YEN Viet Kitchen — Restaurant in Spring Valley

YEN Viet Kitchen, SW corner of Decatur and Spring Mountain (3575 S. Decatur) is extraordinarily wonderful. So worthy of 5 stars!!

There are a number of very good Vietnamese restaurants around town (Viet Noodle Bar and Pho So 1 among them), but YEN Viet Kitchen caught my eye because of their unique dishes. My parents and I just came from our first dinner there and we are all about this place now!!!!

In the first photo are "mini turmeric pancakes" -- essentially a flour/mung bean batter topped off with a succulent piece of shrimp. You can wrap that in lettuce and dip in the nuoc cham (fish sauce) that is prevalent throughout Vietnamese cuisine. Don't forget to rip off some fresh mint that they give you by the sprig-ful. (Essentially, these are mini banh xeo for those who are familiar.)

Second photo is a larger version of the pancake. This is banh xeo, which is a pan-fried, thin, light, and crispy pancake surrounding pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts. This also needs to be eaten with the nuoc cham (and you can use the lettuce as a wrap--again, the mint brightens up the dish). It is yellow because of the turmeric in it.

Third photo is chai gao -- the wonderfully superlative fried egg roll of Vietnam. The skin was fried so lightly, so it was such a satisfying crunch. It is among the best ones I had in this city. The filling is of pork and shrimp (and mung bean noodles and wood ear mushrooms). Again, nuoc cham and lettuce complete this dish.

The noodle dishes (we had two, we dug into the first one too quickly for a photo) were SO tasty. The broth was unctuous and flavorful--the fresh seafood noodle dish (banh cuon tapioca noodle) isn't pictured here, but let's say that the seafood flavor was . The tapioca noodle was unique and had a great chew to it.

The noodle dish pictured here is the Mi Quang noodle dish--a central Vietnam dish that also has a luscious broth. They serve that with shredded cabbage, fresh bean sprouts, jalapeño, and lime. Put all of that in! I would reorder both those noodle dishes in a heartbeat.

I was so pleasantly surprised at the high-quality meat in all of their dishes. (They also make their sauces in-house, but beware their chili oil...). They also serve fresh coconut juice (last photo).

Their waiter was incredibly helpful and friendly in recommending and describing dishes. They do close a little early (7 pm) and they are closed on Tuesdays.

My family hails from Vietnam, my grandmother ran a restaurant in Saigon, and my aunt owned a Vietnamese restaurant for many years in California, so do trust me when I say this place is a wonderful find! I'd love to see this place stay open because their location is sort of in a hole-in-the-wall spot (and restaurants keep closing in this location), so let's go and support...

Today as I was venturing out after work, I knew I wanted some food and a plethora of other things. So I ventured over to China Town which always makes my senses curious.

Upon entering it had just opened, so the morning chores were being done by the staff. Once I was noticed, I was quickly greeted and given the menu. The menu has several items that caught my attention. However me being the person I am, I am not going to order typically what others do. I have also learned in my culinary escapades, most people order what they can pronounce or what they know. Never really going outside of their front yard to experience all of what these different cultures we have access to, offer. For me at times, you dont need a passport if you allow yourself to be adventurous and willing right in your own backyard. So with that, I figured let me ask what the staff enjoys and was told that the Bo Kho ( beef stew ) is a favorite.

I also opted for the Goi Cuon ( Spring Rolls ) . Everything was made fresh and wrapped tightly as I was getting it all to go. The packaging was well prepared and nothing spilled at all. Once I got to my destination to be able to enjoy my items I was taken aback. This stew is amazing. Everything was so soft and prepared wonderfully. Almost equated it to a little bit of heaven in my mouth.

Interior is at limited capacity for good Ol Covid. Everything is very clean. There are a few table and chair arrangements. This restaurant has been open for about 3 weeks. Staff however is doing very well during this new venture.

Would def recommend - pricing was very reasonable. The customer service is what truly caught my attention. Very pleasant atmosphere. Plus they took the care to make sure everything was separated so I would not have soggy noodles or...

I was specifically looking for Bôt Chiên and this was the closest.

When I pulled up, the parking lot had no other cars, despite the OPEN sign. I came a little after 6pm on a Sunday.

As expected the restaurant was empty. It was a smallish place but clean. I was greeted right away and seated.

The menu is very small but I started by ordering bánh cuốn, she said they were out, then I ordered Bánh ướt. Also out. Third time was the charm and I ordered Bánh bột chiên, what I was originally craving.

This dish was almost perfect to me with each pieces of the rice cake being perfectly crispy. It HAS TO BE CRISPY, because the center is soft. Most places have a hard time with the consistency.

Flavor was just a little less than what I expected but overall it was tasty and I will cone back to eat this.

I ordered Vietnanese ice coffee, and for coffee fanatics, the flavor is from a pre-mix not from being filtered properly.

The amount of food was great, I was hungry but didn't finish, and left a couple of squares. The egg was fried to the right light crispyness and lots of green onions were sprinkled through. The sauce was as I expected. Some places use the...