Anh Hong Restaurant — Restaurant in San Jose

Reset your expectations about "lunch specials" with Anh Hong. They are dinner-worthy tasty plates here! And this place doesn't charge an arm and leg for the beautiful environment.

The first impression I got after chancing into the otherwise nondescript storefront was: What nice decorations! They could update lighting a little, but the paintings on walls are true beauties. Better yet, I didn't get sticker shock when I open the menu. Actually, I was shocked at how low the lunch specials were - they have a full page of them. We had an order of charbroiled minced shrimp on sugarcane and one of shredded pork, crab pate and grilled pork, then we added two grilled quills. (Regular dishes are not exhobinantly expensive like in some highly decorated restaurants, either.) The entire bill is less than one dish at an upscale restaurant. But price can be deceiving.

Unlike "lunch specials" in many places, these dishes are expertly prepared and beautifully presented on nice porcelain pieces. The crab pate and shrimp on sugarcane were actually exotic surprises. To our delight, they were also generous in green leaves. Even better, we found a herb in the mix that I only got once in this area in 25 years. It was our favorite hometown treat that I didn't know being used in Vietnamese. (Inspired, we immediately went to Lion City next door and finally found it on the shelf.)

Their furniture is simple, but seating is spacious and comfortable. There were plenty of guests but the noise level is low.

The next time you go to Anh Hong - we will, don't be afraid to order from the...

This is THE Restaurant that my parents pref to take out of town guest or special occasion celebrations. There are not a lot of places that serve the 7 course beef on the menu. They actually have fish as well if you don't eat beef.

The 7 course beef is exactly what it says, 7 ways of cooking beef. It's an interactive dining experience, so make sure you wash your hands before the food comes out. They will have rice wrappers and warm water for soaking and lots of veggies at the table. 1st course is the beef salad, with a light vinaigrette. 2nd course is sliced beef filet cooked in broth. 3rd through 6th is a platter with grilled beef with shallot, grilled beef covered with grape leaf, grilled beef with peanuts and a beef loaf with noodles (eaten with a shrimp chip).

How to wrap: Take a rice wrapper, dip it in the warm water, making sure it's all wet. Put it down on your plate. To the lower half of yhe wrapper, add the veggies (lettuce, mint or other leaves, pickled carrots, bean sprouts). Add your beef Gently roll the rice wrapper up and tucking the beef and veggies, without ripping it. Fold the sides in and then finishing rolling it til it looks like an eggroll. Dip in the fish sauce and enjoy!

It's a fun meal to teach and enjoy with kids 6yrs and older, and let them wrap their own.

After their remodel a few years back, the atmosphere is nice and comfortable. They've added booths and good chairs and tables. I consider it a family restaurant. Kudos for them in keeping the bathroom clean.

Hope this helps. Let me know...

I had a good expectation on this restaurant as the one on Calaveras was really good. However the experience was very disappointing. The service was slow and unattentive. However the worst part was the grill pan they provided for food. It was so old, unclean and not well oiled, so the food would stick to the bottom, and it spattered oil as it cooks the food to all of us. One of my friends got it over face, so had to ask for ice cubes to calm down. The vegetables weren't fresh, and the rice papers were very old, all stuck together, we could use only a few of those to wrap. It is a shame as I took friends to experience Viet rolls for the first time. This restaurant needs to improve the food quality, the equipment and service. If it's coincidence on Monday lunch time, it needs to improve on the consistency of the...