We checked out Mint Leaf for the first time last night, located where our dearly departed Sharffen Berger factory used to be. The decor is crisp and modern, and since we arrived an hour before closing, there were only a few other patrons.. We ordered: Shaking Beef - the beef cubes were tender and tossed with loads of caramelized onions; served with a lime-salt-pepper garnish. There was clearly sugar added to the sauce, but it worked. It's not as good as the shaking beef at Slanted Door, but it's my favorite non-fancy-restaurant version of this dish that I've had. Chicken Pho - good broth, plenty of noodles, delicious marinated chicken. Not as "complex" as pho at other places, but tasty. Chicken Lettuce Cups - moderately spicy and well seasoned, very fresh and light. Garlic noodles - clearly spaghetti, like the Italian kind from a box, with some scallions and fish sauce garnish. Not what I was expecting, but it was tasty and went well with my beef. I'd order a rice side next time. I'd say, overall, the ingredients at Mint were in general fresher tasting than most Vietnamese pho houses, and the food a little more Americanized and minimalist. I don't think this place will replace the hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurants I love, but I like Mint enough that I will be back. read more

Delicious food. My daughters love the crisp vegetarian roll and we always order Pho and some fried rice.

Best tofu bahn mi I've found in the bay. Super tasty. My friends loved the meat stuff too.

The vermicelli bowl with pork was delicious. The fried spring rolls it comes with were crispy and paired nicely with the included sauce. My friend ordered the sweet potato garlic fries and they were a unanimous hit! The servers were cordial and prompt. They have baby chairs and booster seats if needed and ample parking on the street right next to the restaurant or in their lot. read more

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Mint Leaf is a "safe" place to eat. It's not the best of what Viet food has to offer but it wasn't terrible either. For starters, we had the Imperial Roll and the spring roll. The spring roll was just okay. The Imperial Roll is the standard fried egg roll with fish sauce. The latter was our favorite of the two. I ordered the Pad Thai "Spicy" dish. It was not as spicy as I hoped it would be. More like a mild. I srirachaed the heck out of my pad thai (yes, i verbified Sriracha sauce). With that said, it was pretty good pad thai for a Viet restaurant. I think even better than a lot of Thai restaurants. The noodles were soaked up with flavor and not soggy at all. I think the best thing Mint Leaf has to offer here is their fruit/blended drinks. They take forever to make and come to your table...like the waiter free climbed El Capitan...just kidding...but seriously, it did take a very long time. I don't remember the name of my drink but it had apple and ginger in it. It was delicious, nutritious and refreshing! Get it if you like ginger read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Pad Thai - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

One of the best viet places I've ever been to! I would come here more often if I had a car or lived a little bit closer. +fresh pho +viet coffee drinks - from the dripper +diverse smoothie menu +clean and large dining area The portions are a little small for it's price, but it's still a decent amount of food if you're not the type to eat two dinners a day. read more

This is a solid average Pho restaurant with a lot of cute qualities. Their soup broths are very simple and haven't been simmering for hours but it's clean tasting. The service has much to be desired but I have high hopes for these guys because the place is sweet. - Mint Leaf has a smoothie menu and their Avocado Condensed Cream smoothie is good - Hot tea is delicious and served in the cutest pots and cups - Goi Guon rolls are decent but the servers had no idea what Nuoc Mum dipping sauce was (took 3 tries/requests to get it) - Lovely building with windows lining the road - Won Ton soup comes in a kids bowl size - Buon Bo Hue (spicy style soup based off of Hue Vietnam) very safe soup that doesn't have the normal heat or exotic meats like normal but good for anyone trying it out. The noodles were right. - Pho Special, an average dish - Sweet Potato and Chicken Curry, delicious flavor but chicken needs to be way more tender - Brown rice is more like red rice and good - Service needs improvement. I would have liked to see our waters filled and hot tea refilled without asking (one waitress was eating with a full glass of water and we had to ask for more water). They weren't terribly intuitive and should have checked to see if we wanted our smoothie to go before they put it in a glass container. I hope I'm not being too harsh but I really like to see places like this rock the house and I feel like Mint Leaf can do way better than they did on this particular day. read more

Mint Leaf is consistent. If I have a craving for one of their dishes I know it will give me the same satisfaction as it did the last time. I've been to this location on many occasions since my first review. Since then, I have established "go-tos": wonton soup and avocado delight smoothie. The wonton soup has a light clear broth, flavorful wontons, and fried garlic (I love this stuff!). The avocado smoothie -- always the perfect sweetness, creamy, and refreshing. These items are also good to go and the noodles taste even better the next day. And so - five stars all the way! read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Ginger lemonade and green smoothie. - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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This is my favorite place to go for lunch. Love the Pho on the cold days and the Vietnamese Sandwich on hot days. Service and food is great. Highly recommend it. read more

Service is usually good. I have ordered: Lemongrass skillet-worst thing ever Pork chops- freaking delicious but pricey at $15 for 2 steaks , a piece of lettuce, a tomato and carrot shreds. Veggie Pho add chicken- yum. But they only have chicken broth!!!! Vegetarian beware! $10 I like the thai iced tea. The watermelon limeade infused with Jalapeños is interesting. My carrot orange juice for $5.50 was expensive and didnt taste fresh. I won't order it from here again... The seafood clay pot is ok. The pineapple curry fried rice is ok. The shrimp/prawn spring rolls are overfilled with vermicelli noodles, not great in context. But it's my go to place for Pho.... read more

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My wife and I have been here half a dozen times. We often go there before or after Berkeley Bowl. Last visit we enjoyed the mango salad. We've also had the papaya salad a couple of times. Both are fresh, crunchy and delicious. My wife has had the seafood clay pot in the past. Last visit she had the eggplant and tofu clay pot with coconut rice. She proclaimed that she found a new "last meal." I've had several dishes in the past. This visit I had a side of the spicy green beans with shiitakes and a side of garlic noodles. Both dishes were packed with flavor. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and the mushrooms were succulent. The noodles were fabulous and not greasy. My wife also loves the watermelon and citrus drink infused with jalapeño. One of our favorite restaurants. read more

We've been here 3 times within the last couple of weeks and liked it a lot. Service is friendly and quick. The restaurant is big and spacious. We tried many different items and liked them all: - fresh rolls with shrimp - chicken wings!! - lemongrass chicken - bread pudding with coconut ice cream (very generous portion) - pho It's a friendly neighborhood restaurants without frills bit with steady service. Prices are moderate. We will be back for sure! read more

This is not authentic Vietnamese food. The decor is beautiful but I was disappointed with the food. The service could've been better but I'll give them some slack since there was a party of at least 10 next to us. The thing that I don't understand it, how can they only have 2 people working as servers on a saturday afternoon. Service was extremely slow. It took about 10 minutes for us to even have our order taken. Our waters were never filled and we we never checked up on. I ordered in Vietnamese because it was listed in Vietnamese and the lady didn't understand what I wanted. On to the food! On rainy days, I'm always craving Bun Bo Hue. Yummy spicy goodness. This place was a big let down for me. It was pretty much spicy pho. Bun Bo Hue usually has a lemongrass note to it which is what distinguishes it from the star anise used in Pho. The broth itself, I think is chicken? It didn't taste like beef broth. it's called "Bo," meaning cow for a reason! The meats used for it was ALL wrong. They had extremely fatty brisket and Cha Lua (vietnamese steamed pork loaf). There was no beef shank, pig's feet, huyet (Vietnamese pig's blood cubes), cha tom (Vietnamese shrimp paste). I was especially looking forward to the huyet because it's my favorite! I was extremely unhappy that they called this Bun Bo Hue when it isn't even the correct broth/flavoring for it. Plus one for getting the correct type of noodles though, I suppose. read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Bun bo hue - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

What I ordered: Garlic Noodle It was delicious but the meat was too dry. I would say that it's not authentic, which we were the only asian in the restaurant during our visit. read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Let me start off by saying that Mint Leaf was my go to restaurant for lunch... until today. & let me also say, that I rarely leave yelp reviews..but here we go! It all started when I had called and placed a phone order for pick-up. The lady on the phone was trying to rush through what I was ordering and get me off the phone (I get it, sometimes it's busy.. whatever. I thought nothing of it) Once I arrived, I paid for my food and waited for the food to be brought out. About two minutes go by and I see a lady bring a bag of food out and place it on the counter behind the register. At this point, there are three women standing behind the counter and nobody acknowledged that I was standing there WAITING FOR MY TO-GO ORDER. So, like a normal person, I assumed it wasn't my food and continued waiting. Then, about 5 more minutes go by and I ask "Is that order for Lauryn?". One of them looks at it and says yes and hands me my food. I walk back to my office and sit down to eat and notice the food in the bag is not what I ordered. So I walk back and let them know so that they can fix the mistake. While waiting, I started eating one of my items that they had gotten correct. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD. So then, as I'm sitting there, minding my business, waiting on my food to be brought out again, IRENE walks over and tells me, I owe $2.50 for the balance. I politely told her that I don't think I should have to pay the $2.50 since they messed up my order and I had to walk back and wait. She then starts raising her voice and telling me I need to pay. So, I tell her "I'll pay, but I'm definitely going to leave a yelp review"..(now this I would've left a 3 star review, not 1 star), BUT then she says "I didn't know you couldn't afford two dollars" and starts talking under her tongue on her way back to the register. Now, I'm irritated because you just insulted me. I feel disrespected and I feel that that kind of response should never be spoken towards a customer. EVER. I worked in customer service and I would never even think about stooping that low. How dare you insult me in front of a full restaurant over $2?! AND, I feel like the insult was geared towards me because black. I cant afford $2?! Are you serious? I leave $3 on the table and ask for her name. Her name is Irene. The customer service i received today is by far, one of the worst in a long time. Mint Leaf, I hope you take disciplinary action against Irene. That was very rude and very disrespectful. It was never about the amount of money, it was the fact that 1. you had me waiting for my food while it sat on the counter for 5+ minutes, and 2. If you mess up a order and the customer leaves and walks all the way back to get it corrected, that should've been fixed with no charge. read more

I'm surprised based on the strong reviews but the food here is not very good. Mostly bland... the pho was just chicken broth and the chicken in rice plate and chicken satay were not enjoyable. One flavor note and only really edible with siracha masking the flavor. The imperial rolls are okay but I've had better ones just about everywhere. Prices aren't bad but when you're eating what amounts to fast food quality Vietnamese food, you don't expect to pay $9 for an entree. If I had to pick a word to describe the food it would be "lackluster." The staff was friendly and attentive but then we were the only people in there at 6:30pm on a Thursday. read more

The beef pho broth here is amazing. It is flavorful and rich but not too salty. You can tell they steeped the broth for a long time for the flavors to merge into one harmonious symphony in your mouth. The rolls here are also creative and delicious. Who would've thought to put jicama and chinese sausage in a spring roll? Or mangos? But it works! Even though their prices are a bit high, they seem appropriate for the ambiance and style they add to their dishes. read more

Delicious pho! I ordered vegetable pho in chicken broth -- a lot of fresh vegetables and fantastic broth. I had to order it for pick up due to SIP, but the store staff was very thoughtful to keep the take out pho fresh. I will definitely come back once the restaurant reopens. read more

This restaurant honestly improves my quality of life in Berkeley and is one of the reasons I enjoy living here. One of my go to's is the Tofu Banh Mi. I'm not even vegetarian but it feels fresh and healthy and I love the smoky soft texture of the tofu with lemongrass and the balance of carrots, cucumber, mayo, etc. Perfect portion size, smells nice vs some other banh mis can have a very strong odor that's difficult to eat around polite company. I also like getting the vermicelli bowl, and the menu is massive and has something for everyone. The staff is often strikingly nice, like visiting a family member, and I feel good about supporting them as a small business even though my income right now is also limited. Before COVID, the restaurant had a nice ambiance, kind of an open, sunny greenhouse aesthetic, with an open porch area with a little garden and heating. I would take a date here. read more

I never knew this place existed and so close to 900 Grayson. You can't imagine the glee when we find a new restaurant to add to our arsenal of choices to feed ourselves. The Emeryville area is very limited in restaurants to patronize in. Anyhoo...our group went there for lunch last week. Pretty much the majority of my colleagues ordered the rice vermicelli bowl. They were so excited for the dish, but they voiced their disappointment in the lack of flavor. Sure, it was a humungous portion but the sauce was just too bland. The shakin' beef dish I ordered was delicious, with tender filet mignon cubes with sliced onions in a sizzling platter. There's room for improvement in their service. We see waitstaff scurrying pass us every few seconds, but we were unsure if our requests were actually heard, so we would ask several times until we finally got what we wanted. When I finally got my bowl of brown rice, the waitress spilled it onto the floor...SIGH.... read more

Veggie pho and crispy avocado rolls all day please! The pho comes with a bounty of fresh vegetables and the crispy avocado roll is on another lvl because they wrap a fresh spring roll around a veggie crispy spring roll!! I do have to ding a star though because they forgot to include the pho topping of basil, lemon, bean sprouts, and jalapeño! Without those things I feel the pho doesn't reach its maximum enjoyment. read more

I like how parking is so convenient at this restaurant! It's just right behind the restaurant and there's wayy more than enough parking spots to not have to fight over or parallel park on the streets. If you're like me an absolutely dislike downtown atmosphere because there's too much pedestrian-vehicle traffic conflict and parking is usually something you actually have to think about, come here. In terms of pho quality, it's not great but not bad. Service really off here though.. As I walk in, there's a huge "Please wait to be seated" sign by their juice bar and register. So I stand there, for minutes but really feels like hours.. There's plenty of open tables, and the lady manning the juice bar and the guy floating between waiting tables and manning the register both look lost and clueless. I know they notice me because they glance a couple times in my direction. They FINALLY seat me... It's nice they bring you ice water without even asking you, but I like my water without ice in it. Though I'm not the type of person to ask for a glass of water with no ice if ice water has already been brought over to me..I call the waiter over to order the #21 combo pho, which is basically the standard/safe choice at any pho place. Order came pretty quickly. The portion is relatively small, but considering it's Berkeley, it's not TOO bad for the price. There's a ton of broth overload and because I drank most of the broth and consumed all the contents of my pho, I was actually pretty full and satisfied. brisket was sliced nice and thin, and there was a good amount of it in there. It was just a little too rough for my taste. The broth was nice, hot, and balanced well in flavor. Pho noodles were cooked well. There actually wasn't much of the tendon or tripe in my bowl though.. strange. The bill came out 8.99 and I prepared to pay with my credit card and they have a $10 minimum. The lady said "Oh $10 dollar minimum with card". I nodded and said ok and handed her the card thinking that it will come out to $10 with tip anyways. She look confused..then I felt confused "Next time ok? $10 minimum with card".. Still confused.. I realized that she wanted $10 minimum BEFORE tip. It was handled awkwardly. I actually don't know what the norm is in terms of a minimum charge being before or after tip.. so if anyone knows, please let me know.. I'm actually kinda curious.. read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Clay Pot Paella is DELICIOUS! I love that they use coconut rice, it made it so tasty! The Vietnamese Coffee is great! Appetizers were sadly disappointing. Pho was not great. Service was horrible. Not enough water around the table and it took forever for refills. As well, they weren't attentive whatsoever. Food came out very sporadic. Some main entrees came out before the appetizers. Prices seem a little overpriced. 3.5 stars read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Vietnamese Coffee - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I'm here to talk about fresh rolls, as they are a menu section that has made a lasting impression on my household. We've ordered a handful of other things from the menu and it's the rolls that keep us coming back. These are just the ones we've tried so far. I think they are priced very reasonably for the amount of food -- think of them as larger than a standard appetizer because you can have some leftover to snack on. I think several of the rolls I'm describing also have either basil or mint leaves inside as well, but I can't remember off the top of my head. #4 Avocado imperial spring roll "cha gio cuôn": You get a delicious fried imperial roll INSIDE a fresh roll with a generous amount of avocado. Lettuce and vinaigrette balance it out. It feels a little insane but it works. #7 Lemongrass roll "thit nuong cuôn": Choose your meat, but in my mind (for this, for banh mi or for bún) you can't beat classic thit nuong, grilled pork. #8 Jicama roll "bò bía": Where have you been all my life? Fresh and crunchy jicama, shreds of thin egg, Chinese sausage, a generous amount of fried shallots... SUCH a good combo. I could eat this for any meal of the day. If you haven't had these ingredients together before, give it a try! #9 Mint leaf roll "xoāi cuôn" - beef, mango, jicama, yum. The name would appear to be a reference to a "mango jam pie" snack product, which is cool. The mango is perfect every time. #10 Summer roll "tom cuôn" - coconut prawn, avocado, pickled carrot, vermicelli, lettuce. Kind of like the imperial roll in a spring roll, this one feels like a special treat. It's not as light and salad-y as some of the others but is still darn good! read more

My lady friends and I were craving some Vietnamese food while we were in the 4th Street area, and this restaurant popped up in my friends Yelp IPhone app. When we got there, it was a bit surreal for me because I actually used to work at this locale as a waitress when it was Cafe Cacao. They even have the same tables and chairs. But I digress. There was only one other table there when we arrived, and a couple more came in once we were in the midst of our meal. We ended up not ordering any pho, but a few other items to share. We had the: - Saigon Vermicelli Bowl, which was lackluster and although I know that the noodles are supposed to be cold, EVERYTHING (Grilled Pork and Eggroll) on the plate was cold. This made it unappetizing. - Pineapple Curry Fried Rice: a bit bland and unmemorable. - Iron Skillet Lemongrass Tofu and String Beans: a suggestion from our server and the favorite dish of the night. Super flavorful. Our server was extremely friendly and helpful, and truly the highlight of the experience. Unfortunately, I was left with wanting more. read more

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I've only had delivery/takeout from this neighborhood treasure. Never have I been disappointed. The standard dishes are delicious, and their system is so organized that my order was always early or on time. I will continue to be a repeat customer for sure. read more

This restaurant has really good pho noodle soup. I always order the spicy beef combo sometimes with extra meat. They give you a lot of soup, sometimes too much but it is worth the money it really tastes good and is filling. Next time, I will take a picture .... read more

Clean! One of my regular lunch places, a nice environment with high ceilings, lots of wood, double-hung windows facing Seventh Street, banquette and loose seating, relatively healthy and clean menu of favorite Vietnamese items. They seem to specialize in their fresh juice smoothies, but I stick to the basics, chicken Pho, like their version of Wonton soup and iced coffee. Their Pho broth is very tasty, and finally discovered how to properly eat Pho (thanks to Youtube) with liberal applications of Hoisin sauce and Sriracha slathered over rice noodles with chopsticks while draped over or in a spoon. Made me eat more than I wanted to it was so tasty. Before I'd just eat the noodles "straight" and would get kind of tired of the flavor by the end of the dish. Sunlit filled space, nice sound quality because it's big, high and long. For me, the staff has been attentive and food is quick which for lunch is a good thing. Vietnamese iced coffee is a standard of mine, good snap of sweetness after Pho is always a nice balance. Usually a nice rest stop. read more

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Had to wait a very long time for take away, the waitress was alone to receive people, take orders & serves ... the food is good but not the service. read more

I ordered the coconut prawns and sweet potato garlic fries both were really really good, I can't wait to go back to try other things! and get some more sweet potato fries yum! read more

OMG! I wish I lived in that neighborhood I could go there every day. The food is so good. Portions are generous and pricing is reasonable. We ordered the shaking beef, catfish and fries and seafood stew. The seafood stew was a little salty I guess it was expected from restaurant food. read more

Stingiest restaurant ever!!! Two weeks ago I tried this place for the first time, I ordered the chicken pho with the shredded meat AND EXTRA marinated meat and they gave me such a little amount of chicken and I wasn't too happy about that but the soup was great. So, today I decided to give it another chance because the pho is pretty good so this time I ask for the marinated meat, instead of the shredded chicken, which is $1 extra and I also asked for EXTRA marinated meat and AGAIN they gave me what it seems like ONE portion of meat. Not happy about paying extra $5 for nothing. And also both times I asked for extra cilantro and they gave me more basil and both times the cashier was annoyed when I asked for it. read more

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I've been meaning to try this place for a while and finally got around to it. The portions were ok (pretty small for the price and compared to other pho places). The best deal seems to be the takeout bahn mi sandwich ($5). I liked that there were a lot of veggies in the veggie pho. I have a feeling they said it was veggie broth, but that it was chicken broth instead. I heard the bahn mi sandwich (beef) was very tasty, but the salad on the side was just a bunch of plain shredded lettuce. The service was really bad. I generally don't care about service so much, but they were getting things wrong, very slow in every way, and it was pretty painful. I would imagine if they keep at it in this manner they'll go out of business. read more

It's kind of tucked away but the place is really spacious with high ceilings and even has a juice bar! The owners are also really nice and welcoming. I got the Saigon Vermicelli Bowl: -choice of grilled chicken, beef, pork, or tofu topped with crispy imperial roll and peanuts on a bed of vermicelli noodles, sprouts, lettuce, mint, cucumber with traditional vinaigrette I had to ask for additional vinaigrette because they gave me really little so I couldn't really taste much ): Without the extra vinaigrette, the noodles would have been a little too dry...but it was fine after! their portion size was pretty large though so I'd rather have that than a tiny portion with too much vinaigrette. It was a really light lunch..not too heavy so it was perfect! I just really love the space and service here so 4 stars. The food was good but it wasn't amazing. I've had better vermicelli bowls in San Jose but this is Berkeley so thumbs up. I do want to come back to try the pho though...and then I'll review it again. read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Saigon vermicelli bowl - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Love the atmosphere, been here a few times, love their food. The waiters, most days we get friendly ones, few occasions we get the not so friendly older ones. I've tried a lot of different types of food from marinated beef (which I like, but they need more mints). Their Banh Hoi, love the lemongrass flavor to them, but only this is they never give enough mints/basils to wrap. Love the avocado shakes, ginger beer, and all their drinks so far. Their Pho is not so authentic, but it's decent...not nasty, too salty, or bland. I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Pho Bo Vien, Thai Tea, Ginger Beer, Banh Hoi, Garlic Noodles, Dessert - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I grew up in SoCal near Little Saigon, so I've been spoiled with delicious, authentic Viet food my entire life before moving up to the Bay. However, it's been really difficult to find even descent Viet food here, but Mint Leaf does come close. It's not the most authentic Viet food and the prices aren't exactly cheap ($8 for appetizer spring rolls? C'mon!) but when you're this far from home, it does hit the spot. Also, the chefs are all Vietnamese (I heard them talking) which might explain why the food is yummy. However, don't try to order in Viet - half of the waiters aren't Viet and I've embarrassed myself a few times trying to order "bun bo hue" only to get confused looks in response... GET: - Spicy Beef Noodle Soup (bun bo hue): LOVE the broth and it comes with a descent amount of beef & brisket - Calamari: delicious! A bit on the salty side but my mouth is watering just thinking about this dish - Lychee Mint Smoothie: Words cannot express how happy this drink makes me. I HATE that it costs $5.62 but damn, it's worth it. SKIP: - Pho: It's ok. If you're REALLY craving good pho, drive an extra 15 minutes to Ao Sen in Oakland. It's better to stick with the bun bo hue here. - Any of the spring rolls (fried or fresh). They're good in taste but $8 is VERY steep and the rolls aren't that big. Save those few extra bucks and apply it towards a lychee mint smoothie TIPS: - come early on weekdays (~11:30) to avoid the noon lunch rush - credit card charges only on order over $10 - designated spots in the parking lot on the side (in between the restaurant and Berkeley bowl) read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Lychee mint smoothie. So refreshing and delicious! Must try! - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I've had a lot of good Vietnamese cooking, but this place is one of the worst. On the good side, the portions were large. But I can think of nothing else positive. The Coconut Curry Fried Rice had almost no curry, the chicken was tough, and there were sections of white rice (so they obviously mixed in 2 batches). The fried rice portion was bland and dry - how do you mess up fried rice ??? My partner had another chicken dish that was mostly a sauce poured over a bed of boiled chicken pieces and noodles. I always take home leftover portions, but in this case, we both didn't bother to finish our plates. Just horrible. read more

Had the pork vermicelli and unfortunately the meat was barely edible. Lots of gristle, couldn't finish it. The lettuce tasted like it had been sitting in a bag too long. Egg roll flavor was unremarkable as well. The rare steak in the pho was tough and lacked flavor. Won't be returning without improvement in the food quality, which is a disappointment since the ambiance is nice. read more

My co-workers and I were thinking of what to eat and whether we should eat out or just order take out for lunch on a busy Sunday. Everyone couldn't decide on what type of food to eat, thank goodness there's this thing called yelp! So we searched for a take out restaurant nearby and Mint leaf happened to be one of them. None of us have tried or heard of this place, so we decided to give it a try. Four out of five people in our group ordered the Saigon vermicelli bowl with either chicken, pork or prawns. The portion was about right to fill me up. The sauce seemed a bit diluted. There was just something missing in it. The bowl also came with one piece of imperial roll and it was the BOMB! It's crispy, and had pieces of taro in it which made every bite tasty. Yummm... Noodles + veggies + prawns + meat + egg roll = Satisfaction. I called to order our food over the phone, but the guy who picked up did not seem to know what vermicelli bowl is. He then gave the phone to another person and asked to repeat my order. It was no wonder the first guy had no clue what I was talking about.. I called another business number which happened to be an Indian restaurant with the same restaurant name. Awkward! Click..... Google led me astray on that one. So I finally got the right number to the right business and placed our food order. The food was ready within 15-20 minutes! read more

Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Saigon vermicelli bowl - Vietnamese Near Me - Berkeley, California

This has been one of our go-to places for the past couple years - always great food, decent prices, and never crowded. Space is loft-like - floor to ceiling windows, lots of right angles, hefty tables, bench seating. There is outside dining space with bistro tables and umbrellas, but haven't eaten there when it's warm enough - cold weather typically steers us in the direction of phoa joints. Try the salads - very tasty chicken Pho - very nice smoothies! - sooo good, we always get the coconut and they're always happy to "split" the giant serving in two glasses for us wide menu selection and of course the coffee - yowza There are some "creative" interpretations of some of the dishes, no so authentic, but hey I still appreciate that they're yummy. Bonus: Restrooms are spacious and always clean read more

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