The epitome of hole-in-the-wall dining, Bo De Tinh Tam Chay is little more than a warming station and an open-seating area in a hidden Vietnamese shopping plaza. If you're all about the ambiance, chances are you'll walk out of this place just as quickly as you walked in, but the superficial shall never attain enlightenment! Yeah, the place could use a little sprucing up, but it accomplishes the task of providing a space for people to brush up on their Eastern religion—free Buddhist literature, paraphernalia and cassette tapes containing hours of meditative chants—while they dine on cruelty-free cuisine (mind you, Buddhist vegetarian diets allow dairy, but not eggs). The crispy-fried pho and egg-noodle soup with mock duck are scrumptious enough to win over even the most fervent animal eaters. You can get just about anything on the menu for $7 or less, and the service is efficient and friendly, so you don't even have to bother with sticking around if slumming it just ain't your thang. $$
