Los Angeles - July 08, 2004

Friend or Pho?

Gingergrass Restaurant Opens

Remember the old days — when you could throw a rock without hitting a trendy Vietnamese restaurant?

No longer.

Still, the newly opened Gingergrass restaurant is a beautiful little addition to Silver Lake — perfect for a quick lunch or casual dinner. The menu offers straightforward Vietnamese fare, like banana-leaf-wrapped fish with lemongrass, ginger, scallions, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms; caramelized shrimp with baby bok choy; traditional salads and appetizers, like summer rolls, sugarcane shrimp, and grilled flank steak with nuoc cham; and of course, pho. The interior, a clean, unfussy space, featuring elegant sorghum-top tables and cork-covered walls, provides the ideal backdrop. Which is to say: Vietnamese cuisine is here to stay.

And to hell with the old days.

Gingergrass, 2396 Glendale Boulevard, at Silver Lake Boulevard (323-644-1600).

  Lunch Spot