#1 Restaurant

Medium ca nuong was huge! There was a lot of meat on the fish, but flavor wasn’t as good as other places I’ve tried.

Rediculous expensive for a medium ca nuong and side portion is small. Will not be coming back here.

It was the most intense dinner I ever had. I waited over 30 minutes to get seatedthen I ordered a small ca nuong and bun vit, the lady was like «its very small, would you like to order a medium?». I was like ‘only 3 people are going to eat the fish’. I was to add a com bo luc lac but she took the menu and walked to a different table then 5 min later, she yelled to the kitchen ‘a small fish’. She came back and told us that they were out of small size. We agreed with the medium size but then only the fish arrived. We didn’t have water, bun vit or com bo luc lac. I paid $ 32 for the dinner but I was so angry and frustrated. The service, the wait and the food were NOT worth it. I will open my eyes to see how long this place will last. It used to be called #1 restaurant. CASH only

My Mom and I were craving baked catfish and we were greeted by the owner and he recommended some awesome appetizers. Also the catfish we soooooooo good. Perfect! Large cost about $ 34.99 and it came with all the fixings. The owner was great.

Can only review the ca nuong (baked fish) since it’s the only thing I’ve eaten here. The fish comes In 3 sizes small, medium, and large. Majority of the time we order the large but honestly it’s not much of a difference from the medium but it’ll cost you about $ 5 – 6 more. The fish itself is baked to perfection leaving the skin nice and crispy and the inside a soft buttery texture. The fish is topped with peanut and onions and isn’t very oily which is a good thing in my opinion. Every time I’ve eaten here the meat just falls off the bones which makes it easier for me to put together my spring rolls. My only complaint is they don’t give you enough rice paper or veggies for the fish and you have to ask for more. A plus is they accept cards and their Bathrooms are clean, but no toilet seat covers so you might have to pop a swat ladies.

My favorite place for ca nuong! For starters, ca nuong is baked catfish. It’s pretty healthy aside from all the fish sauce dippings. Makes a great post workout meal since it is light and packed with protein.
The catfish here has a nice crunchy texture on its skin (my favorite part by the way). According to my mother, if you take a bite into the skin and it isn’t chewy, then the fish is definitely cooked perfectly. The fish meat here is also very tender and white. I can literally eat this every week!
The fish also comes in three sizes; small, medium, large. If you’re ordering for two people, I recommend getting a medium if you both are hungry. The fish takes about 15 – 20 mins to cook depending how busy they are. It’s okay to call in and let them know what fish you want to order so you can cut the wait time.
For those with food allergies:
The dish comes with a topping of crushed roasted peanuts for added flavor and crunch. If you are allergic, you should definitely ask them for no peanuts.
I love it here because the service is great and it’s cleaner than most Vietnamese restaurants that serve catfish.

Loveeeee the ca nuong!!! It’s 24.99 or 25.99 for a medium sized fish~
Just don’t like how they don’t give you a lot of banh trang or bun
Other than that… ITS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
From what I remember, I think they only have size medium or large ~

1. took them 10 mins to take our order.
2. took them another 20 mins to bring out our order
3. they forgot to bring out all of our order and still charged me for it.
4. food was okay .not the best .had bun bo.

The fish was really good! I had lau mam and ca nuong here today, and the service was great! I would definitely come back.

I went here to order 3 Ca Nuong Large Side. All 3 Ca Nuong are super crispy and the owner she was so nice. She gave me extra vegetables for everything. The sauces are delicious and the fish skin is crispy and the fish are golden brown.
It tastes excellent and the price is $ 35 for the whole family of 4 and still you have some left over.
I am coming back for the second :). I would recommended the restaurant for whoever the fan of baked cat fish. you would enjoy it.

I remember coming to this place when they first opened and it was under different management. They used to give out drinks with the meal. The fish is now not as crunchy (the skin) and over priced compared to quan ca my van, a restaurant located on e 2^nd floor of saigon market. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend that over this place. If I really want ca nuong, this place is 3^rd on the list.

Prolly one of my favorite spots to get ca nuong. But if ur not in the mood for ca nuong, their lau mam is also very good. With a big plate of veggies and a hot pot full of fish, shrimp, pork, and eggplant, there’s nothing not to like. Due to its salty nature, be prepared to drink lots of water. Lol
Takes debit/​credit cards which makes it convenient.

This place sure isn’t shy about proclaiming themselves as #1, they don’t win points for classy but they certainly do for confidence.
This has been our new reliable spot for ca nuong da don (baked catfish crispy skin). Prices are on par with all the other spots in Bolsa and they take credit card. They used to give a free drink with your meal but I think that is no longer in effect, well at least they don’t charge you for water here right?
The fish has been consistently good here, fresh veggies and they are fairly nice about giving us extra tid-​bits of this and that when needed. They also comply with all our requests when in comes to the preparation of the fish, yeah we know our ca nuong. If you can stand the cheesy Vietnamese programming on the wall-​mounted tellies, I’d say this is an excellent choice for some fish rolls.

Get the ca nuong (baked cat fish) when you’re here!
It’s so good, so crispy, and delicious! The veggies are fresh too! A small one is good for me and my gf, but if you come here with an empty tummy, go for a bigger one. I love their dipping sauce (the chunky one that stinks), mam I think that’s what it’s called.
I haven’t tried anything else here except the ca nuong. I don’t have the heart to try anything else when ca nuong is an option.
mmMmmmMmm my tummy is rumbling now.

Ca Nuong: the most popular item on the menu and it is for a really good reason. They’re crispy, they’re flavorful, and they’re cheap ($ 23 I think). I normally enjoy the medium fish with a gf or two. The veggies are clean and fresh. I’ve eaten here a bunch of time and have not seen anything in the veggies to scare the death out of me. The veggies are plenty if you’re sharing among 2 – 3 people; however the medium fish isn’t meant to be shared among 4 people. The restaurant will charge you less than $ 2 for the extra condiments but keep in mind that you’re not being charged $ 40 for a fish (i.e Favori). The dipping sauce is bomb! **drools*** they offer two different sauce just in case you’re not into the fishy sauce.
Banh Beo Chen: Yum! It’s a good appetizer! I love eating this while waiting for my crispy fish.
Vietnamese Hot Pot/​Lau: they’re delish! It’s really good on a cold day.
Bo Luc Lac: my boring BF gets this dish because he doesn’t eat the fish. Whatever… he’s missing out.

Relatively new restaurant.
Fried Fish small ($ 22.99):
— seems to be the most popular dish
— comes with banh trang, vermicelli, and 2 dipping sauces
— adequate for 2 – 3 people but may need to order extra banh trang and/​or vermicelli ($ 1.75 extra)
— the device used to dip the banh trang is nifty but not worth $ 12.
— pretty crispy
— would order again
Banh Tam Bi ($ 3.99)
— good portions
— decent
— cheaper than making it at home
Environment: very casual. typical Vietnamese restaurant with Paris By Night playing in the background. Clean up tables relatively quickly. relatively clean.
Service: LACKING. Received all our food before getting our drinks. They only come if you request them, your food is ready, or you paid the check.
Overall decent place but not a must visit. The food is relatively cheap. Many things are reduced priced (like most Santa Ana restaurants now). One of the busier restaurants in the plaza so it must be doing something right. Though the name is a misnomer, it’s not a complete misnomer. It definitely should learn to serve water before food though.

OK, the name of this place could not be anymore ironic. Don’t take it literally. It’s not the #1 restaurant by any means, especially quality and deliciousness.
My mom suggested we come here because apparently she had an excellent experience previously. I felt uneasy stepping inside. Tables and chairs were so close to each other you could smell someone’s armpit. The place is crammed and the bright lime green walls make me feel dizzy. But whatever, it’s all for mom!
I thought I’d go for the safe choice — mi xao don (crispy egg noodle with stir fried meats and veggies.) I mean, how can you go wrong? It’s like pad thai, tom yum, teriyaki. Not hard to make. But — I was disappointed. Stale. Cold. Bland. Not enough meat.
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I’m suddenly having flashbacks of the time I was at Mao’s Kitchen — same crappy noodles:
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I think my mom started to feel bad so she said maybe they were too busy (it was very crowded that day) to make everything right. They clearly made her dish different from the last time. It’s OK, Mom. It’s not your fault. :)
I’m not setting foot in this place again, and I think Mom agrees.

If you like Favori then you will like this place, the fish tastes about the same but so much cheaper!
The Ca Nuong Da Don (baked fish) is so good here! That’s the only thing I tried and would totally recommend. Nice and crispy and they provide all the rice paper, noodles, salad, and everything else that is suppose to come with it.
TOTALLY RECOMMEEND!

Bun Mam Bac Lieu and Ca Nuong Da Don (baked fish) are their specialities here.
#1 Restaurant has been open for about 8 months now. It use to be Green Wasabi Sushi. We came in during lunch during the big Tet flower market so it wasn’t very busy. I noticed EVERYONE got the Bun Mam Bac Lieu ~ $ 7.
Bun Mam is vermicelli in a fermented shrimp paste (aka that smell is kickin’!). Bac Lieu is a southern province of Vietnam near the coast. Plenty of seafood in this dish including shrimp, calamari, eggplant and fish filet. The vermicelli noodles are thicker bun noodles you would find. The meat to bun ratio was good. Seafood was cooked perfectly. but you must really like shrimp paste to really eat this dish. It’s very «mam-​y!»
The Ca Nuong was good — not fabulous — but good. Decent size fish for $ 16.99. Could feed 2 people. They are pretty generous with putting oil on that sucker because the skin touching the aluminum foil was crispy!
The «mam» dipping sauce could have had more flavor. It was just «eh» to me and didn’t have enough pineapple chunks in there. In my eyes good Ca Nuong should have good dipping sauce!
I personally felt there wasn’t enough veggies because I usually eat a lot and I was running really short at the end of my meal.
They offered free Nuoc Mat (aka «refreshing drink». or what I like to call. herbal sugar water… lol) :)

Okay the first time I went here it was such an awesome place. So I came back again today ready to enjoy a similar experience to my last visit. Boy was I disappointed.
The bun bo hue was still pretty good, but this time it seemed a bit sweet. But thats not the main reason why I’m demoting them. Nooo sir.
So everything was going good, enjoying my bowl, and at my very last spoon of buon what did I find? A hair. Dun dun dunnnn… That just ruined the whole thing for me. Although I’m not very sure if its a good or a bad thing that I found it after I had finished practically the whole bowl…