Com Tam Dat Thanh ★ 4.0
Com Tam Dat Thanh in East San Jose is beloved for authentic broken rice with charcoal-grilled pork chops, shrimp cakes, and family-recipe house sauces.
OrderCom tam with grilled pork and fried shrimp cake
Broken rice from South Vietnam, plated with grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, a fried egg and a bowl of nuoc cham, is San Jose's working lunch.
Com tam literally means broken rice, referring to the fractured grains that were historically considered inferior to whole rice and sold cheaply to Saigon's working class. Street vendors and rice-plate shops adopted it as a low-cost, filling base for grilled meats and garnishes, and it became a staple of southern Vietnamese street food culture. When Vietnamese refugees arrived in San Jose after 1975, com tam became a daily staple in East San Jose, with plates served from early morning to mid-afternoon as a breakfast and lunch dish.
1 editor pick for Com tam in San Jose, ranked by editorial score. All San Jose signature dishes · Com tam across every city.
Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide
Com tam makes more sense with someone from San Jose explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
Book food experiences in San Jose
2 hours
San Jose: Sushi Making Class (Includes 3-Course Meal)
Learn how to make your own nigiri and seafood rolls from scratch in this hands-on class with Chef Elham. Cook spicy edamame, prep sushi rice, and roll it with a variet...
from$192 Check dates
2 hours
San Jose: Chinese Cooking Class (Includes 3-Course Meal)
Cook a 3-course Chinese-Californian meal in San Jose. Make dragon cauliflower, pineapple chicken and rainbow fried rice with Chef Parsati.
from$187 Check dates
2 hours
San Jose: Vegan Cooking Class (Includes 4-Course Meal)
Learn how to create healthy, plant-based food with fragrant spices in a vegan cooking class with Chef Parsati. Prepare tofu falafel, rice cakes, and Mediterranean-styl...
from$187 Check dates