Still can’t decide between Vietnam and Vietnam Palace? Try Nam Phuong at 11th and Washington in the Wing Phat Plaza.
For crunchy green papaya salad with Thai basil and peanuts, Vietnamese crepes filled with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork, and grilled grape leaves served with rice paper and herbs, Nam Phuong can’t be beat.
Every time I leave Nam Phuong, I wish I had tucked in my purse a stash of Ziploc bags to transport all the unused herbs home with me. The quantity and quality of these fixings alone are worth the cost of the dish. Beautiful mint, cilantro, Thai basil and a host of other exotic Asian herbs and lettuces as well as tasty pickled carrots and daikon abound on any of the dishes that require wrapping and rolling with rice paper.
Neither romantic nor quaint, Nam Phuong still manages to regularly pack its dining room for lunch and dinner, a tribute to its fast service and consistently good food. The full bar offers quenching lagers such as Tsingtao, but, like most Chinatown restaurants, only an average selection of wine. Bring your own bottle, pay the nominal corking fee and enjoy your meal on all levels.
If you want to really impress your server, ask for mam nem, a pungent and delectable sauce not offered on the menu. My sister literally mops up every last drop of this sauce from its bowl using whatever she can find left on the table — lettuce scraps, vermicelli, cucumbers … it’s really quite a scene.
While I’m sure many of the 300 or so dishes offered on the menu are delicious, these are not to be missed:
109. Banh Xeo (Vietnamese crepe)
118. Bo Nuong La (grilled beef-filled grape leaves served with herbs and rice paper)
112. Goi Du Du Kho Bo (green papaya salad: Be sure to dress it with a little Sriracha and hoisin as well as the dressing they give you)
105. Bo Bia (fresh rice paper roll with jicama and Chinese sausage)
104. Bi Cuon (fresh rice paper roll with ground pork)
115. Goi Ga (Vietnamese chicken salad)
And ask for mam nem — it’s amazing!
Nam Phuong
1100-1120 Washington Ave, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 468-0410
www.namphuongphilly.com
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I think it’s not bad–but I think there are better, tiny obscure Vietnamese restaurants sprinkled about town.
But hey–at least you can stop at the massive nearby Asian grocery after dinner.
Nam Phuong is legit. Urbanevgan, what ‘better, tiny obscure Vietnamese restaurants’ should we try? Follow through.
Clearly you haven’t tried the mam nem. Just be sure to ask for it multiple times. They sometimes pretend not to hear you, when you ask for mam nem.
The Vietnamese crepe is the bomb. Especially when it’s all stuffed with all that mint and herbs. The avacado milkshake is also one of my favorites. This place is definitely my comfort food spot.
Eh. This place is good, but the service is poor. Being Vietnamese myself, I still prefer my mother’s cooking but if I had to choose an establishment, Vietnam Restaurant in Chinatown is the best. And! They just opened up a small cafe on the edge of University City next to Foo Wah’s store on Baltimore.
why have i not yet heard of this mam mam?
I get upset enough as it is when they take away my fish sauce too early!
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