San Jose is a modern-day gold mine for Vietnamese food. It’s the Bay Area’s superior source for sizzling steak, chicken pho and the steamed rice rolls known as bánh cuốn. And recently, the city gained another exciting specialist.
A few months ago, former San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho pointed me toward Làng Ốc Việt, a food truck slinging “Viet mariscos.” I was intrigued, since I already happened to regard San Jose as a one-of-a-kind seafoodhub.
Shellfish is Làng Ốc’s domain, with a particular emphasis on southern-style sea snails. Chef-owner Tuyền “Cindy” Huỳnh is from Bạc Liêu, a coastal city in the Mekong Delta region where sea snails are in abundance. Before opening her truck last December, Huỳnh ran a sea snail stand in her hometown…