Best Vietnamese (no car)

[Niki in Dayton]

We're returning again to one of our favorite cities, and the various posts about Vietnamese food in town intrigue us. From what I can gather, the West Bank is where most CH faves are located. We'll be staying at the Hilton on Poydras, but have enjoyed many places both uptown and in the garden district; we're happy to take the street car and to walk (up to a mile or so). So, here's the question - where would you send us for great Vietnamese? Can we take the ferry to the West Bank and walk to somewhere good? We'll be in town for about a week, and will be visiting many other places as well, but let's limit this post to a discussion of great, accessible Vietnamese for car-less visitors. Thanks in advance!

[Niki in Dayton]

I appreciate all of the input so far; keep it coming! We actually have decent Vietnamese here in Dayton OH, but I was looking forward to trying the NOLA versions. For what it's worth, the best Vietnamese we've ever had was at the Slanted Door in SF.

[uptownlibrarian]

In addition to those already mentioned, there's Moon Wok in the French Quarter. It's a pretty dire Chinese place, but they have some Vietnamese stuff on the menu as well. The best offering is the banh mi (pork, chicken, or tofu); it's tasty and super affordable at $3.50.

Unfortunately, Moon Wok and the others already mentioned are nowhere near the best Vietnamese available in New Orleans. Honestly, if I were you, I probably wouldn't use up one of my meals at any of these places, unless it's a quick banh mi snack/lunch at Moon Wok.

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Moon Wok
800 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70116

[N.O.Food]

Agree. Gotta travel a bit to get to the best vietnamese. That said, we typically go to Jazmine Cafe to get pho close to home. Cafe Minh is good but not really traditional Vietnamese. Wasn't a fan of Doson. Thought it was overpriced and not very good.

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Jazmine Cafe
614 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

Cafe Minh
4139 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Doson
135 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

[uptownlibrarian]

I agree with you about Doson. I will probably never go back there. And it's not that Jazmine and Cafe Minh are acceptable, it's just that I wouldn't make a special trip.

I (a car-less person) have found that when I absolutely need to get somewhere that isn't public trans adjacent, I can rent a car for 24 hours for around $26-$30. If someone was really interested in exploring the Vietnamese culture here, they could rent a car in the morning, check out N.O. East in the morning and have Dong Phuong for lunch, hit 9 Roses for dinner, and in between maybe visit Jean Lafitte, or the Chalmette Battlefield, or any number of more off the beaten path locations. It would be a nice adventurous day.

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Jazmine Cafe
614 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

Cafe Minh
4139 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Doson
135 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

[N.O.Food]

Ya. Jazmine is the closest to our house, so it gets picked for the vietnamese fix. We pretty much only get pho, which is acceptable but nowhere near as good as other places.

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Jazmine Cafe
614 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

[Suzy Wong]

As an fyi I didn't mention any places in eastern N.O. because it did not fit into the original posters limits. Another choice in that area would be Ba Mien on Chef Hwy.

uptownlibrarian next year you should try (if you already haven't) The Tet Fest (Vietnamese New Year) at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church (grounds). Great food, art, etc. lots of fun.

[uptownlibrarian]

I only mentioned the further-out places in conjunction with my suggestion that they rent a cheap car so they could get to the good stuff.

I did go to the Tet Fest this past February, and it was great. I very much enjoyed myself even though I often wasn't quite sure what was going on. It's very cool to be able to experience that "foreign" feeling so close to home!

[Hungry Celeste]

Jazzmine Cafe, in Riverbend (614 S. Carrollton) is on the St. Charles streetcar route. See the menu at http://www.jazminecafe.com/menu.php In addition to the printed menu, Jazmine has a specials board & a list of bahn mi on the wall near the entrance.

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Jazmine Cafe
614 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

[Suzy Wong]

In the same area as Doson's, is Cafe Minh. A vietnamese restaurant with a New Orleans/creole type fusion. Excellent.

Info and menu:
http://www.zagat.com/Verticals/Menu.a...

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Cafe Minh
4139 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119

[chanterelle]

Take the Canal streetcar to the corner of Canal and Carrollton and walk across the street to Doson's. Before you catch the streetcar back downtown, take the time to visit Angelo Brocato's right across the street for some gelato or a cannoli - they make them to order!

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Doson
135 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119