Asian dinner in San Jose?

[mlin1]

My husband and I are going to be flying into San Jose for the weekend, and have one free evening for dinner. I used to live in Palo Alto 8 years ago, but currently live in Austin, TX where the Asian options are lacking. We are looking for a place to meet some friends for dinner - moderate price range, and not too fancy since we may be wearing shorts or jeans and coming straight from the SJC airport. I would love some modern Vietnamese or Asian fusion- something like Tamarine, Straits Cafe, and Bong Su, but in a more casual setting, not such a weekend "scene". Any suggestions would be appreciated. Maybe a nice clean Vietnamese restaurant? Also I have been thinking about Castro Street in Mountain View though this would be a bit of a drive and I cannot remember any specific restaurants there except for Cascal.

[mlin1]

Thanks everyone!! Appreciate the suggestions. This site is awesome - so helpful

[Luthien]

Minh is along the lines of Tamarine and I'd say much more authentic than Straits. It is quite clean and in San Jose. I wouldn't worry about dressing up. I'm having a hell of a time getting it to add the Place (keeps coming up incorrectly) so here's the info:
Minh's Vietnamese Restaurant
2060 Tully Rd, San Jose, CA

[grubber4]

http://vungtaurestaurant.com/

Vung Tau is one of the first and one of the most celebrated vietnamese restaurants in northern california. It's located at 535 Santa Clara street not more than 10 minutes from the airport. It's nice inside, but shorts would be no problem. Bong Su and Tamarine are its progeny.

[bards4]

My husband says you could try Xanh on Castro Street in Mountain View. It's modern Vietnamese and he says the food is really good. (He travels to SJC eery week, so he has a lot of opportunities to eat out while he's there.)

[misspiggy]

If you are staying in San Jose closer to the south then you can try Vung Tau. It is the parent restaurant of Tamarine and Bong Su. They remodelled a couple of years ago so it looks pretty decent on the inside - the outside still leaves much to be desired. But just note that Vung Tau is in downtown San Jose. Good Luck!

[Ruth Lafler]

I would recommend Vung Tau as well. Unlike its offspring, it's very traditional and more casual, but still fairly "nice." Place linking doesn't seem to be working, but it's easy enough to search -- there have also been quite a few reports here.