Minh Tri Vietnamese Cuisine

I’ve been mourning the lose of this place since I learned of its closing in September ’09. It was my absolute favorite Vietnamese restaurant of all time. As a vegetarian, I can’t rate it based on the Phở, but I will give you the rundown of my favorites:
1. Veggie Soup (Canh Dua Chay) — Always hot & delicious
2. Veggie Imperial Rolls (Cha Gio Chay) — Haven’t had anything like them before, during, or since
3. Veggie Salad — Always crisp & fresh
4. Veggie Curry w/​rice (Ca Ri Chay) — Speaks for itself
5. Fried Banana w/​ice cream (Chui Chiên Kem) — Guilty pleasure
From the funky mirrored walls, to the N Judah streetcar vibrating the building, and most importantly, the lovely elderly owners who ALWAYS welcomed us like family, I will miss this place dearly.
If by some miracle they open another restaurant (or start cooking at one), shoot me a message so I can go see them!

The restaurant closed as of 7÷14÷2009. I will miss this lovely place and the couple that ran it.
Cm n bn rt nhiu!

This was really an unimpressive and lackluster dining experience. Based on Unilocal I suggested this to a friend from the south bay who’s moving up to the Sunset. I’m glad we knocked this one out before she moves up here, so she can get down to the actually good food along 9^th, Judah, and Irving. I’m not sure what food all the positive reviews are eating but it certainly wasn’t ours.
This is what we ordered:
— Shredded Pork Spring Roll: strangely dry and flavorless
— Sweet & Sour Veggie: greasy and cold with exactly four — count ‘em — four tempura mushrooms
— Stir Fry Noodle with vegetable: this was not at all what I was expecting — it was pad thai!
— Iced Vietnamese Tea
— Hot Tea
— Rice
Our total ended up being $ 20 apiece including tip. For the (lack of) service we got, the meager dishes (there were hardly enough noodles in the noodle dish for one, much less two, and there were a whopping 4 mushrooms in the veggie sweet & sour), and the general tastelessness of the meal, that is a price bordering on the outrageous. With San Francisco’s inflated prices I guess I could see how that works out, but really it should have been at most a $ 25 – 30 meal TOTAL, including tip.
Also, they didn’t use fresh chili peppers to spice up their dishes. They used dried flakes and I don’t think they were serrano or Thai chilis — I think they could have been dried jalepenos from Mexico. Anyways the flavors were definitely not Vietnamese, and spicy was hardly spicy.
I don’t think I’ll be heading back here.

I cannot believe I have never reviewed this place before. I love them so. We were introduced to it some 12 years ago, when living in the Haight. Now we live in Noe and hardly ever get there anymore, boo hoo.
Where to start? The high-​drama Saigon Fish, with fresh bits of ginger and crunchy fins like potato chips (best ordered spicy to offset the sweet), the beef with lemon grass noodle (that I am eating right now-​yum), or the awe-​inspiring imperial rolls, or the winsome angel wings? Then there’s the vegetable curry in clay pot, the tofu salad, ginger chicken, beef cubes or Vietnamese fried rice? They make my favorite Pad Thai as well. We like our vietnamese spicy, and these folks are not afraid to use the chilis. But you must insist. 3 star is our average. I have never been brave enough for 4 star, though some friends have.
One of their most endearing qualities is that it is much like eating home-​cooked. The quality varies in taste and quality from good to awe-​inspiring, and familiar dishes will sometimes show up tasting totally different. It tastes genuine to me. As for the service, as a family-​run business, the service is charming but not Michael Mina. One is even occasionally treated to the sullen teenager who has no wish to work in mom and dad’s restaurant, but will take your order and explain how to eat the Imperial rolls anyway.
This is my favorite restaurant in San Francisco. I feel the love every time I eat there. We love it so much, we took over the whole place for our wedding-​rehearsal dinner 8 years ago. One of my fondest memories was watching our hungry families’ faces as platter after platter of amazing, freshly-​made food came out of the kitchen, first in a dribble then in a torrent.
I dare you to go there and order something outside your comfort zone, and get it spicy. You will not regret it.

A neighborhood oldie — this place has been around for a while. It’s family owned and the owners are there all the time serving and cooking, which is nice to see.
The service can be hit or miss depending on the day, but most times, I’ve found them to be prompt, polite and doing their job well.
The food is decent. Nothing to write home about but if I’m too tired and /​or lazy to cook or I have the sniffles, I head over here for their Chicken Phở which I quite like. Their spring roles and vegetables rolls are good.

Came here back in around July08 when I was just about to move to SF. This was my first time eating SF phở, which I expected to be nothing short of excellent. Well, I was WRONG.
My buddy and I walk in and are warmly welcomed by the (presumed) owner as if this was his home and we were old friends. I was really surprised at how nice he was, but then my friend comments it wasn’t a good sign, which makes sense.
The phở tasted fine, but the portions were TINY! I’d say the bowls run a size smaller than most other phở establishments. AND it was expensive, about $ 7-​$ 8.
Food for the price is 2 stars + 1 star for the VERY VERY friendly owner.
Attempt #1 to find good SF phở: fail.

The (presumed) owner is the NICEST guy EVAR.
«Hello friends! Welcome, welcome! Please sit down! Hello hello! Welcome! Hello!» Love him.
We pretty much just went with the flow and threw out suggestions like «beef» and «chicken» and left the rest to our new BFF.
I thought the coconut soup wasn’t completely amazing. But good enough. It did the trick in distracting my stomach until our main courses arrived.
The entrees were pretty fab though. Decent sized portions that we were able to neatly split. And the booze is cheap too! Always a plus in my book. We even got dessert — the underrated fried banana and ice cream combo that I haven’t had in years but want to savor for the rest of my life. So good.
Basically this is an awesome place to check out if you’re in the hood. The owner had us grinning from ear to ear the entire time. And the entire meal came to like $ 35 for two people (which included tip). So cheap, yummy eats. You can’t go wrong.

Food was horrible. My gf had the coconut rice with chicken, and I had a bowl of phở. First off, the phở was small. Like little child bowl small. Secondly, the server who was this very young straight out of high school kid, served me my thai ice tea hot. That’s just completely wrong. Seriously, they pour the hot tea into a glass and added ice cubes. Wrong wrong and more wrong. The bowl was bland, and the rice noodles were definitely stingy.
My girlfriend’s plate wasn’t as bad, but she couldn’t see how a regular person could make the same plate at home. Seeing as how most of the clientele were either out of town, and viet cuisine newbies, this was a sad sad choice.
I hate yuppie establishments, and this is definitely one of them in the city. It only caters to people who really have no idea what good vietnamese food is. Come here if you only want a sterile representation of what Phở is.

Most of the offerings on the menu are standard Vietnamese fare for the most part, except tthey don’t have spring rolls, sadly.
But I did try one intriguing soup here — it was the lemon & prawn soup. Let me start off by saying I’m a self-​proclaimed fiend of lemon as I put it in practically everything I eat! (Little known fact: lemon works wonders for itchy mosquito bites!)
Still, although I could appreciate it for its rare flavor, the soup was all-​too lemon-​y and salty. I wouldn’t order it again and had trouble finishing it, in spite of the small serving size.
For the main course, I ordered the rice vermicelli which I thoroughly enjoyed. The service here is pretty spartan but friendly at least. Overall, it doesn’t really stand out among other Vietnamese places, most of which are probably cheaper.

2 stars based on 1 visit.
Although it is Vietnamese run, the food tasted very inauthentic and was highly disappointing. Sometimes there are Vietnamese restaurants run by people who really want to own restaurants but who just don’t know how to cook. Whether this is one of those restaurants, I’m not sure… maybe I should have ordered the Phở since several Unilocalers thought it was good. However, I doubt I’ll be coming back to do so.
So I’m Vietnamese American, grew up in San Jose, mom cooks very well… yadda yadda yadda… Anyway, I was missing the good Viet food in San Jose a bit so I went on Unilocal and decided to check out Minh Tri.
I had the Vermicelli noodles with slices of grilled pork + eggroll, and Vietnamese Crêpe. The Vermicelli noodles and pork were cold, the latter cooked ahead of time and reheated in the microwave. There was very little meat and 1 measly eggroll cut into smaller pieces. If you’ve ever been to Cordon Bleu, they have a similar dish called noodle salad but the pork is done the way I’ve traditionally had this dish — plenty of pork, perfectly grilled and super hot. Minh Tri’s pork left little to be desired, there was so little of it too, cut into small pieces to look like there was more than actually there. The eggroll was also lacking.
Now on to the crêpe, it was the worst crêpe (banh xeo in Vietnamese) I have ever had. Banh Xeo should taste more like a light crêpe, with shrimp and meat fried so it’s sticks onto the crepre. At Minh Tri, the crêpe is more like a thick pancacke (the kind from IHOP) and then stuffed with boiled shrimp and meats (again very sparingly) and eeww, just did not taste like the crepes I’ve had in San Jose, at home, or in Saigon. What were they thinking! The owner even asked if I wanted to try the «other» kind of banh xeo eaten with hoisin sauce… I passed since I’ve never heard of such a thing.
My husband had the seafood stew, which tasted pretty good but be the seafood is one of those prepackaged mixed bags of seafood you’d get at the Asian grocery store, with imitation crab and fishballs. If you don’t mind that, then you’ll probably like the soup. Oh and the portions aren’t very big here and prices aren’t cheap for what you’re getting.
I won’t venture here again but the owner and waiter seemed nice, although the owner can be quite loud, yelling/​talking to his staff.

This probably is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. When we lived in the Sunset, we came here frequently. We loved the older gentleman and the older woman. The latter spoke little English but knew us, so she always communicated with «sign language».
And the food! (they didn’t have phở then). The BEST bo luc lac I’ve ever had. And those shrimp noodles! And all the rolls were fabu!
Highly Rec.

I first walked in here on a whim. I mean, it was about 7 blocks from my apartment, and usually I like to cap my walk at about 5. But the phở place I had been going to that was closer to me just wasn’t cutting it, and I needed my fix.
Luckily for me, the N stops just outside, so my laziness was appeased. Their veggie imperial rolls here are surprisingly amazing. Their seafood phở is super yummy. I like the food here bc everything just seems so fresh and clean and not MSG-​filled. Whether or not this statement is actually true, I have no idea-​but I shall keep lying to myself to have peace of mind.
In my ignorant state of bliss, I give this place 5 stars, bc not only is the food amazing, but the service is oh-​so-​cute. If there’s one thing I love more than cheery old people, it’s cheery old Asian people. Bc you don’t come across them too often, especially now that I live off of Clement. And as an Asian AND a waitress, I appreciate the good service. I am oftentimes quite ornery myself, and it’s hard to get it up for the customers. And I mean that in a completely non-​sexual way. Right.

Minh Tri was so working on it’s fourth star. Cheap, friendly service, quick. I was ready to give it four. But then I got home and discovered that I got about 5 pieces of chicken? What the heck is up with that? Even the noodle portion was small, which I’m fine with, but the chicken is a fundamental part of curing my cold!
I got over it, and the phở was good and all, and it was cheap, so you get to keep that third star. But I’m withholding the fourth for more chicken.

Solid Vietnamese, with friendly service. Nothing out of the ordinary, and the phở was good, but not great. My friend did say her BBQ pork was well flavored though.
The most memorable thing about the place is the décor honestly. It’s like a total blast from the past. I felt as if I had walked into a strip-​mall-​restaurant in late 80’s suburbia. complete with wood panels, fake brick (nailed to the wall) and flimsy framed pictures of ubiquitous landscapes.

Good food and service. Nice place to get Vietnamese in the Inner Sunset.
The veggie spring rolls were good. Not the best I’ve had. The BBQ Pork Bun is very good. Certainly one of the better ones I’ve had. The lemon soda was Calastoga + lemon wedges. I’ve had better.
The interior is nothing special. Fake wood paneling and so on. It is true that couples tend to sit side-​by-​side in here. Maybe a practice perpetuated by Unilocal reviews? I think the restaurant layout just lends itself to it. The side tables are in long rows that make you want to sit facing the front window.
Prices seemed reasonable and parking is the typical Irving street fun. This place is further down so it should be slightly easier to find a spot on the street. Oh and rejoice, they take credit cards. I was surprised.

One of my favorite joints in the inner Sunset.
The décor doesn’t create much of a first impression, but from the time you make eye contact with one of the two friendly men that man the dining room, you’re in for a treat.
Start with a perfectly-​presented Vietnamese coffee, move on to delicate rice paper rolls with a peanut sauce that’s spicy without being overbearing, then try any of the main dishes. BBQ pork, lemon chicken, and a variety of fish dishes are all strong, but the clay pot veggie curry takes the cake. As spicy (or mild) as you like it, the rich curry comes bubbling with at least five different types of vegetables and three kinds of tofu. Every bite is different, but they’re all delicious.
If you’ve got room for dessert (not likely), the deep fried bananas are a decadent treat.
When the bill comes, your smile will be as broad as the ubiquitous one on your waiter’s face.

Okay. I’ve been reluctant to write about this place because I wanted to keep this restaurant all to myself, but it’s time to finally give some props to the husband and wife duo, Thang & Lan Lam.
First of all, everyone is always warmly greeted by the in-​numerous «hello, hello, okay, okays». It’s also safe to say that they never forget a face.
Now the best way of judging a Vietnamese restaurant is by their Phở. The best bowl of Phở is at my mom’s house. The second best is at Minh Tri. This piping, hot bowl comes fragrant of beef, anise, and ginger– resulting from a long day of simmering. It is clear, and not muddy, dark, and oily like the soups that I’ve found elsewhere. It’s complex, yet rich and savory. The meat is consistently lean and tender.
The Bun Bo Xao, Lemongrass Beef Vermicelli, is always a delight. If you’re in for a sweet treat, please try the fried banana and coconut ice-​cream. The ice cream is homemade by none other than the restaurant.
I would give this place 4 stars because the menu isn’t strictly Vietnamese. The other Asian meals that are offered, however, are absolutely incredible and it’s the quality that out weighs quantity.
There it is! I’ve said it. If you’re looking for a truly authentic, mouth-​watering experience, then this is the place. Trust no other. This is, by far, the best Vietnamese restaurant in all of San Francisco.

In 2004 I got food poisoning and celebrated New Year’s Eve by toasting Gatorade with my platonic life partner in crime in between trips to the bathroom.
In 2005 I danced with Jay’s Cabinet of Sin on an empty stomach, got severely ill, passed out and slept right through the coming of the New Year.
This year all I wanted was to:
Remember the clock striking midnight on December 31^st
and
Not vomit.
Thanks to Minh Tri I got this and more in 2006. We dined here New Year’s Eve and feasted on imperial rolls, spring rolls, BBQ pork noodles and homemade beef. The sweet and affable owner paid us lots of attention and served us girls special jasmine tea while the boys drank Vietnamese coffee.
I could not have asked for more!
Happy New Year indeed!

Good and funny. We walked in and got appetizers and drinks and the woman that worked there walked by, didn’t say a word and rearranged my husbands cups and plates then just walked off.
Seriously, the food was amazing. so fresh, they used a lot of mint and cucumber so it gave off a hint of summer. I suggest it when it’s hot and or cold and rainy. ohh it was so good!

This place is SO GOOD!
Food and service was excellent! The waiter is like a Vietnamese version of Martin Yan! He’s so friendly and is constantly checking up to make sure the food is to your liking. I had a great time here and the meal was like I was eating in my mom’s kitchen! Best of all, it’s steps away from the N-​Judah line.