Jason Y.

Came by 26 Viet Cafe in Pasadena and was impressed by both the food and drinks. They originally started in Vancouver and recently opened their first SGV location. The menu has a lot of variety and everything we tried tasted fresh, authentic, and flavorful. We started with the ube coffee and matcha coconut cloud. Both drinks were creamy, smooth, and strong in flavor without being overly sweet. Perfect pick-me-up drinks. The snack platter was great for sharing and came with fried chicken wings, spring rolls, egg rolls, grilled chicken, and pork. The standout for me was definitely the egg rolls -- super crispy on the outside and filled with meat, vermicelli, and wood ear mushrooms. For the mains, we ordered the house special combo rice, beef short rib salad, woven noodles with beef short rib, and the special pho. The meats had a delicious smoky grilled flavor and were cooked really well. The pho came loaded with different cuts of beef and the broth was rich, savory, and comforting. Service was friendly and the restaurant itself was clean and modern. Portions were generous and overall it was a really satisfying meal. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the Pasadena area.

Fiona T.

I love authentic Vietnamese food, and this cozy spot also adds a touch of Cantonese flavor, along with some unique eats. They also have locations in Canada My favorite here: the crab soup vermicelli with soft shell crab So good all blended together with the flavorful soup. My friends love this butter frog leg Told you they have unique eats I am an obvious meat lover So I can't miss the skewers Which is just $7 for two IG: socalhkfoodies

Sherry Z.

A place we will come back again! Excellent service, delicious food and clean. We especially love the appetizer sampler.

Dan L.

I won't say that it's the best Vietnamese restaurant that I've ever been to, but it's still a solid choice worth trying out at least once if you're in the area. The food was decent, overall. I've had more impressive pork chops elsewhere, but their add-on items are fantastic (appetizers, drinks, desserts, etc.). From what I can see, the add-on items are discounted compared to what they would cost if ordered separately from an entree. The availability of chili oil at the condiment bar is admittedly a unique touch here. Service was satisfactory overall. Pricing seemed a tad high vs. other Vietnamese places, but I suspect it may be a result of high rents given the location. The customer seating is cushioned and comfortable. Parking was easily obtained in front of the restaurant. Overall, I would consider returning here.

Venus L.

I was so very pleasantly surprised by the few dishes I ordered. I will be coming back to try some other things, but for my first trip I tried the bun bo hue and rare beef beef. The bbh came out much more red and fragrant than a lot of places I've had recently. The soup was oh so very deeply beefy, porky, and savory. It even had an actual slight kick to it, a stronger one than most bbh I've had recently. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will say I am a bit sad the bbh isn't served with pork knuckles, but given the location and the menu, I understand. The beef slices were super amazingly tender. The rare beef pho was much more savory than I anticipated. In the sense that a lot of southern pho tends to lean towards more oniony sweet and I appreciate the much more umami savory broth this place had. Just a personal preference! I wish I would've tried the bun rieu, but boyfriend and I both wanted our own bowls of bbh haha. Looping back to my note on the location/menu when I was talking about the bbh, the menu itself doesn't use the actual names of the dishes with a short description under like most Vietnamese places in the SGV. It's a bit more friendly to folks who may not be well versed in Vietnamese dishes (: The name itself is just a very brief description of what the food is and then ingredients followed under. It's very clean in there! We also got some drinks, they were more trendy drinks than the usual drinks you'd expect at a Vietnamese spot. Matcha, ube, black sesame, etc on top of the coffee and some fizzy matcha sodas. Boyfriend, sister, and I went after lunch rush so it was fairly empty. Service I wish was just slightly more attentive as we waited quite a while. But I think the staff was also having their lunch break from what I saw. They came though as soon as someone peaked out and we raised our hands for attention. Will definitely come back to the the bun rieu and some other items (:

Andrew L.

My wife found this place in her never ending search for good Vietnamese food near us since we got back from Vietnam. We came around 11:30am on Friday to a mostly empty restaurant. The menu was interestingly in English and Chinese, but no Vietnamese, so we had to ask if the seafood soup was bun rieu and if the crispy pancake was banh xeo, and the server said yes to both. It took about 10-15 minutes for our food to come out, but it was worth the wait. The bun rieu flavor was the best we've had since Vietnam, and we added some of their homemade chili oil/paste and shrimp paste that my wife always asks for, and it deepened the flavor. The banh xeo was solid, but it was mostly bean sprouts in there with a few shrimp that had unpeeled tails - no pork. Interestingly the only fresh vegetables they gave were bean sprouts, Thai basil, and lettuce - no mint or banana blossom or other traditional Vietnamese veggies - maybe I should have asked. We got the mango sago dessert, which I enjoyed and thought was refreshingly tart and creamy. My wife asked the server where they get their chili oil, and he said they make it in house, and he got us a small container of it to go. Overall a solid spot near some of our usual stomping grounds, so we will probably be back! If the owner is reading this, please peel the shrimp before putting it in the banh xeo (and add some pork). Also, please provide more Vietnamese veggies, at least mint, in addition to what you currently provide. I'd also recommend adding Vietnamese to the menu so it feels more authentic.

Zachary P.

Parking: small lot in front and not sure about the side. There is street parking, but it's main street. Place was popping when we went on a Sunday around 12 (obviously). Luckily came right when someone was leaving so didn't have to wait really. Staff was still getting used to everything, but they were nice and got our orders in really quickly. Ordered the shaken beef and I was impressed by the amount they give you. I always finish this dish and most places leave me feeling unsatisfied, but this location gave me just enough to not feel that way. Taste was also much much better, beef tastes way higher quality than my local areas and the sauce was delicious, didn't taste old and pre-prepared. The pho bowl was also generous with portions without tasting cheap. Broth was okay, but the portions made up for everything. My only complaint would be that I had to ask for the water to be replaced instead of them automatically taking care of it, but the staff looked pretty new and still orienting so it's okay. Definitely coming back since it's not too far of a drive for me and the value blows my local areas out of the water.

Ross W.

We liked the food. The Chicken Banh Mi was good, as was the Shrimp & Lotus Stem Salad. The salad may not be everyone's cup of tea. Hubby found it bland, but I appreciated the subtle flavor. The shrimps were fairly big but halved. Add-ons are offered. For an additional $4 to $6, you can choose a drink, appetizer or dessert for every entree. We had Spring Rolls and Pork Skewers. The skewers were so flavorful. Service was a bit lacking, mostly due to inadequate staffing. It was hard to get anyone's attention. Also they forgot the skewers which didn't show up until the very end.

Doreen T.

A solid pho spot in the East Pasadena neighborhood. I ordered the P1 Special Beef Noodle Soup, which was flavorful and served at just the right temperature. My husband got the R3 combo rice plate with grilled pork chop, grilled chicken, and an egg roll. We liked how the egg roll is almost like tempura fried, so light and crispy! We also shared an order of chicken satay as appetizers. There are only two pieces however it was meaty and big! Everything was delicious and came out quickly. We stopped by for a late Sunday lunch, and there was only one other customer at the time. The restaurant is clean, spacious, and bright. We'll definitely be back to support this spot.

Kathleen C.

Definitely mixed. What drew me in was the appetizer sampler so we could try the spring rolls, egg rolls, wings etc. The wings were nothing special and the fried rolls were mediocre. The grilled chicken and pork on the bottom layer was very tasty. My husband ordered pho and I had a vermicelli salad. Both were fine however not the best ever. Pho broth wasn't anything special. Service was fine. Inside was fine. Nothing special or remarkable.

Alice Q.

Came for the fried chicken wings! YUM YUM YUM We also ordered curry it's soup like cane with rice. Added on spring roll. The salted coffee was delicious. 4 stars because our wing order wasn't placed we had to wait for them.

Ben A.

I was happy to see a new "pho" restaurant open up in my hometown, and without a second thought, my Mrs. and I ducked in. It turns out that this new spot is much more than simply a noodle soup place-- there were several cool fusion-ey creations on the menu that immediately made us want to return before we had even finished our first visit! I ordered the dac biet for all intents and purposes, and it came with a fall-off-the-bone braised rib, along with the other accountrements and assorted cow-building materials. Any good pho-phile knows it's all about the broth; theirs is a nice mix-- clear, good beef flavor, and just the right amount of basil and anise on the back end of the slurp to give it some awesome context. Mrs. Picante ordered up the tai chin, and she said it was among the highest quality meat she has enjoyed in a bowl lately-- no gristly chewy pieces (which of course, I like with all the tripe and tendon you can throw my way)... but she's just not that into chew. Anyway, the place just opened, and the servers were a little green-- kind and hard working kids, but still learning the ropes. Laid back ambiance, with a casual vibe-- t-shirts and shorts sort of place, but with a nice push towards sophisticated if you wanted to show up in business casual. There is not even really any art on the walls just yet, but flat screens showed colorful landscape images of (I assume) Vietnam. Another note on the service: the server was really kind to walk my wife through which sauces may have gluten (because she can't...) and he was patient and cheerful. Seems like a nice place, and I am eager to see how they grow and evolve. Definitely a big "welcome to the neighborhood" from El Gigante Picante. When Islands is a crowded mess, I'll be more than happy to recommend the family go across the street and give this place as many shots as we can.

Justine H.

New to me viet spot in Pasadena. Super large portions and super filling. The appetizer tower comes with spring rolls.