Nam Thanh

Nam Thanh is one of those completely random but wonderful finds. Banh Canh — a thick rice noodle soup — is a traditional dish from Vietnam. But here, they serve banh canh in many different forms. Just when I thought I knew all the types of Vietnamese food, I go in here and am proven wrong.
As far as I’ve known, there are two different types of banh canh. But here, they serve it up so many ways. I had to ask them if they were being creative, or if these dishes were authentic. They explained to me that what they serve is purely traditional fare. They went around Vietnam and took note of all the different ways that small villages put their spin on the dish and now serve them up in their restaurant.
The restaurant is really clean. A tad small but clean. Service is not particularly attentive, but it’s what you can expect from a Vietnamese restaurant.
Prices are reasonable all things considered. But the best part is that it’s delicious and well done. I’ll be back!

I have been a returning customer sinced they opened. My family enjoy their yummy Vietnames udon, but they lack portion. Alot of soup base, not much meat and udon. Don’t get me wrong the soup is very good, but for $ 9.50 a bowl (yeahhh they raise the price on Banh Canh Cua Dac Biet)…i expect more! This is the main reason why we don’t eat here as often.
You should give this place at least a try though. They have other udon dishes like Banh Canh Hai San, Banh Canh Nuoc Dua, etc. I have tried other resturants that serves Vietnamese udon and they don’t compare to Nam Thanh!
[Postivies]: Best Vietnamese udon I ever tasted in San Jose, bomb ass soup, on weeknights the place is pretty dead so you can come in and get seating, located right across from Vietnam Town.
[Negatives]: Depending on the udon bowl the pricing is a bit high for the small portion (alot of soup base), Customer service is ehhh, only 1 bathroom, last time i called in for food to-​go 30 minutes+ in advance… when i got there i still have to wait additional 5 minutes+…grrrrr. Ohhh i do recommend the owner to smile more. She always seem to be grumpy nowadays: P

I came in here for a take out meal, but from what I recall, the ambiance was above average. The only problem I noticed was that their front door was having problems closing (way to increase the heating bill if you ask me).
Besides that, I got the crab banh canh. I’ve never tried this before so I can’t say if it’s comparable to the real thing, but what I can say, is that it SUCKED.
DO NOT GET IT. the broth is really thick. And the meat and crab that comes with it is not easy to eat as well – ton of shell and bones in the way. It’s not even worth the effort to get the meaty part as well.
hopefully this place gets better.

Banh Canh Cua Dac Biet is hella bomb. SO DELICIOUS! This place is really underated. Forget PHO! This is the new comfort food people!
They have tons of different banh canhs, i’m ready to try the next one.
It’s decently priced to at $ 7 – 8.

The banh canh is OK, the portion is too small for the price of $ 7.99 per bowl. They charge $.50 for cup of hot tea. That does not seem right. Just want to try a new place but I wont be back, sorry.

When they first opened I was not much of a fan. They now specialize in Banh Canh. There’s a few different type of Banh Canh on their menu that sounds a little unusual — like the one with coconut milk. However, I haven’t tried it so can’t say. The Banh Canh Tom Cua is good tho… the very first time I had it was not that great but I decided to give it another chance. I’m quite glad I did. If you enjoy Banh Canh, it’s pretty good here!

This restaurant has the best phở. And the price is reasonable compared to other restaurants. One thing I really liked about this place was that it’s very clean and sleek. However, this place is a little empty. I guess they haven’t really gotten their name out there yet. i would most definitely recommend this restaurant to others.

I don’t know why it’s so hard to open a good Vietnamese restaurant. Do people not ask their friends and family if a dish is good, before opening something?
We got a late night massage next door, and came out hungry. It was after 10pm, so there was not much still open.
I got the Hieu Tieu and we shared a bo tai chanh. Both were gross and hardly edible.
Sorry Nam Thanh, I won’t be back.

We trekked here today to try out this new restaurant that opened recently. The FIRST thing I noticed (not at the fault of the restaurant) is how unusually narrow the parking spots are. I think it’s marked for smart cars. I tend to notice these things because somehow, someway, my car is ALWAYS a target for door dings. FML
The second thing I noticed was how all the businesses in the nearby vicinity tend to blast their music the way hip fashionable stores in the mall do to attract customers. If it’s loud, it should draw hungry people in right? Well it was loud, but we were the only customers in there today maybe because the place is new and hasn’t quite been established. The place is nicely decorated, but the tables seem way too small to accomodate 4 chairs. Even as I sat in my chair with the chair next to me touching me on one side and the wall on the other, my fanny was sticking out a bit. Feels kinda like sitting in coach on United.
I ordered the Thailand Shrimp Fried Rice and she had the Crab Udon. The presentation certainly deserved close to 5 stars since it was nicely scalloped with ingeniously sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. The soup – well, there was a few hunks of blood. My rice was a bit bland for my taste so I had to add a few dabs of Rooster sauce and soy sauce to give it some flavor. From the looks across the table, didn’t seem like she enjoyed the soup too much either although it wasn’t explicitly expressed (her mama taught her well).
Nothing to write home about, but the place certainly seemed very clean. Also this is one of the few restaurants that dont stack their chopsticks and spoons in the table dispenser so you get a feeling that this is a higher-​class establishment. If you forget your American Express, you’re excused this time because they only take cash. Dont forget to save some for the after-​lunch entertainment at the nearby sexy coffee shops :)