Com Tam Thuan Kieu

I have only been to this restaurant a few times over the years and my last visit made me wonder why I don’t come here more often?! OK maybe because street parking is kind of difficult in the weekends and I don’t exactly live close to San Gabriel.
Anyway, come here for really delicious Vietnamese food that isn’t phở! :) Of course they shady serve phở here and I’m sure it’s good, but I’ve suggested visited Com Tam for the broken rice. For less than $ 7, you get a huge plate of well-​seasoned meat, egg, egg rolls, and veggies. Oh and the soup is pretty decent too. I love scooping up the rice and dipping it into the soup. Mmm so good.
The restaurant is pretty clean and there are plenty of seats for large parties. It’s not fancy, but I like it.

Lots of broken rice!
Their menu is primarily broken rice dishes and I dig it. I had a broken rice dish with grilled pork, steamed egg, side salad, side of yummy soup (complimentary), shrimp egg roll and pork chop. It was pretty damn good (⁴⁄₅ stars). There’s something about broken rice that I like and I know it’s the texture. It’s typically smaller than normal rice. I would definitely come back for the dish and to taste their other options. Big portions for cheap prices (around $ 7/​plate mostly).
As far as parking, it’s pretty tough. There’s street parking but when I went (Saturday), parking was stiff so I recommend driving around.

The rice plates are really good here. We ordered a variety of things and they were all tasty. My favorites are the dau hu ky and chao tom.

Been coming here for years as my go-​to Viet place and it never disappoints.
Parking: rear, or turn into a residential side street the next block over.
Service: fast and nice but not exceptional
Food: amazing! Go for the Bun Cha Gio, Chao Tom (vermicelli with fried egg rolls and shrimp paste) or their com (rice) dishes with pork. The meat is really flavourful and juicy. The portion sizes are generous and more than enough for me. If you order it to-​go, they might also give free soup too.
Prices: Starts from $ 5.99-$ 7.50 for a decent meal. Super cheap.

*thumbs up* love their rice dishes and bu’n!
Lots of options of meat options for the com tam (broken rice) and bu’n (vermicelli noodle salad). I typically like the charbroiled pork/​beef and the shrimp patties. Other toppings include egg patty (similar to an egg frittata), egg roll, nem nuong (sweet pork patty), etc.
Good prices, quick meal.

Meals here are affordable and generous portions! So much food! However, they don’t serve Phở Kobe here. The older waitress thought Phở Kobe was Phở Filet (as in Mignon) — nope! She even asked me what the difference in the meats were, lol! It’s cool, we still ate here before we went grocery shopping.
I got the Broken Rice Dish $ 5.99 with steamed egg, shredded pork and grilled pork meats. It also comes with a bowl of beef soup. Pretty tasty and so much had to take the leftovers home. Awesome lunch for work tomorrow! :)
Mom usually gets the phở here. She got the Phở Tai Nam Sach ($ 5.00), and she have me half of it cuz there was so much, lol! I was pretty much filled on it, took my rice dish to go.
Service is quick and efficient here. They also share the parking lot with Hawaii Supermarket. You can eat there and then walk off your meal around the market. Good place to eat, I’ll be back here another time!

Though I saw there was good reviews for the broken rice and the buns, whenever I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I have to try their version of my favorite Beef Phở. I got the House Special Beef phở, size small. When it came to my table, it wasn’t too impressive– just a standard looking broth, with a few pieces of beef still cooking on top of the phở, and thin pieces of onion and spring onion swimming inside. When I ate, I noticed the pieces of meat hiding in the soup had a lot more fat in it than I would have liked. A little is fine, but the meat pieces I had was significantly fatty– and that’s not attractive or tasty!
Com Tam Thuan Kieu is pretty much your standard, Vietnamese restaurant! Comparing this to the other great choices around the San Gabriel area, this place is an alright joint. The environment is relatively neat, but not outstanding. Service was attentive and fast for the most part, though the waitress did get our order a bit wrong (we said no spring onion, but its easy to fix since it’s a garnish and you can just pick it off), and the food is cheap and succeeds in sating one’s appetite.

Since I was little, this is the place that I’ve gone to to scratch that Com itch! Quick tips:
1. Although they specialize in rice dishes, they also serve excellent phở and bun dishes too!
2. The egg rolls here are absolutely fantastic!
3. There is not that much parking, parking on the street is probably your best bet, they do tow in the Hawaii market lot
4. Cash only!
I have fond memories of my first time at a com tam place, not knowing what to expect and being absolutely blown away by a variety of flavors from sweet to salty to savory. It was an amazing experience. Although the namesake implies that they only specialize in rice plates, they also serve a pretty respectable phở and really, really good bun dishes. This is considered a chain restaurant with quite a few locations, but of all the locations, this place does it best.
My usual go-​to order is bun thit nuong cha gio, or rice noodles with grilled pork and egg rolls. The rice noodles are a little colder on top of a bed of veggies including lettuce, mint, cucumbers and bean sprouts. On top of the rice noodles are green scallions, grilled pork, egg rolls, shredded peanuts, and pickled daikon and carrots. You’re supposed to spoon some of their wonderful fish sauce over the noodles. What results is one of the most refreshing bowls of noodles you can have. The egg rolls are always fried order and they come out fresh and hot.
The other go to order is a cam tam bi cha thit nuong. This is the standard broken rice plate, but it comes with shredded pork that has a sandy texture, steamed egg/​meat cake, and grilled pork. On the plate is also some lettuce, cucumber, and pickled veggies. As before, the rice plate also comes with fish sauce. Some people, including my girlfriend, do not enjoy the shredded pork, but I love that sandy texture that it gives to the rice. The broken rice also has its own special texture that is a little more grainy, but interesting. What gets me is the steamed egg cake, there is something special about the way it’s seasoned and made that makes it one of my most favorite parts of the broken rice dish.
As for the phở, the broth is very well seasoned, but we usually get the fatty brisket, with rare steak phở. The phở comes with your usual assortment of bean sprouts, basil, lime, and jalapenos. There’s nothing really special to write home about, but the noodles and the taste are excellent.
I have yet to try the 7 or 10 item plate, but will do so on my next visit! Hopefully you get in and try out this amazing place!

If you like com tam, you must try this place. They are known for their com tam because they have so many options! I got the 10 item com tam and it was so much but i loved it. I definitely recommend the 10 item! Their phở was not bad, maybe a little salty but still good. Their 3 item dessert was really good!!! Also its cheappp!!!

I will assume you’re reading this because you’ve heard of the broken rice dish. Good, cause I am about to tell you that it will be worth it and you should be on your way here as you read on.
Perhaps not uberly delicious but there is some charm to this giant, beastial, heart attack inducing dish. Why you ask? because you should get the 10 item (go for 7 if you’re afraid, or less if you’re not excited –_​-​). Go big or go home kind of mindset.
The 10 item Broken Rice is just that. Most items are proteins over rice, many processed, fried and fermented. Make an appointment with your oncologist if you believe processed meats are bad for you. But sigh, it is something you need to have at least once, «na meen?» $ 12 dish feeds two or one big man. On the bright side, there is a side of pickled sweet cabbage to make you feel less bad.
I assume the rice is ground or altered in some torturous way to get that size and inconsistent shape. It’s fine… literally, it’s fine rice almost cous cous like.
The nice server gave me an extra fried egg roll (which is like the other 4 items on it, basically fish paste in various shapes then pan or deep fried. The dishes come with a side of beef/​chicken broth (very salty and msg’d yet difficult to stop drinking)
Come try it. I don’t think I will be back in 6 months, my body must detox from such assault. But hey, it was good. About $ 10 – 15 per person.

We went to Jazz Cat hot pot but the queue was 40mins… So we were searching around that area and found this Vietnamese restaurant with 4! stars.
I am happy we tried it. Beef noodle and 10 item com tam plate.
Beef Noodle ($ 5.5) — WOW! So good, I ordered small one. There were so many inside. The noodle was very chewy but not hard. The whole noodle was superb!!!
10 item plate (?) — The portion was huge! It came with a small bowl of soup. The soup was too good, so my friend ordered an additional one for $ 1. So we thought it would like the same size, but actually it was a big bowl with pork inside. The 10 item plate was very good. So many items inside. But don’t order the shrimp and pork chop next time, both of them were over cooked.
We were extremely happy and satisfied because the food was extremely good and my friend said he had never been to a Vietnamese restaurant is that good! Me too!
We were served by an uncle with glasses, he was very friendly and funny. He basically told us what to order because he said those were good. Indeed, it was good! ^^
The bill was so cheap, 1 noodle, 1 10 item plate and 2 plum sodas = not even $ 15!

I’ve only tried the Bun and my friend had a broken rice dish but both were great, including his side soup, which was not too salty but very flavorful. The meat quality was good and the prices really can’t be beat. Big menu with lots of choices. I was there last and plan to go back today. There are no good Vietnamese restaurants in my part of LA so want to stock up on food for a few days! :))
Environment is nothing special, not cozy, but plenty of seating and good for families.

It has been such a long time since I’ve had some delicious and authentic Vietnamese food especially since I moved back to Colorado. My friends and I drove here from Culver and OMGGGG it was worth the two hours we spent in traffic.
I ordered the #63 which has shredded pork, grilled pork, tau hu ky (shrimp paste wrapped with a bean curd skin and fried), steamed egg, and I added a side of Korean BBQ rib ($ 2.50 extra for a pretty big portion!). The portion size is huge for $ 6.99 and everything is delicious. It comes with pickled cabbages and carrots on the side and a soup. Only complaint was that the BBQ ribs were a little on the oily side, but still yummy regardless. I was so hungry I scarfed down the whole plate. Note: It’s cash only and you pay at the front!

Fast, affordable prices ($ 5.50 for a small phở), good service. The phở isn’t amazing but for this price it’s the cheapest I’ve come across these days! I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back, but I’m glad I tried it! Only con… the cockroach I saw crawling on the wall by my table :/

This place is my all time favorite vietnamese broken rice dish! Hands down, this is the best in town. Even after all these years, their rice plates are always fully loaded regardless of when you eat in or order it to go.
**Parking: you either get VIP street parking right infront of the restaurant, or you have to go through the hassle of going in to the jammed packed supermarket lot. But in the end, you WILL be able to park your car.
**Service: The staff is super friendly and attentive. The food comes out pretty quickly.
**Menu: There’s a pretty wide variety of rice and noodle dishes. But how can you come here and not get their specialty, the rice plates ?! The 10 item rice is definitely the best choice if it’s your first time. That way you can try everything at the same time! You get to pick one type of meat, and I always opt for the thit nuong (aka grilled pork). For full flavor, you must drizzle the delicous fish sauce all over the rice plate.
**Cash only!

Came here for an early dinner after a friend recommended it and we were one of 4 parties there. Yes! No wait!
We found parking in the Hawaii Supermarket lot but if you travel east on Valley and drive past the restaurant there is another parking lot that you can use (and is closer).
They are quick to ask you what you would like to order. We had to ask for more time to decide twice and we don’t even take long to place our orders. If you don’t speak Vietnamese or Cantonese or Mandarin, no worries. It’s very easy to just point to items you want on the menu. No shame.
We ordered 2 broken rice plates and an order of egg rolls. The broken rice plates came with a side of broth. I thought that the broth was especially tasty. The broken rice plates were huge. They give you a lot of food here. If you’re not starving, you can probably share a plate with someone and both leave feeling full. The grilled pork, shrimp paste, and egg quiche were all good and on par with other Vietnamese restaurants in the area. We didn’t care for the shredded pork but that’s a personal dislike and nothing against this restaurant. The egg rolls were tasty although when compared to the rice plates they seemed expensive (but reasonably priced overall). The grilled pork/​shredded pork/​egg quiche rice plate was $ 5.95 while the egg rolls were $ 5.50. Stick with rice plates for a cheap and filling meal!
We enjoyed our meals but because this is a bit out of our way, we probably won’t be back unless we happen to be in the area.

Dinner on Sunday, 6÷28÷15 (first time visiting)
Not sure where to park but I ended up finding a spot in the parking lot for Hawaii supermarket next door.
Walked in for dinner and there’s no wait in line. It’s a casual place like any other Vietnamese restaurant. Service was quick so be ready to order.
I didn’t know what to get but since the name of the restaurant was Com Tam, thought I’d give that dish a try. There are so many selections in the menu! I ordered a com tam dish that comes with pork chop and steamed egg. The portion was big. I had to take home half of my order. I don’t have Vietnamese food often so I can’t say it’s the best or worst but I’d come back again. Taste was pretty good to me. I also ordered the 3-​color iced drink, which could also be considered as dessert. It was pretty good too.
Restroom only has one stall and isn’t clean so I would recommend not using it. On my way out, I noticed someone having a dish with beef short ribs and red colored rice.
I think I’ll come back again to try other dishes. They have decent prices and portions.

I can never remember the name of this place but I know the first part of the name Com Tam means broken rice (thanks to the translation on the menu). As the name indicates rice dishes are its specialty and is probably a good idea to stick with them rather than going with phở or any other items. The menu is quite extensive. I’ve been here twice so far and still have only had a chance to look at the first two pages of the menu. There must be at least 100 different rice dishes varying not just by the types of meat but also by quantity of items. It seems most people like to get #15 House Special Broken Rice with 7 different items or #16 House Special Broken Rice with 10 different items. For just $ 10-​$ 12 these seemed like good deals but they looked overwhelming so I just went with one item rice dishes.
I tried #17 Com Tam Bo Nuong (broken rice with grilled beef) on my first visit and #19 Com Tam Ga Nuong (broken rice with grilled chicken) on my second visit. Both tasted quite good and somewhat similar to Korean BBQ. Both seemed to have some mix of soy sauce, garlic, and sugar marinade and were flavored well. Both dishes were quite generous in portion and also came with pickled, slightly sweet vegetables, soup, and fish sauce for dipping meat. They were a great deal at just under $ 6. The soup that came with these rice dishes tasted like phở broth but not a very good one. On my first visit the soup tasted rather bland and watered down. It tasted better on my second visit but still not a lot of flavor.
I can’t wait to come back and try more dishes here. There are enough items on the menu to keep me interested. Price is cheap, portions are huge, and food tastes good. What more can you ask for?
If you can’t find street parking you can also park in the Hawaii Supermarket parking lot without fee or fear of getting towed. The restaurant has a sign outside indicating this.
Cash only.

We came here on a Saturday evening, and the place wasn’t busy at all. However, parking here is pretty annoying because it has street parking and then you can park in the same lot as the Hawaii Supermarket. That place gets pretty busy, so finding parking may be annoying.
The prices of this place is really good. Most of the phở is $ 5.50 for the medium size and $ 6.50 for the large size. The vermicelli with BBQ pork, egg roll, and shrimp paste was $ 6.50 for a bowl.
The food here is pretty good for Vietnamese. My family loves coming here for the BBQ pork because unlike other locations, the BBQ pork isn’t fatty. However, I would not come here for phở. I don’t think they’re that famous for their phở, and I kind of see why. Compared to other locations, the phở is pretty bland tasting, but that may mean it’s better for you because of less MSG? I guess I’m just used to MSG-​loaded delicious phở.
We also got the broken rice with 7 items. This dish is huge for $ 9.99. Super cheap. The dish came with some omelet pork thing, rice, BBQ pork, shrimp paste, sausage, and egg roll, and two other items that I’m blanking out on. I was not a fan of the omelet pork thing because it seemed dry. The egg rolls here are really good. I suggest either ordering a whole appetizer dish or a dish that comes with a piece or two.

Nice portions for the price.
I got the 10 item combo thing and split it with one of my friends. It was huge and a nice variety. And tasted pretty decent, not bad and pretty filling for 2 people.
However, service was less than okay. Grumpy staff who seemed to look annoyed all the time when taking your order and when you try to flag them down even when they are in front of you they leave. And, it wasn’t busy either. So I don’t know what was up with them. There was at least one decent staff that seemed to be attentive. Other than that, I was just displeased with their service. Of course, what do you expect from an Asian restaurant at times, but this was just. no. Also, I found a hair in my eggroll. Let me repeat, INSIDE the dang eggroll.
Considering all of this… I’ll go elsewhere next time. I wanna give this place the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve had better.