Situated and tucked away in the most random plaza you will probably ever dine in is Brodard. A popular and very well-known restaurant amongst the Vietnamese locals. What Brodard has built their famous empire on is their Spring Rolls. They serve all types but the absolute most popular is their Nem Nuong Cuon, which is a grilled pork sausage spring roll, wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, herbs, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, chives, daikon, and mint.
This is served with their house sauce which is an orangey colored sauce that contains some minced ground pork and egg, other than that I’m not sure how it’s made, but it’s absolutely addicting. Another known popular item is the Chao Tom Cuon, they finely chop the shrimp into a paste, which is then wrapped around a sugarcane, flash fried and finished on the grill. This might sound strange but it is delicious. Don’t worry they also have several vegan and vegetarian options to accommodate everyone’s palette.
We went with two of the grilled pork spring rolls, and two grilled shrimp spring rolls, this is a must for me each time I visit this restaurant. As you all should know by now I love spicy foods and they have condiments on the table with fresh chilies that you can add to your food/sauces. The spring rolls are always made fresh to order, the sauce is served warm so the flavor is more enhanced. Next item we went with is the Banh Tom Co Ngu, this is basically sweet potato fries with large pieces of shrimp, tempura’d and fried together.
This is served with a ton of fresh veggies from lettuce to herbs, with pickled papaya and carrot slices. Served alongside a Nuoc Cham, which is a dipping sauce that consist of Fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, chili, etc. You’re basically making a wrap with the lettuce, herbs, and condiments, from there you add the shrimp and sweet potato, once completed you dip this into the sauce and enjoy!
The shrimp and sweet potato “fritter” is very crispy and flavorful, a bit more on the sweeter side of things but nonetheless wonderful. The last dish we went with is the Bun Cha Ha Noi. This is noodle/vermicelli dish served cold, called Ha Noi because it’s from a region of Vietnam which specializes in this dish. Bbq style pork patties grilled, grilled pork, and pork belly in a spicy lime chili fish sauce, which is served with lettuce, herbs, pickled papaya and carrots. With this dish what you do is take some of the vermicelli into your bowl, add the fresh veggies, herbs, and pickles, then add the sauce that the meat is soaking in to your bowl, just enough to coast everything.
The different textures and the cold noodles and veggies with the warm charred meat will really entice you, it’s an awesome dish that’s very simple but delightful. Be sure to try their desserts as the varieties are endless, this time I filled up quite a bit too much and didn’t leave much room left for anything yet alone air to breathe. Being part Vietnamese I would love to share the local restaurants we eat at, Vietnamese food is not just Pho, there’s so many different dishes that I will slowly introduce everyone to. I hope you all enjoy!
Restaurant – Brodard
Cuisine – Vietnamese
Location – 9892 Westminster Avenue R, Garden Grove, CA 92577
Contact – 714.530.1744