Top Vietnamese Restaurant in Berkeley
Saigon Express
2045 Kala Bagai Wy, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
Just a cheap Vietnamese restaurant... a cheap restaurant that middle school and high school students go to.
Super Super Pho
1428 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702, United States
A family run Vietnamese restaurant with great pho and other dishes, including garlic fries and a yummy homemade lemon soda! They used to have burgers but unfortunately we never got to try them before they were taken off the menu. This is our go to spot for Vietnamese food in the East Bay.
Mint Leaf
2865 Seventh St, Berkeley, CA 94710, United States
I love Mint Leaf!What the food is like:The pho is good. Flavorful enough to not be boring, and plain enough that it is comfortable to eat. I like to get the special rare beef pho.The shaking beef plate might be my favorite when I want to be spoiled. Its basically a plate of big chunks of well-flavored meat (garlic, onion, salt, probably other flavors too). Love the sizzling sound it makes while it is served.The spring rolls are all really lovely, too. They have a lot of crispy textures stuffed into them.Most of the dishes are very flavorful. Some of them are also rich.Online ordering: I appreciate that Mint Leaf recently incorporated the ability to use Online Ordering through GrubHub and other platforms. I love being able to schedule a pick-up time. I used to order via telephone and would ask for extra jalapeños on the side, and they would sometimes be forgotten (totally okay!). Now that I am ordering online, though, theres a printed receipt that shows the request for extra jalapeños. It seems like this has been making it easier for the staff to ensure order quality. The person who is usually behind the counter has been kind enough to double-check that the jalapeños are there when they see the receipt, without me even having to ask.Thank you, Mint Leaf!
Le Pho Vietnamese Restaurant
2501 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702, United States
The clay pot dishes are sublime. I am particularly enamored of the shrimp clay pot. Sweet, savory, and bedded in perfect rice with a crispy bottom.It would be my death row request if my life path led me there.Service is friendly and authentic, prices are reasonable, and the large windows and corner lot provide a light airy atmosphere.Beer and wine are available, along with lemonade, coffee drinks, and other soft drinks.This is among my two favorite Vietnamese restaurants of all time. It’s always a good day when I’m lucky enough to eat here.
Ph K & K
2533 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
Hands down, the worst Vietnamese restaurant I have ever eaten at. Here are the reasons why:1) The Vietnamese fish sauce is arguably the most important part of Vietnamese cuisine. Here, its more like fish sauce and sugar, diluted with water. There are no chili, lime or garlic taste in it whatsoever.2) Food lacks flavor - I had the rice with lemongrass pork chop. The pork chop lacked any flavour whatsoever. It definitely has not been marinated and the taste of chili and lemongrass was lacking. We also had the Pho - the soup was too sweet and it wasnt made from bone broth (more like flavour packs). They also provide too little herbs (i.e. Thai basil). Lastly, the pho noodle is also not the correct type of noodle.3) The accompanying salad consisted of Spinach, parseley and dill - three ingredients which made absolutely no sense in a Vietnamese dish. On its own, the salad would have been average, but altogether it was just confusing.4) I hereby dedicate an entire point to the papaya salad - the papaya was cut too thick so it stopped being crunchy and started to become slightly chewy - an adjective you never want to use on a salad. Again, the herbs was lacking, and the fish sauce was bad.However, it is not a total disaster - whilst the pork chop lacked flavour, it tasted fresh and not dry. The same with the beef in the Pho - the meat had a good texture to it. The service was good - we were given a big glass of water soon after we sat down and the food arrived within 10 minutes.Nonetheless, it was the worst Vietnamese meal I have ever had. Despite a lack of Vietnamese restaurants in Berkeley, I would not be returning. After returning home, I regret finishing the food. My very-Asian body feels violated by the food, and I am currently eating two whole Romaine Hearts in an effort to expel the food from my body in my next toilet break.
Camille Restaurant
2507 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709, United States
Get the hot sauce. Pretty solid Chinese food with some vegetarian options. I got the eggplant and tofu. I am unsure why it is listed as a Vietnamese restaurant.
Pho Le
1301 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702, United States
Came here on a hot, quiet Tuesday last week and had a most enjoyable experience. The man serving us was super friendly and the food was delicious. We ordered a Pho Dac Biet, Pho Ga, and also tried the house special dumplings. This restaurant has a sort of Chinese/ Vietnamese fusion menu, but certainly everything we had exceeded expectations. The broth on the Pho Ga was crisp, the beef broth was rich and flavorful, and the additions and sauces provided to enjoy a variety of dining options was plenty. One thing I was surprised by was the quality and presentation of the dumplings. They included a 3 sauce set and the wraps were filled to the brim. All the food cost us probably around $30 and was worth every penny. I have been dreaming about coming back to Pho Le in the near future.
Pho Tasty
2101 Milvia St, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
It’s awesome to have a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Berkeley and Pho Tasty is a solid offering. However, compared to most Vietnamese restaurants I’ve visited in the Bay (which is a lot because it’s my favorite cuisine), the portion sizes are on the small side and the prices are on the high side. The prices may be justifiable given high rents in Berkeley, but the portions could be 25% larger as my vermicelli bowl was really not big enough for a dinner portion (and that should be doable as the food itself isn’t a giant part of the costs of running a restaurant…)
Nom Nom Bnh M
2491 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
Extremely overpriced. The restaurant week menu is such a rip off. How do you justify paying $60 for 4 sandwiches and some drinks? Its actually cheaper to order the items individually! Calling it a $60 feast for 4 people is a joke. The sandwiches are literally mostly bread, all the authentic Vietnamese places in Oakland would dig out the white bread part to fill it with more meat and filling (and they only cost $4-$5 too!!).If youre going to charge Berkeley prices, at least make sure its Berkeley quality.
Vanessas Bistro
1715 Solano Ave, Berkeley, CA 94707, United States
Seated outside (our preference) with 5-10 minutes. Our waitress was absolutely delightful! We started with the salt & pepper calimari, the shrimp & papaya salad, and the fresh tofu spring rolls, then the giant prawns with udon noodles, the great lemongrass chicken, and the garlic eggplant, along with a single serving of jasmine rice. There was plenty of food for 4! And it was all delicious! My wife had a bottle of Pelligrino, the other couple had each a glass of Chardonnay, and I had a 12 oz bottle of Asahi Super-Dry for $5 (I believe this was not only a fair price, but slighly less expensive than the 21.4 oz bottle for $9).The food was delicioys, the price quite reasonable (4 dinners for a bit more than $100). We will definitely come back, for the delicious reasonably priced cuisine and the excellent service. And to try their slow-rosted pork with chipotle salsa & chips, an interesting fusion dish for an excellent Vietnamese restaurant!