D C.
Yelp
When I saw that there was a new Vietnamese place on Haight I LITERALLY jumped in my car and drove directly over.
First the good:
SUPER friendly staff and service.
Great ambiance, lighting and minimal, tasteful decor.
A 15% discount during the "soft opening".
Now the less good.
They were out of MANY items on their menu.
No stars off for this because that's what soft openings are for - - to get an idea of how much to order/make etc.
My meh review is specifically for the vermicelli bowl, which is my favorite Vietnamese item, and I have ordered at every Vietnamese place in the city plus in every other state or country I go to--it's a fav and what I judge authenticity on.
Well this one failed, sadly.
Though the bowl and ingredients were fresh and crisp which I gave one star for, and the barbecued pork was rich, smoky and flavorful (another star), the fish sauce, which is the hardest thing to perfect and gets dumped over the entire bowl so either makes or breaks the dish, left a lot to be desired.
Not only was there no heat to it (usually Jalapeños are soaked in it,) there was no nuance to the flavor whatsoever - - it was pure sugar and pure salt, and nothing else.
Didn't really even have a fishy taste, which I don't mind and would have been preferable to the salt/sugar overwhelm.
It tasted like they reduced sugar and water and then poured a cup of salt in it.
I almost didn't make it to the bottom of the bowl.
In addition, though at an Italian restaurant I would refer to their noodles as "al dente", these had a bit of a gelatinous texture to them. It wasn't that they were undercooked, it was more that they were weirdly gummy.
Not sure if that's a brand issue or a cooking issue but it wasn't ideal.
Lastly the imperial roll that they put on top is actually just your basic run-of-the-mill Chinese egg roll. It tasted fine, but did not have any "Vietnamese" flavor to speak of.
I'm sure this place will stay in business as it was super busy while I was there, and since most people are probably going to order the coffee (which I don't drink) or the bánh mì sandwiches (which I don't eat), or the phó that they were out of, I would still give them a shot and see if your favorite meal is done well!