Chao Vit Thien-Huong

It’s in the (dirty) food court in the middle of Lion plaza. Cash Only.
I didn’t know about this place. It’s like a taste of Asia in east San Jose.
Chao Vit booth is in the middle left of the food court, next to Phở Pasteur.
It’s the BEST Phở I had since I relocated in the US/​San Jose.
I am very glad that Unilocal helped me find this place! Finally a great Phở place!
I had a #9 (pork and seafood), the meat was so tasty, the fish cake perfect, the crab claw and the shrimp very fresh. The broth was delicate and perfumed WITHOUT MSG! (at least I didn’t feel any in my soup).
Plenty of soja and chili. Lot of roasted garlic (tasted so fresh and crispy). Complimentary hot tea.
The fresh roll was great. again, the best I had since I moved to the US. Well prepare with a very very thin rice paper, fresh veggies.
One thing I really didn’t appreciate: Chao Vit menu is written in Vietnamese ONLY (there are few photos… but I don’t pick food form photos usually, I like to know what’s in my dish.) You have to ask for the take away menu to get an English translation (partial menu). This is absolutely not acceptable, I think, especially when neighboring restaurant have both English/​Vietnamese displays.

Whenever I crave bun rieu I get the canh bun here. It’s the closest thing to my mom’s homemade version.
I’ve been coming here for almost 10 years and it still holds that this place makes the best canh bun and nem nuong cuon in town!

This place has a great selection of a lot of Vietnamese dishes you can’t really find anywhere else!
I came in on a Friday afternoon — the food court was pretty clean, and not crowded. We had wanted to pick up some leftovers to bring home from here, too (since we live kind of a drive away).
We ordered (to eat there): Canh Bun — seafood soup with udon noodle, pork meatball, fish cake (cha ca), fried tofu, tomato, and water spinach (rau muong). The broth is VERY good, a nice amount of crab in it, and I couldn’t detect that much MSG. The meatballs are tender and flavorful, and the serving of veggies and meat to noodles is very generous. Super filling lunch, and better than any soup I have tried at Grand Century food court.
Nem Cuon (to go) — ok we ordered to go so the lettuce was wilted, the fried eggroll wrapper inside was soggy, and the sauce was too thickened. But this was our own faults! The nem was well-​seasoned, but I’d definitely recommend eating fresh.
Banh uot (to go) — Rice rolls with grilled meat, fried shallots, fried mung bean cake. The mung bean cake is too dense, but hit the spot (go to banh cuon tay ho for a good banh cong!). The grilled meat was really nicely charred and moist, and the rice rolls were a really nice thickness and tenderness. The nuoc mam (dipping sauce) to go along with it was also on point. I am a fan.
Overall pretty cheap and pretty good.

Came by for a casual lunch the other day and was thoroughly impressed. Chao Vit Thien-​Huong is located inside the Lion Plaza Food Court. The interior and ambiance is definitely hole-​in-​a wall…
Ordered the #11 and the highlight was the huge crab claw (larger than Dalat & Vung Tau). The prawn was huge too! All of the ingredients were very fresh, especially the fish cake and lean cuts of pork loin. The clear noodles were excellent, hot and fresh. The tomato sauce was on the salty and bold side and even had a good kick to it.
The meal came with a bed of vegetables, an excellent side of tasty broth, small hot sauce, and a small cup of tea.
Dalat & Vung Tau have some serious competition!
$ 9 for #11 with tax «included»

Although I’ll continue to search for the perfect local Brodard’s nem nuong fix, Chao Vit Thien-​Huong is decent.
Chao Vit Thien-​Huong is located in a food court at the corner of the plaza. You have to walk further into the corner, past Kim’s sandwiches. The food court itself made me feel like I was in Asia — mom and pop food stands, old tables and plastic chairs. This made the food court feel authentic but kinda dirty.
I ordered two full orders (8 rolls) of their nem nuong to share. This was a good, filling amount for two people. It’s $ ⁷⁄₄ rolls and Brodard’s nem nuong is $ ⁶⁄₄ rolls so Chao Vit Thien-​Huong doesn’t compare. Although the nem nuong at Chao Vit Thien-​Huong had a substantial sized pork patty, the veggie to meat ratio was off. The pork patty could use more flavor. There also wasn’t enough crispy eggroll skin — it was rolled into a tiny tube. I did like their sauce! It was flavorful and they gave four containers of it which was more than enough.
Chao Vit Thien-​Huong is next to Phở Pasteur on the left of the food court as you walk in. Service is minimal although they do offer complimentary hot tea. The rolls were made fresh but took awhile to come out.
Keep an eye on your food as there were so many flies. Cash only as well. Not sure if this was worth the trip, but I would come back if I happened to be in the area.

This stall has moved in with the Thien Huong Banh Cuon Trang Hoi stall to the right of Phở Pasteur bringing their soups and porridges (Chao). They have banners from both stalls hanging above the space, though the combined take-​out menu currently reads «Banh Cuon Thien Huong»
I got a couple of Chao Vit’s well known items, Nem Nuong Cuon and Canh Bun. They were pretty good, but with some distracting issues.
Cuon Nem Nuong is $ 7 for 4 or $ 3.50 for 2 This had really flavorful Nem Nuong (which is where many places falter with bland pork patties) along with a tasty Brodard-​esque orange sauce (
).
The unappealing part was the fried wonton wrapper tube in the roll was not crunchy, sort of firm and chewy (
). Not sure if this was from poor frying or if the rolls were made too far in advance that the tubes absorbed moisture from the veggies. I dissected the 2^nd roll and removed the tube (and made a mess on my tray).
Canh Bun is the lesser known relative of Bun Rieu with thicker noodles and a lighter broth that also has tomatos (
). It comes with a small plastic container of Mam Ruoc with chili sauce on top (
)
The version here had a nice broth and toppings of rau muong (water spinach), fried tofu, meatballs, slices of fish cake, sprinkled with black pepper and fried shallots (
). I liked the mix of toppings better than Phở Ga Hung’s, but the noodles were a distraction.
I don’t know if it was because it was the end of the day, but the noodles were hard to handle because they were all broken into short 1−3″ pieces (
). They weren’t overcooked, just broken, and I found it easier to just scoop them with the spoon vs. using chopsticks.

I decided to try the nem nuong cuon rolls based on reviews and wanting to relive the experience I had from Brodard. The orange sauce was delicious with pieces of meat. The rolls were alright. They were missing the crunch I was expecting. Echoing other reviewers, the rolls don’t compare to Brodards but satisfy a quick fix. They’re also more expensive. $ 7 gets you 4 rolls. We also found plastic wrap on some of the rolls and a strand of hair in one of the orange sauces. We thought about complaining but we didn’t think they would understand us anyway. No one here speaks English. Cash only.
We also ordered this gigantic looking meatball in the display to only find that it was a giant ball of carbs. We weren’t so sure what it was and it was lukewarm so we didn’t finish it.
They don’t have water but they do give you hot jasmine tea if you ask!
It took us forever to find the shopping plaza but we eventually found it. There’s not much air conditioning in here but it’s enough to not have you sweat in the summer. There are employees who clean up the trays after you so you can leave your trash behind.

Came to taste the nem nuong cuon rolls.
Doesn’t compare to Brodards but good enough for a fix.
Located in shopping plaza towards the back of the plaza in the food court.
Cash only.
Slow service, especially if you don’t speak Vietnamese.
We were there first but this Vietnamese lady charged up after us and started speaking in Vietnamese and placed her order while we were in the process of ordering ours.

What. Happened?!
Ever since the merge with the other «thien huong» location across the food court, quality has gone way down.
Nem nuong cuons are rolled like crap. The rice paper is all bunched up on one side… makes it unpleasant to eat.
& what used to be my favorite there, Canh Bun, is no longer as savory or flavorful as it used to be.
SADNESS!

Spring rolls delicious, especially their orange shrimp sauce! More to write later.

Every time I come to this food court I always walk around to try and order something I haven’t tried yet, but I always end up coming here to get their Nem Nuong Cuon and Canh Bun! Their Nem Nuong Cuon is the closest I could find to compare it to the Brodard’s in SoCal. They need better spoons so I could better enjoy the Canh Bun here though, hard to have the soup and noodles together with a regular plastic spoon. Cash only!

You know a Viet place is good, when the only people there are viet people. This place is located in a food plaza. I love the hu tieu because their egg noodle and broth was on point. It was delicious! Their nem nuong was alright… didn’t compare to Brodards (–1 star).

I am not sure what scale other people are using to evaluate nem nuong, but this was the second place I tried it and probably the best and most consistent place to date.
Here is my list and it goes like this, you’ve got biggie, reggie, nas then jay-z…wait wrong list…
1. Chao Vit Thien-​Huong
2. Brodards in OC (disclaimer, only had once, but ate entire order)
3. Com Tan Thien-​Huong in Grand Century (same owners)
4. Com Tan Thien-​Huong on Senter (same owners)
5. Quanh Nem Ninh Hoa (Sacramento, only tried once, excellent rolls, sauce was bleh)
6. Phở 90 degrees (only tried once, weirdest phở place ever)
And here is why I love them and crave them… they are never stingy and always fast, fresh and send you on your way with fresh chilis and chili packets. Sauce is always hot and delicious, savory and rich with lots of little ground pork chunks. Perfect proportion of cucumber, crispy egg roll and grilled meat) This is truly one of those places where the hole in the wall is better than the restaurant locations.
I had been looking forward to trying Brodards down south after I kept hearing how AMAZING it was, but man they just didn’t cut it. Maybe it was an off day, but they were probably on par, definitely weren’t blowing anyone out of the water plus that place was INSANE on a weekend. It was hard for me to imagine it being sOOO much better anyways-​I think it’s mostly name recognition. They had other specialty items and do-​it yourself nem nuong platters as well that I would like to try next time.
Anyhoo, back to the food court:
We’ve ordered trays before as well and the entire order is always on gobbled up at parties. Comes with an enormous sauce that is enough for the tray. (About $ 35 for 7 orders)
We like the place across the food court for banh cuon as well, they give humongous portions.
**hu tieu and chao are aok as well.

Was driving through San Jose, my friend suggested that we try the Canh Bun here. I had no idea what it was, but was simply told it was noodles in a tomato-​y based broth. I’m not a fan of tomato based broth, but if someone tells me something tastes good I’m going to try it.
The Canh Bun broth was delicious and came piping hot, and the tomato flavor was subtle but definitely added something special to the broth. The noodles are the round rice noodles you would find in bun bo hue. The tofu and the meatballs added a great texture to the dish. The only thing I disliked was the amount of veggie in it. I like veggie, but I didn’t like that type of veggie. My friend told me it was called morning glory. To me it tasted like parsley and I have one of those palette that does not particularly like the taste of parsley. So I simply took it out as I was eating.
This bowl of noodles cost $ 8.00. I thought it was kind of expensive considering that this is a hole in the wall, mom & pop place in a slightly dingy (but clean) food court. Either way it was delicious.
Service was friendly and efficient.

Definitely recommend!
The Nem Nuong Cuon was very good, but not on a Brodard (in Garden Grove) cracktastic level! The sauce was lacking peanuts and heat. 4 Rolls for $ 7
The Canh Bun ($ 8) was pretty good — awesome if you watched my friend slurp it down in minutes!
Grilled Meat Vermicilli ($ 8) — huge portion also delicious!

What a fantastic find!
Although great restaurants in strip mall locations are nothing new, finding a high quality food court has been much harder in the Bay Area. Unlike the food courts in American malls that feature fast food chains and unhealthy cuisine, the food courts of Asia are often those special «hole in the walls» from Mom and Pop shops that just can’t afford the overhead for a larger venture.
This food court in Lion’s Court Plaza is the real deal and Chao Vit Thien-​Huong (and the nearby Phở Ga Hung) are the best examples of the Vietnamese cuisine at its best. My order:
Nem Nuong Cuon — these grilled pork spring rolls were as good as any I’ve had in restaurants in the area and were a match for the famous Brodard version in Socal. $ 7 for 4 rolls, but the owner allowed me to order 2 since I was solo.
Hu Tieu — I requested a dry hu tieu with soup on the side but it came with the soup. I’ll assume it was my bad ordering as I know they offer the dry version. Large prawn and a nice crab claw highlight the toppings. Two noodles (egg noodle and thicker rice noodle) are included and it’s a hearty dish. Good broth flavor. Will be back to try the dry version or the often recommended canh bun
Everything was prepared amazingly fast. Piping hot. Affordable. What more can you want. Even better the hours are fantastic. The food court opens at like 7 AM and this stall starts serving their full menu at 8 am. Makes it easy to «eat breakfast like a king…»
Chao Vit Thien Huong is cash only.

The food court inside the Lion Plaza right off Tully Road (tucked far away into the corner by the way), rocks. This was a far cry 20 years ago when it was nothing but boring generic Asian and other lackluster choices.
No nonsense nitty gritty real deal OG doe ma non diluted hardcore Vietnamese (i.e da good chit), the closest thing to what might be the real deal /​street food without the douchetruckery night markets… although in a food court, and pretty much close to sit down restaurant prices. Thus still keeping it realz… affordable, efficient, and tasty.
So much to choose from, yet so little time.
The obvious choice… nem nuong cuon, or grilled pork spring rolls. Shrimp, scallions, rice noodles (bun), grilled pork, crispy bits (like broken fried won ton skins), tightly packed like a giant sausage ethnic like contraption, and served with a peanut like dipping sauce that is sweet and savory (like some ngoc mam mixed in). 4 rolls for about $ 7, which is similar pricing to Southern California (where it is made famous by Brodard). I’d say these are a little bit better than the broken rice plate restaurant inside Grand Century Mall where you can also get these rolls. Definitely better than Brodard Château (the more upscale sister restaurant to Brodard Restaurant)
Wanted to try the Canh Bun… but decided to try the version at Phở Ga Hung instead (very pleasing and unusual, much easier to accept than some rustic regional Chinese noodle slathered with Sichuan peppercorn accented chili oil chit). Is it pronounced KANG BOOOON?
After this slightly pricey snack/​appetizer (but hey it’s done right and tasty), recommended for folks to get a Vietnamese noodle soup here or from Phở Ga Hung further to the back. Mix and match. Variety is the spice of life.

Only tried the nem cuon. And comparing to the holy grail of places that make these the best… Brodard Restaurant in Garden Grove!
The cuon here, although decent, didn’t quite taste as fresh as Brodard. The sauce here tasted similar but, again, would’ve been better if warmed up a bit.
$ 7 per order of 4. Not worth it for me.

This place is located in the Food Court of the Lion Plaza. It’s the first stop on your right. I like their bun bo hue. It’s not the best, but it is do-​able. The taste is very consistent and I haven’t been disappointed yet. For $ 7? not bad!
Their nem nuong is something you can definitely skip though.

I ordered Canh bun and loved it! mom ordered «Hai Nan chicken over rice», it didn’t wow us… but decent dish!
customer service was a distraction…