Oakland: Thanh Ky Restaurant

A while back, T had to spend a few days working in Santa Rosa.  Since the hotel cost was covered by her company, she took my sister along with her.  On their way up, they swung by Oakland to have dinner with me.  T took us to Thanh Ky, which she hadn't been to in a long time, but where she remembered there to be very good noodles:

We squeezed through the doors about an hour and some before their 7:00 pm closing time.  There were a couple other parties inside, but it was mostly empty:

They were out of kidney, which was devastating for us.  But soldiering on, T ordered three bowls of noodles.  We got the house special noodle ($6.30), the house special wonton noodle soup ($7.25), and the house special ho fun ($6.30):

Everything was delicious, from the noodles to the soup base to the beef balls floating at the top.  But the best thing was this:

Actual chunks of fried pork skin/fat.  I mean, just look at them!  Aren't they beautiful and lovely and everything that's perfect in this world?

Thanh Ky is known as Vien Huong's rival for best teow chew noodles in Oakland.  So which is better?  While both are delicious, the fried pork at Thanh Ky makes it stand out more to me.

So would I go back to Thanh Ky?  That's a solid yes.  Despite it being kind of out of the way.  Despite the service being not exactly friendly (but I never really expect it to be at Asian places).  Despite them refusing to take VN's order when she joined us 30 minutes before closing time.

The fried pork fat is that amazing.


Thanh Ky
659 E 12th St
Oakland, CA 94606
(510) 763-8801