Vietnamese Cuisine in Austin

After a shopping spree at the Arboretum on the weekend, I ended up going to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Austin to grab takeout. Sagiang (on Jollyville Road close to the Oak Knoll light) is my favorite for various reasons - primarily the Tofu that is grilled to perfection and moist on the inside. Top that with lemon grass sauce and spicy toppings, and it's the perfect little dish to be paired with either Vermicelli or Rice. Of course, the same dish comes with their sweeter house special sauce and curry sauce as well. (Always ask of the sauces have fish in them, if you are a pure-er vegetarian :)). They have the usual Phos and other things, but I almost always get the Grilled Tofu with Lemon Grass Sauce on Rice Vermicelli (sorry I can't remember the Vietnamese name and Sagiang unfortunately does not have a website). The other reason I like this place are the two brothers (? or is it father and son) who run the place and are actually quite nice, sometimes even funny. The younger one is usually very amused that every single time I go there, my total comes up to 8.88. "8.88 lucky number..." he keeps saying happily. In case you're wondering, that includes the price of my favorite dish plus coconut water... yes it's that cheap!

The Sagiang folks' attitude is unlike the folks at Sunflower Cafe (by Peyton Gin and 183 South in the little complex by Target), the other really good Vietnamese restaurant in Austin. The people who run that place always strike me as being too busy, too efficient to be warm. They aren't mean or rude or anything, but still... for a hole-in-the-wall, they don't really have a hole-in-the-wall attitude. Of course this hole-in-the-wall does way more business than you would've expected. And you only need to eat there to know why. I've tried many different things at Sunflower, but my top picks are the Claypot (with Tofu) and the Vietnamese crepes... yumm!

Live in South Austin? Try Hao Hao. Nice owners. And probably the best Phos I've had in Austin (can't say the same about their other dishes).... and their quality of food is always very good. Note - always ask about the broth used to make Phos. Hao Hao's broth is vegetarian too, if you order a veggie or tofu Pho, but not all Vietnamese places do that.

And as for the classic vietnamese sandwiches on baguettes, Rahul, Arun and the others have been talking about Bahn Mis for so long now, that I really need to try one for myself. More of that later...