Luke Tsai’s last article for San Francisco Magazine is about Vietnamese food in San Jose’s Vietnam Town and the adjacent Grand Century Mall.
Vit Dong Que
duck that’s poached whole until it’s tender, cut into slices and served cold as a salad over a bed of cabbage and herbs
1143 Story Road, Ste. 190
Com Tam Thien Huong
broken rice
1111 Story Road, Ste. 1086
*Pho Ha Noi San Jose
969 Story Road, Ste. 6048
Pho Papa
1611 E. Capitol Expressway
Dac Phuc Vietnamese Cuisine
198 W. Santa Clara St.*
*LA Sandwiches
6005 Snell Ave.
Huong Lan Sandwich
1655 Tully Road*
Saigon Kitchen
excerpt:
…restaurant’s signature dish, ca quay dua xiem da gion, a whole catfish that is butterflied, then deep-fried and topped with chopped peanuts, scallions and shredded coconut. You dip rounds of thin, translucent rice paper in water, then pile on a miniburrito’s worth of the fish’s golden-crisp skin and tender flesh, fresh herbs, and two different sauces—a typical fish-sauce-based nuoc mam, as well as a pungent, spicy mam nem made with pineapple and fermented fish. Wrap everything up in a tight little bundle, eat and—with great joy—repeat.
1111 Story Road, Ste. 1005
*The Sweet Corner
989 Story Road, Ste. 8039
Nuoc Mia Vien Dong 2
979 Story Road, Ste. 7096*

Vit Dong Que’s specialities include bánh bèo (left), whole-poached duck (center) and bánh nam (top right), a rice-flour-and-ground-pork dumpling that’s steamed inside banana leaves.
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SF Magazine, photo by Andria Lo