And since we're talking about the East Bay ...

NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 04:34:09 PDT
Organization: SBC Internet Services
Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:37407

We agree. Quang Da is one of our favorite VietNamese restaurants, along with Vi's on Webster between 7th and 8th, nearby. Quang Da specializes in the food of central Vietnam, particularly Hue, where occupation by both the Japanese and the Chinese sporadically for many generations has influenced their cuisine. Kent Hagen

David S. wrote:

> ... let me just say again that Quang Da, on the 800 block of Franklin in
> Oakland's Chinatown, is the coolest Vietnamese place we know of. Everything on
> the menu is different from anything we've had elsewhere and very good. The
> weird thing is that it's practically free: $13 for two last visit with an
> appetizer. I don't want to scare anyone away by mentioning that; this is *not*
> one of those places that lower their prices by serving pap. I don't expect to
> find anything closer to real Vietnamese food without going to Vietnam.
>
> For those of you not near Oakland, there's another one in San Jose (I think I
> remember from a clipping that it was the first of the three) and a third
> somewhere I forget. Dunno what the other two are like.
>
> --
> Dave Schweisguth                              Work: [email removed]
> Pangea Systems                                Home: [email removed]

David S. wrote:
>
> ... let me just say again that Quang Da, on the 800 block of Franklin in
> Oakland's Chinatown, is the coolest Vietnamese place we know of. Everything on
> the menu is different from anything we've had elsewhere and very good. The
> weird thing is that it's practically free: $13 for two last visit with an
> appetizer. I don't want to scare anyone away by mentioning that; this is *not*
> one of those places that lower their prices by serving pap. I don't expect to
> find anything closer to real Vietnamese food without going to Vietnam.
>
> For those of you not near Oakland, there's another one in San Jose (I think I
> remember from a clipping that it was the first of the three) and a third
> somewhere I forget. Dunno what the other two are like.
>
> --
> Dave Schweisguth                              Work: [email removed]
> Pangea Systems                                Home: [email removed]
In SJC  On Santa Clara @ 8th

User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-19990216 ("Styrofoam") (UNIX) (SCO_SV/3.2 (i386)) Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:37452

Someone wrote:

:> For those of you not near Oakland, there's another one in San Jose (I think I :> remember from a clipping that it was the first of the three) and a third :> somewhere I forget. Dunno what the other two are like.

: In SJC  On Santa Clara @ 8th

A lot of their food prepartion is done outside in a make-shift shack.  They have now put up aluminum siding, at least, and something that resembles a sliding glass door.  They have also enclosed the parking lot with a chain-link fence that is meant to be closed and locked at night.  But it isn't, usually.

Before the aluminum siding was put up, I would often see them chopping up veggies, banging cabbage (to get the core out), and other preparation, right on the asphalt of the parking lot.  They would also store a lot of the veggies overnight out there, uncovered, in what was a wire cage, bascially.

The lot is frequented by druggies and wino's, and other assorted riff-raff..  There are no public bathrooms nearby.  The place is a toilet.  Sure, now they've enclosed the area, but I'd doubt it's up to health standards; and they can't keep the low-lifes's out of the parking lot (I don't think they even try anymore).

Preparing food on the ground (cutting board or not) is very commonplace in vietnamese resturants (Cau Mu comes to mind also).  Having lived at 42 S. 8th street and being able to see all this from my living room, day after day, I would not eat there.

The place has existed there for about ~4 years now.  Longer than any other tennant has been able to survive that location.  I still prefer Huong Truc (7 courses of beef), a half-block the the right, where I can't see how they prepare(d) the food.

-sw