Harrisburg is lucky enough to have a variety of Vietnamese restaurants to choose from: Pho Vietnam, Little Saigon, Garden Vietnamese, and Rose’s Vietnamese Cuisine. I have been to all 4 (if you know of any others please let me know) as well as the Vietnamese food stand in the Broad Street Market called Golden Gate, and I honestly have a very tough time trying to choose which spot has the best cuisine. What I can speak to are my individual experiences at each place separately, and I am happy to make recommendations to all 5 spots. I went to Rose’s not long ago, and believe me I have always been skeptical, but my curiosity and love of Vietnamese cuisine eventually led me inside the place. It’s located in a small strip mall a few miles outside of downtown Harrisburg on Walnut Street. Like all the other Vietnamese restaurants around Harrisburg, Rose’s isn’t much to look at once inside. But to me it’s really not about aesthetics unless I’m paying for it, and Rose’s is anything but expensive. I went with the lemon grass grilled chicken over white rice. The wait was a little longer than expected but believe you me, it was well worth it. The chicken was really like nothing I’ve ever had before. I can honestly say I’ve never had chicken that tasted so fresh and so tender, it was incredible! It was later explained to me that the delay in receiving my food was because they only make the chicken after you order it, everything is made fresh. I can live with that for sure. On the way out I had a short chat with Rose herself (I had to compliment the food) and she assured me that her restaurant sold the best Pho in Harrisburg so naturally I am planning a return visit. Exceptional food, I fully endorse Rose’s Vietnamese Cuisine.

Third Street is quickly becoming my favorite eats street in Harrisburg, especially after a recent visit to Ventura House. The place is neatly tucked among random shops and foreclosed buildings so it’s a little hard to spot, but what really caught my attention was the store window that read “Jamaican - Chinese - American Buffet.” Now personally the “buffet” part of that title would be enough to sell me on at least one visit, but throw in the random combination of both Jamaican and Chinese ethnic cuisine and I’m back for lunch that day. I parked in front of a run down building I believe is being remodeled by the City to be the Midtown Arts Center and wandered into this curious combination of ethnic cuisine called the Ventura House. The inside is plain, but nice, and the woman behind the counter was quite friendly. I paid a measly $6.50 up front for a pretty nice sized buffet table and went to work on lunch. The thing I noticed first was that the buffet seemed to be made up entirely of meat - how delightful. I didn’t notice any labels on the items so I just decided to try everything (twice) and believe me, it was well worth the $6.50. Everything I tried was delicious, the meat so tender it just fell of the bones, and the variety of curry, jerk, and breaded chicken was really a treat. I wasn’t exactly sure before from just passing by the place how well suited a buffet would be to both Jamaican and Chinese food in addition to American cuisine. I stand corrected; the variety and quality of food was amazing, and I’ll definitely be going back.