South Bay: Vung Tau II
CL's birthday was back in April, but due to my office's big move and her crazy work schedule, we weren't able to meet up until earlier this month. She happened to be down in the South Bay to look for a bicycle with her boyfriend and I told her to just swing by my house afterward. Her brother HL, who also happened to be running an errand in the South Bay, also came over.
We ended up hanging out for a bit until we were hungry enough for dinner. A few ideas were thrown around and in the end, we decided on Vung Tau II:
I'd been to Vung Tau before, but the one in downtown San Jose. I didn't even know that there was a second location in Milpitas. According to HL, Vung Tau II is cheaper than the original one downtown. I'm all about cheaper.
We started with a jelly fish, shrimp, and pork salad ($13.95):
It came with crispy shrimp chips:
It was my favorite of the evening. The salad as a whole was light and tangy, but the pork strips added a welcome meaty element.
We also ordered the egg rolls ($12.95):
Which we wrapped in greens and dunked in fish sauce:
I was super excited when CL pointed out that there was catfish soup on the menu as it was my favorite discovery from Bo Da. There were two catfish soup options, one had Vung Tau in the name. Both cost $16.96. We asked our server which one we should order and without missing a beat he advised us to get the regular catfish soup. Something about peanuts in the Vung Tau one and not liking that.
Alright then. Regular catfish soup it was:
It was good, but not quite as tangy and delicious as the one from Bo Da.
HL couldn't recommend enough the grilled onion beef ($16.50), so we definitely had to get that:
This brought me back to my childhood when my parents used to take me to this Vietnamese restaurant by their office. I would only order the grilled onion beef there. After the restaurant closed, I never really found this dish anywhere else. The grilled onion beef at Vung Tau II was superior to the one from my memories.
I wanted the shrimp cup cakes ($11.50):
Of course I had to do a comparison of Vung Tau and Vung Tau II. If you're like me and care about getting the best deal, continue reading. Otherwise, I'll see you in the next post.
The last time I went to Vung Tau downtown was December 2015. Expecting the prices to have gone up since then, I went sleuthing on Yelp for more recent photos of the menu. Turns out, the shrimp cup cake is slightly cheaper at Vung Tau downtown at $11. But while you get six egg rolls at Vung Tau II for $12.95, you get only four for $11 downtown. The rest of the dishes were also cheaper at Vung Tau II as the jelly fish salad is $15.25 and the catfish soup is $19.50 downtown.
So there. HL was correct in saying that Vung Tau II is cheaper. Which means that's where I'll be going from now on.
Glad we got that straightened out.
Vung Tau II
1750 N Milpitas Blvd
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 934-9327
http://www.vungtaurestaurant.com/
We ended up hanging out for a bit until we were hungry enough for dinner. A few ideas were thrown around and in the end, we decided on Vung Tau II:
I'd been to Vung Tau before, but the one in downtown San Jose. I didn't even know that there was a second location in Milpitas. According to HL, Vung Tau II is cheaper than the original one downtown. I'm all about cheaper.
We started with a jelly fish, shrimp, and pork salad ($13.95):
It came with crispy shrimp chips:
It was my favorite of the evening. The salad as a whole was light and tangy, but the pork strips added a welcome meaty element.
We also ordered the egg rolls ($12.95):
Which we wrapped in greens and dunked in fish sauce:
I was super excited when CL pointed out that there was catfish soup on the menu as it was my favorite discovery from Bo Da. There were two catfish soup options, one had Vung Tau in the name. Both cost $16.96. We asked our server which one we should order and without missing a beat he advised us to get the regular catfish soup. Something about peanuts in the Vung Tau one and not liking that.
Alright then. Regular catfish soup it was:
It was good, but not quite as tangy and delicious as the one from Bo Da.
HL couldn't recommend enough the grilled onion beef ($16.50), so we definitely had to get that:
This brought me back to my childhood when my parents used to take me to this Vietnamese restaurant by their office. I would only order the grilled onion beef there. After the restaurant closed, I never really found this dish anywhere else. The grilled onion beef at Vung Tau II was superior to the one from my memories.
I wanted the shrimp cup cakes ($11.50):
Of course I had to do a comparison of Vung Tau and Vung Tau II. If you're like me and care about getting the best deal, continue reading. Otherwise, I'll see you in the next post.
The last time I went to Vung Tau downtown was December 2015. Expecting the prices to have gone up since then, I went sleuthing on Yelp for more recent photos of the menu. Turns out, the shrimp cup cake is slightly cheaper at Vung Tau downtown at $11. But while you get six egg rolls at Vung Tau II for $12.95, you get only four for $11 downtown. The rest of the dishes were also cheaper at Vung Tau II as the jelly fish salad is $15.25 and the catfish soup is $19.50 downtown.
So there. HL was correct in saying that Vung Tau II is cheaper. Which means that's where I'll be going from now on.
Glad we got that straightened out.
Vung Tau II
1750 N Milpitas Blvd
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 934-9327
http://www.vungtaurestaurant.com/
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