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Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico Vietnamese

Pho Hoa – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 3, 2013July 17, 201811:18 AM

Though it ended in 1975, the Vietnam war was still very fresh in the minds of Americans when I enlisted in the Air Force two years later. Many of my senior colleagues had served in Vietnam and regaled me with tales of their adventures. It wasn’t man’s inhumanity to man they took away from the experience, but the goodness of people brought together by exigent circumstances. It is very telling of the high character of my colleagues that despite the ravages of war, they had fallen in love with Vietnam: its people, culture and its food. Several of my friends sponsored Vietnamese families fleeing the beleaguered nation. One of my friends told me the beauty of Vietnam was best seen…

Albuquerque Closed in 2020 Gone But Not Forgotten Sandwich Vietnamese

Sai Gon Sandwich – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 16, 2013March 21, 20239:51 PM

If ever there was a culinary Kobayashi Maru (for the non-Trekkies among you, that’s a no-win scenario), it might well be naming the best sandwich (or best food of any kind) in the world. Imagine the challenge. There are potentially hundreds of thousands of delicious candidates, many worthy of acclaim as the very best in their block, city, state or province…but the world’s an awfully big place. A lifetime might not be enough to sample but a few thousand sandwiches. Any sandwich you select would undoubtedly be disputed vehemently. Surely, you say, no authoritative source exists which would possibly have the temerity, much less breadth of knowledge, to name just one sandwich as the very best in the planet. Such hubris…

Albuquerque Vietnamese

2000 Vietnam Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 2, 2013February 2, 202011:04 PM

JERRY: “By the way Newman, I’m just curious. When you booked the hotel, did you book it for the millennium New Year?” NEWMAN: (smug) “As a matter of fact, I did.” JERRY: “Oh, that’s interesting, because as everyone knows, since there was no year zero, the millennium doesn’t begin until the year two-thousand and one. Which would make your party one year late, and thus, quite lame.” It’s likely only Jerry Seinfeld and a few chronologically savvy people even know that “2000” and “the Millennium” are not synonymous. When it first launched and for years thereafter, a popular Duke City Vietnamese restaurant was actually named 2000 Millennium Restaurant, a semantically incorrect term. Today, the name on the marquee reflects the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten Rated 23 Vietnamese

Kim Long Asian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED 1 JULY 2015)

Gil GardunoNovember 24, 2012July 17, 201811:24 AM

Growing up on a relatively unsophisticated Northern New Mexican diet featuring such staples as beans, tortillas and chile could hardly be considered a training ground for gastronomic appreciation. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my mom’s cooking it was hardly with the realization that I was feasting on one of America’s very best regional cuisines. Frankly, in the 1960s, only someone with prescience would have thought New Mexican cuisine could eventually garner worldwide acclaim. My siblings and I actually thought we were deprived because we weren’t eating Wonder bread sandwiches, pizza and Big Macs. Similarly, my friend and Intel colleague Huu Vu who grew up in Vietnam had no realization that the simple foods on which he was raised would someday be…

Albuquerque Closed in 2016 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico Rated 24 Vietnamese

May Hong – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 1, 2012November 14, 20182:39 AM

In late 2002, long-time proprietor and friend James Nguyen sold May Hong. Fortunately he kept this wonderful jewel in the family, selling it to his lovely and talented sister-in-law. Best of all, he didn’t relinquish ownership until fully ensuring she could perfectly prepare the recipes that have made May Hong one of the two or three best Vietnamese restaurants in the Duke City. That short list, by the way, includes James’ second restaurant Cafe Dalat. May Hong (along with Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant) is somewhat of an anomaly in that it’s not located anywhere near Albuquerque’s tightly-knit Vietnamese neighborhoods, most of which seem to be concentrated on the city’s southeast quadrant. Though situated on bustling Montgomery Avenue, you’ll forget the cares of…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Vietnamese

Miss Saigon Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 7, 2012July 17, 201812:38 AM

When it closed on Broadway in 2001, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon had been seen by some six million people during a running of 4,092 performances, making it the sixth longest running show in Broadway history. Outside of Broadway, Miss Saigon was opened by 26 theater companies worldwide, translated into eleven different languages and played in 23 countries throughout the world. The epic musical even had an eight performance run in Albuquerque’s Popejoy Hall in 2003. During of our inaugural visit to Miss Saigon Bar & Grill in July, 2012, the restaurant was celebrating an eight month run of its own. Though it may not be playing to turn-away crowds…yet, there are some indications this is a restaurant…

New Mexico Rio Rancho Vietnamese

Viet Rice – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 29, 2011July 18, 20183:41 PM

In Vietnamese, “an com”‘ translates as “eating rice,” but it’s a phrase that more accurately implies the act of partaking of food. At Viet Rice, they know rice and they make the act of partaking of food a memorable one! The motto “We Know Rice” is declared on the menu and it’s part of the restaurant’s logo. It’s even on the restaurant’s entrance. More importantly, it’s obvious in the way Rio Rancho’s very first Vietnamese restaurant operates. True to its name, well crafted rice dishes are a specialty, but there’s so much more than rice at this small gem operating out of a sprawling shopping center. Viet Rice is one of the more visually appealing Vietnamese restaurants in the Duke…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Japanese Vietnamese

Hakata Asian Cuisine & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 28, 2011July 19, 20185:37 PM

“Grrr! What’s wrong with those Vietnamese?” That’s not a bad bowl of pho prompting a xenophobic rant on my part. Those were the words of my friend Huu Vu when I told him a new Vietnamese restaurant by the name Hakata Asian Grill had opened up on Albuquerque’s west side. A proud native of Vietnam, Huu wasn’t upset at the launch of another restaurant showcasing the cuisine of his homeland. He was unhappy about the name. Hakata Asian Cuisine & Grill is the third restaurant featuring Vietnamese food to open in the seven month period which ended in April, 2011. That’s great news for all adventurous Duke City Diners, and you would certainly think my pho fanatic friend would be…

Albuquerque Closed in 2019 Gone But Not Forgotten Rated 23 Vietnamese

Cafe Trang – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 11, 2007January 3, 20204:05 AM

In years of dining in Vietnamese restaurants, we’ve always marveled at the close-knit extended family structure evident in the daily operation of Vietnamese restaurants. Getting to know the wonderful families that run those restaurants, we learned how the lives of individual family members are almost always intertwined with an extended family structure that might include grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts and second and third cousins. In most of Albuquerque’s Vietnamese restaurants, you’ll find family members working side-by-side to serve their customers. The welfare of the entire extended family unit is always more important than the interests of individual members (Mr. Spock would be proud). It was no surprise to discover that Trang and Phong Nguyen, proprietors of…

Albuquerque Closed in 2009 Vietnamese

Kim’s Vietnamese Gourmet Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoOctober 20, 2006July 23, 20181:43 AM

During a memorable 1974 episode of MASH, it was Hawkeye Pierce’s turn at being physician of the day. Throughout the day he treated local indigenous personnel, all of whom identified themselves as “Kim Luck” when they reported in. Eventually Hawkeye turns to Radar O’Reilly and says “Kim Luck? This is the fifth one today.” He then asks the local, “Can you identify yourself?” Patting his chest and smiling broadly, the local responds “This is me!”. Hawkeye’s retort: “This must be my Kim Lucky day.” Albuquerque’s Kim Lucky day came on September 22nd, 2006 with the launch of Kim’s Vietnamese Gourmet Cuisine, named for sisters both named Kim. In this case, Kim is a diminutive of Kimhang and Kimha. The sisters…

Arizona Sandwich United States Vietnamese

Lee’s Sandwiches – Chandler, Arizona

Gil GardunoOctober 25, 2005July 24, 20241:15 AM

For years, the American viewing public was subjected to the bombardment of the airwaves with the exploits of Jared. Once a corpulent fellow who weighed 425 pounds, Jared metamorphosed into a 190-pound shadow of his former self largely through a calorie reduction effort comprised principally of submarine sandwiches proffered by America’s most prolific sandwich chain. Many of us caloric overachievers regard those commercials with skepticism–not that Jared could lose so much much weight, but that any sane person could eat such a mediocre sandwich twice a day for an entire year. I could understand it if Jared’s sandwich diet was comprised instead of banh mi, the unrivaled Vietnamese sandwich that surpasses any chain produced submarine sandwich in America. Banh mi…