vung tau

spectacular flavors. my date and i enjoyed the banh knot, prawns and seafood thai salad. we were treated like guests of honor. an appetizer, a salad and an entree provided more food than we both could eat. the prawns were huge and tasty, but slightly overcooked (although i hardly noticed since they tasted so good).
our salad was fresh, bright and plentiful- perfect.

the star of the meal was the banh knot. they are served with a plate of lettuce, mint and another herb. you wrapshrimpcake in lettuce & top with a small amount of sauce and mint to eat them (yes, our cheery waiter gladly furnished instructions when we asked). amazing flavor and texture fill your mouth with each bite.

the restaurant was very clean, modern and inviting. i was delighted that we selected vung tau for dinner and will absolutely return the next time i am in san jose.

absolutely delicious! what a shock to walk into such a seemingly unassuming restaurant to find a gourmet venue with fresh ingredients, well-balanced flavors, and caters to vegetarians and carnivores alike! we ordered the crispyshrimpwraps as an appetizer, the shaking beef, and theshrimpin spicy red curry. the flavors were nothing like i have ever had before - everything was exceptionally well-balanced and never greasy. i cannot wait to go back! i will note that it was surprisingly busy for a weekday (for good reason), so i can only image how busy it gets on the weekends! also, they have a selection of belgian beers that caught my interest as well!

you can’t visit the south bay without having vietnamese food. san jose is the second largest vietnamese population in the us, so you know it has to be good. per recommendation of miss instagram houston  thaoism  and yelpers, we went to vung tau for are only vietnamese meal. vung tau is one of san jose’s longest standing vietnamese restaurants and a staple for the community. interesting that in vung tau, vietnam, their main dish is banh khot (mini vietnamese pancakes withshrimpshavings) and coincidently it is popular dish here. the mini cakes are to be wrapped in lettuce and dipped in fish sauce. all i can say is it’s hella bomb and just like the homeland. the lunch concept at vung tau is pretty cool where you get to mix and match your meats (pork chops, grilled pork, grilled beef, pork meatballs, etc) to a starch such com tam, banh hoi, etc. pretty aw