Vinh Thanh

this place has closed. it’s now called «noodle trend».
does this closing indicate that is an overabundance of vietnamese eateries? maybe.

Well I suppose we did go in there on a Thursday at 5:00, but the place was empty. I’m talking, empty, not another soul in there.
Oh well I thought, we just wanted sandwiches. And they were good, cheap like you would expect. We both got grilled chicken, and it was super yummy. Sometimes as a gringo I’m intimidated to go to these spots, but this place was friendly and welcoming. I was asking about all the tapioca desserts, and finally I settled on the banana tapioca, and ummmm, it was good. I would go back there just for the tapioca.

This is not a phở shop. Not even one the menu. They do have some noodle soups with egg noodles or ho fun, but the majority of the menu is dedicated to rice plates. .. both Com Tam (broken rice) and regular rice (Com).
I’ve been here a few times and have gotten a bun dish (cold vermicelli noodle bowl) and a couple of com tam dishes. All my meals had some grilled pork (thit nuong) cause that’s how I roll. And speaking of rolls, the imperial rolls (cha gio) are on the smaller side, but, unlike a lot of other places, they gave me 2 with my Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong! Bonus points, though I wish they were made with rice paper wrappers.
I don’t know what it is about broken rice, but it just tastes better than regular white rice to me. A little bit nuttier or something and Vinh Thanh’s was no exception. I sometimes put soy sauce on regular white rice, but I never feel the need when eating com tam.
The one possible negative was that the grilled pork, while very tender and well marinated, was consistently fatty. I’m watching my girlish figure so didn’t want to just chow down, but I will say that it was easy to eat around that so it wasn’t that big a negative.
I also like my nuoc cham to have a little more kick, but they have a nice selection of condiments at each table to help with that.
They have some delicious looking roasted meats hanging in the front window. It seemed like they had a regular string of people coming to get ½ or whole roast ducks or other cuts of pork to go. I think I’m going to try a roast duck or pork plate next time I’m here.
They also have a few Chinese dishes as well as some hot pot specials ranging from $ 24 – 30 which sound like they are sized for at least 2.
Clean, tasty food, friendly service. I need to try some other dishes, but for now it’s a solid 4.5 stars. I’m rounding up today.

This is just for the deli: ie Roasted foods to go.
My mum and sis are visiting from out of town. And being that it’s been so warm we didn’t want to cook dinner. We were headed home from Phở Anh Dao (Yums). So mum decided we should get some Chinese BBQ on the way home. I didn’t want to deal with Oakland Chinatown during the weekend and we knew there was a BBQ place along here.
We didn’t know this place had changed hands. We saw the BIG «Grand Opening» sign. Mum tells me the deli people speak Chinese and Vietnamese. She said they were very nice and courteous. Me I was in the car waiting.
She picked up roast pork and roasted chicken. They were both yummy. The skin on the pork was not like the typical crackling. It was slow cooked and extremely crunchy but sort of like a roasted suckling piglet. Very delicious! The chicken and pork are well seasoned. And I didn’t sense much MSG in it.
We picked up a menu and will have to stop back next week for either lunch or dinner.
This is the first Vietnamese restaurant I’ve been to that doesn’t serve phở. I love phở! But it will give me a chance to try something different. The menu is a mix of Chinese and Vietnamese. Mostly noodle soups, broken rice combo plates, bun, rice plates, chow mein/​chow fun. They do have Hot Pot Special priced in the $ 20’s wonder that is all about.

This is a great place! The food is delicious and the service is even better. Very affordable too. Eat here!

Great place only open a week. I had a two item BBQ plate for $ 6.45. It was roast pork and roast duck, with a heaping side of steamed cabbage, all covered in a tasty sauce. It was meaty and fresh. As usual, the meats can be fatty but it was easy to pick around. At least it wasn’t all bones. The people here are very nice. GO HERE. Give them business– they are open 8am– 8pm every night. Parking is easy.
Update: This is one of the better places around to get roast meats. They have them in the front, hanging in the window. The meats are fresh and not too fatty. There’s off-​street parking in front so you can get stuff to go too.

When I first went there, I was greeted nicely. After I was seated, I ordered a broken rice plate with bbq pork, sunny side up egg, and a korean bbq beef. It was one of the most delicious vietnamese plate, I had in my life. There thai tea was amazing also. The only thing was the food took a little longer than expected. But overall with the delicious taste, it makes up the wait.