternative to xe lua would have been lon lam, meaning very big/large.

Failed to mention I also like:
-bun bo nuong
-com suon bi trung aka com ba mau

Although I like cha gio as an appetizer, I haven't ordered any in a resto since I saw how many joints make theirs...

Wes Bourne · Sep 28, 2008

^Also, afaik you can't really translate the word medium into Vietnamese. Hence, a medium is called a lon (large) and a large is called a xe lua...

EdenResident · Sep 28, 2008

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

^Also, afaik you can't really translate the word medium into Vietnamese. Hence, a medium is called a lon (large) and a large is called a xe lua...

Medium means "vừa" in Vietnamese. In Vietnam, though, there's usually only 2 sizes, small (nhỏ) and large (lớn). Some restaurants carry "dac biet" (special) which is usually a large bowl with an extra of everything. This is probably the equivalence of the "xe lua" version of Pho places in the States.

Pho in Vietnam actually has a different taste than Pho in the States. I prefer the Americanized Pho.

Wes Bourne · Sep 28, 2008

^Damn, you rockin the VNkey!?!? I use the term vừa mostly when speaking about fit (ex: ao vua = shirt fits), or to say vua dung = right on, spot on.

Back to the subject of Vietnamese cuisine, my gf and I make one mean won ton mi xa xiu!

BYucko · Sep 28, 2008

Damn, this thread is making me hungry.

I love pho. I love pho. I love pho.

Tokyo Slim · Sep 28, 2008

I generally dislike VN food.

Pho especially.

Vietnamese Cuisine.

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