East Borough

Rolled into East Borough after reading mostly good reviews on Unilocal.It was raining and the parking lot at The Camp was jammed. I would hate to see it on a warm dry summer evening.
Ordered the Grilled Pork Banh Mi and a Jasmine Lime iced tea. The sandwich was well constructed with carrot and daikon cut thicker than most places do. It was a crunchy, nice touch. Good portion size and quite tasty. The tea was a nice cool compliment to the spicier bites of the sandwich.
Good bottled micro-​brew selection that is reasonably priced too. I travel a lot up and down the west coast and when I am in the area I will definitely go back.

After wine tasting at the Wine Lab came here to grab a snackie-​snack before dinner. Got the 2pcs/​$ 4.60 Borough spring rolls which has grilled pork, mint, cucumber, and shallots. It came with a creamy peanut butter dipping sauce. It was fresh and delicious! Perfect snack before dinner.

Very cute place nice fountain in the front if you could make sure food is just a rainy day we came in open seating under a canopy but very nice surroundings food was OK Ginger fast service

So good that I finished every bite and will make this place one of my regular spots.
I had the grilled pork banh mi and I couldn’t put it done. I’m not a banh mi expert by any means but it was the best I’ve ever had. The lemongrass seasoning was fresh and full of taste. The pickled carrots and daikon added just the right crunch and flavor. The bread was prefect on. I also ordered a side of egg rolls, which were delicious. I topped my order off with the jasmine lime iced tea and it was refreshing and delicious. I wish I could’ve had more!
Staff was friendly and really helpful for this first-​timer.
I will be back!

I love this place! I try and eat here at least once per week. My order consists of the following: 2 Borough Spring Rolls, Pork Belly Banh Mi, half order of the Pickled Mango Kale Salad. It’s a good amount of food, I know, but I start with the Banh Mi, then my spring rolls an if I’m full by the time I’m done with that, I just save my salad for the next day. It holds up well. Only salad I’ll eat the following day, must be the Kale. Any way, I don’t know the blonds name that works there, but she’s always friendly and knows my order and that makes me feel special and that is a plus for me.
WARNING: PARKING IS A BITCH. ESPECIALLY DURRING THE WEEKENDS. The stupid valet take over the «10 minute» parking. They do it all the time! I know this because I’m on maternity leave and guess what my hobby is? Yup, it’s EATING. There’s times that I come here up to 3 times per week. Damn, I’m slowly going broke. And it’s the valet guys that I’ve seen multiple times parking cars there. Anyway, I hate the valet, but Love East Borough. Love them enough to hassle with the lack of parking.

If I’m paying $ 9 for a banh mi, it better be amazing… East Borough falls quite short of that. The banh mi was okay but I’d much rather go to a traditional Vietnamese place for one that costs ¹⁄₃ of the price.

Not impressed with the girl who took my order today. Won’t be back. Service wise you get what you pay for, she must be making the standard $ 7.50 an hour.
Not a bad place to have noodles, but you’ll do much better at Mitsuwa or a number of other noodle/​asian places in the area. This place has the best aesthetics, but lacks in service and quality.

The first time I tried East Borough, the Grilled Pork Bánh Mì was absolutely dreadful. It was wrong, just all wrong. And I pretty much said so in my review. But that was 5 years ago; a lot could have changed. So today I decided to give them a second chance.
I was initially going to order the same thing — now $ 9 for the foot-​long instead of $ 6.40 — but something else caught my eye: the Phở Baguette ($ 11). This sandwich is essentially all the components one might find in phở but in a baguette, served with a side of broth. It’s like an ironic vietnamese french dip. And why not? Makes perfect sense to me.
But when my order was brought to my table, I thought the sandwich looked a little sad. It was all beige and dull. Then I realized that they had forgotten to put jalapeños and basil on it. So I got up and asked the guy working there.
His response was equally beige and dull: «Oh, the guy is new.»
Huh? What kind of answer is that? There was no «I’m sorry.» No «Let me take care of that right away.» Just «Oh, the guy is new.» Geez, what is it with Millennials these days?
The zombie employee did eventually bring out some jalapeños and basil. But I have to say, my appetite had soured a bit by then. That said, the sandwich was actually pretty good. The bread was crusty (I’m now convinced that they did serve me par-​baked bread last time), the meat was tender, and there was even a bright hint of lime. But the broth totally stole the show. The broth was absolutely fantastic! It was rich, beefy, and salty. I just wish it didn’t come in such a tiny cup.
In the end, however, I think East Borough is just A-​OK. Do I need to spend $ 11 for hipster bánh mì, albeit a very good one? Probably not. But would I eat here again? 5 years later, that answer is: probably, but not any time soon.

I hosted my company party for XO Modern Travel last night at East Borough. It was blazing hot but Chris managed to be very pleasant and accommodating for all my needs. The food was amazing! Everyone raved about the food and was really impressed. I picked a variety of my personal favorites, the grilled pork banh mi, beef stew baguette, pork egg rolls, chicken and shrimp spring rolls and grilled pork spring rolls. It’s such a cool space as well. They also have a second location in Culver City that’s bigger and a slightly different menu. I haven’t been yet but would love to check it out next time I’m in that area. The restaurant is located in the Camp facing Pep Boys. I will definitely be back to eat here and will use them again for catering!

What’s this? Vietnamese version of French dip? Oh snap!
East Borough is one of the most hip Vietnamese restaurant I’ve been to and it is located in this super hip («It’s over 9000» level of hip) plaza called the CAMP. Even though East Borough has a secondary location at Culver City, some items are only available in this original Costa Mesa location (e.g. Bò Kho Beef Stew Baguette and Belly Banh Mi). Don’t forget to use the Unilocal check-​in deal: $ 2 for specialty drink (e.g. jasmine limed iced tea, lychee soda, Vietnamese iced coffee, and salted plum soda).
Friendly staff and food did take a while to come out, but hey you can’t compete against some of Vietnamese restaurants with their super fast service speed.
Menu: Banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich), goi cuon (spring rolls), bo kho (beef stew), com (rice), bun (vermicelli noodles), goi (salads), sides, and drinks.
***
Phở Baguette (Beef brisket, sriracha hoisen aoili, bean sprouts, basil, onions & jalapeño with a cup of soup, $ 10): Yup, it is the fusion of phở and baguette — baguette with your typical phở toppings (e.g. bean sprouts, slices of beef, jalapeño) and you dip the baguette into the cup of phở broth. Very innovative and tasted pretty decent (excellent savory broth, super spicy jalapeño, and okay beef brisket).
Jasmine Lime Iced Tea ($ 3): Not too bad, but too sour for my taste.
**
I think its phở baguette is good enough to give it a shot and its Belly Banh Mi looks very promising. Yes, I know you can get buy 2 banh mi get 1 free deal at Banh Mi Che Cali for ONLY $ 6.50 while 1 banh mi at East Borough costs between $ 6 (8 inches) to $ 10 (12 inches Belly Banh Mi), but you are paying additional money for better quality and the «hip» factor.

Don’t let their size fool you because their food packs big flavors. East Borough serves traditional vietnamese favorites (banh mi, phở, spring rolls) using fresh ingredients and some adventurous flourishes.
The diggs
East Borough is a modest café that sits in a high end /​«bougie» strip mall (CAMP) in orange county. The food and atmosphere very much reflects the location. Their food is what happens when your vietnamese grandma and her grandkid back from art school shopped at a farmers market that morning and wanted to make something together that reflects them both. You are greeted by the attendant who takes your order in a small but not cramped booth no larger than a movie ticket window. After, your order is passed to a tiny kitchen that might be no bigger than a phone booth (like some phone booths, it might be bigger on the inside). The dinning area probably has around 9 two top tables that you can squish together to accommodate larger parties.
The food
East Borough makes a good Banh mi. you might be paying a little more than lee’s sandwich, but it’s worth it for the fresh quality ingredients (also lee’s sucks). It’s $ 6 for a 8″ and $ 8 for 12″. The baguette is fresh baked, and not hard. It serves as a good base for the crisp picked daikon and carrot, fresh jalapenos, cucumber, cilantro, and which ever protein you choose. You have your options of pork, chicken, chicken salad, cheese, tofu, sardines, pork loaf, ham, and cold cuts. Its a good balance of flavors, but if you are sensitive to heat, you might have them remove the jalapenos. I am partial to the grilled pork which is marinated in lemon grass. Its tender and savory.

The food is delicious! However, I really cannot say it is the best place Vietnamese place.
I was already aware that I’d be paying more than the average price for Vietnamese food here, after checking out the reviews. But I wanted to give East Borough a chance after admiring it from afar (@Native Foods) for quite some time.
Today I ordered:
Grilled Pork Vermicelli — Delicious, generous portion, and exactly what I expected for this dish. Doesn’t stand out from the Little Saigon version though.
Borough Spring Rolls — Yummy grilled pork with all the regular fixings of Vietnamese spring rolls, served with a nice peanut sauce.
**I only had enough room to eat one and took my other one to go. Asked for a small cup of peanut sauce to go and they wanted to charge me a dollar for it… no thanks.
Lychee Soda — I love lychee flavored everything… but Lychee soda is just not for me. Tasted like lychee in club soda, and it’s not for me.
EB has a great atmosphere and is worth checking out. I suggest ordering something that you can’t typically find in Little Saigon or other traditional Vietnamese restaurants. If I come back here soon, I think I’ll try the Phở Baguette!

Don’t miss East Borough, where East+West=some really tasty food.
It’s a cute little spot at the Camp where you order at the counter, grab some condiments (don’t forget the sriracha), and then find a seat in the casual dining room.
I really love the phở baguette, which comes with a 12″ bahn mi sandwich and a cup of phở broth. The sandwich, which has beef brisket, a sriracha hoisen aioli, bean sprouts, fresh basil, onions, and jalapeños, is tasty on its own, but even better when you dip it in the broth, which has lots of flavor. It’s a pretty substantial lunch for $ 10.
The bò kh, or Vietnamese beef stew, is great on a cool day. For $ 8, you get a large bowl of stew in a rich, tomato-​y broth, with melt-​in-​your-​mouth chunks of beef, potatoes, and carrots, topped with onions and cilantro and served with a side of lime juice with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little over the stew, or dip chunks of beef into it as you eat them.
Check in to get one of their specialty beverages for $ 2. I love the jasmine lime green tea; it’s premixed and sweetened, but not too sweet – really refreshing. The Vietnamese coffee is delicious, too.