I'm trying to catch on to the buzz of this place, but don't quite get it. The food is tasty, the bartender seemed pretty out of it when we arrived for late service. He was more interested in serving a friend and chatting with staff and we were there to drink two quick and have a bite. I'd go back to try other dishes and it's very convenient from my home.
Jxt Tse
Food was mediocre. Not flavorful throughout. Portion size was beyond ridiculously small. And birthday freebie was only a choice of alcoholic drink, no substitute for non drinkers.
William H.
This is only for the Dine LA review. Coming in, I had low expectations and reading the reviews I knew what to get. The chicken wings definitely live up to the hype. The tumeric-dill fish was differnt in flavor profile than the stuff I ate in Hanoi, but still had the main ingredients. My panna cotta dessert was fine but forgettable. The braised short rib was pretty good, but what was really bad was the sashimi with uni butter. the fish was not that fresh, but they gave us more wings to cover the group consensus on the sashimi
Cynthia W.
It seems like they are closing tomorrow, and this was their last meal service. :( We also had no electricity the entire time, so they had to cancel all reservations after 8pm, and took last food calls around 8, because after that, there was no light in the kitchen to make food. And, their credit card machine didn't connect to the internet, so we ended up Venmo-ing the owner. On to the food though. We got the tender toothpick beef, which was delicious. It really is tender. The ribs - good flavor, moist and tender (thank goodness), the zucchini sticks (real good), and the crab fried rice, which I thought was just ok. And we got the ... whatever dragon cocktail they have -- which came recommended, but we probably would have preferred something else. Overall, a very...unique dinner in terms of the blackout. Chef came out, was super nice. Also texted with the owner a bit to make sure he got the Venmo. Not sure why they're closing - seems like they had a pretty full house...
Asha S.
Delicious! Pros: We loved the tender toothpick beef and the ginger scallion braided beef bavette (and I'm not super into beef so that's saying something!). We also really liked the chocolate lava cake. Cons: We didn't love the bok Choy salad (it needed more sweetness and stone fruit) or the crab fried rice (it had a slightly burned flavor). Many of the I really wanted to try the farmer wild greens hash but we were too full by the time this dish was being fired up so we ended up cancelling it and I was super bummed. I definitely want to come back to try more dishes. The cocktails were also great!
Dru C.
Everything we had was either bland, poorly executed, or didn't reflect the ingredients posted on their menu. For example, the crab fried rice was a mushy mess, not to mention there was hardly any crab in it all to justify it's $15 price. The Vietnamese iced coffee was a bland cup of ice filled with watered down coffee. I'm all for Asian "fusion," but the flavors have to work together. The stuff we ate didn't work together. I went back and read some of the 1 or 2 star reviews on here and their thoughts on the same dishes we ordered match up exactly. As for the 4 or 5 star reviews... well, there is a common denominator between all of the Yelpers and I'll let you figure that out. I really wanted to like this place. Their marketing is on point -- pictures, the website, the videos, even their emails were enticing. However, their food is catered to a certain audience. The owner is really nice. But they really need to re-do the menu and re-evaluate how they execute the dishes if they want to succeed.
Natalie S.
Went to Khí´ng Tên with my boyfriend as a recommendation from a friend, and boy were we disappointed. My boyfriend ordered off the DineLA menu, while I ordered a la carte. I guess I should've taken my drink as an omen for what was to come. Instead of my strong, bold, creamy Vietnamese iced coffee, I got coffee flavored water - thin and watery. Where was my condensed milk?! From the DineLA Menu: Mary's Organic Chicken Wings was one of the two items that was not a regret. It was cooked well and had a tangy zing to them. The Turmeric Dill Black Cod was one that needed major help. Our black cod was changed to catfish which was fine, but the presentation and taste was not. When the dish was first served all I could think of was GREEN. The whole plate just looked like a heaping pile of green ingredients dumped on a plate. The taste of the dish was like being punched in the mouth with an overpowering flavor of lemongrass. The Lemongrass Ginger Panna Cotta was creamy, but beware of the citrus fruit. It completely overpowers the light panna cotta and becomes overwhelmingly sweet. The A La Carte Items: The Pull Apart Shrimp Fritters were nicely fried, but eating it was like playing find the needle in the haystack. The shrimps were tiny, few, and unseasoned. The P&B Spare Ribs was quite deceiving. When the plate was delivered it looked great with a nice char on the outside. The meat even fell off the bone. But that was it. When you bit into the ribs you realized it was dry and lacked seasoning. While I read the other comments saying the Crab Fried Rice lacked crab, I wanted to see it for myself, so against my better judgement I ordered it. People were not lying. My poached egg did not have the runny yolk that I was excited for and again it was like finding the needle in the haystack for my crab. If you looked hard enough you might have found a few. Finally, the Vietnamese Cauliflower was the best dish we had. It had a good chile flavor and a nice crunch that reminded me of corn. All in all, the best part of this place was the wait staff who were nice and courteous. I'm definitely not racing to come back to this restaurant.
Sandwich C.
Pros: Beautiful decor and vibe. Food was delicious. Owner was nice. Full bar. Cons: My dish was too saucy and wet unfortunately, but flavor was great. (Was a chicken entree. Sorry can't remember the name.) Food: Banh mi burger was absolutely delicious! Came on a French baguette. Service: Really hospitable.
Brad Porter
An amazing place. We went here on a friend's recommendation, and it was superb. Good service. The food was impeccable. We had four different dishes...beef toothpicks, crab rice, a fish dish, and spare ribs. They were all amazing. Will gladly go over the hill again for this place!
Jonathan Heldt
Been here a few times, always fantastic! Go if you get a chance.
Overall won't come back. Had a mixed experience my first time here. Arrived around 5:45 PM on a Sunday evening for early dinner/drinks. The good - I enjoyed the vibe; modern hipster jungle? More casual, trendy cafe than restaurant but in a good way. A place I would enjoy having good conversation over good drinks. I liked the shrimp pull-apart fritters a lot. It was generously portioned, fun to eat, delicious, and had a good amount of shrimp. Had never seen a dish like it before. I like the spiciness of the mussels. It brought a decent amount of heat to it, and I would have loved to mix that broth with some rice. Cauliflower Elote was yummy and saucy and a good portion for what you're ordering. Meh - Crab fried rice had good flavor, but minimal crab in it. If you want a carb-y side dish then by all means order this. If you're expecting chunks of crab meat you'll be disappointed. Happy hour - We made it around 10 - 15 minutes before happy hour ended, and didn't notice the happy hour notice on the menu above the bar. There was no HH menu. When we did notice and asked our waiter, it was 2 minutes past 6 and so no longer available. Not the biggest deal but would have been nice to have been told earlier there was HH available. One of our waiters casually dropped off a dish, as he was on the phone taking a personal call. Didn't tell us what the dish was, kind of felt like an afterthought. Bad - The cocktails were decent, but came overflowing on the glass. It was mopped up a little bit, but we were left with sticky glasses on a sticky table. At one point the shades went up (sunlight gone) and the part of the restaurant we were in got really dark. We had to ask someone to turn on the lights, which they were unable to do. We were told this was the most light they were able to give at that time. It was dark enough to be uncomfortable. Chicken fingers - It wasn't that expensive, at around $7. But it was 4 slices of chicken. I put up a picture. I can understand it would be pricier than a casual chicken spot, but this was smaller than the side chicken you'd get on salad. Mostly the service was kind of off and uncomfortable. There were 2 people serving/bartending and not many customers. Felt like it was kind of haphazardly put together and the staff weren't too interested in our experience here which I wouldn't mind if this was a local, casual Vietnamese joint, but I did mind for the presence and cost.
Prianka S.
Cute spot that is good for snacking, but not a heavy meal. Portions are relatively small and after ordering about 5 dishes (3 smalls and 2 larger), we definitely walked out more hungry than we came in. Service is good, overall ok. The toothpick beef was pretty good, but I'd recommend 2 for 3 people
Jennifer T.
Omg! This place was absolutely adorable. The decor was amazing - the floral wallpaper went so well with the velvet green sofas. I also really liked the black and white woven chairs. Ok enough about interior design lol let's move on to the food. We ordered the chicken fingers, cauliflower elote fried rice, and curry with chickpeas. The dipping sauce that came with the chicken fingers was quite delicious. It was like sort of a fish sauce I believe. Cauliflower fried rice was incredibly flavorful. It was a vegetarian option and I wasn't sure if it was my thing, but it turned out to be very delicious! For drinks, we got the Tropical Affairs and Weiser Mai Tai. The mai tai came in a super cute mug. Both these drinks were pretty strong (so...yah they're good) LOL. Overall, everything was quite tasty. It was a little bit on the expensive end tho, but it's a nice restaurant to put on your list of restaurants you can take your s/o to for a cute date! Check in and you can get $1 on an appetizer or cocktail! If you order more than one app or cocktail, they will automatically charge $1 for the item with the lowest price, so you don't actually get to choose which item you want to get the discount for. The server wasn't sure either, so we only found out at the end of our meal. Parking: metered street parking
angelina shih
Excellent cocktails! Great for Happy Hour! Very friendly service. Love the crispy chicken wings, toothpick beef, Vietnamese Caesar Salad, cauliflower elote, crab fried rice. Been back for three times. Will definitely go back again.
Jane F
I learned real fast DO NOT come here in your work out clothes and DO NOT question the food or it's portions. It sucks I have to write this review!! The first few times I came here with my fiancé we'd come after work dressed up and had fantastic service food amazing our server great!! We decided this was going to be our new spot especially since we run our own businesses and like to be outdoors we can come here and do some work on the patio have good food and drinks. This was not the case for me! I came after a workout changed into chill athletic gear and went this spot to do some work on my computer. I got the total opposite Experience!! The restaurant was chill as usual slow laid back I was on of 2 others in there. My server was a chick with tattoos nice at first....but when I got my food noticed the portions were off, less than usual. I had been sitting outside for awhile didn't bother me at first since it was slow so I went to order at the bar where she was chatting with other people. I at first politely brought up the portions being different was curious if there was a change and the was my big MISTAKE! She was clearly irritated by the question. I meant know offense to the establishment since I decided this was my new spot. I explained why I asked but could tell I already caused a problem and just did my second round of ordering as usual and let it go. I ended up being ignored for about 2 1/2hr! I was no longer checked in on by her but another nice server from one of my previous visits. Total time there was checked on 2x and only by the gentlemen. After that I just stayed working, no further interactions as everyone went back to chatting at the bar until she came to give me the check and that's it!! I was really bummed to have that experience after being so excited and bragging about it to everyone! I feel my clothes and me questioning things turned the people on staff off and that's the treatment I got!!
I'm trying to catch on to the buzz of this place, but don't quite get it. The food is tasty, the bartender seemed pretty out of it when we arrived for late service. He was more interested in serving a friend and chatting with staff and we were there to drink two quick and have a bite. I'd go back to try other dishes and it's very convenient from my home.
Food was mediocre. Not flavorful throughout. Portion size was beyond ridiculously small. And birthday freebie was only a choice of alcoholic drink, no substitute for non drinkers.
This is only for the Dine LA review. Coming in, I had low expectations and reading the reviews I knew what to get. The chicken wings definitely live up to the hype. The tumeric-dill fish was differnt in flavor profile than the stuff I ate in Hanoi, but still had the main ingredients. My panna cotta dessert was fine but forgettable. The braised short rib was pretty good, but what was really bad was the sashimi with uni butter. the fish was not that fresh, but they gave us more wings to cover the group consensus on the sashimi
It seems like they are closing tomorrow, and this was their last meal service. :( We also had no electricity the entire time, so they had to cancel all reservations after 8pm, and took last food calls around 8, because after that, there was no light in the kitchen to make food. And, their credit card machine didn't connect to the internet, so we ended up Venmo-ing the owner. On to the food though. We got the tender toothpick beef, which was delicious. It really is tender. The ribs - good flavor, moist and tender (thank goodness), the zucchini sticks (real good), and the crab fried rice, which I thought was just ok. And we got the ... whatever dragon cocktail they have -- which came recommended, but we probably would have preferred something else. Overall, a very...unique dinner in terms of the blackout. Chef came out, was super nice. Also texted with the owner a bit to make sure he got the Venmo. Not sure why they're closing - seems like they had a pretty full house...
Delicious! Pros: We loved the tender toothpick beef and the ginger scallion braided beef bavette (and I'm not super into beef so that's saying something!). We also really liked the chocolate lava cake. Cons: We didn't love the bok Choy salad (it needed more sweetness and stone fruit) or the crab fried rice (it had a slightly burned flavor). Many of the I really wanted to try the farmer wild greens hash but we were too full by the time this dish was being fired up so we ended up cancelling it and I was super bummed. I definitely want to come back to try more dishes. The cocktails were also great!
Everything we had was either bland, poorly executed, or didn't reflect the ingredients posted on their menu. For example, the crab fried rice was a mushy mess, not to mention there was hardly any crab in it all to justify it's $15 price. The Vietnamese iced coffee was a bland cup of ice filled with watered down coffee. I'm all for Asian "fusion," but the flavors have to work together. The stuff we ate didn't work together. I went back and read some of the 1 or 2 star reviews on here and their thoughts on the same dishes we ordered match up exactly. As for the 4 or 5 star reviews... well, there is a common denominator between all of the Yelpers and I'll let you figure that out. I really wanted to like this place. Their marketing is on point -- pictures, the website, the videos, even their emails were enticing. However, their food is catered to a certain audience. The owner is really nice. But they really need to re-do the menu and re-evaluate how they execute the dishes if they want to succeed.
Went to Khí´ng Tên with my boyfriend as a recommendation from a friend, and boy were we disappointed. My boyfriend ordered off the DineLA menu, while I ordered a la carte. I guess I should've taken my drink as an omen for what was to come. Instead of my strong, bold, creamy Vietnamese iced coffee, I got coffee flavored water - thin and watery. Where was my condensed milk?! From the DineLA Menu: Mary's Organic Chicken Wings was one of the two items that was not a regret. It was cooked well and had a tangy zing to them. The Turmeric Dill Black Cod was one that needed major help. Our black cod was changed to catfish which was fine, but the presentation and taste was not. When the dish was first served all I could think of was GREEN. The whole plate just looked like a heaping pile of green ingredients dumped on a plate. The taste of the dish was like being punched in the mouth with an overpowering flavor of lemongrass. The Lemongrass Ginger Panna Cotta was creamy, but beware of the citrus fruit. It completely overpowers the light panna cotta and becomes overwhelmingly sweet. The A La Carte Items: The Pull Apart Shrimp Fritters were nicely fried, but eating it was like playing find the needle in the haystack. The shrimps were tiny, few, and unseasoned. The P&B Spare Ribs was quite deceiving. When the plate was delivered it looked great with a nice char on the outside. The meat even fell off the bone. But that was it. When you bit into the ribs you realized it was dry and lacked seasoning. While I read the other comments saying the Crab Fried Rice lacked crab, I wanted to see it for myself, so against my better judgement I ordered it. People were not lying. My poached egg did not have the runny yolk that I was excited for and again it was like finding the needle in the haystack for my crab. If you looked hard enough you might have found a few. Finally, the Vietnamese Cauliflower was the best dish we had. It had a good chile flavor and a nice crunch that reminded me of corn. All in all, the best part of this place was the wait staff who were nice and courteous. I'm definitely not racing to come back to this restaurant.
Pros: Beautiful decor and vibe. Food was delicious. Owner was nice. Full bar. Cons: My dish was too saucy and wet unfortunately, but flavor was great. (Was a chicken entree. Sorry can't remember the name.) Food: Banh mi burger was absolutely delicious! Came on a French baguette. Service: Really hospitable.
An amazing place. We went here on a friend's recommendation, and it was superb. Good service. The food was impeccable. We had four different dishes...beef toothpicks, crab rice, a fish dish, and spare ribs. They were all amazing. Will gladly go over the hill again for this place!
Been here a few times, always fantastic! Go if you get a chance.
Restaurantji Recommends
Overall won't come back. Had a mixed experience my first time here. Arrived around 5:45 PM on a Sunday evening for early dinner/drinks. The good - I enjoyed the vibe; modern hipster jungle? More casual, trendy cafe than restaurant but in a good way. A place I would enjoy having good conversation over good drinks. I liked the shrimp pull-apart fritters a lot. It was generously portioned, fun to eat, delicious, and had a good amount of shrimp. Had never seen a dish like it before. I like the spiciness of the mussels. It brought a decent amount of heat to it, and I would have loved to mix that broth with some rice. Cauliflower Elote was yummy and saucy and a good portion for what you're ordering. Meh - Crab fried rice had good flavor, but minimal crab in it. If you want a carb-y side dish then by all means order this. If you're expecting chunks of crab meat you'll be disappointed. Happy hour - We made it around 10 - 15 minutes before happy hour ended, and didn't notice the happy hour notice on the menu above the bar. There was no HH menu. When we did notice and asked our waiter, it was 2 minutes past 6 and so no longer available. Not the biggest deal but would have been nice to have been told earlier there was HH available. One of our waiters casually dropped off a dish, as he was on the phone taking a personal call. Didn't tell us what the dish was, kind of felt like an afterthought. Bad - The cocktails were decent, but came overflowing on the glass. It was mopped up a little bit, but we were left with sticky glasses on a sticky table. At one point the shades went up (sunlight gone) and the part of the restaurant we were in got really dark. We had to ask someone to turn on the lights, which they were unable to do. We were told this was the most light they were able to give at that time. It was dark enough to be uncomfortable. Chicken fingers - It wasn't that expensive, at around $7. But it was 4 slices of chicken. I put up a picture. I can understand it would be pricier than a casual chicken spot, but this was smaller than the side chicken you'd get on salad. Mostly the service was kind of off and uncomfortable. There were 2 people serving/bartending and not many customers. Felt like it was kind of haphazardly put together and the staff weren't too interested in our experience here which I wouldn't mind if this was a local, casual Vietnamese joint, but I did mind for the presence and cost.
Cute spot that is good for snacking, but not a heavy meal. Portions are relatively small and after ordering about 5 dishes (3 smalls and 2 larger), we definitely walked out more hungry than we came in. Service is good, overall ok. The toothpick beef was pretty good, but I'd recommend 2 for 3 people
Omg! This place was absolutely adorable. The decor was amazing - the floral wallpaper went so well with the velvet green sofas. I also really liked the black and white woven chairs. Ok enough about interior design lol let's move on to the food. We ordered the chicken fingers, cauliflower elote fried rice, and curry with chickpeas. The dipping sauce that came with the chicken fingers was quite delicious. It was like sort of a fish sauce I believe. Cauliflower fried rice was incredibly flavorful. It was a vegetarian option and I wasn't sure if it was my thing, but it turned out to be very delicious! For drinks, we got the Tropical Affairs and Weiser Mai Tai. The mai tai came in a super cute mug. Both these drinks were pretty strong (so...yah they're good) LOL. Overall, everything was quite tasty. It was a little bit on the expensive end tho, but it's a nice restaurant to put on your list of restaurants you can take your s/o to for a cute date! Check in and you can get $1 on an appetizer or cocktail! If you order more than one app or cocktail, they will automatically charge $1 for the item with the lowest price, so you don't actually get to choose which item you want to get the discount for. The server wasn't sure either, so we only found out at the end of our meal. Parking: metered street parking
Excellent cocktails! Great for Happy Hour! Very friendly service. Love the crispy chicken wings, toothpick beef, Vietnamese Caesar Salad, cauliflower elote, crab fried rice. Been back for three times. Will definitely go back again.
I learned real fast DO NOT come here in your work out clothes and DO NOT question the food or it's portions. It sucks I have to write this review!! The first few times I came here with my fiancé we'd come after work dressed up and had fantastic service food amazing our server great!! We decided this was going to be our new spot especially since we run our own businesses and like to be outdoors we can come here and do some work on the patio have good food and drinks. This was not the case for me! I came after a workout changed into chill athletic gear and went this spot to do some work on my computer. I got the total opposite Experience!! The restaurant was chill as usual slow laid back I was on of 2 others in there. My server was a chick with tattoos nice at first....but when I got my food noticed the portions were off, less than usual. I had been sitting outside for awhile didn't bother me at first since it was slow so I went to order at the bar where she was chatting with other people. I at first politely brought up the portions being different was curious if there was a change and the was my big MISTAKE! She was clearly irritated by the question. I meant know offense to the establishment since I decided this was my new spot. I explained why I asked but could tell I already caused a problem and just did my second round of ordering as usual and let it go. I ended up being ignored for about 2 1/2hr! I was no longer checked in on by her but another nice server from one of my previous visits. Total time there was checked on 2x and only by the gentlemen. After that I just stayed working, no further interactions as everyone went back to chatting at the bar until she came to give me the check and that's it!! I was really bummed to have that experience after being so excited and bragging about it to everyone! I feel my clothes and me questioning things turned the people on staff off and that's the treatment I got!!