Viet Nam Village

I’ve only had one dish from this place a few days ago and it was the brisket phở.
The people behind the counter were very friendly and I was greeted with a nice smile upon entering the shop.
After ordering, they started making my food and one of the employees grabbed the noodles with her bare hands and I didn’t see her wash her hands. Maybe she washed her hands prior to me coming in or something but it put me off.
The brisket was reeeally fatty. I don’t mind a little fat but there was a lot on it. I managed to pick some fat off and the rest of beef had some nice flavor. The broth wasn’t very flavorful. It wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’ll be ordering this again.

5 stars because it’s a blessing to get great service when you’re really sick. :)
I’ve eaten out quite a bit in San Jose, so I have a pretty good idea of what good Vietnamese food actually is.
Aside from the fact that they sell phở and are named «Viet Nam» village, I’ll admit that if you’re looking for authentic Vietnamese food, you’re better off going to San Jose. Or to East Oakland — they’ve got some really good Vietnamese joints.
But that’s totally okay! And you know why? Because this place has got some pretty darn good food in its own right. Friends and I who eat out here have always had a pretty solid experience with the dishes we’ve ordered here over the years. In particular, the creamy corn fish over rice is actually really damn satisfying comfort food on a cold day. Fried rice dishes are generally solid. The garlic noodles with chicken is god tier, absolute heaven if you love garlic-​y food like me.
As for the phở… I came in here today absolutely dying sick. I was so sick that I didn’t even remember walking back to my table, and I’d apparently forgotten to sign the receipt for my credit card. Instead of yelling at me, they walked to my table and asked for my autograph and laughed, which I thought was really cute. When they brought out the chicken phở it was as if an angel had been sent from the heavens, flying down to earth with this radiant bowl meant to cleanse all my sins and sicknesses. The phở was just as amazing as it looked, the perfect substance for my sick self. I felt like a purer man.
(in reality the phở was actually pretty good but the impact was real because I was sick)
And they were so nice when it came time to leave! They were constantly smiling and asked me if I liked it! It made me really happy.
Decent prices. Great service. Solid dishes. MVP when I’m sick. 5 stars. :)

Viet Nam Village is our go-​to place for dinner on a budget. Beef/​bitter melon and the fish with bok chop are dishes that are plentiful and tasty. The cook is consistent. It’s packed with Cal students, but there’s usually a table just when you need one. Take it from us/​we’ve eaten there about 100 times. Really friendly service.

This is the best place for phở or Asian food period in the Asian ghetto! The phở is flavorful and big portion! Open late and friendly. My typical Wednesday spot.

I had the large house combo phở expecting lots of toppings. Where are my rare steak and tendons… steaks were fully cooked and there were three or four puny slices of tendons at most. Not enough meat for the price. A thing I like about phở is that the meat keeps coming out of the giant bowl. I lived near Vietnamese town for a while so maybe I am spoiled. This place isn’t bad. It’s just that all other places I’ve been to were better.

The phone was not and delicious. I didn’t know what to get so I decided to get the house special. It was definitely filling but I didn’t personally like the taste of the sausages in the soup. It tasted a bit bland for me. It filled me up for lunch but I didn’t get like a special zing when I finished the food. So in my opinion it’s good but not amazing.

HUGE portions! Best dishes are #67 and #75. Since going veg, I’ve gotten the #75 every single time I come here. I get it with tofu and there’s just so much rice, so much egg, and so much tofu. It lasts me 2 meals, and it lasts my girlfriend 3 meals. Overall taste is good too, but what really gets me is the size.

The phở here is really good, and under $ 10 as well! I came here so many times when I was sick or needed a bowl of hot phở, and this always hits the spot.
I also really recommend the crispy noodles as well. They give you the meat options of beef and pork, or, if you’re willing to pay more, shrimp. It also comes with vegetables, like bok choy and carrots. Though my main complaint is that most of the noodles has been pretty much drenched in sauce, and there’s not enough crispiness to it anymore.
Everything here is very filling, though.

This is one of my go to places in Berkeley if I ever want some homey Asian food. The restaurant itself seems a little cramped but the food I’ve tried is good for my standards. I normally either get the crispy noodles with beef (or chicken or shrimp) which is number 74 or the fish with corn sauce over rice or something. They’re not SPECTACULAR but the dishes are pretty good for what you pay and they’re decently sized. If you’re expecting super food that will blow your mind away, this place (or the Asian ghetto for that matter) isn’t your place. BUT if you want cheap-​ish food that’s decently good, this place is for you. I’ve only gotten two items on the menu (and constantly go back to them) but the menu seems like a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. The ones I got are about $ 7 – 8 each.

This tastes like a 1000x worse version of Panda Express. Omg, if I could eat panda express right now instead…
Seriously the worst place I’ve ever had.
Pretty sure half their menu uses the exact same sauce. The reviewer that said it tastes like MSG + apathy… well he’s right.
I regret this place so much.
This placed used to be decent, but after they revamped their menu, everything tastes the exact same.

Worst food I’ve ever had in Asian ghetto.
I hate how restaurants like to make sure they cover all bases and have dishes like Mongolian beef when they don’t even make the dish properly. They literally use all the wrong ingredients. Mongolian beef doesn’t even have broccoli in it and use this Americanized sugary sauce. Mongolian beef normally has onions. Really annoyed because I hate how restaurants just want to say they offer a dish but don’t actually know/​care to make what the dish actually is. Figures because when I ordered from their menu they didn’t know where it was on the menu, and they were scrambling to figure out what it was priced at, and gave me a weird look…
They just add a bunch of starch to the meat so it’s fake soft and a shit ton of Americanized soy sauce + sugar. tastes sweeter than boba from Sharetea.
Nasty. I want my money back. I know I definitely «ordered wrong» but this food makes me want to vomit.

NO. Just… no.
This food is not good. I came here with my friend a couple days ago and let me tell you, whether this place is Chinese or Vietnamese, it doesn’t fucking matter because the food they serve here is disgusting.
I ordered a vermicelli dish with chicken and shrimp, along with an order of Vegetable Spring Rolls as an appetizer. My friend (who is vegan) ordered a noodle dish with fried tofu. She made sure to double check the ingredients with the waiter (who was very nice and accommodating; seriously the only reason this place has two stars). A few minutes later we got our food and were speechless when it was presented to us.
Now look, when I order a vermicelli dish at a Vietnamese restaurant, I’m thinking I’m going to get some grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, some fresh veggies, and fish sauce on the side to pour over it. This shit was not that. What I got was dry vermicelli, rubbery shrimp, fake-​o chicken (you guys know what I’m talking about; the kind of chicken that’s either pre-​formed or mostly fat and you can’t tell if it’s even actually chicken), and topped with some gross Americanized-​Chinese gravy that barely redeemed the dish. Some anemic cucumber and carrots were chopped up on the side. When I took a bite, I almost cried. I just… can’t… EVEN…
My friends dish would’ve been passable except for the PARMESAN CHEESE on top. Yep, you read that right, THERE WAS PARMESAN CHEESE ON TOP OF THE NOODLE DISH!!! I mean, who the fuck does that?! My friend had to send it back because, you know, she didn’t think to double check that there wouldn’t be Parmesan Cheese on top of her Asian style dish. Because honestly, who here actually thinks that’s ok?!
The Vegetable Spring Rolls were equally as horrible, but who’s even surprised at this point with that revelation. They were soggy, way too big, and had raw broccoli inside. Now, if anyone has ever had raw broccoli, you know that it absolutely permeates everything it’s served with, and these rolls were no exception. They tasted like wet socks, and fell apart when dipped in its accompanying sauce. The sauce that came with it, however, was actually decently good. Probably the only good thing about this meal besides the service.
Sorry y’all, but those of you that rated this place higher than 2 stars have got to go to the City and try some actual Chinese or Vietnamese food. I creeped on some of your profiles and it’s not really surprising to me that most of you that liked this place are not from around here. You guys, this place tastes like what Chinese people think American people want low-​quality Chinese food to taste like. And for those of you who argue that the price is low and I get what I pay for, I make two points. One, that regular, palatable Chinese food is just as cheap, and two, that I would rather starve than eat this slop ever again.

Came for the combination phở. Huge portion (large bowl). Meat just so-​so. The noodles were different from what I’m used to (I got to know phở in Houston and ate it for every meal when I visited Hanoi). They were a little bit thicker and the texture was different — a little bit harder, not as flexible as what I’m used to. The soup was fine, but not great. Contrary to what Amy C. said, I don’t think there was much MSG in there, so that’s a plus.
Cashier/​server guy had a nice smile.

I came in one night right before closing however they did take my order for To-​Go. Upon ordering, I went outside to wait for my food, in which time at least 4 other groups went in and ordered. After waiting for at least 15 – 20 minutes, I saw that other at the other groups had received their food and at least 2 of them had the same order as me. When I went to ask about my food, they had completely shut down the kitchen and the owner/​cook had sat down to eat his own food. The worker that took my order all gave me some BS about not being able to find my order in the system as I asked for a refund. Eventually, I was able to remind him of my order in which he did acknowledge that he remembered. He then kept giving me some BS about not being able to refund my order since it was not in the system (probably because I paid in cash and so they did not want a paper trail so they could commit tax fraud) while the owner went back into the kitchen to restart the stoves and make my order. I told the cook and the worker over and over at least 6 times that I no longer wanted the food and just wanted the order. The owner then asked me if I spoke Chinese. When I said that I do not, he said something to the worker who may have been his son and all of a sudden, he no longer remembered my order but still insisted on the cook wanting to make me food. All of this time, still not wanting to give me a refund.
This made me so irate that I had to actually all the cops to the store for a resolution. This is the first time I have ever done that. They finally gave me a refund after the police arrived on scene.
Now I am not some poor guy making a big deal because I can’t afford $ 15. I was wearing a Rolex and I make a significant SF salary. I really did not need the $ 15 that it cost me for the phở. In fact I would have much rather eaten the phở but at that point, it was all about the principle. I honestly feel like they should have given me my $ 15 AND the phở.
I grew up in Berkeley having spent preschool all the way through high school and now post college in Berkeley and have been coming her and to other shops in the «asian ghettos» all my life. Never have I received this kind of service and never again will I return. They have just lost a long time customer.

This place is so crowded nowadays! I just want to say that when I first started going to this place back as a first year in 2006, I was one of a select few that actually frequented this place. When my friends suggested a trip to the Durant Food Court («Asian Ghetto), they would go to Steve’s, Gypsy’s or that Thai place. But me? I always went to this little gem. My friends would hate on me back then. But I didn’t mind. I would get my friend before theirs because there would never be a line here. As the years progressed though, my friends started to appreciate this little place — them and apparently a large portion of the UCB population. Now, as a grad student, I must say that I don’t like the wait so much, but the food is still my favorite from the «Ghetto»!
Favorites: steam fish with rice and crispy noodles — so good!

Viet Nam Village the Vietnamese version of Panda Express but with more MSG and apathy.
(THANK GAWD for Sriracha!)

Viet Nam Village, my ass. The phở here is decent for a desperate pick-​me-​up, but they do NOT come correct with the bun bo hue.
I originally planned on getting Gypsy’s, but the line there was hella long and I was hungrier than the hungry hungry hippos. I walked by here and saw a picture of the «Bun bo Berkeley» posted on the window and I just had to have it. Despite the lame name, it was a spin-​off of bun bo hue, or so it seemed.
It was false food porn. Instead of the rice vermicelli noodle (hence the bun), they gave me noodles meant for phở. As if I wasn’t already disappointed, it wasn’t even spicy. I desperately wanted something to clear my sinuses, but this didn’t even have the slightest hint of spice. Everything else was there, but the two main things that practically define bun bo hue wasn’t.
Get anything but the bun bo hue. Can’t believe my girl Tay Tay wasn’t here because I should’ve known this place was trouble when I walked in.

Really craving phở and didn’t want to walk to kk.
Vietnam village REVAMPED.
First time trying the phở and its pretty good :)))
I really love the new layout and tables and new items!
Will be coming back here for the next two years before I graduate.
Potential to be my new favorite place in Asian ghetto :)

This place fed me amply during my semi-​recent stint at Cal. Like the below reviews, the thing to get is the beef chow fun, and the crispy noodles (not like the limpy «chow mein» found at most other places in the area.
Vietnam village probably contributed to my 10 – 15 pounds of weight gain during my studies, now that I think about it (sitting in class for eight hours a day and a ambivalent relationship with the gym probably didn’t help.). Their portions are HUGE! And cheap!!!

I rate this so highly because of nostalgia. There were many lonely, tough days of studying at Berkeley where Viet Nam Village was my only friend.
Their scrambled beef with egg is true comfort food. It’s my go to dish. It sounds unappetizing, and looks unappetizing, but I dunno, I used to frequent Vietnam Village so much in college that I guess it makes me think of fond memories.
Their friendly service also made my college days extra memorable.