Michele L.
Yelp
We were in Berkeley today and randomly decided to drop by Me Va Con Vietnamese Kitchen. Both my partner and I love Vietnamese food and we were looking for something hot or soupy to warm up on this chilly night. This was the first thing that popped up on the Yelp list. My partner scrolled through some photos and thought it would be nice to try, and that's how we landed here on a Sunday night.
This restaurant is fairly new - 5 months at the time of the review. They certainly did some nice remodeling after the last ownership. They have their own private lot, brightly lit - my partner was a bit worried about coming here at night, but thankfully, with all the lights, it's a tad less worrying. Me Va Con is a small family business - run by the mother of the family and her daughters it seems - so cool! The aesthetics of this place is cozy, but modern. We arrived just before 6PM, and it's not full, but had a good amount of seats filled. The restauant itself is quite spacious, plenty of seats for all sorts of parties. I like that all the tables are spaced out for a good amount of privacy for each group.
Between my partner and I, we ordered a Banh Khot to share. I got a Vermicelli Bowl Combo with chicken (+1 extra crispy roll), and my partner got a Beef Pho. The Beef Pho arrived first and wow, I sampled the broth and it was delicious. It's on the more flavorful side, but also still light. So comforting! As for the Banh Khot, I don't get these often, but these were flavorful starters! It seems to be made in something similar to the takoyaki grills. The batter seems to be made from some kind of flour, turmeric powder, coconut milk, and other ingredients, but their version of the Banh Khot tasted a little egg-y. It's very savory, and I definitely tasted the hint of coconut milk in there. I like how they already assembled a lettuce and herbs for each of the Banh Khot pieces too - such detail is appreciated! As for my Vermicelli Bowl Combo - wow, this was big! I can split this over two days. They had a good amount of everything. Some shrimp, some crispy rolls (we added one extra because my partner wanted one for himself, haha), lettuce, lots of grilled chicken, pickled veggies, peanut toppings, and of course, the noodles. The chicken was seasoned well and not dry! I also really liked the pickled veggies, they're not too sour, and had just enough of a pickled taste to it to not be overpowering. Crispy rolls? They were crispy and tasted fresh, haha. Everything mixed together tasted like satisfaction - so good!
The service here was friendly! Each of the sisters came up to check on us at least once, haha. I almost got them confused. They're attentive and we had a nice, small chat with one of them. If you're looking for some solid Vietnamese food, you'll have to check this place out. Their menu isn't quite as extensive as other places, but they nailed down their menu items. Although I haven't tried the specials on their dinner menu - they have piqued my interest, so maybe I'll try that next time. Those items look more like a fusion sort of dish.