Via Café (CLOSED)

Fat, fresh goi cuon, chilly bowls of bun noodles and five filling options for banh mi make this bi-level cafe a refreshing destination for fans of Vietnamese cooking. The clean space, housed inside a prismatic, pagoda-roofed corner of Chinatown Central Plaza only adds to the appeal. The menu offers a mash-up of regional recipes offering a flip-side to pho—start with a salad of Manila clams and crispy rice crackers ($8) or rice flour crepe ($8) filled with shrimp and pork or vegetarian-friendly tofu and mushroom, then try the Hainan chicken ($7.50), spicy Szechuan shrimp ($8.75) or pad thai ($8), topped with crushed peanuts, red cabbage, jalapeño and lime. Beers from China, Japan, Laos, the Philippines and Cambodia help elevate the Pan-Asian panache.