There was a period recently when I was going to a particular Vietnamese restaurant (Le Saigon) at least once a week. I rarely venture out to new Vietnamese places partly because this joint is so good! I’m usually disappointed in the newbies.

Blossom is located downtown on a nice strip of Main street. Now, the funny thing about downtown is that one block can be filled with cool restaurants, fun bars and people not clearly out of their gourd on drugs. Then, you turn a corner and it’s Shanty Town Avenue.

This is unfortunate because downtown Los Angeles has so much potential and contains some of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to. If you ever have a chance to visit the Golden Gopher, please do so.

Anyhow, I ordered the Pho (beef noodle soup). I always have to get this at new Vietnamese places, as this is their signature dish. If they screw it up, it does not bode well for their other menu items. Well, this was a good soup. It was not as good as Le Saigon in West LA, which is my go to place. The broth was a bit blander. With Pho, the broth is almost everything.

Two of the peeps I was with (coming directly from the Lakers playoff game) ordered a Bun dish, a dry rice noodle entree with meat and veggies which you pour a sweet fish sauce over. This was very good (but not as good as..you guessed it, Le Saigon).

The Asian beer selection was fantastic and most of them were only $4 a piece.

I love Asian beers. They remind me of my first night in Bangkok, the day after the 2004 Tsunami struck. I drank about 5 Singha’s, chatting everyone up at the rooftop pool, passed out, then woke up in a chair; the pool deserted.

While we were waiting for our delayed friends, my friend I.H. and I ordered the beef spring rolls. These, however, were excellent. Lettuce, cucumbers, herbs and lean lemongrass beef wrapped in rice paper and a terrific spicy peanut sauce to dip it in. I.H. found it, perhaps, too spicy. So I tossed it directly into her eye. That shut her up. I’m kidding. I would not want to waste such a delicious sauce.

426 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 623-1973
www.blossomrestaurant.com