Final Thoughts: 3.49/5
A little in between stars here. The food and experience wasn't bad...but it's just not to my preferences. Simple brunch day with my friends before some shopping. Honestly, nothing extravagant at all. Overall, so-so experience here today.
Food:
Brisket Phở Dip Bánh Mì: 3.4/5
Starting with the pros, I actually really enjoyed the flavors of the filling of this item. Very nice marinade and balance of umami, saltiness, and sweetness was good. This item does need the dipping sauce broth item on the side because it just adds another flavor component. The meat texture itself is alright. It felt a little dry because of how thin it is. It does tear apart upon biting, but that seems likely related to how thin its sliced. For the vegetables, they were nicely pickled and leaned more on the sweet side. Not too much acidity or saltiness from it at all. Not actually a complaint because it adds this freshness to the overall taste. For the bread, I'm not impressed. It was big, but it was too much bread for me in general. Yes, it does present as a larger portion size, but the ratio is slightllyoff for me. Flavor and smell of the bread are subpar. By far, my favorite is the bread from Bánh Mì Đức Hương and this is where my standard is. There's a lack of this nice yeasted bread smell and crunch from the bread. For something that took around 20 minutes to come out, I would expect the bread crispy and hot, but it was not. It was warm at best. Bread also seemed quite dry and somewhat stale because the inside part of the bread kind of fell apart as I carved it away from the crust.
Asian Chicken Schnitzel: 3.6/5
Starting with the bread this time, I actually thought it was really good. They use a ciabatta bread and I thought that it was going to be dry, but this one seemed quite fresh. The crust has a nice crunch to it while the inside is quite soft and soaked up a lot of the flavor from the sauce. For the aroma of the bread, there was this mild wheat and tangy smell, which I liked. The chicken schnizel was something I also really enjoyed. Quite the thick piece of flattened chicken. The inside was juicy and not dry. When I made a cross-section of it, it was nicely cooked and still retained that juice. Crust was lovely. Very crunchy breading that just still remained that way even after soaking in some of the sauce. Speaking of sauce, while I did enjoy a lot of it, the sauce felt a little bit too acidic for me. There seems to be a drizzle of teriyaki sauce or a soy sauce based sauce in there too which added another flavor component. I wished the flavors were more balanced though because the red sauce (maybe marinara sauce) was so acidic and overpowering, that it overwhelmed the other flavors involved.
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Quality: Alright
Quality was alright. The bánh mì was actually just warm, which is interesting because it took around 20 minutes to come out. Perhaps it was just sitting there while the other item was being made. The bread was not crispy though, which is unfortunate. It felt more stale and hard if anything. For the meats and sauces, those were actually quite good. The meat is fully cooked through and is a very lean meat. The sauce was a nice flavor. For the veggies, they looked quite fresh in general, which is nice.
Price: Expensive
For the item that's provided, the price does lean more on the American sandwich pricing, which means that it is more expensive. For the two items that we got, it was around $30. At other Vietnamese bread places, the prices haven't reached $10 yet, so for these items to exceed $10, is a bit excessive for me. While the item that is provided is slightly bigger, I personally don't think it's worth it.
Service: Limited; not too significant
Limited interactions for today's visit. We ordered on a kiosk at the front and then they just called out our number to get our food once it was ready. My one note is that the food takes quite a long time to come out. For bread items, I would expect the wait to be more within 10 minutes, but the food came out within around 20 minutes. There were only three parties (mine included) at the café too. One party of 1, one party of 2, and my party of 3. Quite the long wait time though.
Ambiance: Calm and Tranquil
The interior was very calm and tranquil. There looks to be a peach blossom or cherry blossom tree built inside of the café. I can only imagine how nicely decorated that tree will be during the Lunar New Year. Very soft and tranquil area to be in though. Would definitely go here to study and work.
Location/Parking: Aight
This spot is located in the plaza on San Felipe Road and Yerba Buena Road. It's right on the corner too. There are a few other food places within this area. There seems to be optimal parking, but the parking spaces appear to all be for a compact car or a sedan. SUVs might have a more difficult time. I can't see an issue with finding parking though since this place doesn't look like one that gets oversaturated with people. read more