Rating: 
Summary: Delicieux, delicious, ricisimo
Review: I bought this book last year, on Amazon.com, following the customer reviews. I am very happy of it. All the recipies are well explained (even for non fluent english speaker) and the results are delicious. There are some nice family photos, not too much, some nice family remembrances, not too much; a very well balanced book. I would even say, an elegant book.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak on Thai food
Review: I bought this book to supplement my small library of Thai cookbooks and also to figure out how to make that delicious Vietnamese soup "pho."Well, there is a recipe for pho in this book, meant to serve about a dozen people apparently, and the author advises against trying smaller quantities, because it just won't taste the same. The Thai recipes were very few...
Rating:
Summary: Authentic, easy Vietamese and Thai cooking
Review: I have searched high and low for a book with authentic vietnamese and Thai recipes, and Mai Pham's book is the best i have found! Her recipes are easy to follow and mouth watering! I also love this book because of the touching stories she puts at the beginning of each chapter. That added a very personal touch and insight into the way the food should be prepared and eaten. Overall, a perfect book for lovers of Asian food!
Rating:
Summary: Duplicate the elegant flavors of Thailand and Vietnam.
Review: I just spent a week at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in Napa Valley, where Mai Pham was the featured chef. Each day we were presented with a new array of fabulous food from her book. The curry was the centerpiece dish, hotter and hotter as the week went by. The fishballs were sublime. The mussel soup was superb. This book makes the wonderful food of this region accessible to the American home cook.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!!
Review: I love this book! If you like that lovely chicken coconut soup you get in Thai restaurants you will love Mai's version. It is exactly like the type we eat out. Also fisherman's stew is delicious. All of the recipes in here are perfect. I would highly recommend this to any Americans interested in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine (although the two are somewhat different). These are not completely traditional though, so if you are looking for traditional, you should buy her other book, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table, which is also excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely book...sentimental but
Review: I was disappointed because as far as I could see, the author never referred to dishes by their Thai or Vietnamese names. Consequently, it was difficult to find specific dishes, e.g., Yam Nua, Tom Ka Gai, Tod Man Pla, etc. (none of which were in the book). Recipes seemed to be more creative and less traditional.
Rating:
Summary: Pure gold!
Review: I'm thrilled to have found this book!! I fell in love with vietnamese food 6 years ago and have frequented its restaurants since. A somewhat nomadic life has led to my search for vietnamese restaurants all over the country. I've been yearning for a book to help me recreate my favorite recipes at home. This book is more than I could have hoped for! The flavors are more wonderful than I've tasted in most restaurants. The recipes are very easy to follow and so far, I've been able to find all of the ingredients. Since finding this book, my home often is filled with the sweet aroma of pho, my belly happily sated with my favorite treats. Thank you, Mai Phun, for giving us this book!
Rating:
Summary: Authentic and accessable Vietnamese cuisine!
Review: I've been using this book for the last year, since returning from Viet Nam, where I spent a month last year. The book is clearly organized and contains helpful sections on basic ingredients and techniques; the recipes themselves are clearly organized and result in stunningly good food that tastes like what I ate in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. I wish Mi Pham had included a recipe for pho ga (chicken soup) in addition to her recipe for pho bo (beef soup)--I had the happiest meal of my life in a little store front restaurant in Hanoi eating huge bowls of pho ga and drinking Tiger Beer. (Most of the dishes included are more representative of south Viet Nam rather than the north, with its smokier and muskier flavors.) Until I can return to Viet Nam, this cookbook will keep my memories fresh.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to follow, and Very authentic
Review: I've spent alot of time around some wonderful Vietnamese cooks in their own homes, and I've sampled tons of food. This cookbook brings very good recipes out into the open to be tried by all. I've used it while cooking for my Vietnamese friends, and they were amaized and wanted to know who taught me the recipes. That is a wonderful compliment, thanks to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Get this book
Review: If you like Asian food, you can't go wrong. The recipes are easy to follow and the food comes out great. One word of advise, go easy on the fish sauce! I'm a grad student and I don't have much time to cook. Even somebody with my lack of experience in the kitchen can turn out some pretty tasty dishes. I wish there were some more pictures but this is a cookbook that you will use in the kitchen not a coffee table book. Get yourself a copy and start eating well.
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