Kat's 9 Lives

It was about time for met to try something new in Garden Grove. Since a friend suggested that Brodard had the best Shaken Beef, Bò Lúc Lắc, I had to try it. This location is so hard to find even with a GPS. Here is my tip of the day if you ever want to find this place: It's located in the back of the shopping center where you think there was nothing there. I went into the main plaza and drove all around looking for Brodard but to no avail. Keep following the plaza around the 99 Cent store until it rounds into the back and you will see the signs. I think you can enter from the other side into the "Mall" and just follow it all the way back for the restaurant. Best of luck! lol
A typical drink to get at Vietnamese restaurants for me is the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. The one they serve here was strong and tasty, but filled with ice. I know that normally they are filled with ice but this one was to the brim. Still it was good and the price was reasonable. The coffee beans they use are pretty aromatic.

One thing I love is Nem Nướng Cuốn, Pork Spring Rolls. It's grilled Pork Paste wrapped in Rice Paper with Lettuce, Cucumber, Carrot, Daikon, and Mint served with the House Special Sauce. I remember reading that they had pretty good Nem Nướng Cuốn so I got an order to try. They are a bit pricier than what I am used to, 4 for $6 but worth it. We ordered one but they brought us another tray. At first I was going to say something but I decided to keep it because it was that good! lol The meat was very flavorful and I love that they also have the Fried Egg Roll Skin inside to add to the texture. All the flavors just pop in the mouth and to make it even better was their sauce. I will give them credit that they have one of the best sauces around. It's not your typical cheap peanut sauce you get in a lot of places. They stew the sauce into a delicious mixture that can even be drank as soup! lol All parts work well together or even separately. In fact, I just brought the "soup" for my Aunt the other day. lol
Another favorite of mine is the Chả Giò, Vietnamese Egg Rolls. How can I not love something that is fried?? lol It's crispy egg rolls filled with Pork, Shrimp, Crab Meat, Clear Vermicelli, and Vegetables. This is served with Asian Greens and Lime Chili Fish Sauce. To eat this properly, remember to take the huge Lettuce leaf and wrap all the ingredients together before you dip the new "egg roll" into the sauce then take a big bite. The love for their egg rolls were definitely not as great as the spring rolls. I thought these were just normal at best. If I knew, I would've definitely skipped this and just paid more for the spring rolls. O=9
For my main dish I had to try the Bò Lúc Lắc since it came so highly recommended. It's chunks of Filet Mignon cooked with Onion, Mushroom, Scallion, and Spices. You can choose Steamed Rice or Fried Rice and I chose the latter. They also give a Salad to accompany the dish. Maybe it was just an off day but I was not feeling this dish. I have never seen Bò Lúc Lắc like this. It was gravy like and didn't carry out the strong flavor of the spices used. For me, the dish should not be on the wet side or gooey gravy side. The chunks should be packed full of flavor and black pepper that would only be enhanced by the Lime mixture on the side. Sadly, this dish was a huge let down and I didn't care for the assortment of veggies. As you know I don't like veggies but this was not the reason why I didn't like them. Normally I have only seen this dish to have raw Onions on the bottom of this dish. My Aunt enjoyed the Fried Rice that came with this dish. For $11.25, I was definitely not satisfied. =*( Should have just stuck with the spring rolls! lol
The dish that I chose for my Aunt was a Cơm Tấm Bì, Chả, Tàu Hũ Ky, Tôm, Tthịt Nướng because I thought it would be a simple and safe choice. It's Broken Rice with Grilled Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Shredded Pork, Eggloaf, Shrimp Paste in Tofu Wrap served with House Special Sauce & Leek Pickle. Don't be deceived by my pretty pictures because things are not always as they seem. Presentation is not everything. I ordered this dish because I really wanted the Shrimp Paste wrapped in Tofu, but the one here was a bit over fried and too oily. Somehow the strong flavor of the Shrimp Paste was drained away by the oil. The BBQ Pork was a bit different from what I expected. It appeared more like a pressed meat than thin slices of pork grilled. This was $10.95, which is a bit pricey for Cơm Tấm INMO and it wasn't even that good. Needless to say, we took a lot of stuff home and I wasn't the one who ate the leftovers =P.
All in all it was not what I expected it to be and that was not what I call a Shaken Beef, but... their Spring Roll was superb and worth the price of $1.50 each. Of course this could be that I ordered the wrong main dishes. The outside of Brodard looks really shoddy but once you walk through the doors you will notice that it's really nice inside. They are pretty clean and spacious. It's obvious that they are well received and people can still find this place even though it is tucked away and hidden in the back of the shopping center. I still highly recommend the Spring Rolls to everyone and I had recently gone back to discover some new items. Of course you will just have to keep tuning in to find out about it! ^_-

Brodard
9892 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92844
(714) 530-1744