![]() He chatted with us during dinner (he did not know my identity), and explained the different styles of cooking throughout China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. In 1982, he came to Philadelphia and opened Hoa Viet. The person in charge is chef/owner Thang Tran, who left his native Vietnam for Hong Kong, where he attended culinary school. Each dish we savored was perfection in a bowl or on the plate. It’s a good thing we ordered course-by-course because portions are huge. There must be several hundred items ranging from soups to appetizers to entr�es and everything in between. Several staff members took good care of us. One depicted big bald American eagles, another was done up with pretty, colorful fruits. The ceiling was decorated with bunches of plastic red and green grapes, but the laminated tables were sort of interesting. A steam table contained foods that did not appeal to me. Interior design is not a high point at Hoa Viet. We brought along a bottle of chilled Orvietto, found a parking spot and stepped into the most welcome air conditioning. I called the restaurant and, to my delight, found it to be a BYOB. So on yet another brutally hot evening, Edward and I decided to have dinner at Hoa Viet. I soon discovered Hoa Viet is the oldest Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. How could I have missed this place? I thought to myself. The menu was posted as well, along with newspaper reviews, one dating back nearly 20 years. Roast ducks hung in the window, while fruit and milkshake specials were advertised on brightly colored paper. While walking down Race Street, I happened upon Hoa Viet, a Vietnamese restaurant. Chinatown has become a major shopping destination, an outdoor mini-mall filled with restaurants and all kinds of stores. The neighborhood is usually bustling, filled with people buying Asian greens, fresh fish, fruit, lucky bamboo plants, jewelry, books or a silk jacket. They often have coconut milk, tapioca and fruit in them.When I finish shopping at the Reading Terminal Market, I sometimes stroll over to Chinatown. Vietnamese desserts are usually very refreshing. "Campe is another way to say 'bottoms up,'" adds Sun.įinally, a popular Vietnamese dessert is Che. When they serve, instead of "Cheers," they say "Campe!" It's a part of entertaining, and a tradition to pour the tea over the bottoms of the cups to make the cup hotter when you drink the tea. Viet Hoa also carries over 300 varieties of tea from loose to bagged. Whoever tries it, they all come back for it," he says. "It's one of the most popular sales in this store. "When you have a bite, you have different flavor come into play, so sometimes you question where this flavor comes from," he says.Īnother food to try is Chicharone, or fried pork! "Banh Mi is what Vietnamese call French bread," Sun explains. ![]() You can't come to this market without stopping for a Banh Mi sandwich. When you cut this purple fruit open, it's a black and white sweet surprise on the inside. "One good thing about dragon fruit is it's low cholesterol, low fat, high Vitamin C, and high calcium," says Sun. He also says dragon fruit - the national fruit of Vietnam - is a must-try. "Sriracha started by David Tran after the fall of Saigon, and he's just like us - a refugee," explains Sun. Now, it has expanded to over 100,000 square feet to accommodate shoppers from all over, offering up things like fish sauce and sriracha. That's how they came up with the name Viet Hoa and opened the 4,000 square foot grocery store in 1984. "We are actually immigrants from Vietnam, so Chinese from Vietnam," he adds. In 1982, he reunited with his family here in Houston. After the fall of Saigon, everybody tried to escape," says Sun. Vican Sun is the owner of Viet Hoa International Foods, and the name of the store has significance. "Viet" stands for Vietnamese and "Hoa" stands for Chinese. Viet Hoa International Foods is a family-run grocery store. HOUSTON (KTRK) - One Houston family has embodied the American Dream as they emigrated from China to Vietnam and finally to the United States to open their own store. Rebecca Spera continues her tour of international grocery stores with a stop at Viet-Hoa Supermarket
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