I had a great experience picking my order today. My cousin speaks very highly about this place and their fried fish so we order our food to go. We got the ca nuong (fried fish), egg rolls, cha gio (Vietnamese fried spring rolls) muc rang muoi (fried squid), Tom tang muoi (shrimp) and beef salad. They told me it would be 30 minutes for them to make the order for pickup and it took that exact time. The inside of the restaurant is very nice and the mirror they added inside make the space look bigger. The roasted fish was delicious and all the other food we got as well. Everyone was happy with the selections. They also have a tent outside for dining but it doesn't seem like it was being used when I came today.Vegetarian options: They have a decent amount of vegetarian options here.Parking: There a decent amount of parking spots hereKid-friendliness: This place is kid friendlyWheelchair accessibility: This place is wheelchair accessible
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bun Cha Gio, The Famously Grilled Catfish, Crispy Baked Catfish
Vee Dinh
One of the most classic Vietnamese restaurants I have been to. They have so many great dishes!Highlights of the menu:1. Egg rolls - Chả Giò2. Salt and pepper shrimp - Tôm Rang Muối3. Chicken curry - Cary Gà4. Crispy baked catfish - Cá Nướng5. Deep fried banana with rum flame & vanilla ice cream - Chuối Chiên & kem6. Pennyworth juice - Rau má7. Thai milk tea8. Passion fruit juice
Recommended dishes: The Famously Grilled Catfish, Egg Rolls
Tim V
The signature fish dish was exceptional. The skin was perfectly crispy and they somehow got rid of the fishiness of catfish. Dipping with the sauce that comes with makes the dish unforgettable. Ordered the small one and the 3 of us couldn’t finish it all.Delicious, huge portions, unique, affordable, worth it.Worth the 6 hour flight and hour drive.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Famously Grilled Catfish, Crispy Baked Catfish
Nghia Nguyen
It’s not like what it used to be. Service was all over the place and good was not good.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Angy P.
The food was so delicious and the service was great. The coffee was interesting and sweet. However, it was dark with not enough lights while we were eating the food. I like brighter place for food.
Good food, very nice and fast service. All dishes taste amazing. Love the vibe here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chris Le
Food is always good here. I understand the ambience can look a bit old but for me if gives off the nostalgia vibe going there as kids. 2 thumbs
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kim Nugent
Update 09/23- Invited a good friend to dine here, it's same ambiances, good service and, last but not least important, my favorites Baked catfish and Seafood Hot pot are still remaining at same taste as before, same quality, EXCEPT for the price ?INFLATION, I guess. Will continue to dine here again.It's been a while since the pandemic that my husband and I, we returned here to enjoy its famously baked catfish and seafood hot pot. Boyz, it didn't let us down at all.- First of all, here are some updates as of today, you now can dine-in (with limited seating per state - law, of course). From my observations, restaurant has re-arranged its tables approximately 6' apart including surrounding glasses dividers for each table (the amount of tables have been reduced in half compared to pre-pandemic) so we feel more safe and comfortable to eat-in. They tried to seat customers as far as possible from one table to other tables. All employees were wearing masks, and they cleaned up tables and chairs thoroughly with sanitizer after each used.- As usual, we ordered our favorites baked catfish and a seafood hot pot. The balance of the sweet, sour and little spicy of the broth was perfect. There was a variation of seafood such as fish, shrimps, clams, jelly fish, squid, snails and quail eggs for you to dip in broth. It served with rice vermicelli and vegetables. I'm still salivating when thinking about it. Lol. We couldn't finish it because we still have to make room for the baked fish. Wow. The fish was perfectly baked. It was golden brown, crisp and fresh. Beautifully decorated with its trimmings such as lettuce, carrot pickle, cucumber, crushed peanuts. So yummmmy. It served with rice paper, a full plate of various mints, lettuce, more carrot pickle and slices of cucumber dipped in anchovies or mixed fish sauce of your choice. It's so good. Worth an hour drive to get here. Lol.Service was nice, attentive, and friendly. Expected to wait a bit longer for the food, which was understandable. Perhaps, kitchen personnel down-size due to the Covid-19 situation. However, foods had same taste as before pandemic.Overall, we would definitely return again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lori Stansfield
We had the shrimp spring roll and the peanut sauce was delicious. Then we ordered the seafood hot pot which was full of flavor. We could not stop eating!!Dietary restrictions: I have a wheat allergy, but they have plenty of rice and rice noodle dishes. We will definitely be back.
Best ca nuong I have ever eaten. Great food and great service. The price is a bit higher compared to other vn food restaurants but it was worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nhien Nguyen
A great disappointment! I have been eating here for a while, not regular but every time I have guests I will invite them to here for French and Vietnamese food. It was good other time when I ate there with 1-2 friends. This time I reserved table for my family guests, we were 6 in total. We were so excited to try food here the dinner went wrong.1. Escargot: 2 orders were served not hot but only lukewarm, texture was very very soggy. Not juicy soft as it was.2. Baked fish ( Large size): we were excited to wait for this fish as it is the restaurant signature but it was terrible. It looked crispy but the skin was chewy and super hard, feel like chewing aluminum foil in your mouth. My guests also commented that the fish looked nice and crispy but when eating it is not, it cut their tongue to chew it so they decided to eat the meat underneath the skin only, we tried to finish it as it is $86 something, not wanted to waste it but finally we could not finish, have to pack it to home to see what can do with it3. Queen fried rice: rice was hard and dried4. Bun cha Ha Noi: pork patty was dried not as juicy as it was when I ordered several time before.The Rare beef salad , French onion soup was ok.For the bill, cashier added 18% tip straight. I did not like that way. I never like to be forced for how much I am giving tip in any place I go, you can indicate straight on your menu that party more than how many people will be subjected to how much service charge to ensure your service for the big group is paid fairly. However for tip, it comes from how satisfied client to your food and services, let client decide it. I know I could tell them taking out that 18% and we leave tip in Cash as we planned but I agreed to support for the server, not for food quality.I lost my face when recommended the restaurant to my guests here, I told them it was one of the best in OC, I wanted to let them try how good Vietnamese food but we all left with unpleasant feeling. Definitely I will not come back or recommend the restaurant anymore.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Coy Tran
Loved everything! Ordered the 6 persons combo and we couldn't eat Thai hot pot, so they quickly packed it up for us to take home. Salt pepper shrimp was very crispy and tasty.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Judith Homann
I sadly was not impressed with what this restaurant was hyped up to be. Some friends took us here and we got their claim to fame catfish which was alright. We also got a chicken curry, which is usually a favorite of ours, but the chicken was fatty, had ligaments and skin still attached and the curry didn't have the nice lemongrass flavor. We also got the jelly fish salad. We noticed two servers, one of which picked their teeth and another who used their whole hand to wipe their nose before serving plates. No one was wearing a proper uniform. The restaurant looks tacky on the outside and is completely fenced-in making it difficult to get to the parking lot. Every window is covered up, it's dark inside, and their are mirrors everywhere making it look like a maze. Apparently this was supposed to be authentic, but I found it disturbing. And to top it all off, we spent $40 a person and we didn't even get drinks!
I had a great experience picking my order today. My cousin speaks very highly about this place and their fried fish so we order our food to go. We got the ca nuong (fried fish), egg rolls, cha gio (Vietnamese fried spring rolls) muc rang muoi (fried squid), Tom tang muoi (shrimp) and beef salad. They told me it would be 30 minutes for them to make the order for pickup and it took that exact time. The inside of the restaurant is very nice and the mirror they added inside make the space look bigger. The roasted fish was delicious and all the other food we got as well. Everyone was happy with the selections. They also have a tent outside for dining but it doesn't seem like it was being used when I came today.Vegetarian options: They have a decent amount of vegetarian options here.Parking: There a decent amount of parking spots hereKid-friendliness: This place is kid friendlyWheelchair accessibility: This place is wheelchair accessible
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bun Cha Gio, The Famously Grilled Catfish, Crispy Baked Catfish
One of the most classic Vietnamese restaurants I have been to. They have so many great dishes!Highlights of the menu:1. Egg rolls - Chả Giò2. Salt and pepper shrimp - Tôm Rang Muối3. Chicken curry - Cary Gà4. Crispy baked catfish - Cá Nướng5. Deep fried banana with rum flame & vanilla ice cream - Chuối Chiên & kem6. Pennyworth juice - Rau má7. Thai milk tea8. Passion fruit juice
Recommended dishes: The Famously Grilled Catfish, Egg Rolls
The signature fish dish was exceptional. The skin was perfectly crispy and they somehow got rid of the fishiness of catfish. Dipping with the sauce that comes with makes the dish unforgettable. Ordered the small one and the 3 of us couldn’t finish it all.Delicious, huge portions, unique, affordable, worth it.Worth the 6 hour flight and hour drive.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Famously Grilled Catfish, Crispy Baked Catfish
It’s not like what it used to be. Service was all over the place and good was not good.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
The food was so delicious and the service was great. The coffee was interesting and sweet. However, it was dark with not enough lights while we were eating the food. I like brighter place for food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Famously Grilled Catfish, Crispy Baked Catfish, Egg Rolls
Food not that
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Hot Pot
Good food, very nice and fast service. All dishes taste amazing. Love the vibe here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food is always good here. I understand the ambience can look a bit old but for me if gives off the nostalgia vibe going there as kids. 2 thumbs
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Update 09/23- Invited a good friend to dine here, it's same ambiances, good service and, last but not least important, my favorites Baked catfish and Seafood Hot pot are still remaining at same taste as before, same quality, EXCEPT for the price ?INFLATION, I guess. Will continue to dine here again.It's been a while since the pandemic that my husband and I, we returned here to enjoy its famously baked catfish and seafood hot pot. Boyz, it didn't let us down at all.- First of all, here are some updates as of today, you now can dine-in (with limited seating per state - law, of course). From my observations, restaurant has re-arranged its tables approximately 6' apart including surrounding glasses dividers for each table (the amount of tables have been reduced in half compared to pre-pandemic) so we feel more safe and comfortable to eat-in. They tried to seat customers as far as possible from one table to other tables. All employees were wearing masks, and they cleaned up tables and chairs thoroughly with sanitizer after each used.- As usual, we ordered our favorites baked catfish and a seafood hot pot. The balance of the sweet, sour and little spicy of the broth was perfect. There was a variation of seafood such as fish, shrimps, clams, jelly fish, squid, snails and quail eggs for you to dip in broth. It served with rice vermicelli and vegetables. I'm still salivating when thinking about it. Lol. We couldn't finish it because we still have to make room for the baked fish. Wow. The fish was perfectly baked. It was golden brown, crisp and fresh. Beautifully decorated with its trimmings such as lettuce, carrot pickle, cucumber, crushed peanuts. So yummmmy. It served with rice paper, a full plate of various mints, lettuce, more carrot pickle and slices of cucumber dipped in anchovies or mixed fish sauce of your choice. It's so good. Worth an hour drive to get here. Lol.Service was nice, attentive, and friendly. Expected to wait a bit longer for the food, which was understandable. Perhaps, kitchen personnel down-size due to the Covid-19 situation. However, foods had same taste as before pandemic.Overall, we would definitely return again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had the shrimp spring roll and the peanut sauce was delicious. Then we ordered the seafood hot pot which was full of flavor. We could not stop eating!!Dietary restrictions: I have a wheat allergy, but they have plenty of rice and rice noodle dishes. We will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Hot Pot
Restaurantji Recommends
Baked catfish is great
Best ca nuong I have ever eaten. Great food and great service. The price is a bit higher compared to other vn food restaurants but it was worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A great disappointment! I have been eating here for a while, not regular but every time I have guests I will invite them to here for French and Vietnamese food. It was good other time when I ate there with 1-2 friends. This time I reserved table for my family guests, we were 6 in total. We were so excited to try food here the dinner went wrong.1. Escargot: 2 orders were served not hot but only lukewarm, texture was very very soggy. Not juicy soft as it was.2. Baked fish ( Large size): we were excited to wait for this fish as it is the restaurant signature but it was terrible. It looked crispy but the skin was chewy and super hard, feel like chewing aluminum foil in your mouth. My guests also commented that the fish looked nice and crispy but when eating it is not, it cut their tongue to chew it so they decided to eat the meat underneath the skin only, we tried to finish it as it is $86 something, not wanted to waste it but finally we could not finish, have to pack it to home to see what can do with it3. Queen fried rice: rice was hard and dried4. Bun cha Ha Noi: pork patty was dried not as juicy as it was when I ordered several time before.The Rare beef salad , French onion soup was ok.For the bill, cashier added 18% tip straight. I did not like that way. I never like to be forced for how much I am giving tip in any place I go, you can indicate straight on your menu that party more than how many people will be subjected to how much service charge to ensure your service for the big group is paid fairly. However for tip, it comes from how satisfied client to your food and services, let client decide it. I know I could tell them taking out that 18% and we leave tip in Cash as we planned but I agreed to support for the server, not for food quality.I lost my face when recommended the restaurant to my guests here, I told them it was one of the best in OC, I wanted to let them try how good Vietnamese food but we all left with unpleasant feeling. Definitely I will not come back or recommend the restaurant anymore.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Loved everything! Ordered the 6 persons combo and we couldn't eat Thai hot pot, so they quickly packed it up for us to take home. Salt pepper shrimp was very crispy and tasty.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salt and Pepper Shrimp
I sadly was not impressed with what this restaurant was hyped up to be. Some friends took us here and we got their claim to fame catfish which was alright. We also got a chicken curry, which is usually a favorite of ours, but the chicken was fatty, had ligaments and skin still attached and the curry didn't have the nice lemongrass flavor. We also got the jelly fish salad. We noticed two servers, one of which picked their teeth and another who used their whole hand to wipe their nose before serving plates. No one was wearing a proper uniform. The restaurant looks tacky on the outside and is completely fenced-in making it difficult to get to the parking lot. Every window is covered up, it's dark inside, and their are mirrors everywhere making it look like a maze. Apparently this was supposed to be authentic, but I found it disturbing. And to top it all off, we spent $40 a person and we didn't even get drinks!