Review is for delivery only.
It surprises me that more Vietnamese places around town don’t deliver (come on Larkin Street, get it together). And I am especially surprised that one of the very few Vietnamese places that does deliver is on Valencia Street: THANH TAM II. (Don’t ask me where number one is.)
I have picked my way through the menu here—eating a number of lackluster dishes—but the one that consistently gets my vote is #53, the grilled chicken and egg roll noodle ($7.95). It’s your classic bun cha dish, with vermicelli noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, and peanuts, topped with grilled chicken and a sliced-up imperial roll. It’s huge, satisfying, and the one dish I keep returning to. It’s the only dish I keep returning to.
And on the rare hot San Francisco night, this is exactly the food I crave, along with goi cuon (cold shrimp and pork roll, $6.50) and maybe a beef salad (goi bo, $8.95). You’ll need to order up, because delivery requires a $20 minimum, and it’s cash only. But if you could just get away with ordering two #53s between you and your dining partner, and maybe a couple selections off the beverage list, that’s the way to go. One bonus thing to note: they just started offering banh mi for $5. Delivery starts at 5pm. Pictured here is #48, the grilled chicken (but what you want is #53).
