Not far from Rosa Mexicano Union Square location is the University Place area, popular among NYU students as a place to find good, inexpensive food. Being from the Boston area (that has so many students from all over the world), we know that the chepeast (and often with great good) places to eat are around the campuses. After doing some research, we decided to eat at L'Annam restaurant (at 13th Street) during our trip to New York.We are not new to Vietnamese food and often eat at Le's (formerly Pho Pasteur), that has several locations in our area. What we like about Southeast Asian food is that if you pick the right dish, you can eat a meal with lots of fresh ingredients with little to no fat.
We were not disappointed at L'annam either. It is obviously a neighborhood eatery and at dinner time you see both a lot of students and families (we were told that during lunch time, it is popular place among the office workers). The portions are big for the price and all dishes are really well done. I had cellophane noodles with shrimp and vegetables while Lorena designed her own vegetarian dish.
Recommended for fans of Vietnamese cuisine if you want to stay away from so many tourist traps in New York City.