Vien Dong Photos
Business Info
Vien Dong Popular Dishes
VIEN DONG ATMOSPHERE
More like Vien Dong
Recommended Reviews - Vien Dong
Start your review...
Reviews With Photos
There's a Vien Dong that sells sugarcane juice and a Vien Dong that sells food. Both are on Senter Rd so it's a bit confusing. This location is the one that sells food and Vietnamese coffee. My mom used to buy pate chaud from Vien Dong a lot for us when I was younger, but I haven't been here in many years. This is a grab and go type of place and there's a decent amount of parking in the plaza. They sell banh mi, pate chaud, and other prepared foods in hot trays. Vien Dong accepts credit cards. Today, I got 8 pate chaud ($1.25 each) and 1 banh mi heo quay/crispy roast pork sandwich ($10). The pate chaud were quite petite and perfectly fine. The pastry was flaky and the filling was seasoned enough. I enjoyed my banh mi heo quay a lot! It had cilantro, jalapeno, green onion slivers, crispy pork, cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrot, and Vietnamese mayo. There was a good portion of flavorful pork and crispy skin in my sandwich. I appreciate how they added pickled carrot and daikon in the sandwich because some places don't put that in their banh mi heo quay. Overall, I enjoyed my purchases from Vien Dong. The pate chaud and banh mi were satisfying and familiar. I'll be coming back to try their other banh mi! They have a 1 standard banh mi and a Vietnamese coffee combo for $10 you can get from 6:30 am - 10:30 am.
The other Mediocre place, order lemon glass chickens and other items. Workers at every passive about their job, just trying to serve some foods portions to the customers, that's all. They just working like a machine, not many interactions, but they act very quick at the cash register.
Undiscovered by the viral crowd. Located on Senter Rd between off Tully near the Costco. Out of the way location. Local vietnamese and hispanic demographics mean some menu customizations. Stuffed squid, bitter melon, small sardines where you eat the bones, vietnamese canh soups, ribeye+cheese banh mi for the hispanic crowds. 10$ 2 item bento box. rice and noodles don't count as item. Chayote/Opo better than thanh huong. Best deal in bay area for steam table asian bento. Pay with 10$ bill. There are 2 noteworthy aspects of this bento. 1) the high quality choices, all authentic Asian recipes and ingredients because they cater to the local population. For example whole sardines where you eat the bones. Different versions of bitter melon. Largest fish selection depending on day, sardines, catfish, mackerel, salmon. All for the older Asian crowd. They dont eat innout hamburgers or beef. Not healthy for 80yo. Lemongrass chicken, tofu and porkbelly, stuffed squid, stuffed tofu. All of these are incredibly expensive to produce and the owners keep the prices low because most of the customers are on limited income. They don't have high paying tech jobs. 2) the price and portion size. Incredible for 10$. Same price from 20y ago. No where in bay area has this deal with this quality. Stuffed squid or tofu. Hand stuffed with pork, bean thread noodle, black fungus to give it the fall apart texture. Limited quantity. Go early for the best selection. Sardines: simmered until soft. Eat the bones for calcium. Pork belly with eggs: high protein and fat. Very filling. Can buy an 8oz container which is 1/2 the size. Usually the soups are served in 5$ 16oz container sizes. 3oz container is 3$. Pork belly w egg maybe more because of ingredient cost. lemongrass chicken and ribs. Melt off bone. Very hearty. These dishes aren't available at mainstream places like Lee's. Cuttlefish, Sardines, Salmon, catfish, mackerel. All expensive to produce. Nobody offers this selection of simmered, caramelized seafood. Soups: fermented mustard green with chicken balls. 8oz container 3$. Drive 30m for soup breakfast. Come early while still fresh. Salted mustard greens, Dua Chua. They sell it packaged in the supermarket but those have preservatives in it. Lacto fermented. They make their own. Slightly sour soup; almost like filipino sinigang but wo the tamarand. Delicious; Tong ho soup: very healthy. Reduces insulin sensitivity, good for hypertension. Good for elderly. No other place in the south bay serves this except maybe in hotpot. pork meatball with water chestnut. Asian style 12$: ribeye + cheese banh mi. Can't finish it. Too big. Seems to be more popular with the hispanic demographic. New item; sweet bread like kings hawaiian but not as sweet. Stuffed with butter and pork floss on top. Creamy and salty. delicious. Only place I have ever seen this savory bread. At counter. Limited time. 10$/box. 2.50 each. There are 4 choices for the higher quality banh mi; all at 10-12$. Crispy roasted Pork Belly, Salmon, Fried Chicken, ribeye and cheese. The ribeye is 12. Pay with cash; no other charges. Slightly spicy Fried Chicken banh mi: This sandwich is poised to go viral. 50-100% better than the fast food FC sandwiches. Meets all the main stream checkmarks, white meat, no bones, spicy, portion size too large for 1 person, 30% cheaper than teh 15$ going rate. They use brined chicken breast. Incredible portion sizes. At least 1/2 costco sized chicken breast in there. They make it fresh after order. It takes 10m. They can do this when it isn't busy since each order is a custom. Once they get busier this made to order recipe may have to change. Best fried chicken sw for 10$ in the bay area. FF outlets are min 50% higher at 50% size. they make their own chili for the FC. Steak and cheese Banh Mi: superior to philly cheesecake version. Incredible portion size. At least 50% better value than cheesesteak shops. Those are all at 15-20$ for something with less beef. Salmon: roasted/fried salmon Banh Mi. Cant tell. Very high quality. Incredible. Impossible to finish in 1 sitting. Roast pork Banh Mi: normally 16$/lb. Pork belly with roast skin. Banh mi uses at least 1/2 lb of pork in it. Have no idea how they sell it for so cheap. Might be a loss leader. Very juicy. Doesn't have the big hunks of fat in it. Has the famous roast pork flavor. Crunchy. Other review accurate. This one, the steak and the fried chicken BM are special. Buy 3 of the 10$ sandwiches and get one free. Higher quality ingredients than Duc huong with the 10$ banh mis. 16oz container for 5$ to get larger portion size. Add rice with 2 16 oz containers. Multiple meals.
A bit of a warning, the parking space is quite busy and tight due to the Lee's Supermarket. Best practice is to park a bit more farther and just walk - it'll be worth it. This is my to go spot for sugar cane juice and they do not water down the drink unlike the place at the Grand Century mall. The sugar cane drink with calamansi is my personal favorite. The cost averages around $7-$8 per drink. This place is ran by a few folks and they are nice and patient if you have any questions. The place is full of Vietnamese products but no places to sit down to chill.
Vien Dong has an unassuming exterior, but they serve a mean pate chaud. For a $1.25 a piece, I think the pate chauds at Vien Đồng are one of the greatest values in San Jose. The savory pastry is crumbly on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's delicious, but I wish there was more meat filling. For a $1.25 though, I think it's hard to complain. They're a great option for a cheap, quick meal you can eat at any time of the day. I also saw they had $6 banh mi, a là carte ready to eat Vietnamese hot foods, and Vietnamese coffee as well. I'll be sure to try those next time I stop by!
3.5 stars but rounding up to support a small business. I happened to see Vien Dong while I was in the area, and decided to stop by since I love trying out new banh mi places. They weren't busy yet at 12:15pm on a Sunday; however, a few customers walked in a couple of minutes after me, and I'm assuming they have a lot of customers coming in and out. They only had one worker at the time, but she made my order quickly. I ended up trying: -Pâté Chaud ($1.25/each, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=44jY2LYj5YvimL9kx0jgVA&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Solid version of pâté chaud, and I loved how airy and flaky the pastry was. You could still taste the butter, but it wasn't too heavy. The filling was flavorful; however, it could've used a bit more filling. Still recommended! -#5: Bánh Mì Thịt Nướng/Grilled Pork ($6, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=HMBwv8NTA2rjx8gpCQg5FQ&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Pretty good version of bánh mì, where all the components were good, but not amazing. I wouldn't go out of my way to get their bánh mì, but would order it again if in the area. In addition to bánh mì, they also had a variety of pre-cooked food in steam trays available for combo rice plates. Only indoor seating was available. Their staff was wearing a mask, but it was only partially covering their face. Parking was easy to find in this lot since there were plenty of spots.
I'm totally addicted to pate chaud those flaky crispy miniature meat pies comes in either pork and veggies best of all it's only $1.25 a piece where the hell can you find a place that is so cheap yet so affordable. Came by this morning wasn't too busy the lady in charge was very friendly and I chose 10 pork chaud and they do go by fast. They do have banh mi for $6, spring rolls and take out meals. Definitely be back for more ample parking very light traffic on a Friday morning maybe best to come by on weekday than on a weekend.
Good little pork pate chauds $1.25 here. We ordered eight of the square ones and four of the triangle ones. We already ate some Cambodian noodles earlier but found room for some pate chauds. These will probably not be good the next day so we had to hurry. We ate all of them on the way from SJ to SF. Good times.
4 months ago
This was a wonderful banh mi place, it caught me by surprise on how good it is! Very authentic banh mi style and very delicious. The staff were super friendly and took a lot of pride in their work. We had the banh mi combo that was very flavorful and the pate was the best part! The banh mi grilled pork was also tasty the banh mi meatballs had huge pieces of meatball and the sandwich was so packed. There's also a wide selection of food to go also. We tried the pate chaud that had a nice flavor and petite size. Definitely worth checking out. I'll be back when I'm craving banh mi. read more
Pate chaud was really good! A little skimpy on the meat, but very well seasoned and the pastry is flaky, delicious! Egg rolls were ok. A tad bit bland but not bad at all. Didn't try anything else, but will definitely be back for pate chaud for sure! read more
7 months ago
Tasty sando, deliciously strong coffee, friendly service, reasonable portions, budget friendly prices. I think this says it all, what more can you ask for? It's a simple restaurant with no (maybe a couple?) areas to sit inside. They are definitely optimized for takeout. There is also an area with pre-cooked dishes (think Panda Express). The selection looked good, but it didn't look like they sell a lot of that food. This has a small business feel (in a good way), and the ordering experience was great with the way they confirmed the order and patiently answered questions. When I ordered a Vietnamese coffee, they even warned me about how strong it would be to make sure I would be okay with it. We brought home a grilled pork sandwich, and our kids absolutely loved it. The adults only got one bite each out of it. We also ordered Vietnamese coffee which was very strong and deliciously sweet. Depending how sensitive you are to spiciness, the jalapeno can be pretty spicy (at least the one we had). If you get the jalapeno, keep this in mind. Even after we took it out, there was remaining heat (maybe seeds) that made the sandwich pretty spicy, but it was still delicious. read more
1 year ago
There's a Vien Dong that sells sugarcane juice and a Vien Dong that sells food. Both are on Senter Rd so it's a bit confusing. This location is the one that sells food and Vietnamese coffee. My mom used to buy pate chaud from Vien Dong a lot for us when I was younger, but I haven't been here in many years. This is a grab and go type of place and there's a decent amount of parking in the plaza. They sell banh mi, pate chaud, and other prepared foods in hot trays. Vien Dong accepts credit cards. Today, I got 8 pate chaud ($1.25 each) and 1 banh mi heo quay/crispy roast pork sandwich ($10). The pate chaud were quite petite and perfectly fine. The pastry was flaky and the filling was seasoned enough. I enjoyed my banh mi heo quay a lot! It had cilantro, jalapeno, green onion slivers, crispy pork, cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrot, and Vietnamese mayo. There was a good portion of flavorful pork and crispy skin in my sandwich. I appreciate how they added pickled carrot and daikon in the sandwich because some places don't put that in their banh mi heo quay. Overall, I enjoyed my purchases from Vien Dong. The pate chaud and banh mi were satisfying and familiar. I'll be coming back to try their other banh mi! They have a 1 standard banh mi and a Vietnamese coffee combo for $10 you can get from 6:30 am - 10:30 am. read more
1 year ago
The other Mediocre place, order lemon glass chickens and other items. Workers at every passive about their job, just trying to serve some foods portions to the customers, that's all. They just working like a machine, not many interactions, but they act very quick at the cash register. read more
3 months ago
Undiscovered by the viral crowd. Located on Senter Rd between off Tully near the Costco. Out of the way location. Local vietnamese and hispanic demographics mean some menu customizations. Stuffed squid, bitter melon, small sardines where you eat the bones, vietnamese canh soups, ribeye+cheese banh mi for the hispanic crowds. 10$ 2 item bento box. rice and noodles don't count as item. Chayote/Opo better than thanh huong. Best deal in bay area for steam table asian bento. Pay with 10$ bill. There are 2 noteworthy aspects of this bento. 1) the high quality choices, all authentic Asian recipes and ingredients because they cater to the local population. For example whole sardines where you eat the bones. Different versions of bitter melon. Largest fish selection depending on day, sardines, catfish, mackerel, salmon. All for the older Asian crowd. They dont eat innout hamburgers or beef. Not healthy for 80yo. Lemongrass chicken, tofu and porkbelly, stuffed squid, stuffed tofu. All of these are incredibly expensive to produce and the owners keep the prices low because most of the customers are on limited income. They don't have high paying tech jobs. 2) the price and portion size. Incredible for 10$. Same price from 20y ago. No where in bay area has this deal with this quality. Stuffed squid or tofu. Hand stuffed with pork, bean thread noodle, black fungus to give it the fall apart texture. Limited quantity. Go early for the best selection. Sardines: simmered until soft. Eat the bones for calcium. Pork belly with eggs: high protein and fat. Very filling. Can buy an 8oz container which is 1/2 the size. Usually the soups are served in 5$ 16oz container sizes. 3oz container is 3$. Pork belly w egg maybe more because of ingredient cost. lemongrass chicken and ribs. Melt off bone. Very hearty. These dishes aren't available at mainstream places like Lee's. Cuttlefish, Sardines, Salmon, catfish, mackerel. All expensive to produce. Nobody offers this selection of simmered, caramelized seafood. Soups: fermented mustard green with chicken balls. 8oz container 3$. Drive 30m for soup breakfast. Come early while still fresh. Salted mustard greens, Dua Chua. They sell it packaged in the supermarket but those have preservatives in it. Lacto fermented. They make their own. Slightly sour soup; almost like filipino sinigang but wo the tamarand. Delicious; Tong ho soup: very healthy. Reduces insulin sensitivity, good for hypertension. Good for elderly. No other place in the south bay serves this except maybe in hotpot. pork meatball with water chestnut. Asian style 12$: ribeye + cheese banh mi. Can't finish it. Too big. Seems to be more popular with the hispanic demographic. New item; sweet bread like kings hawaiian but not as sweet. Stuffed with butter and pork floss on top. Creamy and salty. delicious. Only place I have ever seen this savory bread. At counter. Limited time. 10$/box. 2.50 each. There are 4 choices for the higher quality banh mi; all at 10-12$. Crispy roasted Pork Belly, Salmon, Fried Chicken, ribeye and cheese. The ribeye is 12. Pay with cash; no other charges. Slightly spicy Fried Chicken banh mi: This sandwich is poised to go viral. 50-100% better than the fast food FC sandwiches. Meets all the main stream checkmarks, white meat, no bones, spicy, portion size too large for 1 person, 30% cheaper than teh 15$ going rate. They use brined chicken breast. Incredible portion sizes. At least 1/2 costco sized chicken breast in there. They make it fresh after order. It takes 10m. They can do this when it isn't busy since each order is a custom. Once they get busier this made to order recipe may have to change. Best fried chicken sw for 10$ in the bay area. FF outlets are min 50% higher at 50% size. they make their own chili for the FC. Steak and cheese Banh Mi: superior to philly cheesecake version. Incredible portion size. At least 50% better value than cheesesteak shops. Those are all at 15-20$ for something with less beef. Salmon: roasted/fried salmon Banh Mi. Cant tell. Very high quality. Incredible. Impossible to finish in 1 sitting. Roast pork Banh Mi: normally 16$/lb. Pork belly with roast skin. Banh mi uses at least 1/2 lb of pork in it. Have no idea how they sell it for so cheap. Might be a loss leader. Very juicy. Doesn't have the big hunks of fat in it. Has the famous roast pork flavor. Crunchy. Other review accurate. This one, the steak and the fried chicken BM are special. Buy 3 of the 10$ sandwiches and get one free. Higher quality ingredients than Duc huong with the 10$ banh mis. 16oz container for 5$ to get larger portion size. Add rice with 2 16 oz containers. Multiple meals. read more
1 year ago
3 years ago
A bit of a warning, the parking space is quite busy and tight due to the Lee's Supermarket. Best practice is to park a bit more farther and just walk - it'll be worth it. This is my to go spot for sugar cane juice and they do not water down the drink unlike the place at the Grand Century mall. The sugar cane drink with calamansi is my personal favorite. The cost averages around $7-$8 per drink. This place is ran by a few folks and they are nice and patient if you have any questions. The place is full of Vietnamese products but no places to sit down to chill. read more
2 years ago
Vien Dong has an unassuming exterior, but they serve a mean pate chaud. For a $1.25 a piece, I think the pate chauds at Vien Đồng are one of the greatest values in San Jose. The savory pastry is crumbly on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's delicious, but I wish there was more meat filling. For a $1.25 though, I think it's hard to complain. They're a great option for a cheap, quick meal you can eat at any time of the day. I also saw they had $6 banh mi, a là carte ready to eat Vietnamese hot foods, and Vietnamese coffee as well. I'll be sure to try those next time I stop by! read more
11 months ago
6 months ago
1 year ago
3.5 stars but rounding up to support a small business. I happened to see Vien Dong while I was in the area, and decided to stop by since I love trying out new banh mi places. They weren't busy yet at 12:15pm on a Sunday; however, a few customers walked in a couple of minutes after me, and I'm assuming they have a lot of customers coming in and out. They only had one worker at the time, but she made my order quickly. I ended up trying: -Pâté Chaud ($1.25/each, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=44jY2LYj5YvimL9kx0jgVA&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Solid version of pâté chaud, and I loved how airy and flaky the pastry was. You could still taste the butter, but it wasn't too heavy. The filling was flavorful; however, it could've used a bit more filling. Still recommended! -#5: Bánh Mì Thịt Nướng/Grilled Pork ($6, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=HMBwv8NTA2rjx8gpCQg5FQ&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Pretty good version of bánh mì, where all the components were good, but not amazing. I wouldn't go out of my way to get their bánh mì, but would order it again if in the area. In addition to bánh mì, they also had a variety of pre-cooked food in steam trays available for combo rice plates. Only indoor seating was available. Their staff was wearing a mask, but it was only partially covering their face. Parking was easy to find in this lot since there were plenty of spots. read more
1 year ago
I'm totally addicted to pate chaud those flaky crispy miniature meat pies comes in either pork and veggies best of all it's only $1.25 a piece where the hell can you find a place that is so cheap yet so affordable. Came by this morning wasn't too busy the lady in charge was very friendly and I chose 10 pork chaud and they do go by fast. They do have banh mi for $6, spring rolls and take out meals. Definitely be back for more ample parking very light traffic on a Friday morning maybe best to come by on weekday than on a weekend. read more
Good little pork pate chauds $1.25 here. We ordered eight of the square ones and four of the triangle ones. We already ate some Cambodian noodles earlier but found room for some pate chauds. These will probably not be good the next day so we had to hurry. We ate all of them on the way from SJ to SF. Good times. read more
FRESH PATE CHAUD! They are 90 cents each now, which isn't too bad. This was some of the best I have had in a while. Flakey and buttery puff pastry, flavorful ground pork, and OF COURSE, the savory pate. So good. We physically saw the worker take the pate chaud out of the oven when we came in. It was so fresh and LITERALLY hot out the oven. KEEP IN MIND: If you're not Vietnamese, this shop can be quite intimidating. The workers will talk to you in Vietnamese despite talking to them in English, so try your best to use context clues or be clear if you cannot speak Vietnamese. read more
1 year ago
70 cents for a flaky fresh pate chaud! I planned to stop by and get 35 meat pies but decided to call an hour ahead and place an order in case there weren't enough available upon arrival. The person on the line was patient and friendly which is a good sign right? The box of pate chaud was piping hot and smelled fantastic when I left the store. The filling consisted of ground pork, black pepper, white onions. My only gripe was that it was on the sweet side for a savory meat pie. All the party guests loved them though so it might just be my palate. FYI: There are two locations on Senter road- this one is in the smaller plaza at the Umbarger cross street. Parking was easy as there were many available spots even on a Saturday at noon. read more
My friend told me about their veggie pate chaud and she said they had more than two fillings. Without trying them beforehand, I decided to order two orders - pork and veggie. I had placed the order over the phone for an evening pickup but they forgot about my order when I got there. However, the workers were nice and told me that they make it fresh. I ordered 15 pork and 15 veggies which took about 30 minutes to bake in their oven. The pork was shaped as a square and the veggie was shaped as a triangle. The prices also increased recently January 2022 to $1.25 per pate chaud. They also had other flavors like taro but I don't remember the rest of the flavors. Overall, the pork and veggie pate chaud were good. It was warm and flakey. My friends also enjoyed the pate chaud. They said it was still good the day after and just to put them in the toaster real quick. read more
5 years ago
Updated: Extra stars for the response from the owner and for the pate chaud which was good but the other stuff that I ordered - not so great. FYI, when I last viewed the payment on the pad/machine, it showed the grand total and the cashier asked me if I wanted a receipt and I said no since I already tap for the online receipt on the pad and then noted the amount. So if the tip was "accidentally" tapped, it wasn't done so by me. read more
Business owner information
vien B.
Hi Wendy,…
4 years ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
3 years ago
Pork Pate Chaud is 4/5, has that nice light crispy crunch and the meat was pretty okay but wish it was juicier , $1.25 each is a pretty decent price. read more
After reading all the reviews about this place about their banh pate so, I stopped by this morning with my siblings. I read that they were good and were cheap. For the price for these are decently priced for its size, about 70 cents per one. These were pretty small, so eating a couple of these would fill you up or if you just want to snack on something. I was surprised that they offered other flavor fillings for these, but then again it is a pie. It's just not what you would think of when you hear banh pate so. On to the review. So we ended ordering 2 banh pate so and a sugar cane drink. Big surprise that they had a machine, so the sugar cane(bamboo) drink was freshly made. Not a lot Vietnamese bakeries make fresh cane drinks. It was nice and refreshing. The pate so was nice and flakey, not oily. There wasn't much filling. The filling tasted more sweet then savory to me, so that was a bit weird. I would say it was ok, but I wouldn't come back for these. Reason for the two star: We felt like she didn't want to serve us. When we walked in she was a bit slow to acknowledge us. When she finally greeted us and I ordered in Vietnamese, she was a little bit nicer. Even after that it was like she was still rushing us out of the shop because she didn't ask if we wanted anything else and just rang up the pate so. My sister saw that there were other fillings for the pate so on the menu. She was interested in getting the taro flavor. We asked if we could get one, but she simply just said they were out or didn't have any except for the meat filing only. If that was the case, why have it on the menu? If the pate so was good or gave me the wow factor, I would come back, but these didn't do it. I would suggest to go somewhere else if you want a more savory flavor. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
2 years ago
Page 1 of 2
More info about Vien Dong
2623 Senter Rd
San Jose, CA 95111
Fairgrounds
Directions
(408) 271-9090
Call Now
Full menu
Hours
Payment methods
Food & Alcohol
Indoor Amenities
Outdoor Amenities
Other Amenities
More Info
Health Score
Ask the Community - Vien Dong
Why does Yelp recommend reviews?
6 reviews that are not currently recommended
The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.
6 years ago
5 years ago
9 years ago
8 years ago
5 years ago
12 years ago
