Xoia Eats: Does Vietnamese-Mexican Fusion Mean Bland Food? Not Always But Yes in This Case

I was skeptical about Xoia Eats and my suspicions were somewhat confirmed upon tasting their food. The best thing was the taco that came in threes and all with the same topping. We had the so-called Mi Quang pork that the menu described as "paprika and shallot spiced." I liked the tender, thinly sliced pork pieces with cilantro, onions and a hint from the seasoning but the accompanying salsa was straight up bland. Most of the food here was bland. Could it be because it caters to bland palates, aka can't-handle-the-heat crowd? Maybe.

The fresh rolls with tofu were bland. The peanut sauce was too sweet and no amount of sriracha sauce could salvage it. Thumbs down.

The bun, the noodle salad topped with greens, bean sprouts and our choice of protein all tossed with a dressing that I usually add a lot of the grainy hot sauce to, was equally disappointing. First of all, the noodles were so overdone they were like mush. The quality of the "lemongrass beef" was sub par. I also detected an herb whose aroma and flavor I disliked and hadn't usually found in bun I've had in Westminster and San Gabriel Valley.

One last thing I liked: the coconut water. Yes, it's hard to mess this up but it was nicely carved for easy flesh scraping and served nice and cold. Only in Californian non-winter weather would one crave ice cold coconut water, I suppose. Ok, will stop gloating.