Hai Duong Vietnamese Restaurant in Brookfield Plaza, Springfield

[Kibbee Nayee]

I am aware of the thread for Hai Duong in Eden Center and Loehman's Plaza.

The Hai Duong in Springfield's Brookfield Plaza appears not to be affiliated with the others.

Lady KN and I had a very nice lunch at the Springfield Hai Duong today. They have been open for about two years, and the place always caught my eye as I drove through Brookfield Plaza in the past. Quite a lovely and clean place with an expansive Vietnamese menu that claims authenticity. It's certainly now in my Springfield Vietnamese rotation -- Springfield is not Falls Church, but it's certainly the high minor leagues to Falls Church's major league of Vietnamese cuisine.

I had the crispy spring rolls (cha gio) - plenty of flavor and texture, if a bit greasy - and the pho house special combination - beefy broth in the middle of the scale of richness. I really don't like the noodles, but I worked around them. The bits of beef cuts were pleasant enough to make me come back in cooler weather for sure.

Lady KN enjoyed the lotus roots salad with shrimp and pork, plus the baby clams with pork over rice in a clay pot. She raved about how refreshing the salad was, and we had to bring home the clay pot dish because we were stuffed. A few tastes of it confirmed it was good.

The downside is that they have no liquor license. That seems to be the case with many of the Vietnamese restaurants in Springfield -- Saigon City has wine and beer, but Le Bledo, Pho 495, and Pho Hong Anh are dry.

Again, the menu is expansive -- one table's bird's nest seafood combination looked delicious -- and the claim of authenticity will be explored at length over time.

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

I am aware of the thread for Hai Duong in Eden Center and Loehman's Plaza.

The Hai Duong in Springfield's Brookfield Plaza appears not to be affiliated with the others.

Hai Duong is a province in Vietnam, so that would make sense.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Hai Duong still does not appear in the Springfield Dining Guide, and it is notable by its absence.

This is pretty good Vietnamese food, probably middlin' by our high standards in northern Virginia, but definitely holding its own among the Springfield outposts of Vietnamese food. The phở is the draw, and of the 15-20 people here for lunch today, almost all were having some version of phở . I opted for the vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and chả giò , and it was good.

This place is not fancy, and does a spirited carry-out business. I would give it a solid B- on a scale of 10.

[Pat]

1 hour ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

This place is not fancy, and does a spirited carry-out business. I would give it a solid B- on a scale of 10.

So, an 8? 😉

[Kibbee Nayee]

5 minutes ago, Pat said:

So, an 8? 😉

More like 6.5....