Indochine Cafe

Doesn't Recommend

customer007

Joined 7 years ago

Suggest a "gristle free" grade of grilled pork for banh mi.. It would be difficult for a Vietnamese chef to ruin a simple grilled pork bahn mi sandwich - unless, however, he were to use a grade of pork which was so poor as to have impossible to chew gristle in almost every single bite!

Indochine Vien is conveniently located and attractive, and I have no reason to exaggerate this experience. Sliced boneless pork shoulder (carnitas type meat) would have been far better than whatever unimaginable cut this chef did use. Most of this pork ended up half chewed, on the side of my plate, rather than in my stomach.

That said, the bun, vegetables, cilantro and dressing were fine and had they used chicken, it would not have had this problem. But a grilled pork banh mi made with gristly pork has no redeeming quality for me.

In closing, with better quality control over the grilled pork they serve, Indochine Vien could be a good place to eat, and I will give them another try in a few months.

Recommends

lucas80

Joined 5 years ago

Great place! The food and atmosphere was great!. So I have NO idea how authentic this place really is, but I really enjoyed everything about it.

Fun atmosphere, very cute inside and the staff was great and very attentive.

The food was good. I had the Bun with chicken and shrimp. My only complaint was that there were only two pieces of shrimp. The egrolls were good as was the dipping sauce.

Everything was really good, so much in fact that I can overlook the measly two pieces of shrimp.

Recommends

kira05

Joined 6 years ago

I love what they serve.... I do not know if this is authentic Vietnamese food or some kind of fusion. But I know one thing, I LOVE their Pho and all other dishes. Its a small place but I go there whenever I get a chance:) !

Doesn't Recommend

jasminedinh014

Joined 6 years ago

Worst Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant Every!!!. This is not a authentic Vietnamese restaurant, its over-priced..way over priced. I tried their eggs roll and crepe...really plain, no flavor, only had about 3 pieces of chicken and full of bean spouts. Then i had their Pho dac biet. unbelievable only had 3 pieces of beef brisket floating in the bowl of soup, not to mention i got vietnames ice coffee, i had more ice then i had coffee, i asked the waitress why she filled up the ice all the way to the top, and she told me that the policy at their restuarant. worst place every, if you wanna go have some authentic vietnamese food go down to heart of little saigon or rosemead..pho pasteur is a lot better.

Recommends

scotchduck

Joined 8 years ago

BEATS GINGERGRASS ANYTIME. My husband & I have been here a few times & always enjoy it. Last time we started with the veggie crepe you wrap in lettuce - delicious. He had beef pho, I had veggie. Wished I had a bigger stomach so I could keep eatting.... And, get this - the safff is attentive & nice - not rude asses like the staff at Gingergrass - imagine that! What a pleasure.

Recommends

tsparks

Joined 7 years ago

a MUST try. After searching for some vietnamese restaurants in that area and reading some of the reviews, i decided to try this one out. I was pleasantly surprised. I had the eggrolls that came with the lettuce and mint for wrappng and a dipping sauce, they were delicious and not greasy at all as they sometimes tend to be. Also had a beef pho that came in a HUGE bowl and was very flavorful. The iced coffee was very good too. Seems like a cool neighborhood place. Will definitely be back for more.

Doesn't Recommend

dinooren

Joined 7 years ago

Bad Vietnamese food. Bland tasting food, not authentic at all. When I passed by the restraurant and saw the Zagat rated sticker on their door I thought it was worth a try. I was wrong.

Recommends

seaurchinisyummy

Joined 7 years ago

faux vietnamese. the pho and the egg rolls were pretty tasteless, blahhhhh. gingergrass is much better if you want better tasting faux vietnamese. one thing this restaurant has over authentic vietnamese restaurants is that it is super clean.

Recommends

jessicaberler

Joined 7 years ago

good pho. the veggie pho was great -- and no MSG! my boyfriend got the beef pho, and really liked it too. we were not crazy about the shrimp and chicken crepe, and i would recommend skipping it. but we will definitely be back for the pho.

Doesn't Recommend

sean_g

Joined 8 years ago

What for?. This place is a total abomination. Everything about this place is fake, right down to the bamboo. Imagine if you will, if hipsters took over a starbucks and decided to make the most contrived restaurant imaginable. That sufficiently describes the appearance and staff.

Now on to the food. I have had Vietnamese food before, so bear in mind this was not my introduction to this cuisine. I ordered the pho, which was $7.50. They handed me a liter of hot water with 4 or 5 marble-sized pieces of meat floating in it, and a box of bean sprouts. To drink, a cup of coca-cola glazed ice cubes.

I'm pretty tolerant of contrived corporate restaurants, as long as the food is good. Though I cannot conceive of one possible reason why anyone would return to eat here, unless they felt like having hot and wet for dinner.