Com Tam Thien Huong — Restaurant in San Jose

'Com Tom Thien Huong Restaurant's review. After spending a number of years in Vietnam, I had not the chance to experience many of the meals they had to offer. It was during the war that I was there, and, venturing into the villages was highly discouraged due to security reasons. Even when back at stateside, I defaulted to my old cultural roots of Italien dinners my grandmother use to make, and, they were pretty awesome. Sometimes, it's just hard to break the mold. But, on occasions, I would set out to open up to a more diverse selection of other entrées - Mexican, Chinese, Greek, and German. But little Vietnamese. I just didn't know where to start, and though the 'Chinese Seafood Soup,' is one of my favorite dishes for an Asian choice, I never had any luck finding those at some of the few restaurants (Vietnamese), I dared enter. I guess, introductions are important. It sort of follows that old idea that first impressions are important. And, I just didn't want to get off on the wrong foot by trying something that would short-circuit other curious pursuits of diverse Asian dishes. Of course, the wall that hindered future advances, all came crumbling down, when my recently met, good friend, Daniel, who graciously invited me to have lunch one day, with him and his mother. This was a restaurant that would have you repeating it's name, as it is not an easy one - ''Com Tom Thien Huong,' located at Capital Expy., and Silver Creek. And, upon his recommendation, we had the 'Combination Rice,' with beef, accompanied by an array of vegetables, and, a bowl of soup. Oh! and let me especially not forget the shrimp - last, but most certainly not least, it was rather uniquely prepared in a crispy, battered crust. I mentioned to my friend and his mother, that one of my favorite dishes is Calamari, and, always seemed served totally different at the various restaurants I would endeavor. Such was the case here . . . the shrimp was tastefully presented, and had a similar appearance to fried chicken. But, with a totally different taste of course. How refreshing it was to get away from the old chicken mainstay. And of course, there were sauces to accompany a different flavor, if you so chose to do so. Finally, a delicious soup to jump-start those hungry taste-buds. And, like all other cultural dishes, when you get served in the more traditional restaurants, there is food aplenty. In fact, I was experiencing that soreness of having really eaten too much. But, when it is so good, the taste buds pulled the wool over my eyes, and just seemed to say, Why hell . . lets go for it Ha! So, now, the door has been opened thanks to my good friend, and, his gracious mother. We all then casually departed, having been contently fulfilled with a great meal to be remembered.

'Com Tom Thien Huong,' can be more specifically located at, 1759 E. Capital Expy., San Jose. They also provide 'Take-Out,' services. And, let me just add, that the restaurant prides itself on a vast number of rice combinations,and, at very reasonable prices. Their consistent schedule is a cinch to remember. They're open: 10 am. - 2:45 pm., and again at, 4:00 pm. - 7:45 pm., 7 days a week. You might want to make reservations; they get crowded.

Review...

You don't need to be fancy to have great meals. These restaurants need to stop with the glitzy decor to justify their overpriced and stingy portioned meals.

I came here with a group of friends at night and the restaurant seem quite crowded, so my expectations were pretty high. My peoples are eatin' here! So it must be good!

This restaurant is trying to be uppity with it's pricing and decor, but the food quality does not meet that same bar at all. My friend and I decided to share a large bowl of pho and an eggroll appetizer. In total, four people at the table ordered pho, but the restaurant only provided us with 1 plate of sprouts, basil leaves, and only 2 slices of lime. Really?! My large pho looked like a small that was placed into a large bowl and just filled to the brim with broth. I think there was more broth in the bowl than there were noodles/meat. $8.75 for that?! Oh hells no, I could get more elsewhere for better and cheaper!

My next complaint is the eggroll appetizer. It looked delicious, but looks can be deceiving. The skin was cooked, but not crispy. The eggroll was a bit more on the sweeter side for me. Also, there was no nuoc mam (fish sauce) to dip my eggroll in. I usually don't dip my eggroll in anything, but I do like having the option of a sauce. =D

Our other friend ordered the Com tam ga tom nuong and even his meal was small. Teeny, tiny, thin slices of meat that left him hungry after eating here. Quality tasted good, but the meat was thin as jerky. I guess he was supposed to fill up on the rice...

When you're outside in this plaza, you might be wondering what all the big smoke is that pillows the parking lot once every 5 minutes. Its mostly coming from here which somehow is a pretty effective advertisement if i say so myself! When you walk in however, you could be asked to wait as this restaurant specializing in com tam rice plates is pretty popular in the area. (And the 3rd business i seen with thien huong on their name, is this just a really diverse family of restaurants?) Once you get seated however, its A pretty nice lively atmosphere with modern design elements and materials used from the ceiling to the tables! I also like how they incorporated some TVs showcasing their menu items such as their $7 boba... But look on their very simple paper menu and there's a lot of choices involved, however, unfortunately there's no orange rice that could see which was a shame. There is also pho offered. I highly recommend you take any dish with the korean short ribs and shrimp as those were my favorite, there are some other options, including a bean curd wrapped shrimp and fish cake. Each dish also comes with salad and chicken soup which was very nice. The ordering was very easy and the server understands which number that you want to order. Overall, its a pretty nice and wouldn't mind coming back to...