 The Holcombe Avenue-Halls Mill Road area is becoming a mini-restaurant row in Mobile.
First there was the Tiny Diny, where a meat and three sides have warmed the bellies of the hungry for more than 20 years. At this venerable landmark, you are apt to see the mayor eating breakfast next to a mechanic from the shop across the street.
The hot new spot in this region is Osman's, a boutique cafe with a European touch and lines out the door.
In the middle is Yen, a cozy Vietnamese restaurant that offers truly unique food.
In this neighborhood, where bungalow houses sit next to artsy commercial buildings, Mobilians are discovering the wonderful food of the Yen Le family at Yen's Restaurant.
The restaurant is a family place, a mom-and-pop facility. Yen Le brought his family to America in 1975. He made it to Mobile with the aid of Catholic Social Services and went to work at McDonald's, where he flipped burgers during the day while he went to appliance repair school at night.
For the next 16 years, he worked for Montgomery Ward fixing washing machines and refrigerators. During this time, he sent three sons and a daughter to college.
Yen's retirement turned out to be another turning point in his life. In 1996, he returned to Vietnam, where he and his wife Tuyet took classes in cooking and learned about the restaurant business.
They purchased the wares they would need (all the furnishings are from their home country) and returned to Mobile to set up shop.
The menu at Yen's is very diverse. The food of Vietnam has been influenced by invasions from China and France, as well as other surrounding countries that they have invaded, occupied or traded with.
The country can be divided into three areas, each with a different cultural link and culinary tradition. The Chinese in the north, the Viets in the middle and the Indonesians (especially Thailand) in the south.
Pho is the national dish. It is a soup served as the center of the meal with various ingredients and condiments added as the diner prefers. Eaten throughout the day, this soup may be breakfast, lunch or dinner according to what you add. It is a big soup and you should probably not order it as an appetizer like we do soups in the west.
Seafood is very important to the cuisine. Vietnam is nearly surrounded by the South China Sea and with numerous bays and inlets it is positioned for easy access to some of the best shellfish and other seafood in the world. (There are reports of shrimp harvested in offshore waters that measure 12 inches in length.)
Yen Restaurant serves seafood that rivals any in the world. From the melt-in-your-mouth fried calamari (which is hand-cut for added tenderness) to the barbecued shrimp on sugar cane skewers, you can taste a freshness and flavor that is unmuted by sauces.
Many dishes feature pork and other meats grilled and served on rice noodles (vermicelli). Rice is the heart of the diet as well as the economy. Vietnam is the world's third leading exporter; rice is served at all meals both steamed and as noodles and wraps (rice paper).
Rice paper is presented to the guest with a bowl of water (for softening) to allow diners to roll their own menu items. This is, of course, how egg rolls are made. 
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