Caravelle Restaurant

If you want the best authentic Vietnamese in Minnesota, This is the place to go. My family is Vietnamese, and this is the only Vietnamese restaurant that they will go to.
Here are my MUST have at Caravelle:
Canh Ga Xa Ot: These are my favorite wings of all time! Better than any buffalo wild wing sauces. These wings usually come out straight from the kitchen, so they are hot! please be careful and not burn yourself. The mixture of sweet and spicy blends perfectly well!
Lau Canh Chua Ca: This sour soup is delicioussssss, and it comes in either a firepot (Lau) or big bowl (to). I highly recommend the firepot because it keeps your soup hot throughout the meal and it looks so darn cool. Definitely pour this soup over your rice, that is how it is meant to be eaten.
Ca Kho To: This dish comes in a clay pot. This is how they make it back in Nam, so it has the authentic feel. The fish is EXTREMELY packed with flavor and you won’t go wrong picking this. The only downside is that there are bones in it, but totally worth eating despite that. Remember to drizzle the sauce on your rice!
Tom Ram Man: This dish is shelled shrimp in a tasty sauce. Some people eat the shell, but I can’t do it, so I just peel it off. I hardly see anyone ever order this, so it is truly under appreciated. I can see why though, with all the great options here.
Soymilk: They homebrew their own soymilk. :)

The phở we ordered for carryout was not fresh and had a lukewarm temperature as if it had been left on the counter for an extended period of time. When we complained, the worker was less than helpful. In short, this is one of the worst experiences I have had at a restaurant both in terms of food quality and service. We enjoy phở on a regular basis but cannot recommend the offerings of this restaurant. There are better alternatives in the Twin Cities.

My co-​worker claims this place has the best spring rolls! This is a place that my co-​workers love, so I go with them. Decent lunch buffet, with some variety and not super greasy (for some stuff). But would I go out of my way to eat there by myself (or take my husband)? Nope.

Since I probably go here once a week, why not update from more familiarity:
I credit Caravelle /​Phở 79 with making me a better eater, a more adventurous eater, and a more curious human, in the umpteen times I’ve been there. That’s a pretty great thing, as restaurants go.
I’ve adopted a «try anything and try everything» attitude because I can relax in the abilities this place has, stretching my comfort zones to both cream cheese wontons (really, people, NOT normal) and Bun Bo Hue (pig’s feet, pigs blood, noodles, winter soup, soooooo freaking GOOD) …dishes no more challenging than each other, if you think about it objectively.
(The Bun Bo Hue is far better, but the cream cheese wontons are pretty solid)
Every time a new thing has crossed my plate I think I have said «this is the best thing I’ve ever had here» The best thing there is the Five Spice Tofu. The Sole in ginger sauce. The Rib eye Phở. The Hoanh Tanh. The Special Phở. The Bun Bo Hue. The Canh Chua… or maybe…
I never knew that pig’s feet contain the most divine little medallions of lean pork within them. I never knew that catfish’s earthiness would marry so well with black pepper and fishy deep dark fish sauce, I never knew that tripe would be so inoffensive that I don’t care whether it’s there or not. That tendon has some of that meltiness of pork belly or lardons, somehow. I never knew that goyisher white folks would be so averse to a whole fish. (more for meeee!) I never had bac ha stems, nor would I ever have known what a pleasing texture they have against your tongue. I never would have known this stuff, were it not for Caravelle.
Whether Vietnamese food is your heritage and comfort food, or whether you’re trying to decide if you like cilantro or not, there is something here which is right in your food comfort zone and your sweet spot.
Do yourself a favor if this is not familiar territory and step off your instinctive path. You are in the right place.

I was wrong, this is not a 2 star restaurant, I shallowly based my review on one visit to the lunch buffet, a beginning Unilocaler mistake. Also, this is for Caravelle the Chinese restaurant, not the Vietnamese deli attached, with which it shares owners and a kitchen.
I enjoyed the flavors of the Spicy Mongolian Chicken, the Chicken Stir Fry with Scallions & Onions was good, the Deep Fried Sole with Ginger Fish Sauce was a challenge but good, Catfish Cooked in Clay Pot was ok, the Sliced Pork Cooked in Special House Sauce was fatty but had a good sauce, but the Fried Jumbo Shrimp Wrapped with Wonton Skin was mediocre and their rice is clumpy.
However, the Sesame Chicken is excellent. It is baked instead of deep fried like everywhere else, and this makes all the difference. It’s not the chewy, oily mess of batter surrounding a tiny piece of chicken that we’re all used to.

When I get hungry for a home cooked Vietnamese meal and my mom or hubby aren’t up for making it, this is my go to place. Get the special Canh Chua, a sweet and sour soup with the Thit Kho. The perfect combo of soup, veggies and lightly fattening, salted meat. For extra yumminess we add in the Salt and Pepper Squid. Careful, it is a bit salty all together and I end up drinking a ton of water the next day. However totally worth it! Also cheap wine and beer to accompany your cheat eats!

UMMM, PHO! I do love me some Caravelle/​Phở 79 Phở. 3 meals in one you can’t go wrong! Their Phở list is quite extensive but I always just go with the beef straight up and have not been disappointed, not once. Their spring rolls are also quite tasty and filling. Always fresh tasting. Other people I have dined with have gone for the fried rice and a few other non-​phở dishes and everyone, including myself, always leaves happy and very satiated. The prices are low and service is solid.

I go to Caravelle a lot for their lunch buffet. It’s cheap and fast, but that’s about it. The buffet food is frequently just okay — not great. I can’t think of one thing here that’s amazing. All in all, it’s a good Plan C restaurant.

A Vietnamese friend tells me Caravelle is a lot better than Quang, but I don’t see it. They do have some other items, but I am apparently unable to detect the subtle nuance. It seems smaller-​scale and less rushed, though. For instance, they still bring the café su da to the table instead of just dumping it into a plastic cup in the kitchen. Some of their soups are the best I’ve found in the Cities.

BEST VIETNAMESE FOOD IN THE TWIN CITIES.
When my family comes to visit here, we eat here twice. My dad is SUPER picky about Vietnamese restaurants and he lauds this place to the high heavens. We have taken guests to this restaurant, and they have all agreed: the food is so good! Everything we get is reliably very delicious, from the traditional «com gia dinh» family style Vietnamese foods to the Americanized sesame chicken and fried rice.
A very nice family owns Caravelle and its sister restaurant Phở 79. The matriarch still watches over the kitchen every day.
If you wanna say that you can find better Vietnamese food elsewhere on Eat Street (or Minneapolis, even), you are mistaken, my friend. This is the place to go. Take it from me, a girl with 24 years experience.
Some people are confused with the 2 sides, 2 restaurants, 1 space concept. I just treat it as though it is one big restaurant. All the food is the same and comes from the same place. The Caravelle side has slightly better ambience and is best for dinner with guests or dates, the Phở side is for your 11am bowl of phở with your family.
RECOMMENDATIONS (STRONGLY):
Canh Chua Ca Bong Lau: Cat fish tamarind soup. I have dreams about this dish. Features pineapple, taro stems, celery, tomatoes and cat fish in a hot, slightly spicy, garlicky, tangy broth. Careful, the fish has the bones. Comes with spicy fish sauce to dip the fish. Also available with chicken, but I think you need to get the catfish for the full experience.
Ca Chien mam gung: Fried fish with ginger fish sauce. They feature catfish, sun fish, and walleye. I highly recommend the walleye for that local flavor. It’s lightly floured, deep fried and served in a sweet fish sauce flavored with ginger. The fish sauce isn’t overpowering, it is really tangy, umami and sweet. This also has bones. We Vietnamese, are not afraid of bones, can you tell?
Tom Chien Ngu Vi Huong: Good sized shrimp battered and fried with Chinese Five Spice and garlic. Comes served on a bed of sauteed onions. So tasty.
Ca Kho To: Catfish stewed in a Clay Pot. Catfish steaks (WITH BONES) stewed in a caramelized, garlicky, spicy sauce. It has an intense flavor that is out of this world. After you finish picking the fish off the bones, drizzle the sauce over your rice. That is Vietnamese comfort food, right there.
This is a really long review. I felt compelled to write this because I saw that Caravelle only received 3 stars from Unilocalers. Let me tell you, this is injustice if I ever saw it.
FUN FACT: Van Son, a popular Vietnamese variety show recently filmed a performance in Minnesota. They featured some Vietnamese businesses on their DVD. Quang’s down the street was one of the businesses featured. We asked the owners why Caravelle wasn’t featured by Van Son. They said that the production crew and cast ate at Caravelle and ordered catering by Caravelle every day they were in town. They didn’t want to pay to be advertised on the DVD because they obviously do fine without it so that is why they were not featured. Neat huh?

I’ve been to Phở 79 many times in the past, and always sat on the «Phở side», but went over to Caravelle recently out of sheer confusion. Seems I’m not the only one who’s never understood what the deal is with the two conjoined restaurants. The gentleman at the host station quickly summoned us to come sit down at Caravelle; I quick grabbed a menu from both restaurants at the same host station and figured it wouldn’t matter where we sat, so into Caravelle we went.
I hadn’t had a rice noodle salad for some time and had been craving one like crazy, so I ordered their beef and curried shrimp noodle salad.
When it arrived I could tell just by looking at it that it was a dumbed-​down version of what I’ve had at Phở 79. I will say that the portion was more than ample, but who cares? I too can make a huge vat of flavorless vermicelli. I asked for mine to be made spicy, and there was literally zero spice. My friend advised me to add some sriracha. As much as I like the flavor of sriracha, it does have it’s own distinct flavor of which I didn’t feel like tasting throughout my dish. This day I did it anyway, seeing as how any flavor would lend help to my tasteless bowl of noodles and lettuce.
I will be going back to Phở 79 to at least investigate and see if they still have a good rice noodle salad, but as for Caravelle, the best part of my meal was the mint on the way out.

I’m a sucker for a Chinese Buffet… and a good Chinese Buffet will keep me coming back time and time again.
Even on the busiest of days, you can get a seat in their semi-​small (for buffet standards) dining room. Amazing fried rice, cream cheese wontons, dumplings, and a rotating selection of veggies & protein keep me happy every time.
If you want more than water, make sure to ask them BEFORE they leave your table when you’re seated… otherwise you’ll never get it.
If you’re looking for a slam dunk buffet on Eat Street, lunch buffet at Caravelle is a must!

One of my favorite dive Vietnamese places. They own Phở 79, so you can get their soup on the restaurant side also, just ask for the other menu. They have a lunch buffet, but I order off the menu because it is heavy on chicken. You can order any of the stir-​fries with mock duck. I really like their bun salad.