Thanh Tinh Chay Reviews

I am not a vegan. However, my friends and I decided to give it a shot, and we loved it! The owner happened to be there and explained that everything was done from scratch. We tried different soups and dishes and were more than satisfied. Try the buns!!

This vegan restaurant, in the City Heights area, is truly a hidden gem and a diamond in the rough! While on a vegetarian challenge, my partner discovered this Vietnamese restaurant serving all vegan food, which was also highly rated by other vegans. I have to admit that i was highly skeptical to how great it could be, because Vietnamese cuisine has a lot of umami from fish sauce and many other non-vegan ingredients. Of course I was also excited to try this place, because anything other than the run of the mill boring raw vegan food offered at many restaurants, was exciting. The service our server provided was stellar. Upon learning that it was our first time there, she explained to us that the owner is also a nurse and dietician who wanted to share great food that is made fresh using quality ingredients, of which most are made in-house to control the quality. The restaurant boasts over 100 dishes on the menu and the selections were surprising to me as they included traditional dishes that many regular Vietnamese restaurants don’t even serve. Seeing so many things that I grew up eating made me giddy. Even the most basic of things offered - water - was anything but a basic. It included apples for sweetener in place of sugar, boiled with other fresh ingredients, then chilled and served to all patrons. The water was freshening and only had a light hint of any flavors. It also was a very good palate cleanser during the meal. Even more impressive is that they make all of their own mock meats, noddles, and even tofu! We ordered Banh Beo for the appetizer. It’s one of my favorites and I wanted to see how a vegan version would be like. It was pretty spot on and delicious. For my main, I ordered Bun Hue, my all time favorite Vietnamese noodle soup - minus the Bo (meat). Although this did not taste like the original, it did have familiar flavor profiles of the original dish. I do have to give credit for all the mock meat toppings with this noodle soup, all were delicious and provided nice textural contrasts like the original version. It was a tasty dish, just wouldn’t hit the spot if you were craving a bowl of Bun Bo Hue. I know it can’t taste the same without meat, but I’ve had a closer tasting vegan Bun Hue soup at Loving Hut, however the toppings here are much better than at Loving Hut. My partner got the Hu Tieu Bo Kho (“Beef” Stew Noodle Soup and really enjoyed it. That dish was surprising more similar in taste with the original. The mock beef with this dish was also very good. We were quit full, but we’re surprised with two desserts. One was a bean dessert and the other a flan. Both were perfect sizes to have a few bites when you’re already full. Overall, I’d have to hand it to the owner for providing such good quality, good tasting, and great variety of dishes. This place is a perfect example of being able to eat healthy without compromising on taste or substance. Although I’m done with my vegetarian challenge, I’d definitely go back to Thanh Tinh Chay any day!

Came here with my family for dinner. Greeted by friendly welcoming waitress who showed us to our seats. We were given the large menues followed by delicious homemade spa water. So sweet and tasty. We shared the pancake appetizer and Helen’s rice balls with pork. Both excellent. For dinner I had the crispy chicken buns. Very fresh and full of flavor. My family had soups and rice dishes. All excellent. We were given five free pudding desserts all delicious and a nice touch. We really loved the food here and will definitely return soon.

We started with spring rolls, then had banh mi, lemongrass “chicken “, and crepe. Added an iced coffee. All were delicious. Our server offered us free samples of dessert: a caramel, chocolate pecan tart, and flan. So good. My highest praise is that I would bring non-vegan folks here to taste how delicious well-prepared vegan food can be!

This is a unique vegan Vietnamese restaurant! Unique in that there are more than 200 menu items, and that all of the vegan “meats” are made in house with tofu. I had a “steak” banh mi sandwich (on home baked gluten free bread that was delicious). Companions had a “pork” sandwich, Vietnamese crepes, and a stir fried “chicken” dish. All were delicious. The staff obviously takes great pride in the food, describing it in detail. They are happy to advise and recommend. A surprise was an offer of complimentary dessert! Again vegan, cheesecake, flan, chocolate pudding, all of which were delicious and just the right size (small). It’s not cheap, lunch for four was $100, but the obvious labor intensity of the preparation is responsible. Probably not the best choice if not vegan as you can get less expensive Vietnamese food, but the ability to “safely” choose anything on the menu is a treat.

We had a beautiful lunch at this restaurant, which opened 8 month ago. The food and service was outstanding. We wished we could try all items on the menu! The "egg" noodles are made in house. There's a fridge with take out items. For once you can go in a vegan restaurant and don't have to worry to find hidden animal byproducts in the sauce. Highly recommended for vegan and not.

This restaurant makes me wish that it was possible to designate some way of giving a 5+ rating! The food was just sumptuous, and the service was well above and beyond what one receives at the best restaurants. Special shoutout to the hostess, Theng, who was so good at describing the ingredients as well as the process used to achieve the perfect blend of taste and texture for each of the dishes. Since I was a vegetarian for a long, long time before turning vegan, I do not particularly care for the texture to approximate beef, pork, and chicken, but the way that the tofu was cooked did justice to each of those three meats respectively in the 3 different dishes we tried. And the Crème Brûlée was just out of this world! The cookies were great too! We were visiting our daughter for her birthday, and are so grateful that she chose Thanh Tinh Chay for us to have a late lunch on a Tuesday. Revisiting this place will be a priority when revisiting San Diego!

This place is my favorite vegan restaurant in San Diego. It is located in Little Saigon, the area on El Cajon Blvd where many Vietnamese immigrants have settled. The nondescript restaurant exterior belies the amazing food that they offer. The menu is crazy extensive, and it is probably easier to ask the wait staff to tell you what to order if you are confused. It is small with perhaps 7-8 tables, and it can get busy at times, so a reservation is probably good. It's a good sign when you see Vietnamese families eating there as the dishes are very authentic. There are a couple of parking spots in the back of the place. My go-to dish is Lemongrass Tofu, but there are so many other delicious and authentic Vietnamese dishes to try. Others in my party had Banh Mi with crispy "chicken" or "pork," steam rice cake, Lotus salad, all sorts of fresh and fried rolls. They serve complimentary water infused with fruit, but also offer other beverages. The owner is a nurse who also has a restaurant in Orange County and decided to offer more nutritious Vietnamese food as she saw too many patients with health problems related to a poor diet. Because the ingredients in the foods are fresh and organic without any preservatives or MSG and are non-GMO, the prices reflect it, so they are a bit more expensive than other Vietnamese restaurants.

I love their food. what we eat is not simply food but happiness. food are homemade including their sauces; healthy and yummy. Highly recommended.

Delicious superbly crafted meals with enormously subtle taste combinations It is craft food for sure Small restaurant with very accommodating staff- The interior has (in my opinion)-an awful lime green color theme but it’s all about the food Which is AAA🤩 All appetizers main courses are 18-24 $ I would kindly suggest it’s somewhat over priced but then again the food is superb.

My friend and I arrived on a Thursday night at about six, and the place was already packed - for good reason! I am not a vegan, but I loved (!!) this place. The first treat was some ice cold water flavored with apple. We got eggplant slice appetizer - crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside, with a lovely dipping sauce, and another appetizer Bánh Bèo, little circles of rice flour and tapioca, covered with carrot, pumpkin, green onions and some crunchy bits of peanuts - so light they were floating - and then the ma po tofu with "beef". The tofu (homemade, was excellently prepared, great texture, in a fantastic spicy sauce that had great mouth feel. The "beef" was a lovely textural element as well. There was some perfectly steamed green (bok choy, I think) on the side, and rice. For dessert, we were treated to vegan flan, on the house - and that was just perfect. There were so many things on the menu that I want to try. I was completely satisfied and just wowed by the artistry of the food these folks are creating. The portions are not huge, but the taste is so good, that we did not care - well worth it. We found parking nearby. The owner is very kind and the service was great. A real find in City Heights!