Brodard Restaurant — Restaurant in Fountain Valley

Literally the OC fave for spring rolls. I feel like the gf & I often stop here for rolls when we are driving back to LA from SD though the OC route.

ITEM'S ORDERED:

It was the weekend & we planned in eating most the day so we just shared 3 different rolls. Grilled Pork Spring Rolls, Grilled Shrimp Spring Rolls & Vegetarian Spring Rolls. This was the first time I had the Vegetation Spring Rolls.

TASTE:

I've had both the pork & shrimp rolls several times before so I knew what to expect. But haven't dined in here in awhile so nice to have them fresh. I would say for both these rolls they pretty much have the perfect somewhat subtle balance of both texture & flavors while also being really fresh.

There are lots of components in these rolls (meat, greens, noodles, fries egg roll wrapper, etc,), so many places it could go wrong but they all work very well together for a great bite that's fresh, little sweet & little salt, & crisp. Honestly not sure what the house special sauce is, but pretty sure it includes fish sauce, ground meat garlic, etc. But it provides an additional savory factor to the rolls. Plus who doesn't like dipping their food in sauce. If you like spice, be sure to add chili paste to the sauce. Makes it just that much better.

The Vegetarian Roll I'd say is more bland (but not bad) compared to the other two rolls. It's just a much more subtle flavor overall with nothing too strong. It's comes with a soy vinaigrette (salty, just little sweet) which is stronger in flavor to up the flavor overall. It can be a little too salty if you dip too much though.

SERVICE & PARKING:

It was really busy & we (gf & I) entered the yelp waitlist when we got close by to the restaurant. I think we were 40th in the waitlist when we entered & only waited about 30 minutes which was not so bad.

The sever was friendly & attentive which is always much appreciated especially on a busy weekend.

This is a very big restaurant with lot's of Vietnamese food options aside from just the rolls.

Even though it was so busy we found parking pretty quick right in front. There's lots of parking since it's a large lot providing spaces to other businesses such as Albertsons. Brodards is located in Fountain Valley Town Center, right across from Mile Square Regional Park.

Safe to say I'd definitely return back here for some tasty, fresh...

We strolled into Brodard Restaurant in Fountain Valley on a Tuesday afternoon around 4pm and were seated immediately with no wait time. We were told that this restaurant is an Orange County classic and is usually very busy and making reservations is highly recommended. This restaurant serves modern Vietnamese cuisine with Asian Fusion. This is not the typical Vietnamese restaurant as it doesn’t even offer Pho in their menu. They are known for their nem nuong cuon (grilled pork spring rolls) which has grilled pork wrapped in rice paper with crispy roll, lettuce, cilantro, chives, daikon carrot & cucumber served with their signature house dipping sauce (nuoc mam). This renowned appetizer has the varied texture of chewy, crunch, savory and tender all at the same time. While the spring rolls were good but we were expecting more. The cured pork (nem) tasted bland and the rice wrapper tasted a bit rubbery (sitting out too long, perhaps) and the chives inside the spring rolls didn’t bring the aromatic flavors. In short, we had better nem nuong spring rolls in San Diego.

We ordered Hue style spicy beef noodle soup, wonton noodle soup with rice noodles and chicken porridge with salad. They were good and adequate but nothing stands out. For drinks, we ordered iced Vietnamese coffee and it was concentrated, strong, slightly bitter but sweetened by the condensed milk, sugar cane juice and passion fruit drink. Sugar cane drink was ok and not the traditional pure sugar cane. It was more or less on the tarty side.Waitstaff was efficient, fast, attentive and friendly and checked in on us and filled our waters.

Restaurant has an upscale setting, tons of tables and is very spacious and perfect for large gatherings. They have a nice bakery section at the front so you can see the baked good you can have after your meal. The food is a little on the pricey side and portion is average. Dishes are average and their menu is extensive. After our meal, we walked over to the in-house baker and got macarons and our favorite was the salty caramel...

I grew up here but went to every hole in the wall aside from Brodard, because as a child I didn't recall a remarkable experience dining in.

I gave it a try starting 2 years ago and now understand the level of care that goes into the food here. I've eaten in and taken out at this location, all great experiences.

Things I've tried and gotten several times over: nem nuong cuon (pork spring rolls), pho ap chao xao mem (seafood fried rice noodles), chicken pad thai, che ba mau (three color desert), bun bo hue

Their nem nuong cuon is light on the palate, and their sauce doesn't have a lot of MSG (these days, other places I've tried still overload the sauce with MSG even if their rolls are good :( ). Consistent each and every time I've gotten it. It's also amazing to see the workers putting out so many rolls all hours of the day. Their efficiency and coordination is insane.

Their pho ap chao xao mem is one I always order to go. Absolutely delicious, not overly salty, and, unlike many places, the noodles don't disintegrate into sludge after a few hours. I can reheat it the next day with a bit of care and it'll taste nearly as s good as the previous day. Veggies here are also fresh and crisp!

Their che ba mau is what I remember from my childhood. There are a few different takes/additions for che ba mau varying from shop to shop. Brodard's is my favorite, it's how my favorite long-gone egg noodle restaurant used to make it and actually even better.

Their bun bo hue is the best rendition of the plate if you want to introduce it to people who aren't Vietnamese. It's very thoughtfully pared down - while it doesn't have pork blood, and doesn't smell as heavily of fish sauce, the taste is still excellent.

Chicken pad thai is great as well as the portion size. Between this and the thai restaurant I like, sometimes I opt for Brodard's instead.

Anyway: people rave about it for a reason! I...