Bo De - Garden Grove

I visited the restaurant at its old location and in the same building. The phone number remains the same and the new address is McFadden Gartenhain.

Tucked away between two shopping areas, this small hidden gem is easily overlooked. Despite its size, it attracts a lot of customers, especially during lunch hours. The front counter offers combo specials to go, featuring a variety of veggies and mock meat options. Guests can also sit down, where the owner David is likely to greet them personally and ensure their experience is top-notch. We had the pleasure of chatting with him as we enjoyed our meal, and he shared the story of how he came to own the restaurant. As a vegetarian, I always seek out a good veggie soup, and I was delighted with my order. My meat-eating companion also thoroughly enjoyed their meal. We savored every bite, including a delicious appetizer David insisted we try. While the food was exceptional, the real standout is the effort they put into providing excellent service and treating their employees well. It's common for Asian restaurants to have delicious food but poor service and unhappy staff, but David is working to change that, and it truly enhances the dining experience.

While we enthusiastically try new vegetarian/vegan Asian restuaurants, by far this is our favorite Vietnamese/Southeast Asian vegetarian/vegan restaurant. We always come back to Bo De. Even though I am an anesthesiologist, nutrition is my passion these days. One of the big plusses to this place is that since under new ownership, they are very open to working with our requests of less salt, oils and no fake meats. Isolated plant protein are not healthy, i.e. soy chicken, ham, beef, etc... Bo De is more than happy to substitute more vegetables for the fake meats This is a win win situation because it is healthier for us and less expensive for them. The fake meats come all the way from Taiwan and are quite expensive. The new (part) owner David, caucasian Catholic guy with the shaved head, is very friendly and has done a few minor changes to make this place more presentable. They are trying to attract the dinner crowd. Students from kindergarden to college can get a free meal if they bring in a perfect report card. David has asked my kids if their report cards are perfect. I appreciate the fact that he has gone out of his way to reenforce the importance of education to my young children. We ALWAYS eat here and always order the Bo Bia or Jicama rolls. They are even tastier than their meat containing counterparts. We also get requests to bring these rolls to parties and potlucks. They are even a big hit with my carnivorous friends. Because we eat so much of these rolls other family members now order the Bi Cuon or Imitation pork skin spring rolls for a change of taste.. The toasted rice has a wonderful flavor. We also like their hot pots, especially with more veggies and no fake meats. One can even ask for the different broths with different vegetable platter combo. I like the thai broth with the combo veggy platter. The broth is a bit too spicy for the kids. Their egg or yellow noodle soup dishes (with more veggies and no fake meats)are also very good. Bottom line, this was once a little hole in the wall that serves the best vegan Bo Bia and Bi Cuong rolls around. Both rolls are better than their meat containing counterparts. We also like their hot pots. They are more than happy to substitute the fake meats for more vegetables. Lastly, they no longer charge for ice water.

The restaurant is decent. The portion sizes are good for the price, but they charge for water. The atmosphere is nice and it is clean. However, the food is not impressive. I dined with a group of people and none of us were impressed by the flavors. It's not terrible, but there are many other excellent vegan Asian restaurants nearby that make me not want to go back.

I had a bit of trouble finding this place at first, but I'm glad I did. It's joined together with a few other places, right by the mall, and is tucked away inside a large cafeteria-style room. I usually can't place an order there without getting the dumplings, which are always cooked just right and have massive amounts of flavor. The ginger chicken comes in a soupy-type style that has a lot of kick to it. But my favorite dish is the bamboo with chili and little slices of fake meat I wish I could remember the name of it from the menu. All the food is good but that gets me every time. I highly recommend this place, especially if you are looking for a wide variety of flavors for decent prices.