New York City has never been a mecca for great Vietnamese cuisine. The few restaurants that existed, mostly around Chinatown in Manhattan, were run by <\/span>Hoa<\/span><\/i>, or ethnic Chinese-Vietnamese, immigrants. The food was fine for a temporary pho fix, but it didn\u2019t send off culinary fireworks on the palate, either.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But then around the middle of the last decade, something interesting happened. Inspiring Vietnamese restaurants began firing up their pho-boiling burners, churning out (finally) excellent Vietnamese fare in New York City. And now, several years later, the city is sprinkled with great restaurants representing the cuisine of this fascinating Southeast Asian country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here are the 12 best Vietnamese restaurants in NYC.<\/span><\/p>\n Located on the <\/span>Upper West Side<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Banh<\/span><\/a> started as a pop-up in 2020. And as the food-loving public got word of a new and great Vietnamese place serving up rich, flavorful pho on the Upper West Side, the lines outside of the restaurant started to form. And the line never really ended.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now Banh is a permanent fixture, and one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in NYC. And thank the pho gods for that. In addition to pho and <\/span>bun cha<\/span><\/i>, a Hanoi favorite that is unfortunately far from a staple at Vietnamese restaurants across the United States, Banh also serves <\/span>banh chung chien<\/span><\/i>, a deep-fried rice cake filled with pork that is also a rarity to find outside of Vietnam.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The banh mi sandwich might be the best sandwich on the planet. And the best banh mi sandwich in New York is probably at this diminutive, no-frills spot in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s jam-packed with veggies, crammed with porky goodness, and smeared with buttery silky p\u00e2t\u00e9. But what really seals the deal\u2014and this is the secret to any good banh mi\u2014is the bread. They get their baguettes from Neri\u2019s Bakery in Port Chester in Westchester County. Located on Eighth Avenue and 43<\/span>rd<\/span> Street.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Located in Williamsburg,<\/span> Bolero<\/span><\/a> is helmed by chef Matt Le Khac who relies on his deep knowledge of lost Vietnamese culinary traditions and Southeast Asian herbs to inform what he does in the kitchen. Le Khac is talented at taking traditional (and lesser-known) Vietnamese dishes and putting his own modern spin on them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Expect to find a few familiar names on the menu\u2014pho, shaking beef, <\/span>banh xeo<\/span><\/i>\u2014and a few things you\u2019ve never heard of unless you\u2019ve eaten your way through Vietnam.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This East Williamsburg spot<\/span><\/a> helped set off the boom of excellent modern Vietnamese restaurants in NYC. Eleven Madison Park alum Jimmy Tu is the man behind Bunker and he\u2019s serving up the food he was raised on, mostly dishes that hail from in and around Ho Chi Minh City, the metropolis locals still call Saigon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Start with a crepe-like, smoke-mussel-and-bacon-stuffed <\/span>banh xeo<\/span><\/i> and then move on to entrees like the luscious pork-belly-and-p\u00e2t\u00e9 crammed <\/span>banh mi<\/span><\/i>. One nod to the north is the <\/span>cha ca<\/span><\/i>, a dill-spiked fish dish that originated in Hanoi. (They use salmon instead of the genus of catfish that\u2019s used in Hanoi.) The chicken in the <\/span>pho ga<\/span><\/i> is also nice, as the poultry is smoked, adding a unique taste to the flavor strata.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From the people who brought you An Choi, the influential and erstwhile Vietnamese spot on the Lower East Side,<\/span> Di An Di<\/span><\/a> serves up traditional fare plus Vietnamese dishes with a twist. And refreshingly, Di An Di does not shy away from Hanoi dishes, as there are few bowls of Hanoi-style pho on offer, as well as the sizzling fish dish <\/span>cha ca la Vong<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Also turning up on the menu sometimes are fun and more adventurous offerings such as the delicious sweet-and-spicy crispy pig tails and the sizzling lamb belly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Opened in late spring 2021, this eatery is the sequel to the original in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. But unlike most sequels,<\/span> this Dumbo eatery<\/span><\/a>, just steps from the Brooklyn Bridge, may be better than the original, and is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in NYC. The Vietnamese-American couple who run the place have tried to create an atmosphere of what it would be like to eat out on a Saturday night in Saigon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The menu differs from the original location in that there\u2019s more of an emphasis on shellfish here. Pro tip: go for dinner or weekend lunch to get the expanded menu. Then you\u2019ll get access to the <\/span>chao<\/span><\/i>, a scallop-spiked rice porridge similar to the Chinese <\/span>congee<\/span>, as well as garlic-butter clams, mussels in a coconut-lemongrass sauce, and seafood fried rice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Named for the way the erstwhile owner\u2019s father said \u201c<\/span>Fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/i>\u201d (French for \u201cFrench\u201d),<\/span> this Bushwick restaurant<\/span><\/a> closed and reopened with a new (former Blue Hill at Stone Barns) chef-owner in summer 2021, as well as a new and revamped menu. The original was very good; the new incarnation is great\u2014and one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in NYC.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The menu changes with the season, but there are a few constants, including the supremely excellent tender crispy duck necks and \u201cDad\u2019s Egg Rolls,\u201d a holdover from the previous owner-chef: Berkshire-pork-and-wood-ear-mushroom-stuffed fried rolls with a chili-loaded fish sauce for dipping.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When the acclaimed<\/span> Hanoi House<\/span><\/a> opened on St. Marks Place near Avenue A in the <\/span>East Village<\/span><\/a> in 2017, it was something of a revelation to New Yorkers. There are not many restaurants in New York, and even the entire United States, that are solely focused on the cuisine of the Vietnamese capital. That\u2019s because most Vietnamese immigrants since 1975 have hailed from the south.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The pho here is the star of the show. As is the proclivity in the north, the broth is deep, rich, refreshingly lacking in sweetness, and oh-so satisfying (especially with the side of pickled garlic). Other standouts include the shredded pig ear salad and the <\/span>bun cha<\/span><\/i>, a Hanoi staple that involves fried pork rolls, pork patties, and vermicelli noodles all rolled up in lettuce (by the diner), dipped in fish sauce, and enjoyed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This Williamsburg spot, located at 182 S. 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Street and Driggs Avenue, is an excellent, relatively off-the-radar restaurant a few blocks from the Williamsburg Bridge. The p\u00e2t\u00e9-laden banh mi here is terrific. So is the street-style Saigon pork noodle soup, laden with caramelized pork shoulder.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The best dish, though, might be the <\/span>Quang Nam<\/span><\/i> chicken noodle soup, which hails from the region of the same name in central Vietnam, especially in the towns of Da Nang and Hoi An. An aromatic chicken broth gives way to flavorful turmeric rice noodles, all of which is topped with peanuts and scallions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Opened in late 2018 by chef John Nguyen, who was the opening chef at Hanoi House,<\/span> this Murray Hill restaurant<\/span><\/a> offers the usual array of Vietnamese staples: shaking beef, spring rolls, beef pho, grilled pork chop with broken rice. But the real focus here is on <\/span>pho ga<\/span><\/i>, or chicken pho. Nguyen, who hails from Saigon, does an admirable job with <\/span>pho ga<\/span><\/i>, the fowl almost falling apart when the chopsticks touch it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This<\/span> Lower East Side<\/span><\/a> spot deviates a bit from the usual suspects, offering up a menu that is loaded with Southeast Asian deliciousness. Start with the pork-belly-loaded fried sticky rice cakes and\/or the tender lemongrass-spiked spareribs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then move on to one of the excellent mains, including the <\/span>bun rieu<\/span><\/i>, a Saigon tomato-and-crab soup, the legendary fried chicken sandwich, or the very good banh mi burger, which is topped with p\u00e2t\u00e9, cilantro, and jalape\u00f1os.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Several](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/vietnamese-food-U.jpeg\")
Banh Vietnamese Shop House<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Vietnamese](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bun-cha-FCC.jpeg\")
Ba Xuy\u00ean<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Banh](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ba-Xuye%CC%82n-banh-mi-FCC.jpeg\")
Bolero<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Bunker<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Vietnamese](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/cha-ca-bunker-FCC.jpeg\")
Di An Di<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Em Vietnamese Bistro<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Clams](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/vietnamese-clams-FCC.jpeg\")
Falansai<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Hanoi House<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Bowl](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/north-vietnamese-pho-FCC.jpeg\")
High Lua<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Sai Gon Dep<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Saigon Social<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Vietnamese](\"https:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bun-rieu-FCC.jpeg\")
Van Da<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n