Vien Huong Restaurant
| Address: | 712 Franklin St, Oakland, CA 94607, USA |
| Phone: | +1 510-465-5938 |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 7:30AM–4PM 7:30AM–4PM 7:30AM–4PM 7:30AM–4PM 7:30AM–4PM 7:30AM–5PM 7:30AM–5PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 15
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Seng Saeliew
Ive been coming to this restaurant for as long as I can remembered as a kid. For those first timer, here is a tip to remember by...Always look at what people are eating around you and most likely you will end up with their noodle soup (it has many nick name: regular bowl w/everything, #21 or Chow Jew Ho Fun). It consist of a variety of meat (chicken, beef, pork, fish, and shrimp serve with noodle over soup). If you have no idea what it may be... Think of the Vietnamese version of noodle soup. To start off, Pho is well known even amongst American eaters. Think of this as a Pho noodle soup except with the thin noodles that is replace with a thicker noodle. The broth itself isnt beef but rather a simple yet very delicious and has a good aroma to it. Also added to the ingredients is all of the combination of meat that is included in every bowl unless you specify what kind of noodle soup you prefer. For those who prefer something a bit spicy... Know you can always add a few table spoon of their famous secret home made house sauce and the house vingered saranos peppers. This should spice up your life a bit. One thing to remember is that strangely enough... You will eventually hear loud coughing around you as something about those hot sauce isnt really hot but it can irritate your throat and cause you to cough unrefusely... lol. Thirdly, for people who are sensitive to MSG, you may want to stay away, but then again...people who smog everyday maybe a healthy eater. Seriously who are we fooling? Ourselves? Simply out it this way, we have options and we can afford to nick and pick our way in America. As for the decor, its fairly small but seats a lot of people daily. It can get pretty noisy as eating can be a social event in the Asian culture. Overall this restaurant is and always will be one of my top 5 noodle soup restaurant eventhough despite what I already know about the restaurant. So it comes down to this... Why am I not giving it a 5 star then, well the problem is that nearly 90 percent of the time my food are serve to me. It has always been very pleasant. Its those 10 percent that gets me fired up! Being serve with old noodles from the previous day and trying to pass it as fresh noodles as if I didnt notice or the fact that the mom (head boss) can sometimes come off as rude to people and the fact that the the some of the meatballs are only half serve. Ive become more weary of the small changes that are taking place and wonder if any more cost cutting will be taking place because the noodle itself has less portion than before. Yes, Im a regular here but will not sugar coat any of my restaurant because I do not want to steer someone who trusted my review only to find that the food itself is more of a bleh than hmmm.
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Tu Lam
We have these where you want to go to lunch conversations at work all the time. The conversation gets old because we always go to the same place. Well, not today! My friend loves this place, but unless you get there early for lunch, theres going to be a wait for a table. He said our other co-workers wont go here because its too crowded and they dont like waiting. This place is super loud as people chatter between bites of noodle soup. This is what everyone comes here for. #21 on the menu, the many different kinds of mix meats. I love the flat egg noodles, they cook them just right, chewy without being overcooked. Also there house chili oil is fantastic, not to spicy (my heat register is pretty high so sample a small bit to decide for yourself). This is the comfort food I grew up with, maybe this is why I rather have noodles than rice. Ill be coming back more often with winter coming soon.
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A Private User
We were Vien Huong Noodles customers for 14 years. The foods are so great but the man owner (who stands in the cashier counter, around 40 year of age) doesnt care about the customers. He has bad customer services for many years as he knew his restaurant always crowded. Yesterday he shouted at my friend when she came there to eat. He seems doesnt want to serve the handicap like her. We will never come back Vien Huong again because of the man owners terrible behaviour! Not recommended!
DA
Dave Young
I ordered #21 "chow jew ho fun" as it is pretty popular here. Slices of BBQ pork, ground pork, shrimp, pork ball, fish ball, and I substituted fish cake instead of kidneys. The broth was light and the noodles were of good soft but with a little al dente chew. The BBQ pork, shrimp and fish cake were all that stood out in this otherwise modest dish. It dont blow me away, and I think the broth was what held it back.
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Christopher Ngo
Place is usually always crowded but I recommend going during off hours. The egg noodles (soup on the side of course) is my personal favorite. It can get pretty crowded during lunch and the morning hours. Definitely not the best looking restaurant but the food is top notch
DA
Damon Anderson
Admittedly this is where I first had chow ho fun, so I am somewhat biased, and Vien Huong has been my benchmark ever since. That being said, I have lived in SE Asia for over 9 years and never found anything quite as good as this place. Keeps me coming back to the states!
CA
Castle Guy
The ultimate neighborhood gem. So charming. Have a late weeknight dinner to really see them shine. French onion soup, frisée salad, mussels and fries ... healthy pours of wine. Or a weekend brunch for omelettes and nicoise salad. Chez Maman can do no wrong!
NO
Noelle Ham
I ordered the seafood egg noodles, but what I got was the seafood ho fun. I was basically told I ordered this (when I didnt..) but whatever, no point in arguing so I ate it anyway. Eh, the squid tasted fishy. Broth was okay, but nothing special.
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Kevin Dang
Came to visit again after many years. Food is as good as before. Love this place and been going here since I was a kid. My all time fave is the chicken ho fun, dry style. Come before noon or they might sell out of chicken !
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Maryanne DelaTorre
Chow Jew ho fun slathered in spicy condiments is what I usually order. If you arent in the mood for soup, any chow fun is delicious. Beware, bring cash. They do not accept debit or credit cards.
JU
Judy Lee
This is a good place as who want the noise and lousy from others. Sharing table w/O asking customer is normal in this restaurant. I dont fit with this life style. But the food taste good. ..um
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Ben Nguyen
This restaurant was amazing! The service was extravagant! I can not verbally express my appreciation towards this outstanding food joint! This is weird coming from a tween
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Judy Wong
the food here is probably laced with crack, because once you eat it, you have to keep coming back! even tho the place isnt super clean. or the people are super nice... lol
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Butcher Chop
Excellent place for noodles!! Everything we tried was good (wontons, noodles, rice, seafood). Can I just recommend everything? Oh, even their coke/pepsi was great.
BE
Benjamin Wong
Overall the food here was not memorable. The flavor of the noodles and soup didnt stand out at all. I expected more based on the reviews.
