Congratulations to Cong Tu Bot for their inclusion in the New York Times list of the 50 restaurants in America that the paper is most excited about.
We dispatched our critics, reporters and editors around the country to find the 50 most vibrant and delicious restaurants in 2021. They’re not ranked, but together they reflect the rich mosaic of American dining — from the melding of Thai curry and Texas brisket in the Pacific Northwest, to heritage crab rice on the South Carolina coast, to vegan soul food in the East Village.
Specifically regarding to Cong Tu Bot they shared,
Happiness is a bowl of Cong Tu Bot’s chao chay on a chilly Maine morning — warm, supple grains of rice that disappear into the bowl, slicks of chile oil, tart tangles of mustard greens, a chewy cake of daikon and kale and showers of herbs and scallions. The restaurant was originally a noodle shop; but a few months ago, the owners, Vien Dobui and Jessica Sheahan, transformed it into a daytime cafe, with a menu that includes pho ga, bun cha and outstanding pastries like a crumb-topped, neon-green pandan coffee cake. A meal here is an extremely compelling argument for the superiority of Vietnamese breakfast food.