Van Loc - makes me miss Mai's

Quality	Ambiance	Service
6.5	6.0	4.0

Location: 3010 Milam Street, Houston, TX 77006
Phone: (713) 528-6441
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Price range: each item $2 - 10

First and foremost, Farrago will be coming up - but in the mean time, Van Loc.

Van Loc is a pretty popular place for Vietnamese food among the student population as it's accessible by metro rail. It's a casual place and it's good on both the student budget and the belly. The most exciting thing at Van Loc may be their bright chrysanthemum below their counter shrine...which says a bit about the rest of the experience. Oh, and they're opened until 11 pm Mon -Th, and midnight on Fri - Sun, so it's really nice for late night Vietnamese food.

The menu itself is pretty standard...pho, vermicelli, rice of chicken/pork/beef/tofu, but it lacks the variety of other Vietnamese places. Usually, you can order parts of beef like tendons/tails/etc for your pho...but you only get to pick between well-done and medium-done here. The broth is pretty good, but I disliked the noodles for some reason. The rice dish at Van Loc is pretty mediocre. The portions served are also pretty standard for Vietnamese food...that is to say, large.

Like most other Vietnamese places, you can also get a nice cup of ca phe su da to go along with your food. Ca phe su da is essentially personal drip coffee with condensed milk poured over ice - and it's delicious! It's pretty hard to go wrong with condensed milk and coffee...there is also a warm option available, called ca phe su nong.

The service at Van Loc is, like the rest of the place, mediocre. The waitress seemed to rush our ordering and answered our inquiries for different beef cuts a bit harshly. Granted, it was near closing...but there were other guests too!

My feelings toward Van Loc is met by ambivalence. I prefer Mai's...but it sort of burned down. Of course, I might be romanticizing Mai's, but I really do miss their larger selection of pho and their more flavorful broth. I also prefer Givral's and Pho Saigon to here...but I'd come back to Van Loc's again for late night Vietnamese (as it's one of the few Vietnamese place open past 9).

Any suggestions as to where I should go next? Leave a comment!