I am from the Bay Area, and have eaten some good Vietnamese food in my time. My wife and I were excited to try this place after reading the positive reviews on yelp. Outside, it still has the appearance of the previous Diner that used to occupy this location. Despite its appearance on the outside, I was willing to give it a try. After all, sometimes the best places are those "hole in the wall" spots.
Walking in, I was encouraged by all the people dining in the restaurant. Once I received a menu from a distracted employee, I was really hopeful that this was going to be my new favorite place. The menu offered so many wonderful choices that sounded amazing in print. Problem is- the dishes we chose did not live up to our expectations.
I chose the lemongrass chicken chili -since we were at a lemongrass café. The dish consisted of pieces of chicken that were cooked with white onions and spices. Not gross, but not good. The sauce was too thick and was more like a paste. My wife opted for the lemongrass beef with noodles. The dish was cold and not what she was hoping for.
The service was horrible. The guy came to the table and says "you ready"? I asked him a question on the two dishes that I was debating on. His response was that everything on the menu was good. Ok pal, that didn't help at all. Our drinks were not refilled until we were done with dinner-which bugs me.
Perhaps we didn't choose the best dinners off the menu, but I have to imagine that the service will still suck-"if" we do come back.