First thing you notice is the service level. Friendly, attentive, patient. Place is clean and…read morestylish and modern. Ordered drinks which arrived promptly. We came on a Sunday afternoon late right at the juncture of lunch and dinner, and the waiter offered us whatever we wanted off either menu. Food was excellent, and arrived to table exactly like the images. Overall 5 out of 5, and 2 enthusiastic thumbs up Highly Recommended Well done, NEP Cafe Team We will be back.

I have to admit, I enjoy eating at these Asian fusion restaurants. NEP cafe is a Vietnamese fusion…read morerestaurant. Can't explain why I came to the location all the way in Irvine when there's one closer to home, except that I did. I got here just when the restaurant opened. It was already pretty crowded. I like the clean, modern feel of the restaurant's interior. That hot Vietnamese coffee was strong, but delicious. It tasted like liquid candy. So good. I ordered the Banh Mi Chao - Filet Mignon. The food was better looking than it tasted. The meat was a little chewy. Service was good. There's plenty of free parking.

I had Soup Shop bookmarked for awhile now so it's with great expectations I dropped in for lunch. I…read morewas surprised by how thick the menu is before I realized it many pages were just food pictures. I chose to sit inside as it was hot and muggy outside. Service staff was excellent. Food came promptly too. I ordered a pho combo with add-on ribs. It was absolutely delicious. Ribs was tender and basically fell off the bone. They brought me the POS machine with my check. It was a pleasant dining experience in the middle of a hustling shopping day.

I ordered the Pho Rib Bone at Soup Shop and visited during peak hours, so there was about a…read more20-minute wait to get seated. Once I placed my order, though, the food came out pretty quickly. The pho was good quality, and I liked that they gave plenty of bean sprouts and cilantro on the side. The portion was satisfying and the broth was flavorful. The only downside was that the servers seemed very busy, so I had to wait quite a while whenever I needed something extra, like water or napkins.

The food is really good! The workers are so nice and very warm and welcoming! Definitely will be…read morecoming back :)

lots of options, very yummy, got the pad Thai, pad see ew with crispy pork And tofu, soufflé…read morepancake was very good.

We went for Sunday lunch around 12pm, it was packed but the wait was fast. Service was quick, and…read morethe portions were generous. There were only 2 of us, so we ordered 2 main dishes and one appetizer. For an appetizer, we got the shredded tofu salad. The two mains we got were House Special Sichuan-Style Fish with Pickled Cabbage & Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables. - Tofu Salad: light and filling (we chose this rather than ordering rice). 4/5 - House Special Sichuan-Style Fish with Pickled Cabbage: Love this! Great portion of fish and the pickled cabbage. 5/5 - Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables: Pork belly on top was very soft and just melted in your mouth. There's more pork below it with the preserved mustard greens, the meat below is more meaty and less fatty, which gave a great balance. 5/5 Overall, we would definitely come back again to try their other dishes. Follow @hangrytrails.us on Instagram for more SoCal foods!

First time , not disappointed. Ordered fish w shiso,…read moresautéed ong choy, frog. Like the fish, juicy and tender with rich flavors but not salty. Not a big fan of frog, but my friend enjoyed it. Very busy place, fast pace, but decent food and service. Maybe more comfortable and cozy in winter.

Always a great experience at SUP Noodle Bar in Irvine! One of my favorites is the Anthony Bourdain…read moredish. The filet mignon is incredibly tender and practically melts in your mouth. The flavors are fantastic, and it's one of those dishes I keep coming back for. The staff is always friendly and welcoming, and the restaurant has a great vibe. Great food, great service, and a place I always enjoy coming back to. Highly recommended!

Four of us went to SUP Noodle Bar in Irvine on a Tuesday evening. We arrived at 6:00 p.m. and…read moremanaged to snag the last available table without a wait. Judging by how quickly the place filled up, coming much later would probably have been a different story. The Food Between the four of us, we ordered the Parmesan Fries, two variations of pho, the Filet Mignon Fried Rice, and the Cajun Garlic Noodles. The Parmesan Fries were a very generous portion, exceptionally crispy, beautifully seasoned, and--in terms of flavor--just about perfect. My only complaint was that they were noticeably oily. Other than that, I couldn't find much fault with them. The Filet Mignon Pho was a treat. The beef was exactly as promised: tender and flavorful. What surprised me was the distinct kiss of cinnamon in the broth. Personally, I would have preferred to suspect the cinnamon rather than clearly taste it, but that's entirely a matter of preference. My wife loved every bite. I also managed to steal a taste of the Filet Mignon Fried Rice. While I certainly didn't regret my own order, I immediately knew what I'll be having next time. The filet was wonderfully tender and juicy, and the rice had a beautifully rounded, savory flavor. A real winner. My Cajun Garlic Noodles were excellent. The sauce had just the right consistency--rich and creamy, yet still delicate enough that the garlic and seasoning weren't buried underneath it. It was certainly on the heavier side, but somehow managed not to leave me feeling weighed down afterward. Rich without becoming exhausting is not an easy balance to strike. The Atmosphere SUP has a modern, distinctly Asian noodle-bar feel. Hard surfaces, no carpeting, and very little acoustic dampening mean that, in polite restaurant language, the atmosphere is lively. In less polite restaurant language: it's loud. That didn't bother us, and it actually suited the casual, energetic atmosphere. But I probably wouldn't choose SUP for a quiet, intimate dinner--or for hearing a lengthy story in which every single word matters. The Service This was the standout. We were not the world's easiest table. Between four first-time customers, individual likes and dislikes, questions about the menu, and various dietary requirements, we gave our waiter plenty to work with. Chase was patient throughout. He explained things, repeated things when necessary, answered our questions, and helped guide each of us toward something that suited us. By the end of dinner, all four of us were convinced we'd ordered the right thing. I'm fairly difficult to impress when it comes to restaurant service, but Chase impressed me. This isn't fine dining, nor should it be judged as such. What stood out was something much simpler: at every opportunity, Chase did a little more than was required of him. He was attentive without hovering, knowledgeable without lecturing, and patient without ever making us feel that we were being difficult. That deserves recognition. The Bottom Line We thoroughly enjoyed the food, the service, and our evening at SUP Noodle Bar. The food was flavorful and well prepared, portions were generous, and the service--particularly from Chase--was exceptional. The only caveat I would mention is the noise level, and that certainly won't stop me from returning. In fact, I already know what I'm ordering next time: That Filet Mignon Fried Rice. --- And Then, Two Days Later... Well, that didn't take long. Two days after writing this review, I was back. My daughter ordered the Filet Mignon Fried Rice I'd been planning to have, so, in the interest of not ordering the same thing, I changed course and ordered the Pho Anthony Bourdain. An instant classic. Absolutely delicious--and now I have a new problem: too many great things to choose from. You won't hear me complain. That's a pretty good problem to have.

From the moment I walked in, I knew, this was going to be good. The server I think his name was…read moreBilly, really did a good job. He recommended some amazing cocktails and really good pre dinner apps. And he delivered. Our favourites were the pork skewers and the smooth operator cocktail. excited to come back here!!!

Four of us ate at Sonder last Tuesday for my birthday. We walked in and they didn't even ask my…read morename; they knew which party we were and took us immediately to our table. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable and gave great advice about which dishes to order and whether each would be enough for four. Everything was excellent. In particular we enjoyed the pork belly, the seafood cocktail, and the chicken skewers. We also had the Little Gem salad, the sourdough, and the bone marrow onigiri. We all agreed: "Not a bad bite in the bunch." The cocktails were creative and the wine selection was good, too. Music was good. It wasn't so loud that we couldn't talk. After dinner, they brought a scoop of matcha ice cream with a candle in it for me and there was enough for all of us to have a bite or two. The only drawback was that from my seat, I could see into the kitchen hallway, which wasn't very attractive. They need a noren to block the view. Minor detail, though, and I suppose that would probably make it more difficult to bring food through. Highly recommend.

Didn't realize the spot rebranded itself until I got here with some friends looking for a quick…read morebite in the area. Previously, it was mainly serving their tea menu. We got a variety of dishes to try out, and overall it was just ok. The soup was good but was a little light on ingredients, the papaya salad was decent with a little kick, noodles didn't really have much truffle taste but was ok, green beans were crunchy and probably the best dish here, and the mango sticky rice was not ripe. Most of the mango pieces were hard / not sweet and proportion to the rice was off. The staff was friendly and the space is very open and welcoming. Not sure if I'd come back though unless I was craving the Asian fusion tea service.

BUSINESS PERMANENTLY CLOSING 6/28/26…read more Came here with some gals for afternoon tea. It's a cute little restaurant in Old Towne Orange. It's decorated really cute inside and out! Everything was creatively planned and decorated. It was also very clean and spacious inside and out. When you go in, there's a tea sampling station with the menus so you can see which tea you would like to order. Our server was really sweet, but she was the only one serving all of the tables, so she would come by every 10-20 minutes to check on us and some things we asked for didn't make it to the table. If they had more servers, customers would be happy with quicker service. The food and tea were delish! There were 6 of us so we shared a bunch of different teas. I really enjoyed the teas they had. The sweet and savory treats were really yummy! I really enjoyed them. Each person got 5 little savory treats and 4 sweet treats. I kind of wish we got one or two more for $45, but either way they were delicious! We had a great time and were sad to learn that the business will be permanently closing down tomorrow (6/28/26), I would have loved to continue going back!

Lately I've been exploring Vietnamese food and when I looked at Nguyen's Kitchen's menu, I was…read moreintrigued by some of their menu items, so I decided to go check them out. I was meeting my foodie friend there at 12:30. The parking lot has limited space, which made it an extra challenge to park. Thankfully I only had to circle the block once to come back and snag a spot. (Meanwhile, my friend got there before me and was already enjoying an appetizer). Orders are placed at the counter and they call your number once your food is ready. The dining room consists of mostly booth seating with one "communal" table, and counter seating with 5ish chairs. There are also a handful of tables set outside. I've really been enjoying banh mi and their Bulgogi beef sandwich sounded great. I also happen to have a thing for popcorn chicken, so I got an order of that to round out my lunch. Oh, and based on the rave reviews I've read about their peach & lychee green tea, I ordered one of those as well. Let me just say, lunch was very satisfying! The sandwich was generously filled the fresh ingredients and the meat to veggie ratio was perfect. I'm not sure what the green sauce was that they finished the sammie off with but it was SO tasty!! I requested the popcorn chicken with medium heat and it was just spicy enough to leave my tongue tingling slightly. My friend saved an egg roll for me and it was also really good. (The tea by the way was very refreshing.) Now, this was my first time here but I never saw anyone come out to check the dining room or wipe down the tables after the lunch rush. This was especially concerning to me because they had a guy doing work on the windows who put his feet/ shoes on the tables right under said windows. Ewww. But aside from the parking challenge and the table hygiene/cleanliness, our visit was quite enjoyable and the food was very good. We would definitely return, but we'll have to plan around the lunch rush!

I was really looking forward to trying the crawfish pasta, and the portion was generous with plenty…read moreof crawfish and sausage. The presentation was nice, but unfortunately, the sauce was way too salty for my taste. I usually eat less salt, so the saltiness really overpowered the other flavors and made it difficult to enjoy the dish. Overall, it had potential, but I think the sauce could use a lot less salt to let the crawfish and other ingredients shine.

Absolutely amazing dinner tonight. Our server Joseph was super attentive and very quick to give us…read moreanything we needed. Also, provided excellent food recommendations. We had the ahi poke appetizer, fish and chips, and the barramundi sea bass. All were delicious. Just a great experience overall!

We had such a great experience at Pacific Catch in Brea! Our server, Kevin, was amazing -- super…read morefriendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed without ever making us feel rushed. He was knowledgeable about the menu, checked in at all the right times, and genuinely made our dinner that much more enjoyable. Great food and even better service. Thank you, Kevin, for taking such good care of us! We'll definitely be back!

This place is located in the Irvine Spectrum. The entrance was located on the side closer to the…read morefountain rather than the parking lot on the side with the Target. The other members of my party didn't realize that and walked around to the other side to find the entrance. I had notified the other members of my party that there were discount gift cards available at Costco, but the Little Sister website did not dictate prices so we were not sure if we should have bought them. For a party of 3-4 people, I would say $100 of store credit would be used up in one visit. It was slow food. We sat down and ordered, and they brought out the food more or less at the same time for all of us. Some weirdo kept taking pictures next to us, so don't expect too much privacy. Either way, going here satisfied our curiosity, and the food was noteworthy. My friends had a better sense of taste than me and noticed the taste was different than what one could order the same thing at another restaurant was, but I didn't notice too much since my sense of taste is different than theirs.

Ambience was great it is such a cute date spot! The bar is particular is very nice…read more As for the food I got the sea bass plate that comes with lettuce and veggies to be used as a wrap for your sea bass. The star of this plate was the sauce that came with it. It changes the flavor profile of the sea bass entirely. Personally, I did not like the sea bass alone. It tasted rather bland but the sauce rescued the plate. We also got the garlic noodles which were yummy but nothing crazy, we give them a 3.5/5. Not pictured was the cooked bokchoy because as soon as we tried the first piece we could not stop because it was so good!!! We lastly had the blueberry pecan tart which was.... Omg.... Amazing I wanted to order a second. I get very overwhelmed by sweetness but this plate was perfect. Creamy, freshly baked, big enough for one person or to modestly share between two people. It's topped with vanilla ice cream which was a huge plus! Would def go again though solely for the pecan tart.