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Van Hanh Vegetarian Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
16 reviews for Van Hanh Vegetarian Restaurant
vegatarian food is harrrrrd to do...
but this place makes it great! although some people don't like the sit down restaurant food, i'm a huge fan of the crispy tofu~~
i know...fried tofu can often taste like a sponge...BUTTTTT they use silken tofu and the the fry it in a way that keeps the tofu silken while giving it a crunchy crust~~ mmm...like a lil crunchy pocket of molten lava...
the sauce that it comes with is a little too sweet for my liking..but that can be adjusted with LOTSSS of chili!!! ^^
also, try the eggrolls~~ they come with a plate of fresh veggies for you to use as wraps and that "fish" sauce is pretty good~~~ ^^
as for the to-go stuff..its all pretty amazing...every chinese new year, i come here with my parents and we buy one of everything to set up for the holiday~ there's ALWAYS a line out the door of this place on chinese new year... its totally worth the wait tho...either that or spend 7 hours cooking like granny does...
so yea...come and try the vegetarian food...its good for your soul..(and its tasty too!)
Yummy! This place makes GREAT vegetarian food. I have gotten several things and suggest the vegetables, the tofu wrapped in tofu skin, and the spring rolls. The spring rolls are to die for. Yes. You can order off the menu, or you can order three items with rice for $5.50 at the to-go bar and actually eat it there. We've done both and I've actually liked the to-go stuff more. I saw someone eating the fried "fish" which looked delicious (I love that dish) so I'll have to try that soon.
The only thing is, it's not the classiest place . . .
Quick tip: GET THE TO-GO FOOD!
The stuff on the sit-down menu is weak.
My mom, having a Buddhist background, often has cravings for Com Chay (vegetarian food) and this is her place to get that fix. Her and I would always go here together whenever I'm back home and we've eaten some of the sit-down stuff before.
I've tried:
1. Yellow Curry -The curry is way too sweet. Also, there was hardly anything in it! The dish reminded me of miso soup because there was such a high liquid to actual solid ratio - I only ended up getting about a handful of tofu chunks before being left with overly sweet broth. Gross.
2. Stir-Fry Vegetable Noodles (Hu Tieu Xao) - First off, they used the pho rice noodles in this dish - absolute no-no! The noodles were in huge chunks and served with an oily sauce with scattered vegetables. I felt like I was just eating starch drenched in salty mushroom sauce.
The to-go food is much better. The che is decent and they've got pretty good vegetarian spring rolls. The ratio of the ingredients is good and they don't skimp on the tofu. Only downside is that the dipping sauce doesn't come with spicy sauce and has minimal peanuts. The other to-go food (I don't know the english names for any of them) are pretty good as well - but be sure to eat with rice because they can be on the salty side.
Overall, Van Hanh is cheap and it's quick - you definitely get what you pay for but also keep in mind - there's a reason why a vast majority of their customer base comes for the to-go food, leaving their dining area often empty and desolate.
Sorry, I have to lower my rating of this place. I have been going here week after week with the same coworker. We each order a 3 item combo with half yellow noodles and half white/clear noodles (kind of like half chow mein and half fried rice at a Chinese place). It's usually the same lady that helps us, but there was a guy who spoke English one week that was really nice.
So we go in today and try to order our usual. There's a new guy and girl there, along with the usual lady. The guy is taking the orders, the ladies are at the register. We try to tell the guy that we want combos (this took a bit of pointing an explaining). Then once he understood that, he started to fill the whole thing with noodles...Confusion, but then one of the ladies explained for us. So we both get our combos with a bit of other confusion in the process. We notice that the portions are a lot smaller than normal, but don't say anything because we doubt he would understand anyway.
Then when my coworker tries to pay for hers (they are usually $6), the girl tells her it is $15 something. huh? for one combo? Then she proceeds to explain it's because of the extra items, because we got half and half of the noodles. We didn't get any extra items- just less of one noodle, and more of another, like we have been, week after week. And we ask the lady who always does it for us. She denies it! What?!? Like she doesn't remember the two white ladies who come in every week and ask what everything is and buy everything she tells us to?
Now, I know we are in Little Saigon where English is not the primary language, but seriously!?! The prices haven't changed; they just made up some arbitrary rule so that we won't want to take our business there anymore. I really and truly do not comprehend why it should cost more. If you can have A or B and A and B both cost the same, and you have been getting half A and half B for the same price all this time, why would you suddenly alienate your customers and way overcharge them?
There are other vegetarian restaurants in Little Saigon we have been considering trying. Now we have the perfect reason.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/17/2009
I leave the world as I know it behind as I enter this area known as Little Saigon; where there are… Read more »
The staff's English is limited here. Thankfully I knew a little Vietnamese to get by. I stayed away from the restrooms after reading other reviews.
For vegetarian food, this stuff was good. I was impressed by the pho. The broth tasted good and having mushrooms & other faux meats was delicious.
I'm not sure what to make of this place.
The service was a bit slow; it took a while to receive a menu and longer to place an order.
Benefit of the doubt 1:
Short handed, that must be it. No biggie, I was in a lazy Sunday good mood, it bothered me none.
Or..., maybe this is how they operate, customer service being a foreign concept here.
The waitress lady came back, good. Before I spoke a word she stared at me with a frowned look that startled me, and it was truly unexpected.
The look wasn't kind and even hostile (It wasn't the look that said 'hurry up', it was as if she saw someone who she recognized from long ago that she didn't like).
For a few seconds, but seemed like minutes, tons of question marks popped out of my head. Speechless, I stared back at her with a poker face (wh, what....?). Then I pointed to a couple of items I wanted, the frowned look continued.
Did I remind her of someone? Or did I look retarded? (Which I'm not contesting.)
Benefit of the doubt part 2:
She didn't like fake vegetarians, that must be it. I wouldn't be surprised if her thoughts were "You poor disgrace of a human, you're not a vegetarian! What are you doing here!?" It fit the look she gave me perfectly.
Or..., she didn't like that I walked in with sandals as if I live there (My Sunday outfit, super loose casual with baggie shorts, T-shirt and sandals. I feel so free! Yea!).
Or..., she found various customers interesting, she lives a sheltered life at a temple.
She seemed to relax a bit once she found I don't speak Vietnamese (So the person I reminded her of spoke Vietnamese?). When I was asking her what a mican is and other stuff, she stared at me blankly, she spoke close to zero English.
This has never been an issue but for some reason it was just hard to communicate here, I just pointed to Pho and Tofu in the end, no water (I think water was 75 cents on the menu if I recall correctly. I got hot tea, free but on a hot day it's....torture).
The food came, good. The Pho came first and the Crunchy Tofu plate came few minutes later.
Two large cubes of Tofu plop onto the table and tumbles towards the Pho bowl I was eating, coming to a stop about an inch from the bowl.
She tilted the Tofu plate too much while lowering it onto the table and two pieces slid off the plate, leading to the plop on the table with a squishy soft thud of a noise.
She was about to pick them up but I said it's ok, no problem (What was she going to do anyway? Put them back on the plate?). Oddly, there was no apology, I think she wanted to say something though (Couldn't find the words in English I think).
Benefit of the doubt part 3:
She's not used to this and she was backup for someone, that must have been it.
Or..., she meant to drop more but failed, ha ha.... Ok, I ain't going back...
Food:
Pho was Ok. Nothing memorable, nothing shocking, nothing extraordinary. It was not bad but nothing shockingly good better-than-real-meat items (The main reason I go to vegetarian Pho places).
The Fried Crunchy Tofu tasted fresh with nice soft texture (But tasted ordinary as if from supermarket). The crunchiness diminished after a while though, leaving you with ordinary Tofu cubes.
The miso flavored sauce (Fermented bean paste sauce) was lacking in punch and flavor, I skipped it.
Aftermath:
When I left the place I was still in a good Sunday mood, just a bit perplexed, though my forehead felt wrinkled from frowning as I walked out. Like I said, this happened on a Sunday, a good time to feel perplexed.
But if this happened on a short lunch break during a hectic work day, yup, going postal..., about the time I hear the soft thud noise from the Tofu cubes hitting the table and after the cubes rolling my way come to a halt.
I thiiink I've dined in once before, I'm not sure... it was so long ago. Now that I'm back in a vegetarian kick, I find myself ordering takeout here often. I only order the mi can roti, it's so good! Sometimes I get their banh bao, which is made with soy ham, mushrooms, and cassava. Those are yummy too, and they're 3 for $2. One of these days I'll get around to ordering a noodle dish.
I would've given this restaurant five stars, but something happened at the end of our visit that colored the experience entirely. Read on, faithful Yelper, and all shall be revealed.
If you're a vegetarian -- and even if you're not -- this restaurant in Little Saigon is well worth checking out. The menu is interesting and inventive, and the wait staff is extremely helpful and friendly.
In fact, they might be too helpful! My son and I stopped here for dinner Sunday night, and as I was ordering, the waitress didn't just correct me -- "Why are you ordering so much food?" -- she didn't let me order a dish and replaced it with another -- "How about this instead? It's better."
She was right on both counts. We certainly didn't need the spring rolls and the yellow pancake -- we didn't even really need the spring rolls. They can be avoided unless you're starving.
Then, we got the tofu and basil dish with rice -- and it came with mushrooms. I highly recommend this dish. And the other dish... I don't even know what it was, but they looked like sectioned potatoes and tasted like seitan or something similar. Served on a bed of lettuce and tomato, which we didn't touch. I have no idea what I wanted to order. Maybe the mushroom stew or something.
I tried the salty lemon drink, which was interesting -- but I don't need to have it again. And my son's orange juice tasted more like an orange drink of sorts -- kind of like Polish fruit juice drinks.
The food was awesome. And the staff was great. The location, too, is interesting. It appears to be -- or have been -- some sort of function hall, as there's a stage-like area at one end and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.
So why three instead of five stars? Before leaving, we visited the restroom. And we saw a cockroach. Where there's one cockroach, there's more than one. And if they're in the restroom, they're in other rooms. That's worrisome.
Clean up your act, Van Hanh! You're awesome otherwise.
order the jicama rolls (bo bia) with peanut hoisin sauce, tofu rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce (add more chili), and veggie fish that i forgot the name of...just ask for the thing that's red and long, it think it's supposed to be shrimp or lobster. SO GOOD! prices are great of course!.i want to try the pad thai, curry, and bun cha gio (noodles with egg rolls) next.
not for the weak-stomached who can't handle a couple of cockroaches. aint no cockroach ever ruined my meal.
also, not for those who can't speak the language of the country they're in. learn some vietnamese for god's sake, you're in little saigon.
i drive 417 miles (exactly) to come here. the vermicelli bowl with shredded tofu is all i need. okay, i lie. last time i bought 12 steamed vegetable buns and a veggie banh cuon to take back. i even bought a little styrofoam cooler to preserve them for the 6.5 hr drive. is that not dedication? sometimes i get worried that they think i'm getting stood up since i eat there by myself but order five dishes. im willing to sacrifice my pride for my appetite though. seriously though, get the roti mican if you want a caramelized mock chicken type of dish and then you'll stop whining.
Another good vegetarian restaurant in OC, particularly in Bolsa! I usually just get the togo and have yet to dine in. I love the Goi Ngo Xen (Lotus Root Salad), Goi Cuon (Spring Rolls w/ Soy Shrimp), and Nem Nuong (Grilled Soy Ground Pork Rolls)! The place is quit big compared to other Viet restaurant. Service is also good and friendly.
If you haven't read about this place, you probably would never go in (hell I never went in and I'm vietnamese). This place is a vegetarian restaurant with many many good tofu and mushroom type dishes. A must order is a side of eggrolls and wrap the lettuce around it as you eat it. What is interesting is if you go here you see monks on occasion.
I've been coming here for a few years. I really enjoy the pho here with all the different vegetarian "meats" and mushrooms and what not. For a while they were serving it with lemon but the last couple times I've gone they switched over to lime. I think since i'm not Vietnamese they look at me like i'm crazy walking into their restaurant. Don't order ice water because like other places in the world other than the US, they charge. The walls are dirty, but the pho is good and hot!
So my friends and I came here after going to a friend's dad's funeral. I've only tried their 'bo bia' (spring rolls w/vegetarian eggs & sausage) here once or twice, and it was decent. Today I had a sit down family style meal here. The family course came with a pretty hearty portion of dishes. The first dish was some fried bean curd with some kinda vegetarian crab looking thing wrapped inside. It tasted like fish cake wrapped in bean curd and deep fried. Now..when I say deep fried, this dish was very very deep fried, very oily and greasy. I'd pass on this one next time, i can feel my arteries clogging up just from one bite. The next dishes were the mi xao don (crispy egg noodles) and some slimy mushroom tofu plate. The mi xao don was also too oily for me..I ate more of the veggies instead and picked the mushrooms out of the slimy mushroom tofu dish. These two dishes were so-so. The last dish of the course was a thai-style veggie hot pot. This was probably the most decent tasting b/c it tasted just like a thai tom yum soup. For dessert, we got thach (agar w/coconut jelly on the bottom) with longans. The dessert was delish..thach was not too sweet and had the perfect texture. Longan tasted like what it should from the can. All in all, the family dishes which I ate weren't that great. The next time I come back, I'll opt for some other things on their menu.
50 cents for water. non english speaking staff wouldn't let us choose what we wanted and deciding for us, which was actually kind of refreshing. the food was good, but i have no idea what it was.
they charged $0.50 for each water and no one spoke english. when i pointed at the things i wanted to order they said, "no, you don't want this... you want THIS" and didn't bring us anything we actually ordered. they did have good taste though because everything they picked for us was delicious.
