How to Plan a Vietnamese Food Tour in Westminster and Garden Grove

The malls in Westminster and Garden Grove often feel like independent cities. Even the smaller malls are densely packed with stores offering everything you need to survive the apocalypse.

There's Hanoi Square, a compact hub with its own ecosystem of pho, a herb shop, a vegetarian restaurant, fried chicken, a place to buy a mobile phone, a bakery and a feng shui shop.

Across the street is Bolsa Plaza, with not one, but two beauty supply stores, a pharmacy, a lash salon, and a restaurant boasting a killer bun bo hue. You could spend an entire week eating on this specific stretch of Bolsa Avenue between Magnolia and Euclid streets and barely scratch the surface.

On a recent Saturday, I packed my cooler with leftovers and decided to give it a try. I picked three local restaurants, plus a tea shop and a market to visit in one afternoon.

First stop: Chicken wings at Mama Hieu's

The first time I tried Mama Hieu, it was outside Nho Thi Le and her son Jimmy Le’s Garden Grove home. After losing their jobs at the restaurant in March 2020, the two decided to start a small catering business in their backyard. They mostly prepared large trays of the Vietnamese garlic butter chicken wings that Nho Thi is known for at family gatherings.

Now, the family runs a restaurant in Hanoi Square with a small dining room. I arrived just after opening and saw a line out the door and every seat taken. I watched as dozens of cars pulled up to pick up large foil trays of chicken for various celebrations, some with 100 wings.

In addition to the original garlic wings, Nho Thi now offers spicy garlic, fish sauce and salted egg yolk at the restaurant. There are also tater tots, garlic noodles and mounds of white rice with fried onions.

The garlic wings were slathered in melted butter and liberally sprinkled with minced garlic and green onion. Beneath the onslaught of toppings, the coating crackled, creating a formidable crunch as cornstarch, egg and rice flour combined in the batter.

The spicy garlic wings started out with a respectable amount of heat that built to a climax that had me in tears as I pulled the last bits of meat off my second drumstick.

Tiny threads of chopped red chili peppers clung to bits of garlic caught in the sticky glaze of the fish sauce wings. They were sweet and salty in equal parts, with the familiar, addictive smell of reduced fish sauce.

The salted egg yolk wings were almost completely covered in the bright yellow crumbs. The egg yolks enhanced the deliciousness of the butter-coated wings, with a flavor that closely mimicked that of Parmesan cheese.

I understand the urgency of ordering 100 wings.

Second stop: Bánh uớt tower in Quan Nhii

A banh uớt tower at Quan Nhii in Westminster.

(Jenn Harris/Los Angeles Times)

Next, I drove a mile east to Quan Nhii, on the northeast corner of the Bolsa Mini mall. I squeezed into one of the parking spaces that I thought was about a foot too small, then put my name on the waiting list outside. No matter what time you arrive, there will be a wait.

At Quan Nhii, everyone orders the same thing. On every table are towers of bánh uớt, presented in the form of 10 steamed rice paper pieces, still warm and spread out on colorful plates. You choose your protein and your vegetables and spend most of lunch assembling your own bánh cuốn with every imaginable combination of fillings and garnishes.

The rice papers are firm and chewy like al dente pasta, but much less sturdy. I had a bit of trouble not tearing the wrappers when removing them from plates. I filled mine with grilled pork, bean sprouts, cucumber, fresh herbs, and fried shallots, rolled them up as best I could, then dipped them into a bowl of nước chấm.

At first, I looked around to see how the diners at the surrounding tables were filling their wrappers. A woman next to me seemed to be having fun squeezing as many as she could into the thin paper without tearing it. Mine broke frequently, but they were no less excellent.

Third stop: Sizzling steak at Khởi Hưng restaurant

The bò lúc lắc from Khởi Hưng restaurant in Garden Grove.

(Jenn Harris/Los Angeles Times)

For my final restaurant stop, I headed northeast to Khởi Hưng Restaurant, in a strip mall with a parking lot that makes the Whole Foods parking lot in West Hollywood look like a Thomas Cole painting. This is where you get your meat fix, in the form of bò lúc lắc and sizzling plates of entrecôte.

The glaze on bò lúc lắc is sauce-like and slightly sweet, with bits of minced garlic and plenty of black pepper. It may be my favorite version of the dish in the area.

A delicious rib eye steak from Khởi Hưng restaurant in Garden Grove.

(Jenn Harris/Los Angeles Times)

My sizzling ribeye arrived in a pool of garlic butter that sizzled and splattered my forearms. Drenched in butter and tender enough to forgo the knife, I vowed never to return to a chain steakhouse that sounded like Naestro's, Puth Chris and Glemming's.

I opted for a baguette with my steak, thinking of my leftover steak sandwich the next day. It was the kind you find at your favorite banh mi restaurant, pale in color, with a crust that breaks into an airy center. I cut off a piece and dipped it into the garlic butter, which was now bathed in steak juice and grilled onions beneath the steak. Then I asked for another, until my leftover steak sandwich the next day had turned to crumbs.

Fourth stop: Sunright Tea

Sunright Tea Studios has a selection of fruit teas, boba teas and coffee.

(Jennelle Fong)

I frequent this tea chain’s branches in the San Gabriel Valley more than twice a week, alternating between the classic brewed teas and one of the seasonal fruit flavors. The name is a combination of “Sunny” and “Right,” and each store’s color scheme is appropriately yellow and bright. During the summer months, there’s a watermelon soda with fresh watermelon, ice, and tea. Or a peach jasmine tea with peach puree. The temperature was hovering around 93 degrees, so I opted for the watermelon soda, craving the slushy feel in the heat.

Fifth stop: Hoa Binh supermarket

A bag of Buldak-flavored seaweed snacks from Hoa Binh supermarket in Garden Grove.

(Jenn Harris/Los Angeles Times)

The best way to end a foodie day is with a trip to the market to buy snacks for the journey home. At Hoa Binh, you'll find the full range of Irvins salted egg-flavoured snacks, biscuits, crackers and a wide selection of produce. The prize of the day was Buldak-flavoured seaweed snacks. The man at the till took one look at the bag, with its panda bear logo with flames shooting out of the eyeballs and the word “spicy!” written in bright yellow letters beneath three chillies on the front and told me to “be careful”.