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19 Market (Vietnamese cuisine)  $$

 8.5
JaT Rating

19 North Market, San Jose, 95113  (Directions)


408-280-6111


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Trendy restaurant with a subdued atmosphere and appetizing menu.


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 3/3/2006
Rating: 8
My photo gallery 		It was one of those days of aimlessly driving around San Jose trying to find a place to eat. Call it fate, call it an open parking spot across the street from 19 Market. Snuggled between a chinese and thai restaurant, we picked 19 Market since its not often we get vietnamese cuisine that isnt pho. Upon walking in, I noticed they have happy hour 5-7 so I guess this place doubles as a hipster lounger after work with decent food.

The restaurant is done up very nicely with all the modern decor matching to just about everything. Just looking at my pictures, the restaurant looks empty, but it was completely packed about 20 minutes before I took the shot (picture #3). Service was fast, our waiter was attentive, but the menu prices seemed a bit high for lunch.

I convinced terry to share a crab cream puff appetizer while I ordered the Tamarind Shrimp for lunch. The appetizer was $9 and my meal was $14. Pretty steep? huh? better be damm good.

Within 10 minutes, the appetizers were brought out. They looked like dim dum items but about half the size. Deep fried pot sticker looking things with a small dipping sauce of mustard and ketchup. Freshly fried and glistening with happiness, I took my 1st bite and was extremely satisfied. These crab cream puffs are soooooo tasty. Crunchy outer shell, real crab meat mixed with cream cheese, and shrimp (pictures #3-6). If I priced them out, it comes out to $1.13 each. Expensive but very good. I could have eaten 25 of these with steamed rice and could have gone home a happy man.

Tamarind Shrimp - $14, bento box looking thing. Spring roll was fresh with a wrap of basil and rice noodles in the center. Use the peanut dipping sauce and everything comes together. I didnt eat too much of the salad. The white pudding looking thing with the tiny ass spoon (picture #9), I think its some kind of rice dessert but it was hecka good. I wonder why they serve small servings of it, probably bad for your health? The tamarind shrimp tasted like sweet and sour shrimp. About 4 grilled shrimps mixed in bell peppers, onions, pineapple, and carefully hidden hot peppers (jalepenos..i think). This dish was full of flavors that reminded me of thai cooking. Wow...I gotta give props to the cook on this one. Its the tastiest dish of this week.

The whole vietnamese cuisine threw me off. Im not sure what was vietnamese about the meal, the spring rolls? The tamarind shrimp tasted thai, the crab cream puffs tasted chinese, and presentation looked japaenese. Im not complaining, Im just confused. Overall, the food is great. All the foods had interesting flavors, presentations were equally as appealing, and service was quick on the waters. My only complaint is the bill. I spent over almost $25 for a lunch! That sounds very high for a asian lunch special? I shared 1 appetizer and didnt order any drinks. I love the food here but not at $25. I think $10 for the tamarind shrimp plate and $6 for the appetizer would have been fair market value. 19 Market rates in with a strong 8.
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 3/3/2006
Rating: 9
My photo gallery 		We wanted to finish off the week strong, so scoured downtown San Jose looking for a quality place. We find the upscale looking 19 Market and decide to give it a shot - no wishlist or anything. Just fresh off the street.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but figured if nothing looked appetizing I'd go with some Pho. We walk in, and the place looks very handsomely decorated. Enough so, that we started to question how expensive the menu would be. Oh well, its Friday.

I decided to go with the Lemongrass Tofu over their famous noodles. At over $11, it definitely wasn't a budget meal, but I figured I should try the noodles they say are famous.

The wait was rather short, typical for a Vietnamese restaurant I suppose. My plate arrived and looked very nice, visually - and HUGE. I immediately dug in. The lemongrass tofu was delicious. You have to like Lemon a lot as it was pretty strong, but the tofu was a perfect firm texture and the vegetables and lemongrass mixture was tasty. The noodles were underneath and actually were a bit large and dry. I had to mix up the noodles and tofu a bit to keep the noodles from tasting too dry. The noodles were a good flavor though and I had no problems finishing it all. And I was pretty stuffed as well. It didn't taste overfly greasy but perhaps a bit salty.

For appetizing Jason ordered some kind of cream cheese & crab puff type of thing. I sampled a couple of them. Oh man, this thing was unbelievable. I think I could have eaten a 20 piece family pack of these things. They were greasy, and irresistable. Especially with the spicy dipping sauce. These things are making my top-restaurant-food of 2006 list for sure.

We did suffer a bit of sticker shock for our meal, but in this case, it was worth it for the gentle relaxing atmosphere and irresistible food to be found on the menu. I will return for special occasions or when I want to treat myself to some exotic, tasty dishes.
 
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