Golden House Restaurant

Quoting Macauley Culkin in Home Alone, «AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.» When I was assigned to jury duty I totally fantasized about how I would have the beef lunch special every day beforehand. I went today and it was like a bad dream. It’s gone. Never again. So sad. That sweet, charred beef, that tangy fish sauce — it made an indelible impression in my soul. Not to be forgotten.

FYI, they’re probably closed already — walked by yesterday and all the windows are plastered with old newspapers.

Been coming here since I was a kid. Good hearty authentic Vietnamese food. The Fan Favorite IMPERIAL ROLLS! they come out so crisp and crunchy, fried to perfection. The appetizer plate comes with two rolls but don’t be fooled by the small number. The rolls are big and come out chopped into a few bite size pieces. Many dishes also come with the imperial roll on the side.
I’ve had the opportunity to taste just about the entire menu as I have been coming to this small mom pop shop since I was in diapers. The Bo 7 Mon is also tasty. When I was a kid I thought gross raw meat but the ceviche is really good now that my tastes have grown.
I was also surprised to see a «people love us on Unilocal» sticker in their window when I dropped by one day. You can’t help but love the small owned shops, sometimes they are more personable than the franchise restaurants. The owners are always so happy and more than willing to cater to your needs.
I came last night 11÷30÷11 and was sad to find out that after 26 years this small restaurant was closing as the owners are retiring. Sad to see such a great place go. The prices were cheap and the food was good and filling. The only downside was the restaurant smell that lingered on your clothes. but dare I say it. it’s been many years at this restaurant and I may even miss the lingering smell of deep fried imperial rolls on my clothes.
As I was having my final meal other regulars also came in to eat and you know the place is good when costumers shed a few tears when they hear such an establishment is closing. Golden House Restaurant will be missed.
I hope the owners enjoy their life in retirement =)

BBQ pork vermicelli noodles with imperial rolls. Minus the mint and bean sprouts!
I work across the street, and this place is always crowded at lunch with all the employees around the area. So I like to order take out here, and I think the old man recognizes my voice already cause I always order the same thing lol. The imperial rolls here are very good, not measly like some other places (Turtle Tower). Plus it comes with the soup of the day. My FAV place for bun.

the owner is an old family friend of our family. That must be why my dad likes to come here. AND the fact that the 7 course beef is cheaper than the one at Anh Hong.
The place is almost always empty for dinner, lunch is when they’re busy b/​c of people working nearby.
We found parking easily and inside was empty, got seated quickly and ordered. Place is moderately clean… the few occasional flies bothering you.
the 7 course beef is similar to anh hong’s, but they give u the carpaccio as one of them, which is nice. portions are kind of small, but two orders can fll up 3 people well.
service is a tiny bit slow, b/​c there’s only one lady working in the back.
im indecisive if i’d come again. maybe not a first choice for 7 course beef.

This is where I go to be alone with my phở. Old janky tables arranged in a matrix only decipherable by Lawrence Fisherburne’s stunt double.
Soup is always hot, (Phở Ga is my fave), condiments are righteous, and the servers leave you alone.
Now if only they had a curtain and a booth it would be on!

I’ve eaten 2 dishes at Golden House: Imperial Rolls on Vermicelli Noodles (cold dish) and the #2 Soup (combo rice noodle soup). In the Tenderloin, there is a serious shortage of decent places to have lunch. This is one of the better ones. Their Imperial Rolls are not at all greasy. No matter where I go, I always seem to want more of the sweet/​salty/​hot stuff that goes over the noodles, but I’m always embarassed to ask for more. The portions are generous, prices very reasonable. Service is fast and friendly. I thought that th broth with the soup had plenty of taste, but adding some hot sauce really cleared up my congested sinuses.
Highly recommend if you are in the neighborhood or if you work around here.

When I am towards the end of my student loans for the semester and only have an hour between class, I go to Golden House.
The lunch deal is a surprising amount of food, although only the entrée itself has any flavour. The soup is some sort of vegetable broth, the tea is generic, and the salad uninspired. But the sheer volume of rice and whatever protein you order (I’m fairly certain you get a full third of a chicken) make it worthwhile. It’s to the point for eight dollars I don’t have space in my stomach to eat again for nearly another day.
Nothing flashy or to write home about, but still a good, quick way to fill your belly.

I came here with Irene C. earlier this week for lunch. Standard Vietnamese food. Very attentive service. Most orders comes with the house soup (if you don’t order a soup based dish) which happened to be a Hot & Sour Soup that day.
–BBQ Pork & Imperial Roll over Vermicelli.

I have to come here at least once a week! This restaurant has been on my work-​lunch rotation for at least a year now. It’s about a 10 – 15 minute walk from work, which is great because I get to eat away from the office and walking back to the office I can shake off that food-​baby feeling.
The people here are friendly and know who their regulars are. I always order the vermicelli with beef and egg roll (#14) and/​or the bbq and rice dish. I did the math on their lunch combo and, personally, it’s not that great of a deal for me because I don’t drink soda and the salad isn’t really that inspiring. I use to get their soup, but realized I don’t get their soup de jour also — soup and soup… I guess that’s just too redundant! Their soup de jour is what I’m really interested in having (is that sad? :(). I think it’s random, but they have a sweet and sour soup (tofu, bamboo shoots, fungus); a bamboo, carrot, tofu soup; cabbage, carrot, and potato soup… they’re all delicious.
Don’t be afraid to trek through the «Ten» (as the new banners are calling it) to get to this place!

I hate moving. It’s no longer fun and exciting. I’ve been moving once every year since 2003. All novelty has been lost. Moving makes me cry, binge eat (okay, I do that anyway), dump couches into fields behind Safeways, borrow sledge hammers from the cute guys who live next door to pulverize entertainment systems and other wooden furniture that won’t fit into our curbside garbage or my Civic. It just brings something out of me. This time was no different.
Me and the boy spent the morning moving from the city to Oakland in record time – 4 hours from pick-​up/​drop-​off of Uhaul. F-​in’ amazing, right?!? We were starving and tired and walking back to the TL to finish up some business (not scoring some rock) before heading back to Oakland. I wanted to go to Brenda’s or Dottie’s for our farewell to the city, but our physical and emotional exhaustion was not about to have any of that waiting-​in-​line bull. The bf wanted phở, and I wanted instant gratification, so we walked into Golden House.
Since I was all kinds of sweaty and musty, I was not about to order steaming bowl of phở. I got the lunch special: Asparagus + shrimp w/​rice ($ 6). I really liked the simple cabbage and carrot soup and the entrée was just okay. It tasted like something I could make (yikes?), but for the price I was happy… UNTIL I found a little black hair in the forkful I was about to shovel into my mouth. Gross. Did I say anything? No. Why? I was THAT tired. I just picked it out, flung it on the floor, and dumped that tainted forkful to the side of my plate. Done. Thank you, moving, for making me lower my standards, once again. I can still picture that thin, wavy, black hair. Yack!
I must say that the service was definitely on spot – fast and friendly, BUT you can definitely find better a few blocks up.
Sidenote: They only have one size of phở – SMALL!

I simply adore Golden House. I’m a hungry law student and these folks deliver tasty food fast and steaming hot. Sometimes the service is iffy — I took some of my friends here and one had to wait like 10 mins to get her food while the rest of us were already rudely eating. Hmm. Our server claimed her food was on the way, but it was pretty clear that she had just forgotten to put the order in.
I’ve forgiven Golden House for this small sin because everything I’ve ever had there has been delicious and filling. The #14 (BBQ pork over vermicelli w/​imperial rolls and that delish sauce) always hits the spot, and I’ve had similarly happy experiences with simple dishes like chicken with mushrooms and the lunch special with bbq chicken over rice. It’s close to my school, quick, and makes me happy. :)

$ 7.50 lunch combo?! Where have I been?
The combo includes:
–soup and salad
–choice of charbroiled chicken, pork or beef with rice and egg roll
–choice of sprite, coke or tea
I had the charbroiled chicken and it was delicious! Tasty tender meat!
Simple soup. Simple salad. Delicious and satisfying meal! No complaints!

Four stars b/​c it’s easy to remember where this place is b/​c Golden House is on Golden Gate Street. Duh!
However (and this is a big HOWEVER), I never actually head straight here for dinner. This is strictly a «Just In Case» place. Just in case Tu Lan or Cordon Bleu are closed, head right over. Just in case you realize you only have $ 7, run on over. Just in case you are too scared to walk through the Tenderloin in the other direction, jump over here.
The owners are super cute and extremely friendly. The 3 times I’ve eaten dinner here we were waited on hand and foot and have weirdly been the only people in the place (although other Unilocalers say this place is crowded everyday at lunch). They have Tiger beer (I luv Tiger beer) and very decent Imperial rolls and delicious noodle salad. Also, I always make sure to go to the bathroom b/​c you have to walk through the kitchen next to a giant scalding hot wok that i find very interesting. I always joke that I’m going to cook my own meal in there one day on my way back from the bathroom.

I should really stop reviewing the Vietnamese restaurants that I visit.
I order the same exact dish every time. Every time. Since my first introduction to Vietnamese food in 1994 (here, incidentally:
).
Bowl of bun vermicelli with pork and imperial rolls. Every. Single. Time.
No phở, no lemongrass, no whatever other delicacies that they might happen to serve. Wouldn’t know anything about all that.
I need my bowl of bun.
I top it with a healthy dose of Sriracha and hoisin. Stir. Gouge. Spatter on my shirt. Every time.
It’s to the point where I judge my bowl of bun solely by the quality of the pork. Fatty nasty pork? Lose a star or two. Lean succulent pork? Win some stars.
That said, I can report that the pork in the bun with pork and imperial rolls at Golden House is more to the lean, succulent end of the spectrum. Not perfect, but pretty close.
They have some very affordable lunch specials, but I wouldn’t know about them because they are not bun with pork and imperial rolls.
Bowl of bun and a diet Coke will run you about $ 11 with tip, if you’re a good tipper.
The service rocks and the place is packed by 12:05, so sneak out a little early if you don’t want to wait around.
And enjoy your bowl of bun. You know I will.
Yours truly,
Lame Ass

Although Little Saigon is filled with these restaurants with $ 6 lunch specials, this is no exception. Same deal. Come in before 12pm and get your lunch and bounce.
I came here and had their phở. Nothing special, nothing bad. It’s alright and does the job somewhat. I thought the noodles were a little too soft though, but that’s just me. Might come back to just to get quick lunches, but won’t use this for any special reason.

I love this place. The people here are so friendly. I always get:
— Vegetarian salad with fried tofu (comes with peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, lime, carrots, a soy sauce dressing, bean sprouts):
It is always slightly different, but nonetheless delicious. Why do you think I ALWAYS get the same thing, and I like change?
— pork or veggie fried imperial rolls /​vitamin rolls
— Vietnamese Iced Coffee (espresso + sweet and condensed milk = heaven)
You never have to wait here.
You always get a soup with your meal. Sometimes Hot n’ Sour, Vegetable, Egg Drop. Always Delicious and affordable. I LOVE GOLDEN HOUSE!

For many years this has been one of my favorite spots for a super QUICK and CHEAP lunch (never tried dinner), when I get called for jury duty in SF. It’s located 2 blocks away from the civil jury courthouse. My rating is 3.5 stars.
I usually just order the $ 5.95 lunch special — asparagus with chicken (choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp). Good enough to fill your tummy. Most other menu items are around $ 7. They get extra points because you get complimentary soup and tea, during lunch. I love that service is so fast, because then I can have time to do something else (check my email or voicemail, etc.) during the jury duty lunch break. Yay!
Hours: Mon-​Thu 10:30am-9pm, Fri-​Sat 10:30am-9:30pm
CASH only.

Fast. Cheap. Flavor is mediocre.
Service is a hit or miss. Sometimes the waitresses get confused or mix up orders. I know it happens every now and then to all of us, but one trainwreck after trainwreck after trainwreck is too much for me to bear during ONE meal. It’s safer to just order takeout and eat it sitting by City Hall.

Initially, I had wanted to try this pre-​Yelp scavenger hunt over the weekend, but they are closed on Sundays. Of course, a week later, I’m serving jury duty in the area, and since the restaurant is located on one edge of Little Saigon, I’ve been here pretty much every day of my service so far.
There is a pretty constant flow of patrons. You get in, sit down, order, eat, and go. It’s fast. If you have to wait, it’s not for long. It fits that whole lunchtime attitude. We just want to get in and out of there.
The food I’ve had has been okay to good. And the food around me looks good too, so I will probably be back again to try everything else. I’ve had the phở, some rice dish, and then a bun dish. They don’t skimp on the beef balls in the phở! Three days in a row HAS to say SOMETHING about the place, right? Or perhaps I was just too lazy to wander further! ;)
Reasonably priced. And one more thing — they only take cash, so be sure to stop at the ATM beforehand! There’s a Wells Fargo ATM a few storefronts away.