Anh Hong Restaurant
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
39 Reviews for Anh Hong Restaurant
As my yuppie friend from Menlo Park puts it, this is undoubtedly one of the best restaurants. Seven course beef dishes. The lemon grass has a French influence in it. I often sight Patrick/Tri's mother and Ken/Khang of the SJ Huong Lan at this restaurant. Since I am a longtime friend of the owner, Phung, they take care of me plus some. Every time we have Vietnamese guests from out of town, this restaurant is a must see for the visitors.
Eating here reminded me of one my homegirls...
From the Waltski Chronicles.....
Several years ago, I had an intimate at home Vietnamese dinner with Karen. At the time, I never really experience Vietnamese cuisine. She cracked up and poke fun at me when I told her that the only cuisine I ever had was a $3.00 Vietnamese sandwich. So on one lucky night, she came over with a bag of groceries from Ranch 99 and we made Spring Rolls for dinner. This was an awesome "dating" experience where I learned how to prep and make Spring Rolls. Though it me several attempts to roll the rice paper perfectly without ripping it, she was so amused that I made every effort to impress her.
We dated for about a year.. off and on. We ended up being friends and my go to person when I need to educated myself about the Vietnamese culture. And would laugh about the spring roll experience and she mentioned that a seven course beef meal would be great idea someday. That was about eight years ago. So now maybe someday, i can have a dinner here with someone special. Yeah... i know.. i'm such a big romantic. But that's the beauty of Asian cuisines.
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Until this past Wednesday I was a Vietnamese 7-course-beef virgin, so I'm not really able to say if this restaurant was above average, or just the norm for this type of meal. However, the meat and veggies were fresh and delicious, it was incredibly fun cooking the meat in the boiling hot-pot, and Mr. F. and I enjoyed both trying to make the rolls, as well as the flavors of the different types of beef provided during the course of the meal.
The portions we got weren't especially huge, but I believe I heard that there had been less food ordered for the group than the numbers that responded because the organizers weren't sure that the group would like it and didn't want to waste food. So, if you actually do get more food for two people than we were able to have, the portion sizes were pretty decent for the money.
The only downsides to this restaurant are that you pretty much have to know what you're doing unless you have some Vietnamese friends (or friends familiar with this entree) to guide you along the way. As well, it was really hard to find the restaurant as it was tucked away in a courtyard well off of the parking lot...and during our search for it, we almost got run in to by a guy backing up without looking. Not the restaurant's fault, of course, but still...it was scary enough to make me shave half a star off the review for the restaurant not being easy to find.
We'll definitely try this meal again, even if it isn't at this Anh Hong.
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Uh no. I give this place props because it's a local institution. But 7 beef course left a lot to be desired.
Ugh, it went all down hill afterwards. Honestly it was just bad timing, we were able to snag the last table before the crowd but Anh Hong staff was soooo busy running ragged.
If any one ever notices the poor esse working and bussing tables, pay attention to the lady boss/hostess and see how she bitches at him. Dude working triple hard; no need to ride him while you're paying him only $5/hr. Total turn off.
The good: goi (carrot/cucumber salad), the perilla wrapped beef (great flavor).
If there's such a time to come here, definitely during an off period! The up side is that if you have a large group, you can definitely reserve ahead of time.
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Earlier this week coworkers HT and Laurie K. and I decide to do din. I'm ready for the yummy traditional places when HT says to me... you want to try something new? Flash back a couple weeks ago to vegetarian Indian where it was super greasy, or flash back a year ago when he brought me to super evil and spicy noodle place where half of my taste buds died... I apprehensively said maybe... where did you have in mind?
He goes... "You'll like it. It's 7 courses of beef." What? 7 courses of beef? Relief swells over me and off we go to a happier place with 7, yes that's right 7 courses of beef!
As meat makes me a happier person in general, I am stoked when we get here and he orders in Vietnamese 2 portions of the beef meal for 3 ppl, and an addition side dish. I am starving when we got there since we all stayed a little later at work than usual.
Everything is done in the rice paper wraps style with the pickled veges lettuce, fish sauce and SEVEN styles of beef! From BBQ plate to poaching, to meatbally things to this delicious beef cake, finished off by this light beef rice porridge. It was all amazing.
HT and LK have officially earned back my trust in restaurant selection. Fun times with lots of beef and good convos.
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Hands down, my favorite restaurant. the one in milpitas is alot better. i highly recommend the " raw meat appetizer." Like everyone else, your initial reaction is "gross" or "eww". But it is very good. I forced all my friends and family to try it and they ALL loved it. Try it out and see for yourself! Let me know what you think!
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*Disclaimer*
I am not a connoisseur of Vietnamese food, not by any stretch of the imagination; the only terms I can whip about with confidence are "pho" and "bun." Luckily for me, I have three Vietnamese roommates who can order for me when it becomes unfamiliar. Unluckily for you, I did not consult them for this review; and furthermore, the restaurant did not have take-out menus, so we will have to rely on my descriptive power for all the Usefulness.
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My roommate has a friend visiting from out of town, so he wanted to take him somewhere with really good Vietnamese food. Naturally, that means San Jose.
So at around 6 last night, we decide to go, but we have to go early because "everything closes at 9 in San Jo." Of course, we take forever to leave, which leads to hightailing it at top speed down South to find.......our original choice of restaurant was already closed. After much discussion and hemming and hawing, we finally decide on Anh Hong (and after all the hullabaloo, let's just say that this restaurant [unfairly] had a lot to make up for).
Food-wise, let me tell you, it didn't disappoint (and neither did the boys' ordering abilities)! First they brought out a bunch of raw meats and seafood, along with a skillet-y thing for us to cook it. On the side, we were given rice paper sheets, bowls of warm water, two kinds of fish sauce, and plates of vegetables and herbs (e.g. lettuce, mint, bean sprouts, and pickled daikon and carrots). (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) We also got other meat dishes and a whole catfish (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). Most of the food we ordered was to be rolled up in the rice paper (which we softened in the bowls of warm water) and dipped in the fish sauce.
Man, the food was *really* good.
And furthermore, we were there past closing, and the proprietors were so nice and patient waiting for us to finish eating. I apologize for being an inconsiderate visitor. :-/
So why only three stars, you might ask? Well, halfway through dinner, my roommate picks up a piece of lettuce and finds...a roach on it. A ROACH (I don't know why this didn't bother me more when I saw it, and ugh, I wish I'd gotten a picture!). But being the discreet gentleman that he is, instead of making a big stink about it, he folded up the lettuce and placed it on the side.
Then later in the meal, he realizes the lettuce is gone.
HIM: "Where was the lettuce that was right here?"
OUR DINING COMPANION (ODC): "Oh, why? I thought it was supposed to be on the plate, so I just put it back."
HIM: "Oh really? Uh oh."
ODC: "Why? What happened?"
HIM: "Ummmm...there was a roach in it."
EVERYONE AT THE TABLE: "WHAT???"
Omg, I hope that extra crunch in that one bite was some sort of vegetable.
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i love leafy vegetables. i love grilled beef. i love making rolls. i love finger food. i love this place.
i visit this place often enough in the past. especially when i first met my bf. i always ask him to bring me here...or whenever he did something to make me mad, he'll bring me here to make me smile. it worked.
a couple of years later....when we're comfortable in our relationship, he tells me he hates this place, he thinks its a rip off for stuff that can be made at home for less. he hates rolling cuz it wastes his time while he's hungry. he has no patient for this place...and that he only took me there because he loves me. what? he stopped loving me now? cuz for the past couple of years, we stopped going there.
only recently, i've decided to go back to this place. i had dinner here 4 times within the past month. yikes. it can get expensive if you don't know what to order.
the leafy greens, rice paper, pickled veges, and sauces are free...and free refills on them.
i don't order the 7 course. each order is per person..and costs around $16-17. i can't remember all 7 courses, and it's tough describing them....i would say they're small enough for one person, not enough to share. i don't order all 7 courses because i don't like most of them.
i order the plate portions of what i like...in which you get more, you pay more....but in the end, you actually get more of what you like and pay less. for example: i always order "bo mo chai" "bo la lot" & "bo cuon tom"...each plate comes out with about 8-10 sausages and costs about $8-9. 3 plates would be plenty for 3-4 people. noodles are not included. they are $2 for a small plate.
crispy fish is about $33 each. personally, i don't like it so much, it's only catfish...it looks like they deep fried it then grilled it...because the skin is beyond crispy. catfish skin isn't meant for deep frying.
i still can't get the bf to take me there. i think it's nice and cozy for 2 people to sit and roll together. this place gets packed at night. any night of the week, especially on weekend. i never call in ahead, i just walk in, and i always get a table.
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Instigated by Cindi N's great UYE, I tried Vietnamese 7 Course beef for the first time. Even after reading the menu, looking and the pictures and how to videos, I didn't know what to expect. Luckily, it was a success--I really enjoyed it.
Highlights:
- Rice paper rolling: getting to be origami crafty and eat a meal all in one! It's fun to try and perfect--ok even just try--the roll form. You start off more taco-like with fillings coming out from every direction and work up to more of an enclosed roll with proper instruction. Thanks Cindi N and Carol L for taking me under their wing karate kid style (but the Vietnamese version). As a bonus, we discovered on a hot day you can use the not-yet-water-soaked rice paper circles as fans. :-)
- Variety: yeah, it's all beef, but in all different forms and some are more meat-centric than others.
- Veggies: surprisingly a good amount of these. The salad is based in veggies and you can include cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, and lettuce in everything when you wrap it in rice paper.
- Not too much food: I wasn't as overwhelmed as I thought it would be. You don't have to order 1 order per person and courses 4-6 came all together so that helped.
- I liked all the courses, but these are my faves in order of preference:
-- Steamed meat balls (course 3): more of a meatloaf in a small bowl. My sense of sight did not find it appetizing with the light color in a lump, but once in my mouth my sense of taste declared it a winner. Soft minced texture with some onions, but won the day with lots of peppercorns throughout it. I'm a pepper-loving girl so I was super happy.
-- Salad (course 1): veggie-full with things like celery and carrot and thinly sliced beef as a topping really. Naturally crunchy and light. Also had fried scallions for some texture. On the whole, one of my faves of the night.
-- Grilled beef (course 6): rolled with shallots inside and chopped peanuts and lemongrass sauce on top. Nice grill slightly charred flavor and extra nice with all the additional flavors. A familiar preparation from getting bun bowls all these years.
-- Porridge (course 7): I'm not huge of rice soups but this was comforting, mellow and quite nice. Beef took second fiddle to rice on this one with just a few ground pieces floating around.
-- Fondue (course 2): like hot pot/shabu shabu. Super thin slices you cook for a few seconds on the top of a little sterno stove. Potential excitement quotient with the flame going up high every once in a while.
Lowlights (my flip side to highlights):
- Need native tour guides: without all of my Vietnamese yelper friends, I wouldn't know what to do. :-O
- A bit hard to find: stuck in the back of the strip mall. Drive to the middle of the strip mall and then walk in the hallway on the corner, pass the bakery (keep your sweet-lovin friends on a leash), coin operated pony ride, and mini fountain to find it.
I'll be back as a more experienced 7 course of beefer and give it another go.
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so why did i rate this place a three-star?
bad service. like really bad. just because my sister and i look like young lil girls they didn't really sever us like how they treated those "adult" looking people.. okay lets get to the point.. the food was good but it was missing a couple of items. the cup of water had things clinging onto it.. GROSS! oh yeah... the amount isnt worth its price. enough said.
note to self:
never again coming back. =)
After reading several yelp reviews and not wanting to feel grossly stuffed, us group of 5 decided to order 2 seven course beef and 2 seven course fish dinners. Everything comes out really fast and before we knew it, our table was filled with dishes of various sizes, filled with various foodstuffs and we had NO IDEA how to eat! I overheard the next table remark "they don't know how to eat!" and kindly came over and taught us how it was done. So please go with a Vietnamese friend or someone in the know.
The seven course fish dinner has not been highlighted enough. I think it's an awesome alternative for those who don't eat red meat or who simply prefer fish. The actual dishes are all very similar to the beef version and we actually thought that the fish congee tasted better than the beef. Those who love veggies as much as I do won't be disappointed as they give you plates of romaine lettuce (and some other unidentifiable leafy green that wasn't quite basil...sorta ginko shaped? I dunno...), bean sprouts, cucumbers, and marinated radish/carrots to go with your meats.
I wouldn't recommend it if you were feeling lazy because you have to put it all together yourself.
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I love this place. I would say the portions are small because my man and I always get 3 per person orders for just the both of us and it's JUST ENOUGH. I also like the the shrimp, calamari, and steak plate. This place is great for big parties. I see many tables with the whole friend fish so I'll be sure to give that a try next time.
This place gets 4 stars based on food alone. If their service, layout was just a little better they could get a five star. Even though some restaurants I will give the fifth star to just on the food, I think for the food you get here, the service and layout affects it.
So this is the place to go for Bo 7 Mon(seven courses of beef). They have other items too but that's the main reason I come here. This is definitely one of those restaurants you shouldn't go expecting great service. The thing with Bo 7 Mon is it comes with a lot of stuff that fills up a table and there's never enough space here for everything.
For example, everyone has their plate and bowl and utensils on the table. You get a plate with lettuce and herbs and other greens. You get another place with picked vegetables and cucumbers. You get your fish sauce and this other saurkraut like thing that I never eat and don't know what it's called. You also get bowls of water for the Bun Trang(however you spell it). Imagine all that with the meat on a table that if you had 5 people would fix 5 or 6 people normally with one plate in front of them. That's why I find the layout of the place to affect the eating.
The service has gotten better. Before they would practically ignore you if you ask for more greens or whatnot, and you almost always need more.
If you've read this far I know you're definitely interested in trying the place and the food is well worth it. The food is very good and you get 7 courses of beef! How can you go wrong with that? The first course is a beef salad with minced julienne pickled vegetables. Then you get the thinly sliced beef that you cook in a broth they bring you over a mini heater. Next you get four types of grilled beef. One with onions in it, another wrapped in seaweed, another plain grilled, and meatpie. They're all great in their own ways but I love the meatpie. The final thing you get is a beef porridge. Courses 2-6 all require wrapping into the rice paper by yourself so be prepared to work for your food! Or bring your girlfriend with you to do it haha j/k. Although it would be nice.
I've been here like 20 times so yes the food is that good, plus I think it's also because my parents like it and we end up going for family stuff.
I'm not an expert on 7 courses of beef but my husband is! He thought this place was good. I thought it was pretty good too except I did find a tiny bug on my lettuce. I have a sharp eye for these things and have found many things like this in food that you probably have passed over and eaten so I didn't think it was a big deal :D
Seriously tho sometimes I hold these things right to my friends' eyes and say look! They stare for several seconds and don't see anything. Not joking!
Anyhow, so we did order the regular 7 courses of beef. With a name like that I thought we'd have tons of leftovers but they portion each course very well. We (or my husband) finished things off pretty well and were quite full at the end of the meal.
We and our clothes were no stinky like the other reviewers said we would be. I was imagining smelling as strong as when I eat Korean BBQ. Maybe it's b/c we didn't get the big grill at the center of the table to grill our own meat.
The food here is exceptionally good. Rather pricey though, for Vietnamese cuisine. Minus 2 stars for some of the WORST service EVER.
This 7 course beef menu is a great example of why I could never be a willing vegetarian. My bf brought me to this ultimate carnivore heaven for beef salad, hot pot beef that you wrap yourself in spring roll rice paper with crunchy bean sprouts (I got a personal demo, but I'm sure they would nice enough to show you), flavorful beef sausage, beef wrapped in Hawaiian lot leaf, a beef meatloaf with fragrant herbs, marinated beef with peanuts, and beef porridge. Any meat eater who doesn't like any of this must hate life or something. Totally YUM!
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It's getting late, so I'm keeping this review short and sweet.
This is definitely a delicious restaurant. My family and I have been coming to this place since I was a kid.
Their 7 courses of meat is great to share with family and friends to leave everyone happy.
Also, I would recommend their baked catfish. It's not as popular as the 7 courses of beef, but it is very tasty.
The restaurant is clean and the service is good for a Vietnamese restaurant.
The food is fresh and prepared with consistency each time.
I'll be heading to college this fall, and I have to say that I'll definitely be missing Anh Hong!
Better come here on a empty stomach otherwise there's no way you can finish all that food. Somebody spoke of all five locations and the funny thing is that I lived near almost all those location and have tried all 5 as well. I think the Westminster one is the best but the SJ one is not far off at all. This place is great for large parties and don't even think about bringing a date here.
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Anh Hong has been in San Jose for a long time, and they specialize in Bo Bay Mon...7 Courses of Beef.
Bo 7 Mon is becoming more popular as more restaurants are popping up offering it. The Anh Hong group itself has 5 locations, here, Milpitas, Garden Grove (Westminster Ave), Rosemead and San Francisco (Geary Blvd). I first had this dish in Westminster, CA at Hong An Restaurant. I think Anh Hong is slightly better, especially the meatloaf like 6th dish is tastier here.
Anh Hong San Jose is located in the back corner of the Lion Plaza, the first all Vietnamese shopping center in San Jose. Vietnamese know where to find it, because it is very popular and does great business. But if you are not familiar with it, unless you look real hard, you won't find it. You will have to park in the main lot and walk back into the left corner to another little plaza of shops, walking past groups of Vietnamese men playing a popular board game, reminiscent of Portsmouth Square in SF Chinatown, albeit a different game.
The first review of this place is an excellent breakdown of the courses and ingredients and how to eat it, so scroll down and read it, or bring a Vietnamese with you who knows what they are doing. Once you learn what your supposed to do, this is a fun family dinner or sharing with friends type of meal. the full Bo 7 Mon is now $15.50 per person. You can also get Ca 7 Mon, or 7 Course Fish, and they also have Bo 5 Mon, a smaller 5 course beef offering. You can order with the entire 7 with each course prepared and served, or pick and choose for a little more, or cook at your table some courses for a little more still. On weekends, get here before 7 pm, as afterwards it is filled up pretty well.
I think there should be a Ga 7 Mon offered, a 7 Course Chicken dinner! Seems like a natural. I once ate at a popular and expensive restaurant in the Shinsaibashi district of Osaka, Japan that offered just that, Japanese style on skewers.
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Good ol vietnamese "party" food. Come prepared to leave smelling smelly. Worth it though. Cheap and good food. Fried shrimp too! yummm
3.5
Whether it be a Tuesday or Saturday evening, I firmly believe that quality should not fluctuate at a restaurant. I still find Anh Hong to be THE only place for Vietnamese seven courses of beef, however, I was a bit dismayed after taking a friend from out of town here for a Tuesday night dinner. The place could use a bit of cleaning, as others have suggested, but I was mostly disappointed by how lackluster some of the items tasted versus how fresh and tasty it is on weekend dinners. The beef carpaccio wasn't fresh, as all the meat had turned completely white from the citric acid, like it had been sitting out for some time. The beef rice soup wasn't as redolent, and the water was clearly from the tap.
Anyhow, service was commendable. We asked numerous times for various extras of items--banh trang, nuoc mam, napkin--and the server even asked if we wanted more salad. The steamed meatloaf is still the best here, as is the beef roll wrapped in some kind of leaf. I love how you can just make endless amounts of rolls to eat. Also, the bathroom wasn't mildewy, as I had expected it to be.
Dinner turned out to be $15.50 per person, so for three people, it was about $50. You don't really end up with leftovers, and the eating here is an interactive kind of fun, so I think it is worth it.
P.S. This place is located in the heart of Lion Plaza, off of Tully and King (wear your bulletproof vest!), next to the food court...You will not be able to see it from the road or even the parking lot.
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I love this place but... only because I was brought here by my vietnamese friend. The first time I tried to come on my own, it was intimidating. And the waiter guy can be pretty mean hehehe. I can laugh now because I know what to order but I would feel sorry for the clueless non-vietnamese speaking hungry patron...
Anyways, we get the beef/shrimp spring roll bbq thing. Cook them at your own table. MMMMM soooooo goooooooooood. I've even had an issue with food here before (okay, there was a hair in my soup) but I still give them a 5. Because it's soooooooo gooooooooooood.
7 COURSE BEEF! What a fun meal and perfect for a date! It's interactive because you're basically wrapping 5 out of the 7 beefs in spring rolls.
BEEF SALAD - Probably the best dish. Very pickled. You can even put this in the spring rolls.
BEEF FONDUE- Thinly sliced beef. Good quality meat. They give you a mini hot pot to cook the beef in since it comes out rare. I did see people eat it straight up rare though.
STEAMED BEEF MEAT BALLS - I could've done without this one. It's actually steamed with peanuts & vermicelli mixed into it. You can eat it on it's own or break it up and put it in the spring roll also.
BEEF WRAPPED IN HAWAIIAN LOT LEAF - I feel like this is essentially the grilled beef sausages but wrapped in leaf.
GRILLED BEEF SAUSAGES - Bf liked this one the most. It's sweet and you can definitely taste a nice charred flavor. The pieces are pretty thick so I suggest breaking it in half vertically and then putting it in the spring roll.
BEEF GRILLED WITH LEMONGRASS - Another one of my favorites of the night! Mildly sweet and topped with crushed peanuts.
BEEF RICE PORRIDGE - I could've done without this one also. It's nice to drink something warm during your meal but it was just a filler. If you get the 5 Course Beef menu, this actually isn't included so I will do that next time.
Sides - pickled veggies (cucumbers, daikon, carrots), chili sauce, fish sauce, some other weird sauce (shrimp paste based?) and veggies (lettuce, cilantro, parsley, mint leaves).
Total Bill for 2 orders of 7 course beef + 1 Vietnamese ice coffee + tax/tip = $40.
I was stuffed beyond belief. Food came out very very fast. It was very crowded on a Saturday night and almost everyone there was Vietnamese! That means it is good and authentic. Ambiance is of your typical Vietnamese restaurant: a little dirty, a little oily. I definitely want to come back and try the 7 course fish!!
Wow is not the right word for this place. The food is good but major cleaning is needed here. After eating here, our cloth smells like dead fish. Dunno if their air system work in a place with grilling at the tables. Out of all their franchise, I think the one in Milpitas is way better. Are they even related ?
This is one of the original 7 courses of beef restaurants in California. Don't look at the menu, order the Bo 7 Mon. If you're with people who don't eat beef, then order the fish version which is just as good. My friend's family owns the restaurant, so at one point, I was eating at the restaurant once a week!
Its fun to eat in a group setting and they have really good Ca Nuong too! I love the Mam Nem... which is the pretty pungent sauce made of shrimp or fish sauce mixed with pineapple, lemongrass, lemon or vinegar, water, and sugar. They also have the regular Nuoc Mam if you ask for it. The food is really messy, but it's just part of the fun and experience of the whole meal.
*note to those trying it for the first time: don't try and over stuff your little rice wrappers, it'll break on you, and you will be a hot mess
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Whenever I come here, I don't bother looking at the menu. Order Bo Bay Mon (7 courses of beef) and you're set.
You can practice your rolling skills trying to fit not too much and not too little in your handmade spring rolls. My favorite beef dish is the one with peanuts. They look like sausages from the outside until you bite into one and SURPRISE there's peanuts.
This place gets packed on the weekends, so I prefer to come on the weekdays for dinner. It's not open for lunch on weekdays. On weekdays service is fast and efficient unless there's a soccer game on tv, then expect all servers to have their eyes on the screen.
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If you truly want to experience Vietnamese Cuisine, I highly recommend going to Anh Hong, I have yet to go to the Milpitas location but the 'rents say that it's not as good. 7 courses of beef come out cooked in ways that make your taste buds tingle with delight! You'd have to like the dipping sauce though...for Vietnamese people I say, if you cant handle the sauce you're WEAK! For the non-Viet, I say...if you at try it, id give you kudos, It would definitely be a way to impress your Vietnamese GF!
seven course beef. Be prepared to smell like it when you walk out. It's tasty and authentic.
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Holly molly, seven courses of beef??? I was literally shocked when my twin girlfriends told me about this Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose two years ago. Finally, I went for the second time with my twin girlfriends and 5 other newbies last night. It was terribly crowded and I almost fainted when I saw the long line not to mention my stomach was growling. Luckily, my girlfriend is smart enough to call ahead and make reservation. We got seated right away.
I had the grill fish the first time I came but we ordered the beef and the fish this time due to our large group. Dip the rice paper in hot water and assemble your own roll with savory beef/fish, vegetable, vermicelli noodle, fish sauce, pickled carrots/jicama, cucumber, and/or bean sprouts. Expect it to be messy but we had lots of fun wrapping and testing with a mixture of stuff. We also had the pork spring rolls. It was finger licking good!! OMG, that beef congee/porridge in the end took our breath away. It was well seasoned and reminded me of my mom's home cooking.
I am big on the ambience and cleaniness of a restaurant. Overall, it is fair but as long as you enjoy the food and do not come out with a stomachache, it is all good. After all, we only paid $16 per person. If you are around the area, I strongly recommend this place. Do go in a group of 5 or more so you can taste more food from the menu! You can definitely invite me along!!! :)
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Great seven courses of beef, Vietnamese style. (Spring rolls, porridge, etc.) Everytime we have guests from out of town, we take them here and they love it. If you love beef, try it out.
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Coming to Lion Plaza you can already expect the restaurants to be very similar to a hole in the wall ish decor. so upon entry i wasn't to surprised on the ambiance.
We went there early to beat the crowd. We were there aroudn 5pm. Right off the bat, they made a bad impression on me. We had a party of 6 and they had us squeeze onto a table where we sat shoulder to shoulder with one another. If you had bo 7 mon you'd understand that that alot of dishes do come out and you need table space. Normally i wouldn't complain being how it's usually busy and i'd understand about squeezing in to help the restaurant. But it was empty at the time and i don't see why we couldn't get a bigger table. There was a table of 3 and they got a table for 6 instead of being squeezed on a table for 4 people.
The other thing was some of the bowls were dirty. It could have been an anomaly but it was too frequent for my liking. Service was quircky and i guess with an asian retaurant it's expected.
The food.... i don't know anymore these days. the price is high for what you get and it seems like the whole bo 7 mon either lost it's luster or the standards have dropped. Maybe as a kid growing up it wa such a treat and that the memories of yester years were alot better then reality.
You get 7 courses in beef, think of it as a sampler of 7 different ways to have beef. though it hink course 3-5 are jut plays on one another. One meat is grilled with grape leaf, another in garlic and i'm not sure what that third one was. the porridge was very soupy and liquid, Lacked of substance and to me wasn't exciting. you get 6 out of the norm dishes and then this one that seems to be just put togetehr for the sake of having a 7th dish.
the food got the 2 stars from me, they loss the rest in cleanliness, service, and just the whole being stingy about giving us a bigger table. Oh and if you're wondering when we left the place was still empty so yes they wouldn't have loss out on anything if they had given us a bigger table.
I was bummed they didn't have the Vietnamese beer. The waiter actually crossed it off my menu with his pen after he said they don't carry it anymore. Then they brought me out a Miller with a glass of ice. Come on now.
As far as the food, I don't remember what I liked most cuz it was all really yummy. I was having too much fun wrapping stuff and testing the tensile strength of the wrappers, but you can really pack it all in there.
The fish and beef were all great, spring rolls were really good, and the soup at the end of the meal was really good too (fish soup was better than beef).
It's tucked back in a little plaza near the furniture store in the Lyon Center on Tully, in case you have a hard time finding it.
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Yum, beef 7 ways! I went with my husband's family, so had the luxury of not worrying about ordering or figuring out how to eat it all, I may have been intimidated if I had gone on my own. But, it's so delicious it would have been worth it! The meat courses come out one or two at a time, and most of them are eaten wrapped in rice paper with some vegetables added, like spring rolls, only savory beef. There is also a meatloaf-style dish that was delicious, despite the fact that it looked a bit like a scoop of ice cream. Anyway, if you get the chance to try this place, do not pass it up because it may be my current favorite Vietnamese food.
The general atmosphere of this place is kind of crazy and loud, though, and slightly off-putting. I am docking it a star because of that, but the food is great.
Very good Vietnamese 7 Course Beef meal here. This is one of my Mom's favorite meals and I wouldn't have know about this place if she didn't suggest it while in town visiting. I hadn't really had it since I was a child and I recalled all these complex techniques in handling each course. As I watched my Mom perform all this food origami I threw all tradition out the window and just stuffed my face. All that mattered to me was it tasted really good. The shopping center where this restaurant is located gets pretty crazy and the parking and crowds can be a bit hectic. I'd suggest going later especially if it's on the weekend. So if you're looking for a unique Vietnamese meal experience, brave the trip into San Jose and give this a try.
Descriptions of the Courses:
http://www.anhhong.com...
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If you love beef, this is a great place to have "7 course beef"... Yummmm. Bring at least a party of 5 because 2 people can't finish all the food . The meal consists of beef, squid, shrimp chips, rice paper, vermicelli noodles, lotsa greens and in a nutshell you get to make your own spring rolls. They are delicious! The only thing is because you'll be frying your food right on the skillet thats in the center of the table, you will leave smelling like all kinds of oil and beef. But its worth it!
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Cool to experience when you are looking for a change of pace. I liked all 7 of the beef courses, but most of all, I liked the porridge at the end of the meal. (I need to work on rolling those wraps)
This place has decent food. We once ordered 2 seven beef course & got only a lil bit more food. Felt like a rip off. I also got the beef & shrimp to grill and it was a plate of 1 layer of shrimp & beef for almost $15 & u have to do your own cooking. It's better to make it at home & u get more bang for ur buck.
Plus: open fairly late. 11pm I think.
recipe:
1. Lay 1 layer of shrimp(butterflied it so it can lay flat down on the grill), chicken (cut really thin so it cooks faster), beef(round eye beef i think, just ask the market's worker for the beef used in pho), squid or watever you like on a flat plate.
2. Marinade/drizzle with olive oil, fish sauce (3 crab brand in vietnamese market), black pepper, minced lemongrass. (About 2 tablespoons of each ingredient or enough to cover the whole plate).
3. Garnish the dish with rings of white onions, thin slices of carrot, & slices of red chilies.
4. Grill ingredient on a flat grill with butter. Choose one that has a hole for extra butter to drain off.
5. For beef, grill it on one side & flip it over & drizzle some lime juice. Taste so much better.
6. Option: buy veggies at asian markets & roll it with grill items on rice paper & dipped in fish sauce-'mam nem' ***
*** this kind is diff from the other fish sauce, it's thicker and has a stinky smell but it's really flavorful. Just write down 'mam nem' & look for it in viet market or ask one of the worker). Some mam nem comes already mix. Just need to add in minced pineapple, chilies, & garlic. Look for 'Que Huong Mam Nem Pha San' in viet markets like Marina on Monterey blvd.
Beware: you will smell like bbq so it's a good idea to take a shower afterward.
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A'nh Ho^`ng means literally, "Shining Red", and means a rhododendron (Greek for rose tree), specifically the Rhododendron Kaempferi, aka the Kaempfer azalea or Torch azalea, and in Japan the yama tsutsuji. My brother first took me to this chain in Rosemead, which is the new Little Saigon of greater LA, akin to the Richmond district being the 2nd Chinatown of San Francisco. They have other locations in Milpitas, Garden Grove, San Francisco, and San Mateo. This chain started in Viet Nam in 1954, and moved to the US when the family owners fled the Communists. So I went today with some friends after we checked out the San Jose Tet Festival. We of course had the specialty, Beef 7 Ways (Bo` Bay Mo'n). The first course is goi bo`, shredded carrots, daikon radishes and celery, roasted red onions and fresh herbs tossed with a lively dressing of fish sauce, chile and both lime and lemon juices, with beef of course. Sometimes shredded green papaya is used. Second is bo nhung giam: sliced eye of round bee