Owner and chef Kevin Tran makes fresh tofu each day for his savory and sweet vegan fare. The Iron Man pho satisfies, while the warm and sweet ginger tofu “pudding” comes through for dessert. The second location in Cerritos is just as solid as the original.

Get a taste of Justin Duong’s Vietnamese creations at Morning Service Coffee in Frogtown, Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The pop-up operates from a bright green food truck and serves fun and delicious renditions of banh mi, tacos, and even tostadas.

Find southern-style Vietnamese food at this perpetually busy, efficiently run, and solid-as-can-be restaurant. Come for the blistered cha gio stuffed with ground pork and woodear mushrooms, and stay for a bowl of pho, a platter of broken rice, or cool vermicelli noodles.

Tet-a-Tet pops up at Silver Lake’s All Day Baby from Wednesday through Saturday at dinnertime. The menu draws from chef Jonathan Whitener’s formative years raised in Westminster, California, along with owner Lien Ta’s Vietnamese heritage. The vibrant menu includes a spicy beef salad, banh xeo (crispy turmeric crepe), and Whitener’s personal favorite: an oxtail stew made with hominy, star anise, Mexican canela, and palm sugar.

Find Vietnamese comfort and street foods at Bé Ù in East Hollywood. Chef and owner Uyên Lê takes great pride in every dish on the menu, but is particularly fond of the banh mi. The sandwiches come stuffed with lemongrass chicken, pork, and beef; try the chef’s favorite vegan sandwich filled with tofu and a house-made pate. 

The original Tay Ho restaurant opened in Orange County’s Little Saigon back in 1986 and served banh cuon — delicate rice flour crepes filled with ground pork and woodear mushrooms. Fast-forward to 2022, and the eldest granddaughter of Tay Ho’s founder has modernized the brand and brought it to LA. While the house-special banh cuon is rightfully famous, it’s the fish sauce wings that surprise and dazzle.

Vietnamese meatballs (nem) are a curiously loud bunch that snap and squeak at first bite. Here, grilled pork meatballs and skewers are served on grand platters along with rice papers for wrapping and a forest of greens for garnishing.

LA’s historic Chinatown plays host to some of the city’s finest Vietnamese cooking. Phở 87’s winding menu includes dozens of iterations of Vietnam’s iconic beef noodle soup, but the one to order is the pho dac biet that includes a bit of every beefy cut like brisket, tendon, flank, and tripe.

The key to excellent Vietnamese vegetarian fare is a killer mock nuoc cham (fish sauce vinaigrette), and nobody makes it better than the folks at Thien Tam. Dig into platters of broken rice prettied with seasoned wheat gluten molded into various forms, as well as classic noodle soups that manage to satisfy without any animal proteins.

Linh Phuong Nguyen makes one of the city’s best bowls of southern-style pho at this worn-in restaurant straddling the border between Rosemead and South El Monte. While the filet mignon that comes standard with every bowl is a cut above the rest, it’s Nguyen’s unparalleled broth that distinguishes her product from the dozens of pho hawkers in town.

Every meal at this temple of central Vietnamese fare should begin with the Hue combo, a sample platter of banh beo (steamed rice cakes topped with shrimp and cracklins), banh nam (rice cakes embedded with shrimp and steamed in banana leaves), and banh bot loc (shrimp and pork dumplings). Follow it up with the com hen — a bowl of steamed rice, baby clams, sesame seeds, and fresh herbs served with a light clam broth.

The signature dish at Sáu Can Tho is baked catfish (ca dut lo hau giang). The fish’s prized crispy skin, charred in some spots and golden throughout, gives way to moist and tender flesh imbued with honey and turmeric. Served on the side are herbs and lettuce, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber spears, vermicelli rice noodles, rice papers, and best of all, a tangy-sweet tamarind dipping sauce. Call ahead to reserve the catfish to avoid a long wait.

This no-frills deli makes a mean banh mi. The bread, impeccably fresh and made in-house at all hours of the day, provides an impressive canvas for the scratch-made pickles, pate, bologna, and head cheese.

Hidden away in the food court of Rosemead’s Square Supermarket lies Hien Khanh, a Little Saigon import that makes the very best Vietnamese desserts in town. Those unfamiliar with the genre may be a bit wary upon seeing legumes, seaweed, and root vegetables swimming in a sea of coconut milk, but there’s no need to hesitate because everything tastes stupendous.