Vietopia Bistro Offers Vietnamese Favorites -

*Some of the Vietnamese dishes served at Vietopia in Station Park, Farmington. photo by Valerie Phillips*

A few weeks ago I interviewed Vietopia Bistro owner Kvin (yes, he said that’s how he spells his name) Doan for a Standard-Examiner story.

The Station Park/Farmington Vietopia is on a side street near Bath & Bodyworks. It’s one of a few Station Park restaurants there that offer sit-down service — I think P.F. Chang’s, Twigs and Tucanos offer sit-down service too. But most Station Park restaurants are fast-casual format.

*Kvin Doan (on the right), founder and owner of Vietopia restaurants. Manager of the Station Park Vietopia Bistro location (on the left) is Vinh Doan.*

Doan grew up in Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon), which is in the southern part of Vietnam. At 19, he moved to the U.S.A. He spent some time working at Panda Express, and noticed there were many Chinese food franchises, but didn’t see any Vietnamese restaurant chains.

“I love the food, and I want to let everyone get to know Vietnamese food and make it popular,” he said.

He opened the first Vietopia Bistro in 2014 in West Jordan. He designed his own logo: a triangular-shaped Vietnamese hat (called non la) on the top side. If you turn it upside down, it appears as a bowl of noodles.

Over time, Doan added locations in Taylorsville, Draper, and downtown Salt Lake City. He opened the Station Park location last year.

Some of the restaurant’s dishes include:

*Pho, the traditional beef broth noodle soup, at Vietopia Bistro, at Station Park in Farmington. Photo by Valerie Phillips*

The most-ordered dish is pho – the tradtional beef broth noodle soup, fragrant with cinnamon, star anise, cilantro and other herbs and spices. The boiling hot broth is poured over your choice of thinly sliced meat in a bowl, instantly cooking the meat.

A plate of mix-ins for the pho. photo by Valerie Phillips — *A plate of mix-ins for the pho, at Vietopia Bistro. photo by Valerie Phillips*

It comes with a plate of Thai basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts and jalapeno that you can mix in to the broth as you like.

*Banh Mi sandwich at Vietopia Bistro. photo by Valerie Phillips*

The banh mi sandwich is a Vietnamese classic that has become popular all across America. A baguette is stuffed with a choice of grilled protein (shrimp, pork, beef, or tofu), topped with cucumber, pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, jalapeno, soy sauce and mayo. It’s served with sweet potato fries.

*Pork egg roll salad at Vietopia Bistro. Photo by Valerie Phillips*

Vietopia offers several different salads. One of the top-sellers is the grilled pork eggroll salad, which has seasoned slices of grilled pork, vermicelli (rice noodles), bean sprouts, cucumber and carrots, and a couple of crispy eggrolls on top.

Egg rolls at Vietopia Bistro in Station Park in Farmington. photo by Valerie Phillips — *Eggrolls served with fish sauce, at Vietopia Bistro in Station Park, Farmington. photo by Valerie Phillips*

Eggrolls are a popular appetizer. They’re filled with ground pork, carrots, onions and mung beans sprouts. They are served with fish sauce (nuoc mam). It’s the staple Vietnamese condiment, made from fermented salted fish.

*Spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce at Vietopia Bistro, Station Park, Farmington. photo by Valerie Phillips*

Delicate spring rolls are another favorite. Thin rice paper is wrapped around shrimp, pork, vermicelli, and lettuce, and served with a peanut dipping sauce. Spring rolls and egg rolls are similar, but egg rolls are cooked, and spring rolls aren’t.

*Vietopia Bistro offers fruity drinks and smoothies. photo by Valerie Phillips*

The restaurant also offers lots of fruity drinks and smoothies.

The restaurant’s website hasn’t been working in the past month — something that seems pretty critical for customers! So I’m adding a couple of photos that I took of the menu, so you can get an idea of offerings and prices.

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