We went to check out the new Vietnamese place in the new Xii ( pronounced Ja -i) apartments that have just been built next to the LG Metro City apartments in Yong Ho Dong. It's called Hoa Binh. They are a chain and also have restaurants in Haeundae and Seomyeon according to their website http://hoabinh.co.kr/

Now I know that Vietnamese places are becoming fairly common these days, all the same it's worth checking out for a few reasons.

- the food is very good
- there are some items on the menu that are more South Asian than exclusive to Vietnam

They have all the staples such as the big bowls of pho that you find in all of the Vietnamese restaurants around here. However the most unusual thing that stood out was a 'pho with Tom Yam'. Tom Yam?! surely that's Thai I thought, but decided to order it anyhow. What I got was a very good Tom Yam soup with Viethamese pho noodles and assorted seafood. All agreed on the table that it was the best of the three dishes. A word of warning though, it was freaking huge. It could easily be shared by two and probably three if other dishes were ordered to go with it. Cost 8500

Another dish ordered was a 'Fried Pho' , which was a wide flat noodle stir fried with various meats and a few shrimp. Again very delicious and the comment was made that the taste resembled more of a Singapore noodle stir fry than Vietnamese. Cost 7500

The third dish we ordered just a basic beef pho and this was as expected, delicious and definitely Vietnamese. Cost 7500

Finally to top it all off, they have Vietnamese beer ' Saigon ' and ' 333 ' at 5 bucks and 4 bucks respectively,

So to conclude the place is well worth a visit. Although they had menu items such as Tom Yam, we saw this as a positive thing. A South Asian fusion of flavours as opposed to a Korean/Vietnamese fusion which is the unfortunate norm these days around here. Prices were reasonable, service wasn't bad although the fried noodles took a fair bit longer than the soups. The decor was a little bright for me. Look out for the big poster with all the Vietnamese writing on it, but hiding in the middle are the words ' Brokeback Mountain ' have no idea what that is all about!

Directions are easy if you know the area. A little more difficult if not.

The easiest way is in a taxi and just say Yong Ho Dong, LG Metro City Hu Mun (Hoo Moon) 용호동 LG 메트로시티 후문
If you know Metro City it's the new buildings near the water, the really tall ones near Megamart overlooking the bridge. Just walk along next to Metro as if you were heading to Megamart.

For those coming from outside. Coming out of Kyung Sung subway take the road that goes towards Pukyong university and then the road that goes toward Yong Ho Dong. At the major crossroads, instead of heading into Yong Ho Dong, take a left on the main road that heads toward MegaMart. You will notice the big new buildings on your right, take the first major right turning and the restaurant is straight in front of you on your left.

Here is a map in Korean from the chain's website for that branch.

Check out the site's menu items. It's pretty extensive. I'm unsure if they offer any vegetarian dishes, though.

I would guess that the pho beef soup could be made vegetarian by not adding any beef! What I mean is that the basic soup broth is made first and then they add the necessary ingredients to it, such as bean sprouts noodles and raw slices of beef. With a little bit of explanation I am sure you could get the beef substituted for some nice veggies. My Tom Yam had lots of Pak Choi in it (청경채 in Korean), so you could ask to substitute. Unfortunately I don't know the Korean for substituting ingredients. 빼주세요 will get stuff omitted, but to get something else I'm not so sure 넣다 (to put into, perhaps?) Anyone?

The soup base/soup stock here is made with meat so that's out. Too bad. I'll try some of the other stuff later this week. The Vietnamese place at Yongsan Station was super when I went there with a friend. The chef whipped up something special for me and didn't charge anything.

Back in San Francisco and Oakland, there were some mighty fine Pho (Phở {The word has the schwa-esque o and dipping then rising tone}) places that had both meat and veggie stock.