A Korean/Vietnamese diner just opened in one of Sacramento’s favorite restaurant spaces
Phuong Tran and Seoyeon Oh have opened a Vietnamese/Korean diner in Southside Park. That’s Vietnamese and Korean: the friends and Sacramento restaurant industry veterans have little interest in fusion.
Oh and Tran plan to essentially serve their home cooking at Southside Super, their 18-seat lunch counter that, after looking at an early May debut, opened Monday at 921 V St.
“It’s kind of like if you were to come over to my house, and you were hungry, so I made you some food,” Tran said. “I’m not that interested in fusion, new dishes type of stuff. I just really want to make the food that has the effort and love that I make at home for people. I can feel that in (Oh’s) food as well.”
That means kimbap, rice rolls that are commonplace in Korean American households but scarcely seen around the local restaurant scene, and kimchi fried rice. Giant, zippy Vietnamese pork-jicama meatballs in tomato sauce (xiu mai) will be made in-house and available à la carte, with rice or on a baguette like a meatball sub.
Free-range chicken pho will be available early in the morning, when many Vietnamese people eat the noodle soup. Southside Super has hosted a handful of pop-ups and continues to pare down its menu with friends-and-family meals ahead of the opening.
Tran co-founded and continues to operate Fish Face Poke Bar in the R Street Corridor. Oh has worked for the past five years at neighboring Camellia Coffee Roasters, which her husband, Ryan Harden, co-owns, since emigrating from Korea 10 years ago.
Oh and Tran were independently drawn to June’s Cafe before the rustic Japanese restaurant closed at 921 V St. in 2019, with Tran even dreaming of one day opening her own restaurant in that building while eating there as a customer. Cult favorite sandwich shop Lo/Fi was next in that snug space before it too closed last May.
“I liked the small coziness of it. It’s a little more manageable (than a big restaurant) but you’re still able to cook your food,” Tran said. “You’re kind of more catering to the neighborhood. It’s definitely more of a community vibe here.”
Korean restaurants dominate Sacramento’s Rosemont and La Riviera neighborhoods, and Little Saigon is a beacon of pho and banh mi joints. These restaurants are far scarcer, though, around the grid. And few anywhere serve the homey breakfast and lunch dishes Southside Super is planning.
There are grab-and-go hot food options as well, such as Korean spicy chicken over rice or Vietnamese pork belly with quail eggs. A chip aisle near the cash register has flavors such as cuttlefish, green pepper with mayonnaise and tteokbokki.
Background: Phuong Tran and Seoyeon Oh both grew up with household cooking duties, then went into the restaurant industry. Now they’re opening Southside Super, a Korean/Vietnamese restaurant based on those home recipes where June’s Cafe and Lo/Fi used to be in Southside Park.
What to look for: Chicken pho loaded with ginger and topped with a crunchy Chinese breadstick, kimchi fried rice in earthenware bowls and grab-and-go hot dishes.
Where: 921 V St., Sacramento.
Hours: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday to start.
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