Summer is sometimes a stranger and it can be sunny one day and rain drops on another day. This…read morehappened while I was on a drinking binge this week on my matcha bender in Berkeley. Although I go get some Pho after a night of drinking this time I decided to go before noon . Any day when there is rain falling would be an excuse to grab some Pho. There is one place in Berkeley which has been serving Pho for years. I haven't reviewed it until now. It's called the Saigon Express. On a Summer stroll in Downtown Berkeley while rain fall on a supposedly sunny day I landed at Saigon Express. This is a good casual spot to get some Pho. I decided to get chicken pho and it was tasty. I could had a whole bucket of the chicken broth. The noodles were like Angel hair and soft and fresh. The chicken was tender. This place also sells banh mi like the fish cake banh mi on a flakey baguette like some on my social media feed. Overall a good spot to grab a good bowl of Pho rain fall or shine. Walking in Downtown Berkeley I felt the rain fall "on me" a place which has " drawn me" to the Pho place for the one and only "Don Juan V." which also serves some flakey tasty Vietnamese sandwiches called " Banh Mi" Go on a stroll party people from dusk till "dawn"with the hella cool "Don Juan" and they even have a "Seafood Udon "so make an express line to a place with the last name express and the first name "Saigon"

A great spot for a quick banh mi fix. Very good prices and quick service…read more We recently went to dine in with a larger group and also had a good time. Banh mi as good as I remembered, but even the plates (e.g., eggplant basil, stir fried noodles) were fast, tasty, and generously portioned.

Yes this is a small and basic looking place to eat but I frequent this place twice a month for…read moretheir chicken and beef Pho. Staff are really nice and Pho is really really good

So it's the 4th of July and my fave pho place is closed. These guys were open...hadn't been in a…read morelong time, and since the last time I was here they've covered the patio which is nice. It used to get super hot outside. The food is pretty good and about the same price as similar establishments on San Pablo. I had the beef pho (I like it without tendon, beef ball, etc) and the broth was great, the noodles bouncy and it came with all the basil, sprouts, jalapeño and citrus I could want. We also got what they call egg rolls which were like imperial rolls in regular egg roll wrappers. They were decent. Daughter got combination bun which she liked a lot. 3 stars cuz I had to use the bathroom which was absolutely horrifying. They have 2 bathrooms. I opened the door to one and had to shut it really fast. I just edited out details because you don't want to read that.

Love, love, love their food! The Hulk smoothie is also amazing. Mint Leaf is my comfort meal place;…read moreI mostly come when I'm sad or had a bad day. The servers/cashiers are always super friendly and accommodating. I dine in and place to go orders. There is a parking lot located behind the restaurant and street parking available.

My wife had a craving for the crab soup that she normally hours. It has been a day since our last…read morevisit. I stopped I. And ordered the soup to go. Staff is very nice and timed my take-out order so I could swing by Berkeley Bowl so I could take care of my grocery shopping. They do a nice job disassembling the soup for take-out so it is easy to put it together to eat. I tasted the soup, the ingredients are fresh and ample crab meat. We will be back. Still as good as we remember.

I hate leaving not good reviews but figured we should let people know what we experienced…read more Food was good but service was a bit rough. They are super friendly but we ordered 2 bowls of noodle soups with the extra egg each. The first bowl didn't have the egg. Then after a bit had to ask what happened to the other one bowl. They said they didn't realize we ordered two. Ordering is through a kiosk so it should have been obvious. When we got the second bowl they only brought out one egg. We had to ask to get the other one we paid for. Overall I don't think we'll be back. There are other places in Berkeley we'll try before coming back here.

Brief Summary: - Dishes arrive in takeout bowls (whether you…read morechoose dine in or take out) - Order can be done at a kiosk - Seats available inside - Flavor is lightly seasoned - Price is high for being in a location for students - Felt like additional options requested during the kiosk machine was ignored - Overall, prefer the previous branches One of my favorite restaurants opened up in an area closer for student commute traffic, so I decided to make a trip to try them out. The menu is different than the other two restaurants, whereas it didn't have the fried rice or the chicken noodle soup. Inside, there are kiosks to order, so we ordered a Shanghai Scallion (requested broth), the Shanghai Double Happiness bowl, and the hot and sour noodle soup (requested mild spice). The dishes arrived with Shanghai Double Happiness bowl and the hot and sour noodle soup arriving first, and then the Shanghai Scallion. First, upon peering down at the hot and sour soup, there were a ton of red chilis. Is this really mild spicy, I thought to myself as I took a sip. I don't think this was; this was probably set as standard spiciness of this dish. As a person with low spice-tolerance this was too spicy for me to eat, so I had to trade it with my relative's non-spicy dish (I have a relative with higher spice tolerance). When they ate it, they said it was not too spicy (they didn't drink water), but still not sure if the dish was considered mild because I could eat mild spice. This soup has a generous flavor of sour, and it is also less viscous compared to other hot and sour soups. The dish I traded with my relative was the Shanghai Double Happiness bowl. This is a vegetarian dish, which I usually don't eat much of due to these dishes lacking "koku," and this was the case as well. It was a very very lightly seasoned soup, almost too clear as water with a hint of vegetable flavor. I didn't try this on the first bite, but my sibling mentioned that the vegetables were cold, as if they were just out of the fridge and popped in. It could make sense why this dish was just right, on the edge of being called lukewarm, whilst the hot and sour soup was magma hot. (Since we were the first customers in the store, I'm going to take it as the reason why the vegetables were still cold). By the time the dish was swapped over, the vegetables were at room temperature, so I didn't eat the cold vegetables. It was also soft. For the Shanghai Scallions, it was originally a stir fry noodle dish, but because it was a cold day we requested the option to add in broth. When it arrived, it didn't come with the broth either. At this point, we are speculating that the optional requests we marked in the kiosk order are ignored and we were given the dishes at default. Generally, all the dishes were lightly seasoned to the point I will say it had no flavor. The portion is light as well, so compared to the restaurant experience in the other two branches, this one feels pricier. Since this branch is located in the middle of the student community, where they opt for cost-effective dishes, I would suggest adjusting the price or changing up the menu to fit the students' needs. (The fried rice would be a hit)

3-4 stars for the area…read more I wish their pho had more options that actual pho eaters actually eat. tripe tendon etc 3.5 stars, catering to people who don't know anything about pho. One of the reasons I almost never order from here.

We ordered takeout and tried the shredded chicken noodle soup and the pork & shrimp vermicelli. I…read morepersonally preferred the pork & shrimp vermicelli. It came with grilled shrimp and BBQ pork, and the flavors were bright and refreshing, especially with the hints of lemon grass or mint. I found a lot of people were ordering the chicken noodle soup, so I wanted to give it a try. But it didn't live up to my expectations. The chicken was very dry and tough to chew. While the broth was fragrant, I wouldn't order this dish again.

Who knew this was going to be the best vegetarian tofu vermillicelli bowl that I've ever had!…read more I was surprised they put cabbage and mushrooms on top of the tofu and the noodles were warm, soft and fresh. It had a lot of mint, cucumbers and a pickled slaw on the side. My husband enjoyed his pork sandwich as usual. Probably will come right back for another delicious tofu bowl lunch on Monday after my Berkeley periodontal appointment! For a vegetarian meal, I highly recommend their tofu vermillicelli bowl which has a lot more going on than just tofu!

Pretty average pho, solid but we weren't super impressed. Street parking along san pablo. Casual…read moreinside, you order at the counter and they bring it to you. A couple tables inside. The beef balls were good and there was definitely a lot of them in the soup! The pork in the vermicelli bowl was a little dry. Overall not my top pick for pho, but still a solid choice.

Great service, good food. A great find and I'll be back to try other stuff. Love the restaurant has…read morea very family feel and vibe. Please try and help them get more business.

The previous time we came to Da Lian was 20 years ago! Chatted with the waitress about how long…read morethey've been in business and they've had the same owner for about 20 years. Cool to see a restaurant stick around for that long. We got to the restaurant right when it opened for lunch at 11:30 on Sunday. Free street parking on Sunday! I thought everything was solid top to bottom, but here is my ranking in descending order: Braised Eggplant Tofu Clay Pot - I generally like this dish everywhere and they have a good version on this here - seasoned well, tender eggplant, and nice texture on the tofu Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings - non-traditional "salt & pepper" - thick coating of tempura-like batter, very peppery (black pepper), and wings set on a bed of sauteed onions. Sesame Bread with Green Onion - tasty, but unlike other "da bing" I've had. This was on the thin side, meaning you have a lot more crispy outside compared fluffy inside. This was also lighter on the green onion. Classic Shrimp & Chive Dumpling - can't go wrong with dumplings - an order comes with 12 dumplings, each filled with big pieces of shrimp. I liked the texture but it is a little different - looser filling instead of a solid meat/veg ball on the inside. Original Braised Pork Noodle Soup - I liked the flavor of the soup and noodles. There was a ton of meat (diced) but they were on the tough side.

Truly the most affordable, thoughtful, speedy, consistent caterer I've found in Berkeley. It's my…read morego to for work events because they can facilitate gf/vegan/allergies so well! They can adjust spice level to be very mild or spicy. You just cannot beat the prices either. It's very 2015 pricing!!! Like go look for yourself. Anchalee the owner is such a gem of a human. She is so honest. When I over order, she literally says you won't need that much. The "small catering trays" are huge lol. Anyways go support this business plz!

Arrived a little past the lunch rush and had it was empty and quiet. Which I preferred! The place…read moreis cute and brightly lit with lots of light. The staff were friendly and helpful with the menu. I decided to order the Khao Soi lunch special and so happy I did! The curry was amazing! Packed with flavor! The chicken was also tasty and seasoned well. I left so full because the portion was generous.