Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
If two heads are better than one, then two cuisine-noggins fused into one restaurant-body are better than one. Polycephalify your palate with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of delicious Asian fusion fare for dinner (after 5 p.m.) at 19Market, an epicurean hybrid that expands palates by merging them.
Extracting tantalizingly harmonious Vietnamese and Californian tastes from fresh ingredients that are hand-picked daily, head chef Hanna Pham crafts award-winning dishes in a casual, warm setting. A cosmopolitan array of healthy and aromatic dishes inhabit the amiable dinner menu, which kindly lets them stay rent-free, provided they mow the lawn once a week. Commence the fusion adventure with the Dungeness crab and fresh avocado spring rolls ($11), its comely title characters supported by charming performances from mango, mint, rice vermicelli, soy vinaigrette, and Brian Dennehy. Seafarers can navigate tongue sails toward the crisp calamari ($9) or the grilled, bacon-hugged prawns satay ($12), while beefquistadors can vanquish the bountiful sesame soy succulence of the Korean barbecue short ribs ($9). Fill a glass or your cupped hand with a drink—many of which pair nicely with the dashing entrees—from the restaurant's stocked and expertly curated bar. A glass of 2006 Argentinian Malbec Terrazas ($9) makes a fine accomplice to grilled salmon with spicy green beans ($17) before a night spent climbing telephone poles for fun.
A ruby awning and a redbrick exterior welcomes digesters and imbibers to 19Market's casual, conversation-friendly dining space. Further into the confines, a stylish and modern chamber bedecked with warm, earthy tones and dark wood puts patrons in a constant state of bear hug. If the massive menu sends your tongue into a tailspin while feasting in the cozy ambience, the friendly, knowledgeable service staff is quick to offer helpful suggestions.
Dine-in only.
Reviews
The Wave Magazine 2006 Readers' Choice Winner grabs a great review from Discover Silicon Valley and the San Jose Mercury News. Chef Hanna Pham was named one of the 11 Top Female Chefs in the Bay Area in 2007 by Wave Magazine. OpenTable diners give 19Market an average of 3.7 stars, Citysearchers dish an average of four, and more than 125 Yelpers give an average of three.
- Combining authentic Asian cuisine with Silicon Valley class, this San Jose eatery stands out among the South Bay dining scene with an alluring mix of exotic cocktails and small plate delights. – Tim Seyfert, Discover Silicon Valley
- Stylish sconces hold fresh lilies against earth-tone walls, while calm jazz plays in the background. The menu adds Singaporean, Chinese and California touches to Vietnamese fare. – Sheila Himmel, Mercury News
- Each dish an uxexpected [sic] delight, each plate better than the last. The service was very friendly & quick, even though we came right in the middle of the lunch rush and every table was full. – OpenTable.com user who dined on 04/30/2010
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Feb 3, 2011. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1/person, may buy 2 add'l as gifts. Must use in 1 visit, no cash back. Limit 1/table, 2/table of 4 or more. Valid for dinner after 5 p.m. only. Dine-in only. Not valid for banquets, catering, or with other offers. Tax & gratuity not included. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About 19Market
As a child, Hanna Pham watched her mother cook traditional dishes in their family's kitchen in Vietnam, measuring the aromatic spices and cooking marinated shaking beef in her wok. Though she was named one of 11 Top Female Chefs in the Bay Area by the Wave magazine in 2007, Pham first worked as a graphic designer and later as an international professional singer before opening Clay Pot, a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. After noticing the youthfulness of the area, Pham decided to transform the Clay Pot into the contemporary 19Market, adding a modern Californian twist to her Vietnamese dishes to complement the new décor of earthy tones and dark wood accents.
In the kitchen, Chef Pham draws on her roots as she prepares her signature shaking beef, which she learned from her mother, tossing cubes of filet mignon in a wok with onions, garlic, and black pepper. In the dining room, patrons sip house cocktails such as the lychee martini or glasses of wine from the extensive list while listening to the melodic scales of live jazz music.