Blossom Vietnamese Restaurant

Surprisingly good phở! At a slight premium compared to the usual hole-​in-​the-​wall phở spots that charge $ 7 – 8, I was slightly skeptical of the $ 10 – 11 prices. For some reason, it detracts from the authenticity if it’s not dirt cheap (perhaps an unjustified assumption!). But the noodles were actually perfectly cooked and soft without being mushy, and the broth and meat were spot on. The shaking beef was slightly underwhelming from the meat angle, but I liked the side salad and the dip. Overall, the ambiance is pretty modern and trendy compared to your typical Vietnamese spots, so definitely worth a second look.

FOOD: is decent, but not amazing. My chicken phở only had white meat (which is not the authentic preparation) and was a little too gingery. The veggies are pretty fresh and I enjoyed my mango slush which was not too sweet. This is clearly a family-​run restaurant where most of the food is prepared on site.
SERVICE: is friendly enough. The food came out timely, but I was not checked on regularly and had to ask for my check.
AMBIANCE: is nice and clean. It also has an open and airy feel, especially when all the large windows are open. They are located in the main LA Chinatown plaza and parking is mostly on the street or in paid lots.
VALUE: the portions could be bigger, and $ 10 for a bowl of phở is a little steep.

I love coming here for lunch! It always makes me feel so relaxed from the crazy workload I get in the morning. Plus, the staff here is really friendly and make you feel welcomed. :)

First time here. The service was fast and really attentive. The food portions are huge for the price and really delicious. So nice to find a real curry place in my neighborhood!

Very up to date restaurant. First walked in. Server gave me a huge glass of water. It was extremely hot! Tried the pork belly that everyone keeps talking about. It’s not so bad. It would be what my mama would make back home. Good dish. This place would be a good lunch date. After wards walk around and enjoy the area.

duc always the classy guy. this place is super fine and always a pleasure.
love this location… another world!
like the one on Main street forever… it was there first.
:)

There are a few problems with this place. The food is uninspiring and not as good as many other Viet places around town. We ordered quite a few items and many things were tasteless and not very fresh tasting which is the opposite of what I’d expect from this cuisine.
But besides the food, the service is terrible. I had to get our own menus. Go ask for water twice. Ask for silverware. Just little things like that. They also brought some of the food out very early and the final dishes were not there until some of the people were done eating. It was just a mess and no communication from the servers.
Lastly, their bathrooms were so dirty and disgusting that I did question for a minute on whether I want to even eat here. That’s just not ok!

I came here last weekend for a casual dinner. Around 6 p.m. there were maybe two other parties, but that was about it, so needless to say, no wait for a table.
My friend ordered the pork belly with egg noodles and soft boiled egg, and I got the rice vermicelli bun with spring rolls and grilled pork. We also split an order of the chicken spring rolls.
My bun hit the spot. I should also add that the spring rolls for both my dish and the appetizer were a hit — they were lightly freshly fried and crispy, unlike the kind that you get at Americanized Chinese restaurants. The grilled pork was lean and flavorful, too, and the portion was just about the right size. I suspect you can get the same dish in the neighborhood for cheaper, though, although the ambiance at the cheaper places might not be as hipster as Blossom’s.
My friend’s pork belly, by contrast, didn’t seem as good. Although it’s hard to mess up pork belly, his soft boil egg was actually hard boiled, so his whole dish was kind of dry. The egg noodles looked fresh, though.
Service: Efficient. There weren’t very many other occupied tables, so it’s not like they were running around serving a lot of people. They give you a large jar of water, so you don’t have to wait on them for refills and that’s nice.
Bottom line: Slightly over expensive Vietnamese food in Chinatown. It’s decent and the ambiance is hipster.

I really liked this place! Very cool building and very clean. The beer selection is good and well priced. The overall menu has so many yummy options that are mostly under $ 12! I was happy with my dish. Very clean tasting and flavorful. I’ll be going again.

You win this round Blossom. After being closed for an extended period, you’ve come back stronger.
With the expanded menu there’s new things to try, when before it was basically appetizers and soups.
I got the pan fried, bone in, marinated pork which came with a salad, rice, and pickled slaw. Delicious! My wife got the pork belly (not too fatty, just right and melt in you mouth) with egg noodles, a soft boiled egg, and bok choy. There was no sauce per se but with the yolk and pork belly, there was more than enough flavor to compensate.
They added seating outside but you can’t drink outside of the restaurant.

I went here for dinner with my boyfriend two weeks ago. It was the only restaurant opened on a Saturday night in the vicinity. I find that odd, but anyway…
I LOVE the atmosphere here. Light, airy, modern. A perfect blend of classy and casual. A low-​key, but cosmopolitan crowd.
The waiters were nice, but they seemed a bit overwhelmed. We had three different people service our table (once with items we didn’t order). And we noticed waiters simply wandering around with bowls of food calling out the names of the items as they went from table to table. Writing down which tables ordered which dishes would have made it a lot easier, no?
Anyway, the food. I am so sorry to say I’ve forgotten the name of what I ordered. It was a phở with crab meat (real, not that fake crap) and tomatoes, herbs, etc. I do remember that it had mussels in it when the menu did not state that it would. Now, I like mussels if I know to expect them. But when you stir a «soup» and up comes something that looks like the brain of a small animal, it’s disconcerting. My boyfriend kept saying, «What is that thing???» We looked over the menu and there were no mussels listed as being in this dish, which then made us suspect. Were they simply trying to get rid of seafood that was about to expire. I braved a taste and the mussel was fresh and tasty, so I ate it. My boyfriend would not. LOL
The spring rolls were bland — even the shrimp taste like pieces of white paper. But the fried rolls and the dipping sauce were really good.
Overall, we weren’t excited by the food, but it was not bad. We’ll probably give it another go. Maybe try the Silverlake location as we live close by.

The tea here waS good. I don’t know what the food tasted like but the tea was worth the exploration.

My friend and I stopped by Blossom and ordered phở. The phở at Blossom was okay. Although if I’m at this restaurant again, I would not order phở again, lol. The broth was a bit bland, but add some hoisin sauce and that’ll make it a little better. The vietnamese egg rolls on the other hand… no comment. Doesn’t taste like your normal Vietnamese egg rolls either, lol.
I really enjoyed the layout of this restaurant. The ambiance was different than most Vietnamese restaurants so I enjoyed that. Other than that, this place is ok.

* Price: a bit higher than other Vietnamese restaurant in the area. 3 star
* Ambiance: modern chic décor. 4 star.
* Location: central plaza chinatown. Easy to find parking. You can park at Jia and walk there. 4 star.
* Meals: fresh but not exceptional. Small menu. 3 star.
* Service: friendly but slow. 3 star.
This is averaged to 3 ½ star. We’ve been to the other Blossom chain in DTLA and enjoyed our experience there. So, we were looking forward to try their food here when we heard they are taking over the Viet Café.
They do a great job with revamp the place. The restaurant is chic and modern.
We came in on a Saturday night and we’re seated immediately. The server took our orders right away. Drinks came out at a good pace but food took a while! We had a crab meat tomato soup (bun rieu) and beef phở. Both are tasty, fresh but not exceptional. The menu is limited and small. There is no salad or crêpe. For the price, they could have more innovative menu.
Overall, it is a good addition to chinatown late night dinning scene since there is not much here. For that, they got another ½ star from me.
We really hope they are going to make it here and thrive. However, they probably will have to work on their service pace and menu expansion.

*Update* We came back and the service was much better this time however it was a rainy night and for some odd reason they had all of the windows open in the restaurant and it was absolutely freezing and uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I wore the hood on my jacket for the entirety of our meal.
In my previous review I mentioned that I ordered the ginger limeade and that it was served lukewarm and wasn’t very good. Well this time I ordered it hot and it was everything that I needed on a cold rainy night! Make sure to try it if you like ginger!
Frigid climate aside, this is still the best Phở in the city!

There are many phở places in Chinatown that taste a bit better than Blossom for under $ 8.50. Though you’re paying for a great space, there’s really no reason to pay for more.
The Phở Tai meat was much chewier and I found the broth a little more murky. My friends felt that it was a clean broth, but I wasn’t too impressed.
The Phở Blossom location in Silverlake is romantic and with limited phở options, it makes that place worth going to when you’re in the area.
Bo luc lac (12) was good.
It’s worth checking out if you’re allergic to hole in the wall style casual viet eateries.

Came here on a Friday for lunch with my coworkers and I was pretty surprised there were no wait. We were seated immediately.
I ordered the combination phở ($ 9.50). The soup was pretty tasty as it had a hint of sweetness to it that I don’t find at other Vietnamese phở soup bases. It also had a lot more chopped cilantro and green onions which enhanced the flavor of the soup quite a bit. It made me see drink a lot more of soup than I usually do when I eat phở. However, at over $ 10 wit tax, the quantity you get isn’t that much. The amount of meat, tripe, tendon, and brisket in the bowl was about the same amount I would get for a «small» at other phở restaurants for $ 6 – 7.
The environment is definitely different than the traditional vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to and it’s a good thing. I liked it. The service was very friendly as they asked whether or not we want to split checks the minute we sat down. Credit cards are accepted.

Ok so I’m giving this place one star mostly because of the service. First off, they weren’t welcoming at all, and they didn’t even come ask us how we were doing throughout the whole hour and a half that we spent eating there. Second, the mint leaf had a piece of fucking bird shit on it. I told the waiter and all he said was sorry? Uhm… Ok. You’re not gonna bring new leafs? Or give me a damn discount. That’s disgusting. It was also very difficult to catch their attention whenever I needed something. Not attentive at all. Hospitality makes a big difference, people. Restaurant 101

Beautiful setup, friendly service, delicious food! Blossom is a wonderful addition to the Chinatown area. I had been meaning to try the downtown Blossom for awhile but never made it. Now I’m kicking myself for taking so long!
The chicken phở is really tasty and the portions substantial. I enjoyed the clean tasting, flavorful, and not oily soup. Having a substantial amount of all white chicken meat was also a nice touch. You can tell they use high quality, fresh ingredients. Always a big plus in my book!
I can’t wait to work my way through the menu and try everything! Prices are slightly higher than other traditional Vietnamese restaurants. But I don’t mind paying more for high quality food.
The restaurant may look artsy and modern but the food is classic perfectly executed Vietnamese. I did hear that the chef/​owner likes to experiment and try new twists on classic Vietnamese cuisine. I can’t wait!
All in all Blossom is the type of restaurant that I just love.

Amazing!
What used to be the Old Via Café is now the beautifully renovated Blossom Vietnamese Restaurant. The improvements and renovations are definitely a big plus to this place, the high ceilings and big open windows gives it an open feel, the open floor plan, the intimate second floor. I just love what they did — this place truly Blossomed!
The food is a reminiscent of the Old Via Café with a few delicious tweaks!
First the Café Suada — I love-​love-​love my coffee nice and strong, combine that with a giant dollop of condensed milk, this slow brew of a bold aromatic java will truly wake-​up the senses.
HOT & Deeeelicious freshly fried egg rolls! served with a slaw of carrots and daikon and a small bunch of fresh romaine, mint and sliced cucumber, This plate of Asian Amuse Bouche truly set the tone for what is to come!
The Phở Dac Biet was superb! The broth was simply amazing! Delicious through and through! The beef was thinly sliced, paper thin to be exact, the noodles filling and delish!
I guess what really impressed me aside from the amazing renovation and delicious dishes was the excellent service that we received, our host was absolutely amazing, she was very attentive and made sure that everything was taken care of.
Give Blossom a try, see and taste what they have to offer…
…Delicious food, Delightful place and most of all… Amazing service!
A set of twinkling 5 stars well deserved!