Brian T.
Yelp
I've had this place bookmarked for a while and I'm glad I finally had a chance to try it, thanks to Ann L. planning an Unofficial Yelp Event (UYE) here! Even though Tet or Lunar New Year has passed, what a great way to keep the celebration going here.
Our big party of Yelpers arrived on a Monday night and J.A.M was super prepared in organizing a LONG table for all of us. This evidently wasn't their first rodeo. I'm honestly impressed with how creative they got with arranging the long the table so as not to block off an entire section of the restaurant and leave plenty of space for moving around.
Once our big group sat down, our server Tran was super prepared and knew the drill. Also super impressed. She went down the line and started off taking our drink orders, shortly coming back around afterwards to take our food orders. She tied our names to our individual orders, which streamlined things significantly when it came time to pay our checks.
For my drink, I ordered the Dragonfruit cocktail that was featured on their Tet special cocktail menu at the table. I enjoy dragonfruit a lot but have never had it in cocktail form - this one was served up with vodka. This drink was definitely photo-worthy and had lots of dragonfruit chunks immersed in it. While I couldn't taste too much of the vodka, the drink itself was tasty and at $14, was reasonably priced.
Ann was nice enough to order a few plates of banh trang nuong (Vietnamese Pizza) for the group to try. Super flavorful! I don't think I've had this since I was in Vietnam, so this was definitely a good nostalgia kick.
I ordered the bo ne (Vietnamese steak and eggs), and boy did this not disappoint. I err on the side of caution for bo ne when I'm at a place that doesn't have "bo ne" in their name, AND I have only ordered it for lunch. But for dinner, this one definitely hit the spot. The plate came out on a large metal plate vs. a sizzling plate I've normally had it served on. But I don't think a sizzling plate would've sufficed for this one, because it was filled with meat and eggs. When placing my order, Tran informed me that they had run out of one of the meats, but graciously offered to substitute more pate or an extra egg at no charge, so I opted for a third egg. This plate was loaded with steak, Chinese sausage, slices of gio (Vietnamese pork roll), onions, corns, and micro greens (those last two were a pleasant surprise), and of course the eggs. On the side, a salad, baguette, and pate. Everything came together so beautifully. BEFORE YOU EAT, make sure to snap a photo. The presentation was excellent and I almost didn't want to dig in and demolish the plate. Every single bite I had of this plate was so flavorful. The steak was tender and I was able to easily (lazily) cut with the provided fork and spoon. The gio and Chinese sausage were both very good for additional meat variety from the usual bo ne. And the side salad balanced all of the meat perfectly to wash everything down.
To our surprise, the co-owner Jimmy later brought out some plates of raw oysters for our tables, all on da house. I totally did not expect this, but it was super nice of him and we all of course dug in. These definitely had a kick to them with a heavy touch of spice. Flavor-wise, these oysters were good - while I don't know if I'd get an entire order of these unless I was with a big group, I'm glad I got to try one for the experience.
Once again praising Tram, she was a rockstar. With as big and rowdy as our group can be, she and the rest of the staff came around regularly to check on us, replacing our empty bottles of water, taking additional orders, and making sure that all was good throughout our visit.
The atmosphere here was great. The lights were dim for intimacy, but not too dark, especially with a huge window wall in the front and then some. Music was bussin, playing plenty of 2000's R&B and hip hop throughout the night. Definitely a great spot to consider for a date night or fun night out with friends.
Wow, what a great time. I wish I worked or lived closer to here so that I could swing by on the regular, but guess I have another option if I'm ever out in Westchase. Yeah, it is a little pricier than your standard Vietnamese fare a few blocks down the road on Bellaire Blvd. But for the experience, I'd say it's worth every buck. I saw so many other dishes from friends around me that looked so good, I'll have to try them next time! Garlic noodles, orange chicken, and spicy mozzarella fries. I'm hungry for all of these just writing up this review! Thanks Ann for organizing a great UYE and I look forward to coming back soon.