Top Vietnamese Restaurant in Santa Monica
Blossom Vietnamese
2821 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405, United States
4.5 Star. Overall.Impressed. First word that came to mind. Walked in expecting a 3-Star encounter with MSG coma, pleasantly surprised that waiter says no MSG is added to broth. Authentic flavor, comparable to ones in the SGV, in fact — even much better than many of them! Would return if in the area. Adding it to my Would Return places. Decent price.Everyone's speaking Vietnamese in the open kitchen. Adds a touch to the authenticity.5 Star. Atmosphere. Not rundown and tackily maintained like most authentic Pho places. Edy comfortable, modern, classy, and relaxing. So glad someone up the experience.4.5 Star. Service. Only one other party before me, service is a little slow compared to ones in the SGV (serviced minutes after ordering). But it's okay. I'm not in a rush today. Bill was $21.16 after tips and 18% tax pre-added to the receipt. Good thing I don't have to calculate how much to tip, but bad if I feel like tipping less if I happen to experience below par service.4.5 Star. Food. Fresh, quality, authentic. Not horrible like normal pho places that down a bunch of MSG to cover up the poor taste. Decent portion, but about 1/4th smaller to what I'm used to. An appetizer and bowl of noodle still fed myself and my 6 year old well, with a little left to spare.#1 $5 spring rolls- with shrimp & pork. Very fresh and authentic.#31 $11.50 Rice Noodle Soup - CombinationWaiter says no MSG added in broth.
Viet Noodle Bar (Pico Blvd)
3221 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405, United States
Our party of three was exhausted from a long drive, and since this was almost across the street from our hotel, we decided to make a very early night of it and eat there. 4:45 pm, restaurant was pretty deserted - super clean, waiter masked, lighting ambient but enough for the oldest among us to read the menu easily.Our waiter was great. Helpful, knowledgeable, funny in a charming way (not overdoing it to being annoying). He was there when we needed him and stayed away otherwise. One thing I particularly liked was that he waited until one of us had finished speaking before asking if we needed anything else.The vegan pho was excellent; tons of vegetables, good broth. The jicama fresh rolls appetizer, also excellent - and I dont know what they do with their peanut sauce but it was head and shoulders above what most Vietnamese restaurants serve. I had Pho Ga (chicken), which is often hard to find. The broth could have used a bit more anise and been a little stronger over-all, but otherwise it was very good. Chicken was clean-tasting, without that undercurrent of really cheap meat you sometimes get in soups. I asked for extra vegetables and got a heaping platter of bean sprouts and basil on the side - no charge. Ginger tea was slightly sweet, delicious, as was the jasmine tea.If I had one criticism, it would be that the noodles, which were flat, were over-cooked. Another few minutes and theyd be falling apart. However, all in all Id highly recommend this. No, youre not going to get Omigod this is the best pho ever. You are going to get a good, filling meal that will leave you very satisfied.
Mama Hongs
12201 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, United States
It's about time I review this place! I've had just about everything on the menu. Here is a brief summary of each meal I've tried:Pho - The Pho here is solid. I wouldn't say this is a “Pho spot”, but since it's the only close place to get Pho in this area I'm not complaining. I prefer the chicken Pho. The broth pairs well with the packet of hoisin and Sambal they provide.Grill combos - I find these meal combos to be the best bang for your buck. You get a large portion, and can even add an egg roll. My favorite would be the Grilled Rib Eye Steak. The Pork chop is also worth a try. Make sure you pair the meat of your choice with the Vermicelli noodles!From The Wok - The Shaken Beef with garlic noodles was really tasty! The tenderloin was perfectly tender. The only veggie in this dish is onion, so you'll likely want to accompany this meal with a spring roll. The Spicy Garlic Tofu and Chicken variations of the dish definitely warrant a try!Banh Mi - These Vietnamese sandwiches are the safe option when you don't know what to get here. They won't disappoint! I loved the Spicy Garlic Chicken Banh Mi. It had a sweet and spicy sauce in a small baguette that wasn't to thick.Spring Rolls - These are ok. The dipping sauce is key, as they over stuff lettuce in these with a small amount of meat.Other Appetizers - I prefer the Egg Rolls over the Spring rolls. You can get one egg roll with your grill combo, or get 2-4 as an appetizer. The cream cheese wontons are always a hit, however it didn't come with sweet chili sauce. You may need to request this. The Spicy Salt and Pepper Wings were underwhelming. They were not spicy at all, and didn't pack a ton of flavor.Mama Hong's used to have seating, but they moved locations and it's only to-go orders now. I recommend calling ahead because there is usually a long wait.If your itching for some Vietnamese cuisine in West LA, then this place will tick most of the boxes. I can't promise you that every meal will blow your mind, but I can assure you there is something on this menu that will make you happy!
Tiato Kitchen Garden
2700 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404, United States
My friend and I walked in at 11:14am, there were only two customers sitting in the patio. The employees were having a team huddle in the entrance, we asked if they were open and were met with several response of yes. The host rudely asked us if we had reservation. I said no, do we need one? He said yes, I replied with we're just sitting at the bar, do we need a reservation ( as I look at the empty restaurant), he again rudely responds with Yes. I asked him do you want us to leave, and he began to argue that he's educating us on how it works in the restaurant. He then made us wait over 10 min and when we asked for service he said they were in the middle of their meeting and didn't expect for customers to walk in. I asked for his name twice and he declined to provide it. Extremely confrontational and aggressive.
Bun & Mi
1004 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403, United States
Delicious and filling bánh mì sandwiches! Ran by a beautiful couple, Alvin and Pamela, who were very nice and proactive while we were there. They were very generous to every customer there and proactively checked in to see if there was anything they could get them or if there was feedback for the kitchen.These are among the best banh mi that you can find on the WestLA, and even more true for this area. We had the Saigon grilled chicken banh mi, shaken beef banh mi, agave shaken green tea, and the chai seed blueberry lemonade. All of it was very delicious, but would get the grilled chicken over the shaken beef as the grilled chicken is more flavorful.The sandwiches were big, we could have shared 1 between the two of us. The bread was the star of the show - nice and crispy with very good flavor. Alvin said they get them freshly made everyday from a local bakery.The chai seed blueberry lemonade was great, but a little on the sweeter side.The agave shaken green tea was perfect. Not too sweet and didn't have an overpowering tea flavor.5/5 - will be coming back again!
Le Pho WeHo
7243 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046, United States
If you want to pay double than in every vietnamese restaurant.... This is the place for you. They gave me a sandwich literally as small as it can be and charge literally double than in every place I ever went to get a sandwich like that. Guys no offense... Quality is great, sandwich tasted amazing but you cant sell that little thing for 17 dollars... Is literally 3 bites. I dont know ... Doesnt feel any good to end up hungry looking for more food after spending almost 20 dollars ... Maybe Im in the wrong place or whatever but .... 8, 9 dollars is the price for that little thing you are selling as a sandwich.
Phorage WeHo
7326 Santa Monica Blvd #10, Los Angeles, CA 90046, United States
Extremely rude lady from the kitchen. Some of the staff members apparently think that if a customer is a delivery person, they can be treated like rubbish. That its ok for the staff to raise voice at them, and accusing a customer of their own(staff) mistakes.Responding to your threats:My review is 100% true. I spoke to Uber and will go to the support office to share your threats regarding my employment youve just made. This is a Review section. I have a right to share my experience with your business. Your restaurant made a complaint to Uber, affecting my customer satisfaction rating. For the mistake of your staff member. Why do you think I cant rate your professionalism? If you continue threatening me I will do everything necessary in accordance with the law for an adequate response, protecting my rights and employment. As you said, lets be adults.Response 2:* I am responsible for my review only. I did not write any other reviews here. Only this one here and one on Yelp.As I noticed after your latest addition to this review response, you copied your response with threats to multiple other 1 star reviews, even though some of them were posted weeks before the incident occurred.I cant travel in time (I wish I could, to avoid that situation).* Your staff member was the first(!) to raise the voice. Of course I was not expecting to find myself in the situation where a restaurant employee made a mistake and then tried to make me responsible for that with raised voice and accusing tone. I came to grab a package for a customer, not to be treated as I was. And not to tolerate threats either.
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Stereoscope Coffee
6677 Santa Monica Blvd #104, Los Angeles, CA 90038, United States
First time here and atmosphere is nice and lots of seating. They also have dog treats which is really nice. I was really excited to try their matchas after hearing good things about it but I was so disappointed. The reason for my low review is because their matchas are very inconsistent and the one I got was not good. When me and my friend went in to get our matchas, I knew when they were bringing it over that they did not put in enough matcha. Once I took a sip, I mainly just tasted milk. Then while we were hanging out there maybe someone else started making the matchas because the matchas they were bringing out were now all a darker richer green like I thought I would be getting. Just really sad to spend $6 on a matcha and then it's not made right. Maybe didn't follow a recipe for amount of matcha? Not sure what happened but unfortunately basically paid for milk.
A Cut Above Butcher Shop
2453 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404, United States
Finally had the chance to try this spot. I order the lemongrass steak banh mi sandwich which Ive had before in vietnamese restaurants and was very good. Now this one was okay, nothing special. The steak was chewy, with not much taste to it. Felt the fish sauce over powered the sandwich it self way too much, and definitely not worth 14 dollars. 4 star due to great service, very clean, and friend staff. The co-workers I went with, really like their food which is a good thing, maybe the particular sandwich I got was just not having it. Would like to try other items on the menu to see it they are up to par with the many positive review online.