The first interview I did when I started covering Oakland Chinatown was with Darlene Lee, leader of the Lincoln Recreation Center.
She told me that you only come to Oakland’s Chinatown if you want to eat Chinese food because there isn’t much else to do.
So I thought I would do a weekly blog about other things to do in Chinatown besides eat.
What I found out was that she was exactly right, there isn’t much else to do, so instead of fighting that notion, why not embrace it?
So starting this week, every Friday I am going to go to one of the restaurants in Chinatown, order one dish, and judge that dish and restaurant.
Kim Huong sits on the corner of 10th and Harrison in Oakland's Chinatown
Fair? Of course not.
But I already started, so I can’t back out now.
In this inaugural in
stallment the restaurant is Kim Huong, a Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of 10th and Harrison.
What made me try this place first was that it is right next to the recreation center and while passing by it I saw a write up from the Michelin guidebook.
Receiving a star from the guidebook is a huge deal so I assumed just being written up in the book would be a clue to the quality of the restaurant.
Once I stepped in the owners kindly greeted me. They were super friendly, when they saw me taking pictures they went out their way to ask about my camera, and how my day was going.
Blurb about Kim Huong from the Michelin Guide
Whenever I go to a Vietnamese place I get either a Bánh mì or pho tai. So naturally I got the pho tai, which is a noodle soup with pieces of rare steak in a beef broth.
It came out very quickly as I was only waiting for probably less than five minutes. But that time was filled with conversations with the owners so it felt like even less time.
The presentation when it came out
was nice as the noodles and steak were concentrated in the middle of the bowl with steaming broth surrounding it like a moat.
The dish as a whole was just eh, n
ot the best pho I’ve ever had but not the worst either.
I was hoping the broth would have been more flavorful, but the pieces of steak were tender and the noodles were a good texture.
Pho Tai with bean sprouts, lemon and siracha
Judging this place on this one dish I would say that it wouldn’t be on my list of places to go back to, but I would definitely try it again, just to give it another chance.
Chinatown Take-Out 