Nong La Cafe - Best Vietnamese On the Westside

If you're looking for some good Vietnamese food on the westside and don't want to sit in traffic for hours headed towards the SGV, you should try Nong La Cafe. 

This newish restaurant on the bustling Sawtelle strip serves up fresh Vietnamese fare with friendly service. 

I've come here 3 times in the past month and can't stop raving about the pho and the steak banh mi!

The first time we came here was on a weeknight around 7:30 pm. We had to wait a good 30-40 minutes for a table for 4. 

We ordered pho tai bo vien, bun bo hue, and spring rolls. 

The spring rolls were small and not that good. I would pass on these. 

spring rolls

The pho tai bo vien (pho with rare steak and beef ball was delicious! I've never had pho so fresh! Usually when I eat pho, I have to drink a gallon of water to offset the MSG. 

My friends said the bun bo hue was okay. One of them liked it, the other one didn't. The bun bo hue here does not contain blood, so yay for that!

bun bo hue

My next visit was during lunch on a weekday around 1:30 pm. Considering this was kinda late for lunch, we were surprised we had to wait. But, that's mainly because this one table decided to sit and talk FOREVER even after they were done eating! How rude! The girl actually went outside to put more money in the meter. Some people are so inconsiderate. She saw us waiting too!

Ugh.. at least the host was apologetic about the whole thing. 

I ordered pho tai and it was so tasty! I love how tender the beef is. 

pho tai

Since I read so much about the banh mi, I decided to get one to go. 

DAMN. The steak banh mi is amazing! It's loaded with jalapenos so make sure you pick some out if you can't stand the heat. No pate though, FYI. 

steak banh mi

bun with lemongraass and sesame steak

In fact, the banh mi was so good, I actually went back the same day to get another to go. The host actually remembered me and was like, "I told you it was good!". 

A couple days later, we went back again. My BF got the bun sesame steak and I got the pho tai again. What? I'm addicted. 

He said the bun was good, but not his favorite. The noodles are thicker than traditional bun, so that could be why. 

I do like the noodles in the pho here. Thick, flat noodles that don't stick together. Good stuff.

Highly recommended for pho and banh mi cravings! 

Closed on Mondays.



Nong La Cafe
2055 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, ca 90025

The Counter - Customized Burgers in the Valley

First thing I noticed when we walked into The Counter was how friendly everyone was. Even amid the chaos, we were still greeted and shown to a table within 2 minutes. Kudos to the staff for that.


The Counter's drawing point is customized burgers which is great for picky eaters like me. We were hungry so we ordered a ton of food.


Crispy onion strings: thinly cut onion fried to a golden crisp. It came in a huge, heaping portion. I think we should have got the half order. Very tasty!

Parmesan french fries: fries topped off with melted Parmesan cheese and mixed with parsley, rosemary and garlic aioli. Not bad, but way too heavy for me. I had a few bites and was done. 

Sweet potato fries: Pretty tasty, good choice for the health conscious.

All the sides came with different dipping sauces. My favorite was the roasted garlic aioli.

Now on to the burgers. I had the beef burger with mushrooms, avocado, red onion, mixed lettuce and roasted garlic aioli on a multigrain bun. It was delicious! Very juicy and great flavors. 

One of my dining companions had the buffalo burger with mushrooms and gruyere cheese on an English muffin. He liked it a lot and said the buffalo was cooked well and very tasty. 

My other DC had the beef burger with grilled onions, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato on a regular hamburger bun. She liked it as well.

I ordered a glass of Riesling to drink since I don't drink beer. The manager actually carded me. Oh yesss.. thanks for making my day! They do have a wide selection of wine and beer for you alkies.

Overall, a great dining experience. I would definitely come back when the burger craving hits again. 

4/5****

The Counter

12117 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 980-0004

Noir Wine Bar

Not sure why this place is called Noir Wine bar, but hey, it's the food that matters right?

We came here on a Tuesday night and parking was quite easy to find in the residential area. Big plus, it's free!

The place was completely empty at 7 pm, except for us, but I didn't mind. Better service for us!

We ordered the beef shabu shabu, 7 oz with brown rice that cost $1 more. I should have just had the white rice, since the brown rice was weird and sticky. But, trying to eat healthy so I stuck with it.

Shabu came with napa cabbage, tofu, mushrooms, broccoli, squash and udon noodles. Napa cabbage was all you can eat, so we got some more after we finished ours. The ponzu sauce was amazing! It had a slightly sweet taste to it without being overly sweet. We got more because good ponzu is hard to find. The sesame sauce was pretty tasty too.

Veggies





You also get a choice of salad. I got the tuna sashimi salad and OMG, it was soooo good! The dressing must have crack in it. I wanted more when I was done.



I guess 7 ounces of beef is actually quite large since it took me a while to finish it. Very fresh and tasty dipped in the ponzu.

We only had one pot, but it had a divider in the middle so it's okay. I prefer having my own pot though.

Service was friendly and accommodating. Bill came to $30 each.

Not the cheapest shabu, but I'd come back. Mizu is still my #1 though.
 
3.5 ***

Noir Wine Bar
801 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036