Hủ Tiếu Đệ Nhất

🇻🇳 VIETNAM / QUICK FIX: A soup that has a history longer than its uncut rice noodles can be found in traditional and more experimental forms at this Garden Grove favorite.

🇻🇳 VIETNAM
📍 9972 Garden Grove Blvd.,
Garden Grove, Orange County
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 No Alcohol

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

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If you have ever walked around the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, there is a good chance that you sat down at a stall offering hủ tiếu nam vang. Throngs of people sit on colorful plastic stools under sidewalk trees to enjoy this ultra-economical bowl of noodles on a daily basis. The stalls and carts they order from display the ingredients of the bowl for all to see, while steaming cauldrons of broth are ready to be ladled.

Nam Vang is simply what Vietnamese people call Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and a reference to the dish that originated from Chinese vendors in that city. Hủ tiếu is the translation of kuy teav, what Cambodian people call the same dish. Like those vendors at the Old Market in Phnom Penh or on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, there is only one dish featured here at Hủ Tiếu Đệ Nhất, with various options for each bowl.

The restaurant is fairly small and gets filled up quickly during lunch. Hủ tiếu is normally eaten in the morning or early afternoon, and the doors close no later than 16:00. Do not be turned away by a wait though as it usually goes very quickly because they can turn over seats fast as a one dish operation.

Bowls arrive promptly with a plate of chrysanthemum greens, lime, and bean sprouts, all of which should be added as desired. The table condiments are also clutch, so feel free to spoon in some slices of garlic, pickled jalapeños, chili oil, and sriracha. The condiments are so popular that they sell small to-go sizes. Along with the ingredients that are served in the bowl, a flavor and texture circus is the result of all this when the hủ tiếu nam vang ($12, below) is finally enjoyed.

Minced pork and fish balls would be found in any bowl of this traditional dish, the shrimp, quail egg, and fried pork belly are the chosen additions of this vendor. The latter are obviously housemade and absolutely delicious, also adding a pleasant crunchy element to the otherwise softer textured bowl.

All bowls are available “soup or dry” but ordering the dry version just gives you the soup on the side as shown above. You can spoon in smaller amounts over the noodles, pour it all in, or enjoy separately. The chewy rice noodles will need some to not stick together, but it is fun to experiment in different ways.

As well as the house special nam vang, you can have the hủ tiếu with seafood, bbq pork, or beef meatballs with the hủ tiếu bò viên ($12, above). They also allow you to stray from hủ tiếu altogether and substitute egg noodles (mí) or have a combination of both (!).

If you want more than a quick fix from the restaurant, make plans to come back and try more than just one or two varieties and start experimenting with noodles. For customers that want to have cháo quẩy with their soup, make sure to come early in the day as those often sell out before noon.

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