Been here only once . First the food is overpriced! Second the portions aren't that great, Third the quality is terrible,Fourth The food is to americanized it is not authentic whatsoever, But I only had the Bo luc lac there (cube beef steak) I gave it a two star only because the staff was friendly and i only had 1 item from the menu so maybe other food there taste good. But if you want to get bo luc lac don't go here read more

The first time I came here was for Valentine's day in 2014. I've come here a few times after that. The first time I came here, I was greeted by a young gentleman. He was very attentive to what we needed and was not too imposing. He made the perfect server. I ordered the Banh Hoi platter. That was so delicious! A bit on the pricy side though for a bunch of vegetables and 3 skewers of meat. After that, I felt my experience worsening and worsening. The next few times I came, there were two ladies. They only glanced at us when we came in and we sat ourselves. Then after a bit, the tall girl with the ponytail came over and handed us our menus. They pretty much abandoned us after that till they gave us our check. But the special pho I ordered that day was divine. I ate 70% of the soup before I realized I hadn't added anything to it. Absolutely delicious. There were a few other times we went to Mint Leaf. Most recently (Monday, March 9), I came with my boyfriend again for lunch. Those two ladies were there again. This time, the woman with the ponytail greeted us and sat us down with the menus. I ordered the special pho again. It was SO salty. I had to ask her for water and a bowl to tone it down -but she never got them. She simply nodded yes -and went back to what she was doing, forgetting within seconds what I asked for. Or maybe she didn't hear me (why didn't she ask for clarification?). Either way, I couldn't eat the pho at all. And they ignored us when we left. I usually tip the 20% but that time, I felt justified in giving them far less for the amount, or lack of, attention they gave. There were only 2 other singles in the restaurant at the time. You would think there would be better service if it wasn't a crazy busy day. Also, I don't know if it was because of the pho, but I started having VERY debilitating salmonella poisoning the following early morning of Tuesday and I felt completely better around Sunday. The pho was the only thing I ate that day besides the waffles (which I shared with my bf). I wish that first server was there. It's because of his excellent service and the banh hoi platter that I'm giving those 4 stars. Other notes: Price wise, this place is pretty expensive. Even Sushi House serves more Thai iced tea for the amount you pay. But it's not too over the top. Place looks nice from inside. Overall, I liked my experience here. I will attribute my disgusting dish to probably a bad day for the cook because the other times I've been there, the food was actually really nice. But for those two ladies...the women in the Xing Yuan Chinese restaurant next door gives way better service. I'll still come back, but if I get another food poisoning, I'm not coming back here again. read more

This is my go-to place for consistently good pho. The vietnamese chicken salad is also a favorite. This place has been here for years and is always good. read more

Love the beaf pho! Cannot go wrong with that. They have really good appetizers and like this grilled filet minion was really good too!

Came with a friend for lunch. Service was excellent. Ordered the traditional chicken salad - it as the bomb. It is coleslaw with shredded chicken, and vermicelli, dressed with fish sauce. sooo good. will definitely be back read more

I was craving pho one night, and saw this place on yelp. What a find! It was easy to get to from where I live (Piedmont/Oakland), parking was a breeze, and there was no wait to sit down. So, it IS in a strip mall, and believe me, I've had strip mall pho, but this was really, really tasty! The BF had the shaking beef which was expensive but *extremely* yummy! I had the special pho, and it was the first time I've ever had too much in the bowl to finish. I mean, still meat, still noodles, not the basil and sprouts leftovers--the good stuff! The broth is flavorful, the meat is lean and tender, and, at only $7-8/bowl, you get a lot. The only minus was the shrimp spring roll--mint and lettuce distribution was uneven, and there was hardly any shrimp. It was basically the same price as the pho, and seemed like they skimped a bit. :( Otherwise, the interior is cute and inviting. The wait staff (and owner?) are extremely helpful, friendly and attentive when you need them. While I'm no pho connoissuer, I've had a decent amount of "okay" pho, and I thought this was better. I'll definitely go back! read more

We've been to Mint Leaf twice since they opened a few weeks ago, and we've been very happy with both experiences. We have a 10-month old son, and felt very comfortable with this family-friendly place. Don't think that this is a food all over the floor place establishment either, however, as it has been spic and span both times. The owner and waiters were very kind and accommodating, and knew exactly when to come back to follow up with us. As for the food, the imperial rolls are delish, as is the pho. I have yet to partake of other items on the menu, but I do remember my husband really liking the bo luc lac. I thought that it was a little dry, but to each his own. We had deserts, and the brioche custard with ice cream (basically a bread pudding) was heavenly! And I love me some bread pudding... I'm so happy that we live close to a great Vietnamese restaurant. We will definitely be back for more! read more

If you find yourself in Alameda, this place is actually really great. I used to go here all the time when I worked out here. I have only ever ordered the tofu sandwich to go, but it is actually more of a sit down place.. Reasonable prices, good food. If you are ordering to go, go in, place your order and then go grocery shopping next door, by the time you are done, your food will be too. read more

The food is good but the staff needs to get a clue or some serious training. Today, for the second time, they messed up my order. Two weeks ago, I went and ordered the Shaking Beef and some Pad Thai to go. I got home, opened my bag, and saw I was given Shaking Beef and Lemongrass Chicken. So I had to drive back, and while they were apologetic, I had to wait another 15 minutes to get my Pad Thai. The Shaking Beef was good, the Pad Thai was bland. Not worth the trouble. Tonight, I go there again with a friend. He orders chicken salad to go, I order the Paella Hot Pot and a Thai Iced Tea to go. He gets his food after a 10 minute wait. I keep checking to see if my food is up, nothing. I wait another 10 minutes, nothing. I go in and ask, and am told that it hasn't been started yet. No apology, nothing. The place only had half of the tables full. Not started yet? I just waited 20 minutes, and everyone else had their food already. I told them to forget it and walk out. No apology, nothing. Decent food can't make up for horrible service, so whoever owns this place might want to get some wait staff that have enough training to at least put people's orders in right. One time with an apology, I can forgive. Two times, the second with no apology. You are officially off my Alameda food list. read more

Portions are on the smaller side of your normal Bay Area Vietnamese restaurant but it taste sooo good. I'll presentation and flavor is there. My go to spot read more

I'm half Chinese and I take my Asian food seriously. This is my go to Asian restaurant in alameda. I have taken nearly all my employees here, and we all love it. read more

The Pho is yummy. I also ordered the fried calamari with green beans. The beans were very good. Some of the squid was a little hard but it was still good. The fish and chips (the chips are sweet potato and are crazy good). The decor is nice. read more

Just really not great food. Noodles were like spaghetti noodles. The service was good, but that's pretty much it. My dish was the seafood with noodles and it was nearly $15. Literally had like 2 scallops and 5 shrimp. The rest spaghetti noodles. read more

Just tried this place for the first time last week. I had the vermicelli noodle bowl with bbq chicken - a basic Vietnamese dish which is the firstest thing I order when checking out a new place - and ordered it to go. I decided to sneak a piece of othe chicken before I drove away. Oh. My. Gods. I do not know what the marinade is, but I seriously had to restrain myself from eating all of the chicken before getting home! Wunnerful stuff. The place itself is nicely done... simple, I would not say austere, but more understated and elegant. I will definitely be back to have a sit-down and enjoy other goodies on the menu. read more

This place is a great spot for lunch. Quick service with a smile I might add and the Pho - oh sooo goood on a cool day in Alameda! The Pho is tasty, very filling and you get what you pay for. The flavor is very good. What I liked was how fresh the veggies were - you could tell this place was not using 3 day old veggies to use in the Pho they served. I also very much loved the lunch special because with your Pho you received an imperial roll which totally hits the spot - gotta have a little grease with that yummy broth!! Extra points for the very trendy decor. You feel like you are in a fancy restaurant and then you get the bill and it's 11 bucks. Heidi Likey! read more

This place is very expensive for vietnamese food, but they did a good job making this white people friendly. Seriously, my co-worker and I were the only asian's eating in here for lunch. Decor is very nice, the place is very clean, and service was ontop of it. They offer a lot of noodles in their spring rolls and their bowls of pho, broth of was average but I was hoping I wouldn't fall into a msg coma as soon as I got back to work. I was wrong.... my coworker has eaten here before and told me everything tasted natural with no msg and he said he felt good and normal after eating here so I thought I'd give it a try. This time though, we both came back to the office extremely thirsty and falling asleep at our desk. For those of you who are pho junkies, you know what feeling I'm talking about! lol If you don't mind paying $8 for pho, then this place is for you. If you don't mind fighting the traffic and parking in china town, then I'd make that extra effort to go through the tube and find a spot that has pho for under $5. read more

Went to Mint Leaf for lunch today with a friend. We were seated quickly; the place was hoppin' but there were 3 tables available, so that was nice, especially since we were in a hurry. I had the chicken salad and my friend had the mango salad. They substituted chicken for the prawns in her salad without a peep. They were both delicious, fresh tasting, and good sized. $7 each is a little more than we usually pay for lunch, but it was a good lunch. We talk like crazy, and the noise level, while not library silence, was certainly low enough to hear each other well but not feel like others could easily eavesdrop. The interior is interesting, edgy, and fresh looking. I'll definitely be coming back. read more

Try the Saigon Vermicelli Bowl. Perfect. So perfect in fact, that I havent tried anything else... so I dont want to give it 5 just in case everything else is bad. But I doubt it... The dining room is simple, classy and quiet. Prices are reasonable. Easy to get to. Great for a nice lunch :) read more

Living in the Lake Merrit Area, my girlfriend and I wanted to try something different and this spot seemed to fit the bill. It was not all the way over in SF, but was just far enough away to feel like we were out of our neighborhood. The reviews were good and we had a coupon from restaurant.com so we decided to give it a try. Overall the experience was good and the service was more than adequate, but the reason for the two stars is that we felt we could have gotten more bang for our flavor buck at Miss Saigon right down the street from our place. In general, not a bad place if you live in the area, but I would not recommend going out of your way to venture out and try it. If in the Lake Merritt area, try Miss Siagon. read more

Every time I visit Alameda (from LA), this place is my favorite lunch spot! Food is so tasty and fresh. Cheap too!

A cute little bistro, consistently delicious vietnamese food. Standouts include pumpkin curry and the soups. I wish they had a little more fresh herb included with spring rolls and the noodles, but overall very yummy! read more

I come here once in a while, alone or with friends. Food: Good - not bad quality meats as most Vietnamese joints. Salt levels are way to high though - probably the MSG. If you stick to the grilled meats and rice/noodles it's not so bad. The soups taste so good because they are loaded with salt. Definitely try their ginger lemonade - very good! Their spring rolls are delicious!! Service: The dude is nice. The gal - well, let's just say she has some issues with people of certain skin colors (trust me, we experimented) Ambiance: cramped, but clean and neat. Overall, I give it 3 stars. read more

This was my first time in a Vietnamese Restaurant so I'm not really qualified to judge the authenticity of the food here but I did find it to be tasty and well prepaired. The atmosphere was modern an clean- a good place for couples. While the servive was not bad it wasn't great either, this is the only reason why I'm not giving 5 stars. read more

Came for an early lunch. Service and food were very good. Only issue is they do not open till 11:30. Had grilled chicken PHO. read more

I like this place and I've always thought it was a great place to stop by with my family for pho. I always get the chicken pho with a drip coffee and we usually share a tray of sweet potato fries. I think overall the taste is pretty solid and the staff is very friendly. One of the servers and particular was extremely friendly and stopped by at ever table to check in on them and have a conversation, which I thought was pretty great. I could also tell that they had a lot of regulars as to the way they greeted many people stopping by during lunch. Overall I would give the food, service, and environment a 5/5. Seems like a very friendly and welcoming place for the locals. read more

Mint Leaf is what every Vietnamese Restaurant should strive to be. FOOD: They have quite a large and varied menu including the traditional Pho noodle soups, rice dishes, fried noodles, appetizers, fried and fresh rolls, vermicelli salads, claypots...etc. But what I love is that there is even variation within the categories. They have various types of fried rolls and fresh rolls, and their clay pots can be served with rice, noodles or bread. Their pho noodle soups include spicy broths, seafood broths and, of course, the original beef broth. I ordered a vermicelli salad with lemongrass chicken and it was delicious. I loved the attention to detail here: The romaine lettuce came from crisp romaine hearts. The bean sprouts had the heads and tails removed. The cucumber was crisp and uniformly cut. The salad was not watery. The noodles were done perfectly and the chicken was nicely seasoned. Tender without being being fatty, and definitely not dry. It is served with Nuoc Cham sauce on the side. SERVICE: My guess is that Mint Leaf is a family owned restaurant. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. PRICES: Very reasonable. PARKING: Ample Tip: If you are sensitive or allergic to MSG, the only things on the menu that have MSG are the soups. Everything else is MSG free. I would gladly come back :) read more

Maybe the best Pho I have had! I was in the neighborhood picking up supplies for my salon and found this gem. I had veggie pho and added wontons. Amazing flavor and the service was quick and friendly. read more

Well this is during COVID sit-down dine in. It wasnt crowded. They got my orders wrong twice. But that was fine; in no hurry but 2 stars for food quality--but do take it with a grain of salt cuz I grow up in Vietnam, so I have a higher standard read more

My favorite go-to spot for pho in Alameda. Always delicious and the perfect end to a rainy winter day.

Very tasty food. But if you're ordering by phone - beware. I've never had a phone order come out as I ordered it. Their brown rice is awesome - more purple than brown. And if you get the wrapper platter, the rice wrappers come in this special plastic container that holds the wrapper and warm water - takes up much less space on your table than the usual bowl (good since the tables are pretty small). read more

Went in this past Saturday and was surprised to see just one server handling the entire restaurant (seating, cleaning, waiting/running tables) EFFICIENTLY! Kudos to you, sir, you killed it that busy day. This guy was on top of orders, refills, seating, cleaning, checks -- didnt' see one unhappy person the whole time I was there. I had their pho. The broth was B- but they gave you lots of noodles and a great portion of meat. I tried my friend's tofu salad and the tofu was prepared deliciously. My friend's Firecracker Wings were the real winners here! There should be an option to order more than an appetizer amount of them (maybe there is, I didn't ask) -- they have a great seasoning on them that I'm not used to elsewhere. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside -- mmmmm. I'll be returning for those wings and probably another plate to see how the rest of the food fairs out. read more

My favorite Vietnamese place in Alameda. The pho base is very good--not too savory, not to too bland--just right. (Some other places overdo it or under do it in my view) I also really like the rolls. The place is a little on the smaller size, so you can't go there with a huge group, but it's nice for a small gathering with friends. It's a hidden little gem on the Webster St. side of Alameda. Only complaint is that its not closer to Central Alameda/the freeway. And it is good for both take out and eat in. Just note if you do take out, it sometimes takes a while, so call ahead. read more

If there is a negative star, I would have given. I strongly recommend Yelpers not to ignore the negative reviews of this restaurants as I have found some of the high-rating reviews are really misleading. I would have avoided this bad experience had I read those negative reviews more carefully before my wife and I went there. Major disappointment on the following things: a. $3 for hot tea and our waitress didn't tell us. Hot tea is mostly free in Asian restaurants. If it's not free, we should have been informed. b. This place is extremely pricy comparing with other Vietnamese restaurants and considering its food quality. $9 for a small bowl of noodle comparing with about $5-8 in other places. c. Well, I would say it's no wrong to charge a higher price and position itself in the highend category, as long as food quality, portion, service and premise are superior. But unfortunately, the food portion is so small that both my wife and I are less than half full after spending $40 for a beef noodle soup, a seafood claypot and an eggroll like appitite. The seafood claypot is as small as the smallest rice bowl, which is unbelievable for asian food. d. The food quality is soso, nothing special compare with other Vietnamese restaurants. The one on Webster, Alameda (I forgot the name. It's located cross street from the farmer's market) is way better than this one. read more

Mint Leaf is a great little find in Alameda. The pineapple fried rice is awesome. Also the mint lemonade is super refreshing. read more

Wow!!! This place is tastey...went there a couple of weeks ago and we had the pho noodle soup...the broth had depth and not just a whole bunch of MSG like some of those other so called authentic Vietnamese Restaurants...seems like they take time to make it... we also had the coconut shrimp, which was nice and crunchy, the garlic noodles, another delicious dish, and the tofu roll, which my husband loves. The service was nice and friendly and it seems like the locals come here often as we heard the owners calls the customers on a first name basis. One more thing, I would not pass up the dessert..they have a flan like dessert, fogot what it is called, but it comes with icecream and we love it. read more

I've passed by this place for years but always ignored because it looked like a lame hole in the wall in a strip mall. Once inside I found it very nice and the food was excellent for my tastes. The price is good and I think I've found a new secret restaurant. read more

i like having this place near my house. its not really authentic and its a little more expensive, but its cleaner inside, the decor is nice and the food is fresh and flavors are nice. the place is really small and its in a cheesy strip mall area. i think the restaurant would be more successful if it would go the way of angela's and move over to the park st area. service is adequate. food: beef salad: really good. strips of beef, peanuts and carmalized onions on a bed of romain. beef is nicely marinated. not too lemongrassy. its pretty filling (i just ate it for dinner) and only 9 bucks. rolls: honestly, i have no idea what roll we ordered, but whatever it was good. sizzling spicy lemongrass chicken: comes out on a skillet. envision vietnamese fajitas because that is exactly what they are. chicken was perfectly cooked, but i thought the lemongrass was a little too strong. i got tired of the dish near the end and was upset that i could not finish it. i only sat down and eaten here once. usually i just order the beef salad for take out, so next time i am going to try some more things off the menu to see if they place still measures up to 4 stars. read more

3.5 stars. I am glad I live down the street from Mint Leaf... It's a safe bet for pretty tasty food, pleasant (but at times slow) service, and a calm ambiance. It's not really that traditional, although I can appreciate their large selection of rolls! My boyfriend and I get a different spring roll every time we go. I am also a fan of their garlic noodles--SUPER garlicky! But since it is kind of a fusion restaurant, you can bet that it is also more expensive than traditional Vietnamese restaurants; my boyfriend and I spent about $40 on dinner last night... not what I'm used to spending on Vietnamese food (and we didn't even get dessert!) but it is reliable and it is close... so I will continue going. read more

My boyfriend and I really enjoy coming here for lunch. It's nestled in a quiet, not-very-busy plaza. It's very clean inside, and the waitress is always very friendly and attentive. We've ordered the beef pho, which comes with an assortment of meat and a lot of noodles. It's very filling and tasteful. I personally really like the sweet potato fries, which comes with an interesting curry-mayo dipping sauce. It takes some getting used to at first, but the tastes complement each other very well, and the fries are never oily or soggy. We've also ordered the Vietnamese sandwich combo, which is tasty too. The baguette is fluffy and not hard, and they're not sparse with the veggies and meat inside the sandwich. I recently ordered the garlic noodles with chicken, and it was delicious. Definitely a favorite of mine! Overall, this is a nice place to go to for a lunch with a significant other, because it's pretty quiet inside as well. read more

Found this place while driving around the area. Ordered Dac Biet Pho and the garlic noodles with prawns and scallops. Both dishes was delicious. Servers were patience and professional. Will go back again. read more