Harry W.
Yelp
Summary:
Incredibly good Vietnamese Cuisine, Fast efficient friendly service, casual neighborhood vibe with a touch or two of modern decor. It's tough to go wrong with the menu here... BIG portions, and the "Small" sizes are plenty 'nuf too! =)
Intro & Ambiance:
Way out on the outer Western edge of San Francisco lies the Sunset District, which is pretty much the quiet 'burbs compared to the other sides of town. On Taraval Street out here, there are a ton of Chinese restaurants but good Vietnamese food has been curiously missing in this particular quadrant until just recently.
In particular, many different small Chinese Cafes have taken their turn at the corner restaurant right on the L-Taraval Streetcar line at 28th Avenue and Taraval, but none have been as successful from the get-go as Viet Quan Vietnamese Noodle House.
It's usually quite busy here at all times noon or nights, so step inside through the double doors and place yourself on the waitlist. Before you are tables of four along the walls and tables of two paired up down the middle, which are sometimes paired up with the tables along the walls to accommodate larger parties.
The Food:
Here's the rundown on some of the dishes we've tried over several visits:
#3 - 4/5 BBQ Pork Rolls - These are fresh spring rolls - not deep fried, but wrapped in rice paper and steamed. served cold with lettuce and vermicelli inside with the BBQ pork.
#50 - 4/5 BBQ Pork with Vermicelli - Perfect for hot days, Excellent grilled pork with a chopped up spring roll over a bed of vermicelli and lettuce. Portions are Big!
#20 - Well-done Beef & Rare Beef Noodle Soup - On point, but I prefer my rare beef to be served on the side.. I'll ask for that next time, but the other dishes here overshadow this one. With the small sizes here, you get a deep bowl. Plenty if you aren't absolutely starved.
#22 - 4/5 Chicken Noodle Soup - On point and a reliable simple choice for a long cold day. With this you get enough tender slices of chicken and wide rice noodles. Other noodles can be substituted without issue.
#31 - 5/5 Curry Chicken with Egg Noodle Soup - A surprise hit! The curry is noticeably stronger here in this than Japanese Curry, and the extra kick gives this hot noodle bowl the oomph you want to clear out any stuck sinuses! Unlike #22, you get bone-in pieces of dark meat chicken with this. Perfect!
#74 - Garlic Noodles with Shrimp -(4.25/5) Presented on a giant square plate (because it needs it!) is a HUGE portion of Garlic Noodles with about 8 small/medium sized grilled shrimp on top. The shrimp was divine with just a hint of char, same goes for the noodles, which had a reasonable amount of butter and a decent amount of garlic. A bit more garlic would have been even more fantastic. I challenge anyone to finish this massive plate! The shrimp went quickly, and the noodles are rich, but not totally overly buttered like I've had at other places. Next time, I would ask for double portion of shrimp for a few more bucks for this one. Delish! *as a YT Mom likes to say! =)
If you've read this far, you can tell that we love VQNH. It's definitely one of our top Viet places to hit up whenever we feel the call! I can't wait to try out the other items on their menu!