Sing Sing Sandwich Shop

309 Hyde St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Lunch after errands and some shopping downtown. 08.25.12

Combination Banh Mi

It's been a place that I've been wanting to try for awhile now.  But due to the location of this place, it's always steered us away.  After hearing about how amazing these sandwiches are, we finally had the opportunity to give this place a try.  The bread is toasted perfectly and the seasoning that they use in their sandwich is unforgettable.  I love that they don't smear a thick layer of mayonnaise like spread on the bread because that grosses me out just a little bit.  My one complaint would be that they don't have enough filling in their sandwiches.  The meat slices are super thin and not as generous, otherwise it would be my top spot in the city for Vietnamese sandwiches.

PPQ Dungeness Island Vietnamese Cuisine

2332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Double dinner date for some crab! 07.29.12

Peppercorn Crab

My favorite between the two different preparations of crab.  It's deep fried, dry and not too messy to eat.  It's absolutely packed with a peppercorn spice.  

Seabass 

The meat is so soft that it seriously melts in your mouth.  There's a great combination of sweet and savory.  This is so good.  Though this is not their signature dish nor is it what they're known for, this is one dish that is definitely worth a try.

Roasted Crab 

It's soaked in garlic and butter and it's delicious, but it can get messy.  And if you know me, I'm not a big fan of messy!  Though I'd like for it to be more garlicy, it's still good in my books.

Garlic Noodle

How do you have crab without garlic noodles.  You can't!  Perfect pairing with some crab meat! I don't think their garlic noodles are the best, since I like it loaded with garlic flavor, which this place kind of lacks in.

Viet-Ha Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant

6534 Florin Rd
Sacramento, CA 95828

Occasion: Lunch after Vinson's graduation.  It was the perfect place to fill all of our hungry bellies. 06.17.12

 For $7 you get this big bowl of goodness that I was only able to finish barely half of.  It came with Egg foo yung, grilled pork, shredded pork, shrimp, imperial roll, vegetables with vermicelli noodles.  So freaking delicious and you definitely get your money's worth here with their big portions and cheap prices!

Cafe Bunn Mi

417 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Picked up some Vietnamese sandwiches for after work/ before class snack.  They're so freaking delicious. Both were flavorful, filling and satisfied our hungry stomachs.  Reasonably priced, but cash only.  I am definitely a fan. 04.2012

Five Spice Chicken Sandwich

Duck Sandwich

Brodard Restaurant

9892 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92844

Occasion: Our last stop before we head back to LA to catch our flight before we head to Beijing! We had to come here for Henry to try their infamous Spring Rolls. 12.07.11

Nem Nuong 

See previous entry here for a better review.

Their spring rolls are definitely memorable.  It's stuffed with a sausage of some sort and fried egg roll skin for extra flavor and an extra crunch.  He liked it, but thought it was over hyped.  We bought an extra order to go to eat on the plane and let me tell you, it wasn't nearly as good because the skin was all dried up.  Next time we'll know not to bring it on the plane and eat it over 6 hours after it's been purchased.  Now I wonder how people buy it and bring it back up to the bay...

Quan Hy

15640 Brookhurst Street
Westminister, CA 92683

Occasion: Early dinner in Westminister before we drive back up to LAX to catch our flight to China! 12.07.11

Banh Beo

steamed rice cakes with shredded shrimp eaten with a special sweet nuc mam (fish) sauce

I must admit these were pretty good.  They're little steamed rice cakes sprinkled with goodness.  Very easy to slurp up once you've loosened it from the plate.  One order comes with 8 and you one person can easily slurp these all up.  Since we've already had quite a bit to eat before, we only got one order of this.  The rice cakes and a jello consistency and was pretty flavorless.  It's the other ingredients you eat it with that makes it so good.  It's definitely a must if you're ever in this Irvine/LA area.

An upclose shot!

Banh Out thit nuong

steamed rice paper stuffed with grilled beef (seemed to have been grilled with lemon grass) filled with basil

The noodles were super soft and you can easily finish one roll in a few bites.  It's almost like cheurng fun from dim sum. Very tasty!

Up close

Goi hit

jack fruit salad mixed with shrimps and pork

I decided to order something else that seemed like a light dish and this appealed to me.  I've never had a jack fruit salad before, so I wanted to give it a try.  To my surprise it was delicious refreshing. The texture of the jackfruit reminded me of the texture of artichoke hearts. Fried onions and fried garlic not only added flavor to the dish but also a nice crunchy texture. Included in the salad were also peanuts, sesame, chopped up basil and mint leaves. You can eat it alone as a salad or on vietnamese rice crackers with black sesame seed for extra flavor and texture. So good and so different!

Turtle Tower

5716 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Dinner after shopping. 12.01.11

Chicken Pho

Just what I needed since I was feeling a little bit under the weather.  I just can't get enough of this simple but delicious noodle soup.  Not only has it relieved hangovers it's also good comfort for sick days as well as cold days.  I just love their flat fat rice noodles.

Imperial Rolls

It's a bit different from what you find in Vietnamese Restaurants.  The skin is the same skin you see on spring rolls, but in this case it's deep fried, giving it a crispier and lighter skin.  Though different, it was still delicious!

Late night snack

Occasion: In between baking the snickerdoodle cookies, I snacked on some Pho. Henry's mom is a fantastic cook! YUM! 11.25.11

  Pork base Pho with fancy pork, shrimp, cilantro, green onions and vermicelli noodles

Just what I needed to keep me going late at night.  I had a tiny bowl, just enough to tease my stomach.  Her broth was flavorful, delicious and just what I needed.

Yummy Yummy

1015 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122

Occasion: Another Tran family affair. Party of 13. 10.14.11

 Beef Carpaccio

One of my favorite appetizers to get at a Vietnamese restaurant.  I love the combination of flavors that the  raw meat, chopped peanuts, basil, onions and the sweet fish sauce bring together.  It's sweet and tangy deliciousness that's perfect for an appetizer.

 

Beef Pho

I got to have a taste of this because I wanted to.  I wasn't in the mood to eat a whole bowl of pho, especially BEEF.  I couple sips of soup and some noodles and that was satisfying enough for me.

Banh Cuon

It's light and seems pretty healthy, or at least I seem to think so.  I've always loved steamed rice noodles at dim sum and this definitely reminds me of it, except the fact that it's stuffed with other kinds of goodness.  It's stuffed with minced pork, diced up mushroom, water chestnut. Yum. I really enjoyed it and it's definitely better than the ones at Irving Deli.

Out the Door

Occasion: Lunch on a Monday after an exhausting weekend. 10.03.11

Chicken porridge

Just what we needed on a gloomy Monday. It's not as authentic as I'd like for it to be and it's not as "qing". Definitely a lot more oily and msg in there, but it was tasty and soothing going down my throat. It's featured in SF BIG EATS as #56. Chicken Porridge @ Out the Door.

Ca Mau Restaurant

2847 S White Rd, San Jose, CA 95148

Occasion: Friday night dinner after shopping at Microcenters in the south bay. 09.16.11

Beef Pho

Even though I had just had chicken pho for lunch, I was feeling way under the weather, so I just wanted some comfort food. Due to my lack of appetite and my poor health, I wasn't able to enjoy my meal like the rest of the boys. They however, devoured their BBH!

Brodard's

9892 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92844

Occasion: In Irvine for the weekend for brother's graduation.  After a 9 hour drive down to Irvine, we finally got to eat. 06.10.11

Nem Nuong Cuon

Pork spring rolls: grilled pork paste wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, cucumber, carrot daikon and mint served in a special house sauce

So good, this was our second order. It's like an imperial roll wrapped with a spring roll.  The crispy skin of the imperial roll was stuffed inside this roll, which not only added flavor to it, but also a crispy texture. Never had anything like this before!

Bun Bo Hue Suong

Don't remember what this was called exactly, but I think I've got it. It was in a spicy broth and vermicelli noodles with pork blood and pork organs.  I couldn't handle the spiciness of it, so I had to trade with my sister for something else.

Bun Bo Xao

Loved it. Tender beef with authentic broth and chewy rice noodles.  It was probably the best bowl of beef pho I've ever had!!

Yummy Yummy

1015 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122

Occasion: First meal right out the airport after returning from Maui, HI. I was craving for some homey asian food; something we couldn't find in Maui. 05.09.11

Beef Carpaccio

I was definitely craving for this.  Love wrapping the meat around the onions, basil, peanuts and fried onions then dipping it into the sweet and tangy nuc mam. A mouth full of flavor that was so good.  There's the texture of the tender meat, with the crispy onions and the crunchy peanuts. Just what I needed as my first meal back home.

 

Beef flank pho

Just what I needed! A bowl of noodle soup. Nothing too fancy, just something simple. My comfort food.

Ca Mau Restaurant

2847 S White Rd
San Jose, CA 95148

Occasion: Snack/ dinner before Warrior's vs. Mavericks. April 2, 2011

 

Bun Bo Hue

Suppose to be the best BBH ever.  I don't think this is my kind of meal.  It was way too spicy for me.  Also, the fact that I was already full doesn't help.  It was only ok to me.

Bun Rieu

Occasion: Lazy sundays spent with tv series and bun rieu!

 My favorite vietnamese dish!

Red's Crawfish

611 Larkin Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Dinner date with Diana. End of February 2011.  Overdue dinner and catch up.

Garlic bread

Simple fillers. Not garlicy enough, but was nice to eat some warm buttery bread to fill our starving stomachs.

Sweet Potatoe Fries

Love sweet potato fries so we had to add that into our order.  Not the best I've had, but I couldn't complain! Great to snack on while waiting for food.

Shrimp and corn

I love ordering shrimp. 1 pound of shrimp did my stomach good.  It's no boiling crab, but it still fulfilled my seafood craving.  Corn was cooked and soaked in the broth, which made it extra spicy for me. yikes.

 Garlic Noodles

I love love love garlic noodles. The more garlic the better.

 Crawfish

It sure did fulfil my stomach, but not spicy enough for Diana. She loves Boiling Crab kind of spice!

Fried banana and ice cream

Hoa Ky

447 Broadway
Millbrae, CA 94030

Occasion: Lunch after landing in SFO from Las Vegas. 1.17.11

Bun Bo Hue

Decided to try something different and tried their BBH.  I thought it was pretty good, but then again...this is the second time I've had it that I could remember.  A tad bit too spicy for my liking but perfect comfort food after returning from a fun filled weekend trip.

Turtle Tower

5716 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: After spending QT with the besty (basically pampering ourselves)...we were finally hungry for some turtle tower! 1.12.11

#11 Bun Thang

Just what I needed on a cold winter night! You can't really find this dish at most Vietnamese Restaurants which is why I like to order it here. It's pretty good, thanks for introducing it to me besty! I love it!!

Pho Kim Long

4029 Spring Mountain Road

Las Vegas, Nevada 89102

Occasion: Vietnamese Food at 8am because a group of drunk obnoxious guys would not let us sleep. 12.19.10

Bun Bo Hue

First time every having it!  I wish there was pork blood in it, but there wasn't.  In my opinion it wasn't too bad. It was very flavorful and not too spicy...just the way I like it.

Spring Rolls

Just mediocre. I've definitely had better and they need to work on the peanut sauce!

Imperial Rolls

I guess it was decent considering it was 9am in the morning. Who eats imperial rolls at 9am -__- only zombie fools like us. haha.

PPQ Dungeness Island Vietnamese Cuisine

2332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Celebrating Susan's Bday. 12.04.10.  We had a party of 10, but two got dinner for two and the rest opted for the "Dinner for 8" menu.

Imperial Rolls

How can you possibly go wrong with these deep fried goodies?  They're freaking delicious! Nom Nom.  You can wrap it in a leaf of lettuce and dip it into their sauce. Great way to start the meal off. YUM!

Papaya Salad

Never been a big fan of papaya or papaya salad, but I don't mind eating it.  A little sweet and tangy before grubbing on some good food! It's a filler dish to keep my hungry stomach tamed.

Five Spice Chicken

I personally, think it's not too bad, though other dishes outshine this one.  I like the crispy layer of skin and the juicy and flavorful meat!

Garlic Noodles

There's nothing better than garlic noodles to compliment the crabs.  Though I could have used more garlic, I still think it's pretty bomb! YUM!

Roasted Crab

made with garlic and butter

How can you go wrong with garlic and butter?  It was juicy and flavorful, a lot different from the peppercorn crab.

Peppercorn Crab

I love the flavor of this more than the roasted crab.  The peppercorn flavor adds a different kick to it...and the fact that the outsides is breaded and deep fried, definitely adds to it.

String beans

Finally some veggie! Love string beans and the way they prepare it is simple, yet tasty.  I like that it's not too dry and full of flavor and a sauce.

Sea Bass

I know I've probably said it before and I'll say it again. I think this is my favorite dish! It's easier to eat than crab because you don't have to work so hard for their pieces of meat.  It's flavor is absolutely amazing, as it's sweet yet savory.  The meat is soft and tender and it melts in your mouth. I just love the flavor and the texture of it. You won't understand until you try it, but be sure you're a fish lover!