AK Kitchen

This is a one-man show. The owner is also the cook and the waiter. We're all impressed how he got it all done by himself. The restaurant is spacious and clean. It wasn't crowded when we came. Service was good. We ordered many different dishes. - Our favorite was the scrispy rice paper combo ($5.5 each), crap and asparagus soup ($12.5) and chicken wings. I also liked my flan coffee. - The grilled sate squid was cooked well (not over cooked), the char was nice but we didn't like the squid texture (it's not his fault, I don't think, it's just the squid itself). - The street corns was decent but it needs a bit more fish sauce and maybe sugar. Overall, we were happy with our visit and liked our food.

Amazing food, great service and at reasonable prices. I order veg tofu, friend rice and egg noodles and everything was perfect. They even were able to honor my request of steamed tofu instead of having fried tofu. Will visit again!

Went there shortly after 1:00 on a Friday afternoon and we were the only ones there. We both had the Grilled Pork Vermicelli. The grilled pork was really delicious. Good variety of drinks. Pleasant environment with nice Vietnamese music playing in the background. It's nice to support a small friendly family restaurant

Best spot if you like Vietnamese/Asian food, but dont like crowds, as this one located in one of South Bay chillest area. We were the only people there on a Thursday afternoon. Decent food too

Love the Shaken beef recommend by Larry. The beef very tender and juicy. My new favorite spot for rice shaken beef.

My mom lives in The Villages and there aren't a lot of good food options nearby. But AK Kitchen is the exception. Everything is fresh and tasty, and it's better Vietnamese food than in other neighborhoods. They don't skimp on ingredients. The Lotus Salad is amazing, I could eat that every day. Pork is not too fatty or gristly. Portions are large. The vermicelli had plenty of greens, including mint. We were warned when we came in that it might take a while to receive our food as they were preparing a large order for someone else. It was nice to know in advance, I appreciated that. We did wait a while, but got appetizers. The ambience is pretty plain. It's like a rental banquet room, I think you can pay to have parties there. But what it lacks in ambience, it makes up for in food.

Yesterday, we went to AK Kitchen for the first time. We ordered shrimp and teriyaki chicken plate. They were tasty. Because it is not too sweet or salty. The food is enough if you dont to eat too much. The restaurant is clean and nice. Especially the service is great! Thank you for giving me snack. We try it on the way back to LA and it is yummy too.

New, opened 1/1/2020. Steak is juicy and flavorful. Pho broth is flavorful. Location is far from regular traffic. Lots of space to have large group gathering.

Very delicious ! the best Vietnamese food ! If you need a house party, they could make food to serve and delivery too .

We met the humble, kind, and thoughtful owner and chef (Lam) upon arriving. He kindly let us know that there may be a bit of a wait since a few big tables arrived just before us. We hardly noticed since he brought some pre-meal snacks (homemade) for us to enjoy while we waited. Then came the food... there were 5 of us, and we each ordered something different. We eat a LOT of Vietnamese food and each of us thought it was among the best we've tried... and we've had a lot. Super delicious!!! Highly recommend. Give AK Kitchen a try, and enjoy some really great Vietnamese food.

Great neighborhood restaurant! Have had catering/take out but not the opportunity to dine in until recently. Lam really took into consideration my family's specific (dietary) needs and followed-up to make sure they enjoyed it (clean plates, so I'd say so!) Really is a one-man show (read up on AK kitchen and Lam in the recent SF Eater article) We will be back, especially to try the specialty coffees.

This is a one-man show. The owner is also the cook and the waiter. We're all impressed how he got it all done by himself. The restaurant is spacious and clean. It wasn't crowded when we came. Service was good. We ordered many different dishes. - Our favorite was the scrispy rice paper combo ($5.5 each), crap and asparagus soup ($12.5) and chicken wings. I also liked my flan coffee. - The grilled sate squid was cooked well (not over cooked), the char was nice but we didn't like the squid texture (it's not his fault, I don't think, it's just the squid itself). - The street corns was decent but it needs a bit more fish sauce and maybe sugar. Overall, we were happy with our visit and liked our food.

Good food. The pho is good as. Is the beef stew. Went with 2 coworkers and was happy with my meal and the prices we paid

- stopped by here on my way home from my home matchmaking job - dinner time - parking plenty in plaza - not busy at all midweek Food - coconut water was definitely just the frozen stuff dethawed , I am a little spoiled cuz I buy fresh coconuts - grilled vermicelli pork: enjoyed this, plenty of food and veggies If I were in the area prob would come again just not for the coconut water :)

WOW! This was absolutely wonderful! The food was perfect, and the person working there was an absolute pleasure to see. He was really kind! The place didn't feel like it pushed you away, but it felt COMFORTABLE! It was amazing, I loved the ambiance, food, service, and everything! PLEASE visit!

This was our first time and definitelynot last. Wr had Thai red curry with fish and Pad Thai with prawns. Both were very good, fresh and yummy. Service was perfect

This place was alright, locates in a pretty quiet and small shopping mall. If you don't want to cook and want to grab a quick dinner nearby, then this is where you go. I can see it's a popular place near the neighborhood. Service was good, only tho there's only one guy but he acts fast. Food was mediocre, curry is actually spicy which I like.

I was very disappointed with this place. I had high expectations after reading the reviews. The menu has a lot of options. Sadly the food that we ordered lacked flavor especially for Asian fusion. It was a hot day and there was no AC. Lots of seating for large parties but there were no other diners. Will not be a place I return to.

This cozy hidden jewel of San Jose not only has the best Vietnamese Seafood Udon with the house made fishballs but also has a vegetarian Pho. The menu is pretty big but not too daunting. I really like the booths I wish more places had them. I believe the place is run just by one person but he attentive and friendly. I really enjoyed my iced coffee for dessert. I can't wait to go back and have different food and drinks.

Great food when they are open. Very flaky, unfortunately. They seem to close randomly. You'll never know until you get there. Yelp will take take-out orders even when they have decided to close. They will refund if you call Support.

AK Kitchen is nestled deep in the Evergreen/San Felipe area, so it's not easy to spot driving compared to a main street. Their staff is friendly and seated us right away. We ordered the salt & pepper calamari and the crab fried rice and it was enough to share between two people. Everything tasted great and was pleased with the service as well.

Not a good experience at all. I ordered a Korean short rib dish but all I got was bones and fat. when I told the server it was a bad meal, he said that's what Koreans eat, mainly bones and fat. He offered no satisfaction and also told me nothing on the menu is very authentic Vietnamese food.

I have heard of this restaurant through a friend who shared that their Vietnamese Egg Coffee is delish. I decided get a snack for lunch today trying the popcorn chicken and the Vietnamese Egg Coffee. I ordered for pick up via doordash and waited a few minutes upon arrival to the restaurant at designated time of pickup. The staff was friendly and gave me accurate status of my order. The restaurant is pretty roomy and looks very clean. There are about 8 booths, 4 on each side with tables for 4 in the middle on one side of the restaurant. There were 2 sets of long tables (several small tables put together to form the long tables) to the other side of the room. I got my food and immediately started eating in the car as I got hungry. And here's my thoughts. 1. The popcorn chicken better is very crispy but there is no salt & pepper seasoning so it tastes very bland. The description of the popcorn chicken says it includes green onions and garlic but as you can see in the picture, there is nothing. The sauce that came with it was decent as it's a combo of savory sweet which I prefer over sweetness only. Some pieces were dried and chewey while other pieces were moist. 2. The iced Vietnamese egg coffee is delish! For Vietnamese coffee, it wasn't as strong so I did not hesitate to slurp it. To taste the egg cream, I pull the straw from up top and pushing it down as sip up the coffee to get both the egg cream and coffee together. I couldnt believed that I finished it before getting home, about 7 mins away. My impression of the food so far is not great as its based only on the popcorn snack only. I would like to try other foods from the menu in future and will update my review as appropriate. The extra star is based on the delish ice coffee and customer service.

Ordered party trays from this place few times. Crab fried rice & coconut salad. Food is tasty and price is reasonable. Store looks clean.

I love the Teriyaki chicken, tastes perfect and tender, as well as the shaken beef. The portion is good enough for me. You should also try the Lemongrass Orange Peach tea (Tra dao cam sa). I usually dont like to taste too much of lemongrass but this is ok for me which I like it. Service was great and the restaurant is clean. Located near Evergreen Valley College which I will definitely stop by again for lunch after school.

Nice staff, fast service, clean restaurant, and delicious drinks! Ordered two drinks; the Mashing Milo and Lemongrass Orange Peach Tea. The hostess was super nice and gave us the drink menu right away when we said we only wanted drinks. When we ordered our drinks, he said it should be about a 10 minute wait, however, the drinks were ready in under 5! The mashing Milo was had a whole piece of flan in it! I'm a fan of Milo so I heavily enjoyed this drink. The lemon grass orange peach tea was super refreshing, the boba and added fruit added a lot of flavor as well! The restaurant was super clean which is a huge plus! I am not giving this place 5 starts, YET, because I have not tried the food here. The menu looks great though and I am super excited to try the rice plates and skewers. I will provide an update when I get the chance to eat their food!

The food is very good and the services is excellent, not super fast because it is all handle by one person, the Ambiance is nice, I was also given a free bag of their home made Chex Mix for free, love this place.

The service was quick considering everything came out fresh and hot. Taste did not disappoint. There was a lot of take out orders so you know people love this restaurant. They place music but at a good volume. There was some beautiful art on the walls and the have an aquarium with jelly fish to enjoy seeing

Lam and the team at AK kitchen always a winner! Nice spot close owner operated with great food, Clean restrooms, small corkage fee!! Sandra and I love the popcorn chicken and vegetable pho especially on a cold day. We also love the chicken skewers as they are hot off the grill and an amazing seasoning. Insider info make sure to take home a bag of the Furikakw Chex Mix! Supper yummy!!

Great food. Good service. Clean. Gave us good recommendations as we were not familiar with their menu.

It's been over a year since we came here last time. We ordered different things this time, but felt that the quality was subpar. Crab fried rice: 2.5/5. There was definitely enough crab in it. The fried rice was too soggy. Not good. Calamari: 2/5. Not crispy, period! Ox tail hot pot (large): 3/5. It's definitely not what the picture shown on Yelp. Soup base was decent. The only highlight was the egg noodle. Not sure which brand it was, but they didn't make soggy at all. They prepped it well. $42 was ok, but I probably wouldn't order that again. They don't serve Asian tea. They give you Lipton.

The Furikake Chex Mix is super addicting! The Mango Salad is super delicious too! I got one of their popular drinks like the Lemongrass Orange Green Tea which is refreshing!

The restaurant is located in hidden corner. I just found it out through my friend's suggestion. Oh my. I found a hidden gem. It's so clean compared to most of same kind restaurants in this area. Nice decorations. Plenty parking. The food was excellent so I just digged in and forgot to take pictures. I managed to get the tea picture tho. Haha. Best fruit tea ever. The server was super nice and attentive. I will be back with more friends. This restaurant deserves more attention.

A hidden gem in the Evergreen area of San Jose. The place is clean, the food is super delicious and the staff is cordial. We had the korean beef on rice, my companion had the grilled pork on vermicelli and our appetizer was the baby clams. The clams were a little spicy but it was yummy. The honeydew with coffee jelly was sweet but paired well with my meal. It is our first time to try this restaurant and we will be coming back for sure.

I've been trying to stay away from dairy so I haven't gone in a while, but my dad did try their egg coffee. After spending MONTHS in Vietnam, the verdict is in - AK Kitchen has better ca phe trung than the cafes in Saigon. My dad can't wait to come back to the US to grab some more with me! Wish they had a dairy free version with coconut milk instead, but I'll take a Lactaid for their coffee any day.

Excellent Pho soups. Hot fresh vegetables. The service is outstanding and very respectful. Not a long way for our food. Clean and pleasant environment. I love this place.

On a cold winter's night the other week , we opted for some pho takeout to warm our souls. Ordered over the phone with approx 20 min wait for pick up, not bad at all. Ordered the chicken pho- this is a large soup. Comes in two containers.. one with broth, the other with noodles and chicken, and a bag with all the condiments jalapeño, basil, bean sprouts etc. Plenty of chicken breast meat. Broth could use a little more flavor. I added some sambal from home to give it a little kick and flavor. Beef pho- this is a large soup. My son enjoyed this soup with plenty of meat, beef balls, and rich broth You can make two meals out of the pho! Pork vermicelli plate- nice presentation. BBQ pork could use a little more flavor too, the rest of the plate was good Overall good, dishes were fresh and good portion size... just, slightly bland, needs a little something. Thank you for warming up our tummies and souls!

This is a hidden gem in the Evergreen area. I came with my friends and have a good time here. Food was good, service was excellent. We ordered a Spring rolls and Popcorn chicken, lotus salad for appetizer. Main dishes were Beef cube rice for me, Teriyaki chicken rice and Crab fried rice for my friends. I also have Rice paper salad for take out which is wonderful taste. I also recommended Vietnamese Egg coffee and Lemon grass peach tea for drink. Super delicious.

I was really rooting for this place we all were rooting. Sadly I was really disappointed in service , cleanliness and wait time . We were the only ones in the restaurant, 3 of the tables still had dirty dishes on them the table we were sat at was so sticky that our menus were stuck to the table when you went to pick them up it sounded like Velcro, we moved to another table ! I know we should have got up and left but like I said I was rooting for it! It took over 20 min for him to come back out to us to take our drink order/ appetizer order ,30 mins after that to take our food order , our food came out before the calamari (8 rings) portions were slightly on the small side , their pickled dikon and carrots were warm and on the way sweeter side all are made different I know. I had the pho it was actually the only thing that was well portioned. The other three people I was with got meat orders with a side of rice all said the meat was fair. I just wish done in customers were a priority or at least make it seem like we are . I almost felt like we were forgot about. It was almost like they prioritized big orders(party platters)over simple sit down orders. 2 other people came in awhile after us and ordered a few platters and revived them before we got our food.

I was in SJ with the roommate's brother when he ask me if I wanted anything from AK Kitchen for lunch. Since I love trying new places, I said sure! He initially tried calling in the order on Thursday, June 18th at 11:30am since that's when they open. For some reason, they weren't answering the phone, so he decided to walk here. They were still closed, so we were about to order from somewhere else. Decided to try calling one more time and finally someone picked up around 12 noon. Our takeout order was ready around 12:15pm. G4. Vietnamese style rare veal C1. Grilled Pork with Rice I was craving rare beef, but they didn't have it, so I got the rare veal instead. It was a little more cooked than I imagined, so it didn't really fulfill that rare beef craving. But I did enjoy the flavors after adding hot sauce to the dish. The roomie's bro had the pork and rice which he seemed to enjoy. I believe he's ordered from here before, so it's a convenient go to for him. I want to try more dishes like their bun rieu. I love the contrast in extreme flavors. Gimme something spicy, fishy, salty, etc. I want it all! This spot seems to be a fusion of different asian cuisines with a focus on Vietnamese. So far, the veal dish was just meh. But I want to give them another chance and try some more. Especially since this is so close to the roommate's house in SJ. Super convenient for a quick meal!

Our favorite neighborhood restaurant for Vietnamese food. Always delicious! Good service and always delicious.

This neighborhood restaurant is almost contained within the Villages but it is a public restaurant. I wasn't expecting much from a place like this, but they surprised me. Delicious food and great service. Ample parking in a pleasant surrounding. We've been here no less than five times, and everything has been very consistent. We usually order the hotpot (L3). Tasty broth, lots of veggies and generous portion of filet mignon. Other items on the menu look yummy as well, mostly Vietnamese and some fusions. If you want Real Vietnamese food without the Asian mall parking nightmare, this place is for you! Also, there's no corkage fee on Monday for us wine lovers!

We went to this plaza when it was opened in 2019, this is the second time we visited the village, the menu has increased. My husband likes the deep fried quail egg and Vietnamese pizza, I liked the egg coffee and lovely fish tank in front.

Food is delicious and the service is nice. This is my favorite place to hang out with friends and family.

Our go-to place for Vietnamese street food. Generous portion given the price that we paid for. Staffs are helpful and services is great. * Favorite food : seafood hotpot & rice paper salad * Favorite drink: lemongrass orange peach tea. Super refreshing!

Tonkatsu is to die for. Food is mostly good. Nd fresh. Would be good to have an english menu with pictures. English speaking staff would be a boon.

Vietnamese coffee with milk (bac xiu version): It was not made over sweet. I was able to adjust the sweetness after taking a sip. The coffee strength is just right for me - medium to strong. Taste: better than many Vietnamese coffee shops. I highly recommend this coffee and the egg coffee. Non-meat skewers (tofu and quail eggs): yummy. Thumps up for not having excess oil on the plate. Crispy egg noodle with seafood: good portion and very yummy. There were more carrots than cabbage. It would be better to have some more cabbage. Overall, this dish is great. Food quality is consistent every time I visit. I am provided a bill with breakdowns. The good restaurants would let you see the breakdown of the charges. Staff are polite. 5 stars for customer service. The restaurant is clean.

Always good! Very fresh! Clean and roomy dining room. A hidden gem! We especially like the Pho!

Fresh, well-prepared food for a reasonable price. I highly recommend! I love the egg rolls, Korean Beef and Beef and rice. All fresh and well made!

I came to San Jose from OC on a short visit. My friend took me to this Vietnamese restaurant. I tried Pork Chop with Rice plate and Egg Coffee as recommended by the server, Lam. The Pork Chop was outstanding. The flavor is exactly the one I had in Saigon. Sooooo goooood. Egg Coffee was the excellent. The balance in sweetness and bitterness of coffee and condensed milk mixed with creamy egg custard. Way better than the one I had in OC. Reasonable price with great service. Highly recommended. Will try more dishes next time I come back to visit my friend again.

I ordered their pork chop tray several times when covid was still in effect. The delivery fee depends on how much you buy and the location of your house. The meat was delicious: savory, slightly sweet, and a bit smoky-- just like the flavor you'd find in the streets of Saigon. They also accommodate personal requests, like if you want your pork chop to be on the dry side like I did. I came to dine-in yesterday and ordered a plate of pork chop rice, served hot. It was yummy and very filling. They definitely know how to make good Vietnamese pork chop rice. I'd recommend anyone who loves this dish to give it a try at AK Kitchen.

AK Kitchen is a true hidden gem, providing not only fantastic food but also an overall delightful dining experience. The owner's attentiveness adds a personal touch to the cozy and inviting ambiance. I am looking forward to my next visit! [Note to the Yelpers - it might be a bit tricky for some to locate this restaurant since it is within a residential community, but do not get deterred -- just follow your GPS/google maps directions.]

We went there on a cloudy day with full of curiosity about trying Vietnamese egg coffee and Vietnamese pizza combo, but it completely failed us. Vietnamese egg coffee was too sweet even though we stirred it well and no longer hot. This even never reached a small fraction of the level of Vietnamese egg coffee we tried in Hanoi years ago. The Vietnamese pizza combo combined of cheap ingredients you could buy at Walmart or Costco. But the worse thing was it was sticky to the paper plate. The paper plate is so cheap that they could use a better one to prevent it from being happened. I recommend anyone who wants to try this food, please bring your own plate. Otherwise, you will eat paper.

Didn't even get to try the food because the service was terrible. I am a home health nurse and I travel throughout the area for work. I stopped to order some lunch, but I prefer to sit in my car to eat. I asked to use a bathroom, the host declined my being able to use a bathroom even if I ordered a complete meal to go, stating that the bathroom was only for the patrons who sit inside the restaurant. Very poor business. Don't even need to try the food, not recommended for this reason.

The egg coffee is yummy. Sweet on top, bitter at the bottom. Flavor blended well when drinking. definitely going back for the coffee

If you want real Vietnamese coffee you should find different place. Don't waste money for coffee there. It's tase watering.

The food is delicious, especially the banh trang nuong, I cant say no to it! Service was good. Overall, everything was good! Definitely come back again!