Mon Ami Cafe, Garden Grove, CA

 

My entire family came to Mon Ami for dinner after attending my cousin’s high school graduation. We pretty much tore up the restaurant by taking up the whole half of the place. Good times! Because there were so many people, we were able to try a bunch of different Vietnamese and Vietnamese/French fusion dishes. It was a picture-taking opportunity for me! 😀

So here they are —

While waiting for everyone to come, I ordered fried butter calamari to munch on. They have 2 choices for calamari: butter or salt and pepper. I should’ve gone for s&p because that’s what I had last time and it was slightly better. This one wasn’t as crispy as I would’ve liked.

Mon Ami is known for really good bo ne, or filet mignon on a sizzling skillet, served with a fried egg sunny side up. They have various cooking options but select the wine mushroom sauce so that the meat will be saucy and tender. You know you’re eating at a French restaurant when your steak is served with a baguette. My favorite combo.

Crispy rice with seafood. I didn’t expect this to come out in a clay pot. But, regardless, it was yummy. The rice is golden and crispy in the bottom, and the seafood sauce gives it a sweetened taste.

This is the vegetarian version of the above – crispy rice with saucy tofu, mushrooms and veggies. We have a few veggie members of our family so this was naturally their choice. 🙂

Bo luc lac – literal translation: shaking cow. 😀 Basically marinaded beef served on a bed of salad. It was good, although I wish there were more meat than the salad. Oh well.

My dad and uncle opted for a giant fried whole fish served spring roll style, which comes with: rice paper, water to wet the rice paper with, various veggies (baby banana, cucumber, mint, basil, cilantro, etc.) for you to make your own spring rolls.

This is another vegetarian dish – crispy egg noodle topped with tofu, mushrooms, and veggies. I loved how thin and extra crispy the noodle was. You would have to eat this soon as it comes out before the noodle gets soggy with the sauce.

The BBQ chicken rice was OK. A bit dry. I don’t think Asian restaurants make very good BBQ chicken, but that’s just me.

The beef salad is similar to the bo luc lac (shaking beef) mentioned above. Again, too much veggies and not enough beef.

Overall, this is a good place to go for either lunch or dinner. I like the cute interior design, with trees and lamp posts inside making you feel like you’re dining outside on the streets of France. 🙂

The only down sides of this place: cash or debit cards only and they charge $0.50 for water (refills are free, however.)

Mon Ami
14291 Euclid St.
Ste D116
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 554-9888

 

Pho Pasteur Hien Vuong, Westminster, CA

 

More pho! I must’ve eaten more pho this year than the last ten years combined. That’s what happens when you hang out with pho-lovin’ Asian friends. 😀

This is my first time here, and pho isn’t half bad. As usual, I ordered my typical pho tai nam gau – rice noodle soup with cooked and raw slices of beef and briskets. It was good with good amount of meat.

They actually serve pho with “kobe beef” here. The kobe beef is served on the side along with a pot of pho soup for you to dip and cook in. Interesting idea. The price is decent – only $4 more than a regular pho. (Though we all know Kobe beef doesn’t exist outside of Japan, right?)

The spring roll appetizer was OK, too. It’s hard to go wrong, since it’s basically the same ingredients everywhere – vermicelli, pork, shrimp, and various veggies – dipped with a sweet brown sauce.

 

Pho Lu, Westminster, CA

I’m usually not a pho person but for some reason I’ve been eating a lot of it lately! Haha!

I was craving it the other day and my friend took me here. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually pretty good. I normally find pho soup very bland from various restaurants, nothing that would make me go “WOW I’ve gotta have another bowl!” But my small pho tai nam bowl here was not half bad. Generous portion of beef and briskets, and soup base was cooked just right. Eating this on a cold night completely satisfied my sudden craving.

I’ve also tried the “tau hu ky” (shrimp paste wrapped in crispy tofu paper) – but it was just alright. I’ve had better ones at other Vietnamese broken rice restaurants. As you can tell from the photo, the portion was small compared to the amount of lettuce and veggies they give you. 😀 You can wrap the shrimp paste with the lettuce and dip it in the sweet fish sauce or you can eat it by itself.

Totally affordable menu. $6-$9 dishes. Restaurant decor is modern, nice and clean. Service is average. I’ll come back here if I ever get another sudden attack of pho craving.

Pho 54, Westminster, CA

This Pho 54 location is a little closer than the other one located on Brookhurst. “Free Drinks” is a big motivation for us to come here. A pho bowl is around $5.75 plus a free drink so that’s not bad at all.

I got pho tai nam gau – pho noodle soup with rare beef and brisket – pictured above. My cousin got similar but with cooked beef, pictured below. Personally I prefer rare beef because since beef cooks pretty fast, all you need to do is push it down into the hot soup and it would be cooked in seconds, nice and soft.

I think the food is decent here, but my cousin didn’t like it at all. She said it was sucky and that she prefers Mon Ami‘s pho better. I’ve been to Mon Ami but haven’t tried their pho yet. Maybe next time I should, if she pays! 😀

Pho Super Bowl, Diamond Bar, CA

I’ve visited Pho Super Bowl twice in a week, both times ordering com suong nuong with tau hu ky (rice with pork chop and shrimp paste) to go for lunch. Tau Hu Ky  (shrimp paste wrapped in crispy tofu skin, my favorite) was ordered as a side for I believe $2 bucks. The pork chop is nice and sweet, and not dry like most other places.

The only disappointment I had was the amount of rice they gave me. I specifically said on the phone I DON’T want too much white rice. I’m not a fan of carbs, but both times they still gave me a little too much. Rice fills you up fast, I want to leave room for meat, dammit! I guess restaurants just don’t understand why a customer doesn’t want too much of something. More isn’t always good. 😛 So I asked them what if I don’t want any rice at all? They said just ask for the same item but “with salad.” Done and done. So every time I call in to order take-out, I always tell them this, so often that when I tell them my name, they automatically know what I want before I have to say it. Awesome! Good food, friendly and attentive service!

Pho Vinh Ky 2, Westminster, CA

50% pho everyday?! A bowl of pho for merely $4 bucks? How can you go wrong? I’m not a huge fan of pho but I’ll eat here just because it’s cheap. Haha. They could give you a little more meat, though. I usually ask for “less pho more meat”. Try that and see, if you’re not into eating too much carbs. The pho itself is pretty tasty for the price.

My friends love this restaurant for the same reason. And sometimes if we run out of ideas of where to do, this place is usually the go-to safe choice.

Although, note that the 50% only applies to beef pho and not chicken, and has to be dine-in. Take-out is regular price. And because it’s so cheap, they charge $0.50 cents for water. Haha.

They also make pretty good filet mignon – on a sizzling skillet – served with crunchy baguette. Only like, $10 bucks! Beef AND crunchy bread? My best combo.