Lance Around Orlando

One of the Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Orlando

Is the Anh Hong Restaurant on the corner of Colonial Drive and Mills Avenue in downtown Orlando the best Vietnamese Restaurant?

I don’t really know. There are literally dozens of Vietnamese places to eat in this section of town. I’ve never had Vietnamese before, so I have nothing to compare it with. However, it’s been an Orlando “FOODIE” award winner three times in the past 10 years.

Here’s what the LanceAround family discovered the other weekend when we sat down to our first Vietnamese meal: The service was excellent; polite and fast. The only problem was communication as both the restaurant and its staff are authentic Vietnamese. The food was similar enough to Chinese and Thai to draw comparisons, but different enough to be a separate cuisine. The portions were large and the price was very reasonable. In all, it was tasty and, in some cases, quite unique.

Suoug Sao Hat E Da

Take the Suoug Sao Hat E Da drink that Number One Son ordered. It’s listed as a sweet basil seed and grass jelly drink. To attempt to describe it would be futile, so please look at this picture. The drink begins with the ingredients in this glass, then the server adds the liquid. It is sweet, delicious and we’ve never seen anything like it.

Number One Daughter ordered tofu and veges, Mrs. Lance Around had the rice vermicelli with fried tofu and veges and I had golden pancakes with bean sprouts. We sampled each other’s fare and commented on how similar or different each was to other asian food that we enjoy, such as Thai, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian. Our food was a little more greasy and slightly more bland than those cuisines. We asked for a side of peanut sauce–something we enjoy at Thai restaurants–and that was a nice addition.

For fun, I ordered a bubble tea. If you’ve never had one, they are a real treat. They come in a variety of flavors, like many cold, sweet teas available in any supermarket, but with an added bonus. At the bottom of the tea are small, round “bubbles” made from a tapioca like substance. You drink the tea through a wide straw which allows the bubbles to be sucked into your mouth along with the tea. It tastes great and is fun to drink (and chew!)

Inexpensive, Unique and Delicious

Number One Son and Number One Daughter enjoyed a coconut juice which was an actual chilled coconut with the top sliced off and a straw inserted for sipping. The novelty was more impressive than the flavor of the juice.

Appetizers range from $2.50 to $12.00, sandwiches are between $3 and $8 and full entrees go from $6.50 to $13. Desserts are only $2 to $4 and beverages are $1.50 to $4. The portions will fill you up, the prices won’t drain your wallet, but, most of all, the experience of a cuisine that is not readily available in most parts of the country make this a trip worth taking.

Open 7 days a week from 9am to 9:30pm.

Anh Hong Restaurant
1124 E Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803
407.999.2656

This entry was posted on March 11, 2011 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.