Visit La V Vietnamese Fusion: Boba Teas, Pho, and More! Most folks who eat out regularly end up with one or two favorite restaurants. If you are too tired, rushed, or simply out of new ideas, you just go to what you know, like, and where you feel comfortable. For us, La V Vietnamese Fusion is that place. Since Vietnam was inhabited by multiple foreign nation at some time in its history, the indigenous cuisine evolved many influences. You can experience at lot of them here.
La V Vietnamese Fusion consistently wins awards and places in the top tier of best restaurants in St. Pete by customers. I have to agree. Their mission statement claims “…the promise of our fresh ingredients, minimal use of grease, resting on herbs and vegetables to enhance your quality of life… We prepare your meal as we would for our family.” And indeed this is very much a family operation.
The owner of La V Vietnamese Fusion, Thuy Le, and her family run the restaurant and are the cooks. She immigrated here when young. She and her mother have created all of the recipes served. Over the course of its eight years, we have tried almost everything on the menu. With few exceptions, as billed, minimal oil is used in the cooking, and salads and veggies are super fresh, and cooked perfectly.
If I had to pick a few, the LaV rolls are a divine tube of fresh spring roll rice wrapper, stuffed with vermicelli noodles, perfectly grilled pork, mint leaves, lettuce and bean sprouts. The peanut dipping sauce is made in house of course and pairs well. Then there are the Sesame Chicken Pot Stickers, lightly fried half-moon dumplings of ground chicken, mixed vegetables, and sesame seeds and soy sauce.
The main attraction at La V Vietnamese Fusion is the Pho, pronounced Fa, a Vietnamese traditional soup consisting of broth, meat, herbs and rice noodles. Thuy says their Pho is cooked over ten hours from beef bones and beef flank steaks, then strained well for an intense, rich but clear broth. The same broth is used for their outstanding Wonton soup.
Their ginger dishes are fantastic with generous portions of chicken, beef, or pork. The LaV bowl is fantastic, consisting of vermicelli noodles topped with grilled pork, shrimp, egg rolls and then topped with spring lettuce mix, bean sprouts, mint leaves, pickled carrots, daikon radishes, cucumber sticks and then topped with a wonderful sweet mild fish sauce. If you are going low carb, they can delete the noodles and double the veggies. My indulgent favor however is the “Sizzling Affair” that comes right from the kitchen on a cast iron plate. It is steaming with veggies salmon and pieces of Vietnamese sausage. Their homemade Kimchi, or fermented cabbage, is seasoned with lots of ginger and red pepper flakes that renders a sweet but also spicy side dish.
Boba or bubble teas are fruit smoothies popular in Southeast Asia and often served over tapioca or cassava plant pearls. La V Vietnamese Fusion has about three dozen to choose from and my favorites are green chai tea, lychee, and Thai milk tea. During our sweltering summer months, they are bursting with flavor and a nice change form an alcoholic drink. The latter however is readily available with full liquor bar as well as beer and wine.
So if you want a break from fried, fatty, and or calorie-laden fare, you should stop by LaV, open for lunch and dinner, and try their fantastic and healthy fusion cuisine.
LaV Vietnamese Fusion located at 441 Central Avenue, St. Pete, Florida
727-820-3500 For menu and more check out their website here
Content provided by David Mokotoff, photos courtesy of LaV Vietamese Fusion.
The post La V Vietnamese Fusion: Boba Teas, Pho, and More appeared first on Destination Tampa Bay™.
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