Nam Cafe

This is one of the best, authentic and friendly place in NYC. A real gem. Ox tail soup is the best, banh mi is amazing and great value too!
I used to come every week when I had classes in the ‘hood, and try to get my food there every time I am in Chinatown.

Just ate at this place and I like to think I know my Vietnamese cuisine. This was not great. The portions sizes were small, the chicken was dry and it didn’t taste at all like Vietnamese food. For the prices, you can go else where (carry cash in Chinatown). The only reason we ended up here was because they took credit cards. I would definitely not recommend.

fried «spring» rolls are good. but i wouldn’t go out of my way to get some food here.

Upfront caveat: 3 stars is for the food (and obvi everyone has nuanced tastes as to what they call authentic). 4 stars would be for service.
This place is run by the nicest couple who really pour their heart and soul into the restaurant. The service is incredibly warm, thoughtful, and attentive — surprise chocolate candy bars appear during your meal! And you can really tell they are proud to run this cozy place. The food is very home style so I think it’s just a matter of my preference and perspective (obvi biased towards my mom and grandma’s versions of Vietnamese dishes haha!). I only tried the cha gio (tasty but the dau ju needed to be more pickled), thit nuong cuon (disappointing), and hu tieu sate soup (needed more sate flavor and less phở broth) but it seems everyone else is talking about the banh mi.

We love Nam Café banh mi! One of the best and most authentic banh mi you can find in NYC. We live in Queens but always stop by this place when we pass through China Town. Cozy place and the owner is a sweet lady.

I really wanted good phở and can never find any in NYC. I came here based on Unilocal reviews and was a bit disappointed. The old woman that runs this place is so cute and so helpful. Her service was great!

It’s rare you find a super legit Viet place in Chinatown with a great staff, fair prices, cozy atmosphere and amazing food. I would highly recommend the Bön me as it’s super fresh.

Authentic dishes, some with a modern spin & grilled to our liking. Pork was nicely crisped. The salads were fresh and vegetables not overlooked. Also the rice was excellent.
The place is very small but wasn’t crowded so we were comfortable. Service was friendly and attentive. And Im happy to say it seemed pretty clean.
I’d go back.

Life in NYC compels my desire to find the best banh mi that this city has to offer. Alas, after dining at this place, my search for the best seems bound to be perpetual. After a couple weeks going sans banh mi on my lunch hours, I was compelled to rectify this. Trying a new joint crossed my mind, and this place came up as an unfamiliar name on the «banh mi» search.
Upon walking in, I saw that the space was tiny and charming; certainly deserving of the «café» designation as seen on the joint’s namesake. The list of banh mi wasn’t terribly staggering (three or four options at most). I opted for the pork belly banh mi (#6 on the lunch menu, I believe). It had pieces of braised pork belly, pork roll, headcheese, and an assortment of pickled vegetables.
I was pleased with the size, as it seemed a bit bigger than other comparably priced banh mi. Upon gripping the sandwich, the exterior started to flake off a tiny bit, which I liked. I have to admit, I was pretty excited about taking my first bite. That all changed after the first bite; actually first bite wasn’t terrible, I got a mouthful of pork belly in the bite. Though braised, it was a bit dry… the worst part was how salty the pork belly pieces in the sandwich are. And with every bite it got saltier and saltier. The pickled veg wasn’t even coming through… that’s how salty it was; I was hungry though, so I kept eating.
By the time I got to the end of the sandwich, the end section was soggied up a bit by the braising liquid. I thought to myself, «Well, this bite can’t be nearly as disappointing as the rest of this sandwich.» After sticking the rest in my mouth… boom… salt lick. What could have been a fairly decent sandwich ended up being mediocre. A bunch of promising components brought down by a salt mine’s worth of the stuff.
I might come back to try the more traditional banh mi on the menu… but let me cleanse all the salt out of my system first.

Adorable family-​owned place with authentic banh mi for only $ 6! Stopped by on a Saturday night to grab some sandwiches for home and left with 2 huge foot long sandwiches. The little place is tiny with only 4 tables next to each other but the vibe was very warm and felt like a home. The sweet grandma and grandpa sure took their time to put together the sandwiches but it was worth the wait! I had the BBQ pork and pork belly sandwich but definitely go for the deliciously sweet and savory BBQ pork. The pork belly pieces were sparse and too fatty to enjoy but the flavor was still very good along with their yummy sauce and crisp bread. Would love to come back and try their phở!

Definitely on the top five list of worst Vietnamese places I’ve ever been to.
First off, the set up is ridiculous. About four tables about as close as they can be to one another in such a small space. I like being more than two inches away from a total stranger when I am getting phở.
They are cheap: no condiments, barely any sprouts or herbs to put in your soup, VERY small portions (the flavor and quality does not justify this).
The service is HORRENDOUS. A teenager works there — knows nothing about about hospitality. I’ve be there twice. The first time I’m there, I get up to settle my bill with him and he goes to the back to make a sandwich even when he saw me come up to the counter and I even tried to get his attention to no avail. Makes me wait about five minutes while he slowly makes the sandwich for another customer.
Second time, I order a Vietnamese sandwich. The bread has the consistency of saw dust. I was cutting the roof of my mouth while chewing. I thought these sandwiches were supposed to have jalapeños, cucumber and cilantro in addition to the pickled vegetables. It had none — just some pickled vegetables and slimy pork that looked (and tasted) like dog food. Probably one of the worst I had ever had.
To top it off, the teenager does not say anything when you settle up. No «thank you» — no «how was everything». In fact, not one word at all. Total disrespect to the customer. They expect a tip? For what? Bringing a few measly plates of food a few feet over to the table while treating the customer with contempt?
I’m definitely never coming here again and I would recommend there are plenty of other Vietnamese restaurants in the area that are MUCH better.

Not only is the food really good, the care the owner has put in to the place makes it really homey and pleasant. The light fixtures are decorated with family photos, lots of artwork, plants outside and flowers at each table. Place is run by a 73-​year old woman who looks 60 & is always smiling, that’s her in the light fixture pictures as a child.
I give it 4 stars because the sandwich is a little salty for my taste, but that’s entirely subjective and you don’t eat asian food to lower your sodium intake. Plus if you order the sandwich spicy they make it with sriracha hot sauce rather than sliced jalapeños, I prefer the peppers.
Customer in there today said the coffee here is the best in chinatown and walked out of his way for it.

Very fast service. They have an extremely small restaurant, may four or five tables, tops. I’ve ordered the Spring Rolls, Banh Mi Dac Biet„ Com Bo Luc Lac, and Vermicelli Salad with BBQ pork. I eat here often.

Great customer service. Grab and go! We got banh mi. Fast and friendly service. Would come back.

I like this place. Fast, friendly, lunch time service. Usually there isn’t too much of a rush, though I feel that’s going to change because it is a solid spot.
I’ve had the veggie bahn mi, bo bia shrimp rolls (minus the sausage), and the Vietnamese coffee. All very good. Priced reasonably, though I suspect if you go deeper into Chinatown you can find cheaper options.
I do recommend this place as a lunch spot, especially for those new to Vietnamese cuisine because it’s very accessibly offered here.

Authentic Vietnamese goodness. Most dishes are excellent and the restaurant is unassuming from the outside but the chef (s) definitely know what they are doing!

Extensive menu indeed! I will frequent this little café when I have a chance.
I got the pork belly and classic bahn mi — both were very yummy. I love how soft the bread is. They were really generous with the portion and the flavors were really good. I love how the pâté, ham and pork mesh together with the pickled carrots/​radish and cucumbers.
And good value! Only $ 5.50 a sandwich, which definitely filled me up.
I also ordered the grilled lemongrass chicken over rice. The rice was coated with currry powder and it was so delish The chicken was okay, but overall loved the meal.

I visited Nam Café when I visited Chinatown during New York trip.
I absolutely adore this place. When I go inside, at first I was surprised as it was such a tiny space. This place was comfortable being alone, and the staffs were really nice.
I ordered phở, which was really good taste. I felt like I was in small quiet Vietnam, even though actually being inside energetic, noisy Chinatown.

It’s all about the pork here at Nam Café.
My bún was relatively standard, nice noodles, fresh veggies and a generous portion, except for that other white meat. It comes very warm, heated to be hotter than the rest of the dish. Each piece has plenty of char, which makes it resemble the pork in cha siu fan compared to other places on this block.
Pork this tasty needs to be rationed or at least throughly mixed into to prevent eating all of the meat at once. It’s just that great.
Nam Café is clearly mostly a delivery and takeout operation, the three tables on the right wall are just there for people like me who live too far away to get this away else. It would be hard to squeeze a group of any more than four people in any sort of reasonable configuration.
Given a craving for pork and a small group size, though, this is a very solid option.

Get to the Chase:
Pros:
1) Best to get Banh Mi’s and not their other dishes
2) Consistently decent quality
3) Used to be my favorite delivery place (ordered there more than 5 times)
4) Delivery guy always polite and smiling, not usually rude or pissed off
Cons:
1) Not all their dishes are great
2) Owner biked/​drove all the way to my place to tell me that he was right and I was wrong… if in the end he was not going to exchange or give me what I want, he could easily have said so on the phone. Although I appreciate him traveling all the way, it was a complete waste of both of our time.
3) 2 out of the 5 times they forgot to put my coke in the order… doesn’t seem difficult to remember
4) Increased their Banh Mi prices to $ 6.00
5) Takes 1 hour to make and deliver 2 sandwiches!
Maybe I’ll give them another try…