Nguyen Vietnamese Cuisine

When did this place change from Huynh? And why are all of the old Huynh reviews still attached? And they didn’t change one of the outside signs (
)
Anyway, thought I’d give them a whirl after a dentist appointment down the street (
) and ordered Nem Nuong Cuon ($ 5.95) and Bun Cha Hanoi ($ 8.95).
Refreshing cucumber water is served here (
)
The Nem Nuong Cuon comes as 2 open ended rolls pre-​cut into 4 pieces with some nuoc cham and cucumber slices (
). They have the crunchy fried tube (
), but I found the rolls a bit bland and the nuoc cham not fish saucy enough. The online menu says it comes with a shrimp paste sauce, which is not what I got.
The Bun Cha comes on a big plate with the meats in nuoc cham, a pile of vermicelli with crushed peanuts and shredded lettuce, julienned cucumbers, and sprouts (
).
I like to make wraps with the various ingredients, but the shredded lettuce dashed those hopes. Others dip chopstick fulls of noodles and /​or greens into the meat bowl, but that also proved difficult with the small bowl not allowing much room (
).
My eating difficulties aside, I liked the grilled pork and the meatball. It didn’t look like much to start, but a decent amount of pork hidden away. Again nuoc cham was tame and the vermicelli an almost impossible to separate clump (I resorted to tearing out mouthfuls with my fingers).
Nem Nuong: 2.5 stars
Bun Cha: 3.5 stars
This was a few months ago. A recent review says it might be closed. ..

Passed by this place several times the last few months — always closed. Think they went out of business.

Sad that this place closed, it was so good! The quality of the food was excellent and about the same price range as a couple of other Vietnamese places closer to Oakland Chinatown that had much lower quality food and service. I had my standby favorites here, and the times that I ventured into something new, was pleasantly surprised.
I will miss the staff of Nguyen, but they noted that they are looking for a new restaurant space to open in a different neighborhood (the dinner service in that neighborhood wasn’t working out for them), and they have my email, and noted they would update me when they have a new location, I can’t wait to go to their new place, I wish them luck!
A fan always!

Came here for lunch when I was in the area for a training.
There are a wide variety of options, and it is really reasonably priced for lunch dishes (most were 5 – 8 $). This restaurant is very vegetarian friendly, as there is also a wide variety of vegetarian options.
The food that we had was all really good. I had the veggie phở, which had a good variety of veggies and tofu. The broth could have been more favorable, but overall very good. Others at my table had the vermicili, and they reported the flavor and taste was great.
Overall, a solid choice! Would definitely recommend.

If you want Phở, you can find way BETTER phở on international. But the rice dish was good, the meat were tender and juicy, i liked their fish sauce. However, I had a lot of Vietnamese food before, this is NOT the place for AUTHENTIC vietnamese food.

Still going to give it 3 stars. I like the Unilocal deals and groupon deals so that’s a plus. I LOVE their garlic noodles and pork vermicelli. The Phở broth wasn’t anything special, but their imperial rolls are yummy. If it weren’t for the deals though, there are better Vietnamese restaurants in the area I’d much prefer.

Thanks for wasting 45 mins of my 1 hour lunch break waiting on a chicken noodle soup. Also thanks for not sealing the lid properly after I had to take my noodles to go.
I can see why they had to offer a Unilocal voucher to lure customers to their place.

Décor was nice. Food is decent, especially the presentation of it. But the wait during lunch is horrible. If you come during your weekday lunch, make sure you have longer than a one-​hour lunch break!
Not that you’ll have to wait for a table… That comes immediately. Our appetizer came fairly quick as well. But, there was a 40 minute break between our appetizer and our entrees. After assuring us that our food would be coming out soon, we had to ask for a to-​go box so that we could get back to work on time.

Nguyen, or «Huynh» on their masthead is quite a beautiful restaurant when viewing the dining room. venturing furthing inside the building, one saws the upgrades were done only for the front of the restaurant.
the same can’t be said for the food. looks good albeit cheaper ingredients used.
eats: combo beef noodle soup (phở) 8
–just 3 large slices of tai, 3 meatballs sliced in half
–broth beige in color, had semi-​pungent herbal taste, no beef taste
–portion looked liked a small, about 20 strands bean sprouts given
–condiments given not sirarcha, hoisin sauce too sweet, not the good stuff
leftovers:
–noodle topping choices limited
–not so impressed
–food pricey. quality doesn’t match.
–not a good deal.
–only one waitress with an assistant order taker.

Came during off hours on a Sunday afternoon. Neighborhood was super quiet … like the set of The Walking Dead … with the exception of 2 people fighting on the corner (in front of the playground …).
Décor here was much nicer than I had expected … but cash only and standard fair prices. At 70 degrees today, it wasn’t the day for beef stew. I had the BBQ Pork vermicelli and Fred had a chicken & rice plate. My diet coke came in a dirty can with a straw (the lid was covered in black dust and the can itself was sticky). Lots of flies and fruit flies buzzed in the restaurant as the doors were left wide open.
My food was okay — just the right portion for me (though a hungry many would probably find it too small a portion given that it was half noodles and half salad. The BBQ pork itself was very tasty … but the skin was almost too crunchy … too crunchy in contrast to the soft meat that it felt like I eating eggshells. The menu said crushed peanuts, which I like as flavoring … but instead it came with whole peanuts which I like not so much.
I love beef stew and if that’s what they are known for, then I should go back and try that instead. Very friendly, but there were just a few too many irksome things to warrant a higher rating.

I usually go for the curry and split an order of imperial rolls with my co-​worker. he loves the vietnamese iced coffee. finish it all off with hot tea.
i enjoy that it is not nearly as crowded as it once was, when they spelled it Huyhn instead of Nguyen, although it is now about 5−10% more expensive than it was then.
This last time I used my coupon through Unilocal and I had no problems redeeming it.

Wandered into here for lunch and decided to risk the special (Chicken with lemongrass sauce). The flavors were well developed, with just enough scallion to give it bite without overwhelming the other elements.
Pros:
–Fast service, with a half-​full restaurant.
–Chopsticks and forks served to everyone.
–Serving staff moved at a good pace and smiled.
Cons
–House tea was loose leaf (yea!) but served with too much water that had obviously been heated in older pipes, or a coffee machine. The metallic aftertaste really hurt the meal.
–The carpeting near the back (where I sat) was quite worn and needed vacuuming. Ironically, there was a pretty strong smell of cleaning chemicals coming from restroom/​kitchen. Good to know they clean, but the odors interfered with the meal.
–Portions were small, given the price. You almost had to order a dessert, or appetizer, and that’s not really cool for lunch.
–House lights turned down too far for reading. It was a cloudy day outside, and they needed more lumens. The darkness felt more like dinner.
So, let’s call it 3.5 for effort, with 0.75 demerits: 2.75. There are so many decent-​to-​very good Vietnamese places in Oakland that I’m not sure this one will draw me back.

The restaurant does not do justice to the illustrious surname of Nguyen (incidentally my husband’s last name).
I was extremely disappointed with my workday lunchtime experience here. There were only 2 servers trying to handle what appeared to be a normal lunch time crowd in addition to a large party in their back room. With only an hour for lunch, time was a premium for us. Although the servers were trying to keep up, they were falling short in taking orders and getting out the food in a timely manner. We waited and waited for our food to arrive, but finally had to go up to the counter and asked that our orders be made to go. While standing at the counter, we could hear the servers and kitchen staff arguing (per my husband, someone in the kitchen wasn’t doing their job). If they are wanting to do good business with the office lunchtime crowd, they need to make sure their staff can meet our fast-​paced demands.
Portions were measly, about two-​thirds or even half of what you would get at most places, and at least $ 1.50 more expensive. My husband said his phở was okay, but I thought my vermicelli bowl with grilled pork was abysmal. There were only a couple of peanuts, the lettuce looked wilted, and the carrots and turnips (which in my experience are always pickled) were just sliced up and NOT pickled. The noodles were also clumped together.
The dining room décor is lovely. It’s rare to find a Vietnamese restaurant with cloth-​covered tables. However, I can’t get full off the décor. We will not be back.

I wandered into Nguyen’s unplanned, hypoglycemic and craving something with fish sauce. I didn’t have my gizmos with me, so I was blind to the recommendations of my prior Unilocal brethren.
I ordered:
Pork Sausage Spring Rolls
Spicy Beef Salad
The spring rolls were great — the sausage was flavorful and well seasoned, and the herbs fresh. The rice paper was also thin and light. The portion size was larger than expected: had I been less hungry, I think these alone would have made a refreshing light meal.
The spicy beef salad, on the other hand, was less impressive and not at all what I had been expecting. The portion seemed small for an entrée, but ultimately that didn’t matter, since I didn’t care much for the taste. The spicing was nice, but the «salad» was actually cooked celery and carrots that had been soaked in a sweetened vinegar brine. The dish looked like a cheap Chinese stir-​fry, and the flavor reminded me of cheap cole-​slaw without the mayo. Something about the taste of the beef seemed a little off. The composition of this dish was very different than at other Vietnamese restaurants, and I wouldn’t order it again.
Overall, I have been more impressed with other Vietnamese restaurants closer to Chinatown, but one of my items was quite promising and this restaurant was among the less grungy options near the BART stations. I would return here if I were again hungry but on a tight schedule — and I might come armed with some fellow Unilocaler’s suggestions to help navigate the hit-​and-​miss menu.

I use to love coming here for lunch except the restaurant started getting busy and of course money rules, so serve more ppl, serve less food and make lots of money during the lunch hour rush in downtown Oakland, that’s when I stopped going. I’d rather enjoy a good meal and don’t mind paying the extra money but not when I get robbed by only getting 2 prawns and scraps of chicken.
Went back this month to give them another try and low and behold they were not crowded (I’m guessing ppl got the hint) I ordered one of their lunch combos which was pretty tasty up until I chewed on a STAPLE yes those wire things that hold sheets of paper together. In shock I mentioned it to the owner in a discrete manner and all he had to say «oh from the packaging, want another plate?». Uhmmmmm nooooo I dont want another plate I’d first appreciate some sort of apology for biting down on a staple and possibly ruining my teeth and or worse chocking!!! The clincher for me was he didnt even offer to comp my bill!!! I realize times are tough however good customer service will take your business a long way! Lesson for business owners take care of you customers and they will be loyal to you!
Ohhhh and lastly, I went to check my account and they accidentally charged us twice, when we called the next day, his response, «oh yes, we messed up there should be a credit soon», uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm again it would’ve been nice if you would’ve told us that in the first place.
Overall, my last experience was not the best!

Review is for their EGGPLANT rice dish. Slightly sweet sauce with choice of meet accompanied with rice… one of the best eggplant dishes in the area…
I wouldn’t recommend this place for phở or bun… Definitely come here for their specialty dishes… nice décor, clean, bar, and quick service. I prefer this place over Le Cheval as the noise level is better, not as rushed, clean ambiance, and delicious food.

I started going to this restaurant when they first opened and were kind of a hole in the wall. But the food was good, and it still is.
I had lunch there today: Vietnamese clay pot with shrimp and white meat chicken, veggies, rice – nicely baked together in a sweet sauce. I would have liked a tad more chicken and shrimp, but I still enjoyed it.
The service is good, the décor is modern, but the noise level is too high.
The family has done well with this restaurant. Even tho they are a bit off the beaten track, their consistently good food and service, attracts the downtown Oakland working crowd.

Good stuff. I am glad the portions weren’t larger because I’d keep eating it forever.

5 stars alone for the excellent service and attentiveness the waiter and the manager gave us when we came for dinner the other night. The ambiance and décor is also great. I love all the different colors and the modern twist it brings to vietnamese cuisine. They even have a nice bar.
With that said… we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, especially the spicy hot & sour soup, the huynh taste rolls (combo of tofu/​shrimp/​imperial/​pork rolls), and the clay pot dish. The presentation was great. To top it off… we ordered the ice cream and vietnamese coffee for dessert.
OMG…ladies & gents… its a definately MUST TRY if you are ordering dessert. just go check it out… i won’t ruin the surprise for ya. I also liked that everything on the desert menu was the same price… so you don’t lean towards one over the other based on pricing… the only hard part was deciding b/​t all the yummy options they have available. I think i will come back and try a different desert each time. Although the ice cream and vietnamese coffee has just been an instant favorite!
Will i say it’s a bit pricier than other vietnamese restaurants? perhaps… but with the quality of service, and the ambiance of the place, I will definitely pay the extra few bucks to come here. FYI, the menu in oakland is cheaper than their menu in walnut creek. Will definitely be back!!!

I liked the décor of this place a lot. Felt high end, polished. The service was very attentive too. The food however I found to be ok.
Appetizers of spring rolls and imperial rolls while tasty seemed over priced ($ 7 per plate) given the 3 roll portions.
My lunch of Snapper in Fish sauce with pineapples ($ 10) was good. Different than what I expected, but the fish was super tender, flavorful and spicy. Definitely has a kick.
Most of our party tried the Clay Pot Rice with mixed meats and veggies. Portions are a little smaller than I see at Le Cheval but everyone finished their meals happily.
I probably wouldn’t go back any time soon but a nice dining option in Oakland.