Di An Di

Di An Di is a Vietnamese pho-restaurant-bar that opened this past summer in the ever-changing food landscape of Greenpoint.  I couldn’t help but think of Los Angeles when driving over there for dinner this past week.  It took me about 30 minutes from my place which is about what it takes to get to somewhere good in LA.  It is all about the car vs the walk and I much prefer the walk.  Need to work on how I make that work.

The restaurant is their take of Vietnamese street food and the decor plays right into it.  Green plants, plastic chairs outside, lots of loud bustling noise in a good way and plenty of light.  They are extremely enthusiastic about the food they are serving too….and they should be, it is delicious.  There are shared plates, entrees, pho and noodle soups and of course, everything is given a number just like Vietnam.  We began with the Cha Gio Chay, crispy vegan spring rolls.  Taro root, carrots and shitake mushrooms wrapped in rice paper served with a vegan nuoc cham fish sauce with herbs.  The nice touch is the scissors to cut up the roll and share.

Another salad roll with a turmeric rice crepe stuffed with grilled pork sausage, cucumber, and a fresh herb salad.  Dipping here is a savory pork and sweet rice sauce.

Vietnamese pizza is a must.  There are two we went with the grilled crispy rice paper layered with egg, ground pork, shrimp, pickled chilis and a housemade hot sauce.  There is the perfect texture of soft and crisp with a shot of heat.

Bo Bo Chicken Salad keeps the heat down with shredded chicken, cabbage, coriander, peanuts, shallot mixed with a ginger nuoc mam dressing.  I also love a shrimp toast on the side.

We also had the Bun Cha that is absolutely delicious.  Grilled betel leaf pork patties and pork belly in a light fish sauce with herbs and rice noodles on the side for dipping.  The pork is so good.  The Dry Bo Bo Chicken Noodles is also good, essentially a deconstructed soup.

We had a few other things but the pics weren’t so great.  Really loved this place.  The flavors are so good.  Even though we are 30 minutes apart by car, the reality is I am finding the most innovative places these days are in Brooklyn.  Good thing is my kids live there, I know all the neighborhoods, and I don’t mind the trip….just wish I could walk there.

Comments (Archived):

  1. jason wright

    Peter Thiel’s Zero to One emphasises that the restaurant market is one of near perfect competition, and that success is hard to achieve.From your experience of regularly dining out what conclusions might you have come to about what leads to success.

    1. Gotham Gal

      there are so many factors. To stay alive from a financial perspective it is the right combo of seats, amount raised, and rent. Good food that people will come back to again and again, great vibe, smart location, price that equals the experience, and changing it up once in awhile including major custom service are a few thoughts on that

      1. hyjuma

        The space went through so many different concepts in the past few years and I am not sure why. Once a friend sent me to check it out because there was an ad on craigslist saying the space was up for lease. From what I saw they had major problems with ventilation and air conditioning… is it better now? I absolutely love Vietnamese food and Greenpoint is my homehood, so I just really hope the restaurant will stay…

        1. Gotham Gal

          The ac isn’t great.

  2. awaldstein

    We are so in a food sync this week.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Yes we are.