If you're still wrestling with those New Year's resolutions about shedding weight and choosing more healthful meals, Bobo Cafe can help.

An eatery of traditional Vietnamese cuisine, Bobo Cafe has earned praise the past few years from both diners (readers’ choice awards) and critics. The magical formula for success: scrumptious, nutritious and inexpensive dishes. Dieting doesn’t have to be painful.

What's for dinner: Steaming bowls of soup; rice and noodle plates; vegetarian dishes; and a few house specialties with pork, beef, chicken, shrimp and calamari, all stir fried with bok choy and served over crispy brown noodles. Don't forget to sample an appetizer. In all, there are 85 choices.

Fresh vegetables and herbs; rice; rice noodles and rice crepes; and charbroiled and saute1ed pork, beef, chicken and seafood are mainstays in Vietnamese cooking. Which borrows from Chinese and French cuisine. Portuguese traders introduced chili peppers to the Vietnamese table. Oils and fatty cuts of meat are frowned upon, which is good news for low-fat dinning.

Tasty choices: it’s difficult to make a mistake selecting from Bobo Café’s menu. Start with an appetizer such as thin, delicate rice crepes rolled around cooked shrimp, cilantro, sprouts and rice noodle ($4.20). Dip the cold crepes in a warm peanut sauce.

For an entree, try sautéed lemon grass beef with chili spices, served over rice ($5.85). The pieces of beef are garlicky, slightly spice and extremely tender. The beef is accompanied by slices of sautéed, crunchy white onions and a salad of shredded carrot, lettuce and cilantro.

Charbroiled lemon grass chicken over rice noodles ($5.85) is garnished with oven roasted peanuts. A dressing of fish sauce and dash of chili sauce elevate this dish to an even-tastier level.

Service: Table service is prompt and businesslike. Don’t be surprised if your dinner arrive five minutes after ordering.

The damage: Generous portions for $6-$7. Big spender can opt for the house specialties and seafood dishes, which exceed $7. Only one, however is more than $9.

The digs: Comfortable and clean. No booths, all free standing tables, covered with grass slabs. The chair cushions are covered in plastic. Low room dividers section the dining room into three areas.

Finding your way: From downtown Sacramento, take Interstate 80 and exit at Douglas Boulevard East. Bobo Café will be on your left that Mervyn’s Center.