Cherimoya Vietnamese Cafe

My favorite type of eateries are ones I happen to pass by when I’m hungry and step in to on a whim. I was actually headed to the yogurt place around the corner following a massage when I happened to pass this place. I say place instead of restaurant because it’s literal barely enough room to stand side by side with someone else in there. So. Tiny!
Size aside, I feel like this place has solid food. The rice plate with the pork was very good. Thin slices of meat you have to work to get off, but full of flavor.
Im not well versed in the intricacies of Vietnamese food so I won’t pretend to be an expert, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve had here. Take it for what it’s worth.

My family is vegetarian. This is our favorite for dinner take-​out. Soy chicken sandwich, tofu sandwich, fried veg roll, and veg spring roll. All delicious. Food is prepared quickly.

Very small restaurant that is more take-​out than full-​service restaurant. The delicious aromas that come from the kitchen lure you in while shopping on Burlingame Avenue. All dishes are flavorful and very fresh.

The sandwiches here are great! This is a cute little spot off of Burlingame Ave. (next to Sephora) that offers cheap prices and a variety of different sandwiches. The boba tea is ok, and the place itself is kind of small with only a couple spots outside to sit. Nonetheless, 4 stars!

On both their Unilocal page and website, they state they are open till 7:00PM daily.
Out of the seven times I stopped by, only once were they open past 6:15PM.
If you are ever craving Vietnamese food in San Mateo/​Burlingame area, DO NOT depend on this place to be open, especially an hour or so before closing.
The one time they were actually open, the Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Sandwich was tasty.

I’ve had my fair share of good Vietnamese food and this place even though it’s tiny and basically a hole in the wall. I’m here all the time. I’ve had their pork sandwiches which is always wonderful when I get it. Also have tried their garlic noodles: D
GET THE VIETNAMESE ICE COFFEE!
It’s so good! Because of my busy schedule I’m not there getting the coffee all the time but me and my boyfriend use to walk down to the ave and stop by there for coffee every other night :)

The sandwich was decent, ordered the lemongrass chicken and ham combination also order the popcorn shrimp which tasted liked the frozen brand you get at Costco or Safeway. Now comes down to the flavorless shrimp spring roll which included a peanut sauce, the sauce tasted like a cup of ice with half a can of Coke that you forgot about on the counter top (nothing but water). If you come here only stick to the sandwich as I have not try their garlic noodles and everything else was just bad.

I always get the lemongrass chicken Hahn mi and all I can say is yum!!! You should totally try it if you want something quick and tasty. For a drink walk across the street at head to T-​pumps and get some boba… They make for a perfect meal.

Their food and service is excellent and outstanding you’ll want to rub it all over yourself and without a doubt you’ll get yellow fever welcome to my world

I come here for a quick dinner on my way to choir practice and I’ve never been let down.
My favorites are the grilled pork sandwich and the buttery garlic noodles with pork. Before The Ave had a Tpumps and Quickly I would come here for good milk tea. The tea is much better than Tea + Noodle.

If you’re not going there on purpose you’ll most probably miss Cherimoya Café. It’s a tiny place right next to the parking, with some tables outside.
I tried for the first time the corn nuggets. My God these babies are addictive! Super tasty but for me a tiny too oily. The chicken garlic noodles are great! I wasn’t expecting much but they were actually amazing.
As for the pork sandwich, even though it’s double the price of those in the city, for me it tasted way better! You can actually finish it without feeling sick! The pork was perfectly cooked and the veggies so refreshing and tasty.
Overall, Cherimoya is a good hole in the wall if you want fast but tasty Vietnamese food.

I am always in the Burlingame area and pass this café often since it’s right next to a parking lot off Burlingame Ave. It didn’t appeal to me that much until I was craving a Vietnamese sandwich and didn’t want to drive all the way to the city to pick one up.
I ordered the grilled pork sandwich which was $ 6.19 and an order of the fresh shrimp rolls that come with 2 pieces and peanut butter dipping sauce. Their sandwiches are almost double the price of normal Vietnamese sandwiches that you can get in the city. The baguette was a little tougher than usual, but still tasted fresh. The veggies were pickled nicely and the marinated pork was tasty so it sure hit the spot.
On the other hand, the fresh shrimp rolls were not appetizing. They were overly stuffed with rice noodles with little lettuce. The sauce is what really threw me off, you can tell the difference in the more pale brown color compared to other Vietnamese restaurants. It was almost sweet and a little runny… I ended up not finishing this dish.
The café itself is very small with only 2 seats inside – it is more of a take out spot unless you are fine with eating in their outdoor seating on the sidewalk, which is what I ended up doing since Burlingame weather is always pleasant for the most part. I would consider this place again strictly for the Vietnamese sandwiches but I will pass on the rolls. They also serve fresh smoothies and boba, but why go there when there’s a Tpumps down the street?

I had the Banh Mi and even though the filling was good what ruined it was the bread which had a very thick crust. The whole ordering experience was odd as well. It’s not a restaurant just a small counter with a register and some tables to sit outside. It’s borderline street food style. Overall the aroma is what got me intrigued to come back and try something else in the future.

Cherimoya catered a recent event for me and was super easy to work with. I think the convenience alone makes this a restaurant I would use again. Their garlic noodles and their sandwich trays were outstanding. The vermicelli wasn’t the type of noodles I’ve had at other Vietnamese establishments. It wasn’t as soft. Pricing was definitely good as well.

Very cute hole in the wall restaurant. The garlic noodles are to die for! Although no indoor seating but is very good for takeout.

This place is pretty good if you are in a pinch or just craving a Vietnamese sammy.
I wish the prices would stop going up. $ 7 for a Vietnamese sammy??? You crazy! The real ones are like $ 3.5!!!
The goods–
Sammies (but hate the prices)
The bad–
boba
garlic noodles
egg rolls
The only reason I continue to go back is my office is above the luggage store and they are the only ones nearby that sell the damn sammies. Why do Burlingame residents continue to pay high prices for bad food???

Grilled pork and lemongrass chicken are super flavorful and tender — we got it over the brown rice, which was good quality. Garlic noodles not bad too.
The wait took a bit longer that we expected, but the food didn’t disappoint!

If you’re in the area and craving a banh mi sandwich you can’t go wrong by coming here. Yes, it’s going to be more than the $ 5 you’d pay in SF (not just the TL) but beggars can’t be choosers. Still, it’s a cheap lunch and the sandwiches are pretty good. I got the grilled pork banh mi for $ 6.35. It only took 5 – 10 minutes to come out and there wasn’t much of a line during the week.
Good to know this option is here among all the bland chic chic shops.

I love sandwiches and I love Vietnamese sandwiches!
My company had them cater banh mi for us one lunch and I was not disappointed. I got the lemongrass chicken banh mi and it was good. They were was decent amount of chicken and it was flavored well. There was also a decent amount of pickled veggies and I like the kicked of the jalapenos. The bread was okay though.
Overall, if you’re looking to satisfy a banh mi craving, this place will hit the spot. It’s good, but not the best I’ve ever had. Maybe if they had fluffier bread haha

Hole-​in-​the-​wall is an understatement for Cherimoya. It’s literally a hole, but a good one at that. If you’re used to $ 3.00 banh mi’s in the South Bay, you can stop reading now. This is Burlingame, and thus significantly more expensive. Like 50% more.
I was surprised to find a menu with quite a few selections — noodles, rice dishes, and banh mi’s. I came for the banh mi’s, so I stuck to ordering the spicy chicken variety that cost me about $ 6.00, but was worth every penny. The french baguette was light and crispy, and. the spicy chicken (dark meat) was flavorful with all of the usual toppings.
It’s definitely a no frills kinda place, with just one table squeezed in the corner in addition to the table or two along the sidewalk if the weather is good. Nonetheless, Cherimoya is a great place to pick up an Asian influenced sandwich for lunch!
P. S. The iced Vietnamese Coffee was insanely potent. Not for the faint.