Nong La Cafe

Just a mediocre meal, nothing special here. If you are looking for good Vietnamese food, try another place.

Not bad if you are looking for a simple menu to hit the spot on popular american version of vietnamese food
Taste goods and checks the box for hassle free clean place to eat

This place was absolutely amazing. I had phở with chicken broth and free range chicken it was Amazing. Will definitely be back. Has a really clean modern ambiance that I love.

This is the second location of Nong La Café and I am so glad that they’ve decided to move a bit closer to the east side. I love Nong La Café. Their cooking and flavors are very authentic eventhough they are are on the westside, they did not try to skimp on ingredients or americanize the authentic Vietnamese flavors… Big ups for keepin’ it real.
This La Brea location is a bit more convenience because there’s free parking in the structure. Parking entry is behind the building in the alleyway. Feels sketchy but it is totally safe. There’s never a line to be seated and it is twice as large as the Sawtelle location. This is a good location if you’re hungry and don’t care for the lines. If you do want to dine in a busy hustle and bustle vibe, then the Sawtelle location is for you cause this joint is sleepy town.
This location also have Bun Rieu which is a tomato and egg rice noodle soup which the original Sawtelle location does not offer. And it taste great.
If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous and wants to explore other dishes then Phở then check out:
Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef rice noodle soup)
Bun Rieu (tomato egg rice noodle soup)
Banh Mi (chicken or beef lemongrass served in french baquette)
Happy eating!

wanted to like this place as it is very close to my house. so far i don’t. the food is mediocre at best. i had the bun w/​lemongrass beef and the beef was distinctly UNlemongrassy. waitstaff is pleasant and prices reasonable for the area. beautiful modern space though.
if you want better tasting vietnamese food, head to absolutely phobulous on la cienega.

Craving for bun mi for brunch and to introduce my boss, KC, to his first bun mi’s sandwich (which I describe to him as a Asian’s Subway sandwich version but much better tasting).
Hidden location and couldn’t find the exact point from the GPS, so had to call for directions, and was help the best way we could. The place look huge, got outside dining as well and looks nice when we finally arrived. Street parking looks difficult if the restaurants gets busy but we went during mellow-​time, so got street parking right at the front of the place.
I did a phone order for pick-​up. The phone pick-​up didn’t know what a traditional bun mi is, but helpful to give me their list of bun mi they had (doesn’t seem like they serve traditional bun mi here). We end up choosing steak bun mi without jalapeños, and even though I was looking forward to the original but the steak bun mi was actually juicy and good, and sandwich is really long and slim; the texture of the bread and crunchiness is perfect. They have 2 different sizes here, 6 or 12 inches; we did the foot long.
Picked up drinks while waiting for the order to bag up to go. I order passion fruit iced tea for my boss (he enjoyed the taste very much) and I got myself Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (after the cashier give me a sample to see what the texture is like).
Overall, we enjoyed it and will order Bun Mi here again and try other food as well when have time to dine-​in from work.

It has been about 10 months since the last time I came here for lunch. Service and food remain great! This time I tried the Bun Rieu; a tomato soup with tofu, pork meatballs with crabmeat and thick rice noodles. The flavor of the soup is rich and delicious! The meatballs are exceptionally soft and filled with lots of crabmeat in the center. This has now become my favorite Vietnamese dish!

I ordered delivery today through grubhub from this location to be sent to someone else as a surprise. I pre-​ordered it yesterday to make sure it would be delivered today at 12:30. I got a text at 11:30, that the food was being prepared and would be delivered by 12:30.
I got a call around 12:15 from the person I was trying to surprise that the food was there and piping hot. She said everyone loved the food, it was delicious and the portions were huge for vietnamese food. They loved the Dac Biet Phở, spring rolls and the lemongrass steak banh mi.
Thank you Nong La for everything today and opening a location nearby.

When I have phở cravings, which are quite frequent, I always crave hot and flavourful soup. The phở I have eaten over the years have definitely been able to fulfill those wishes. But I have never tasted such *clean* phở from a restaurant until I sat down to eat at Nong La. I ordered Phở Tai for my midday lunch, along with a sparkling lemonade. The lemonade was sweet and crisp with a strong lemon mint flavor. From the look of it, there’s a concentrate made from crushed lemons and sugar, then they add crushed ice and sparkling water and a mint sprig to top it off.
And now to the main event, the phở. Phở Tai.
It arrived in the standard White Phở Bowl On A Saucer, piping hot. Rich, brown beef broth with diaphanous bubbles o’beef grease floating on top, a generous helping of flat rice noodles that were tender and tasted house made, and tender petals of beef filet floating in the soup. At first taste I was greeted by a tender noodle, a perfectly salted broth, (salted right up to the point before «Too Salty»,) and the softest beef flap I’ve ever had in Phở.
I made sure to finish the noodles and beef, regrettably having to leave most of the broth there. But it was definitely the best Phở I’ve ever had, and now I have no desire to eat Phở if it isn’t as good as Nong La’s.
I forgot to mention the playlist of J@MZ that were playing:
-«Bye, Bye, Bye”-NSYNC
-«Thriller”-Michael Jackson
-«Yeahhhh”-Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris… followed by!!!
-«intro”-the xx
^_​^

I ordered a large order for a group, and they were able to have everything prepared on time, and everything was packaged so that it would stay fresh! No soggy food.
I got the Bön Bo Hue, and WARNING — one incorrect sip and your throat will be on fire. Wish there was a warning on the menu. Other than that, the food was absolutely delicious. The noodles were a little thicker than what other Vietnamese places serve, so that was nice. My team loved the food, and we’ll definitely order again.

It is a neat place for Vietnamese food. We tried phở and pork chop on rice. Phở was decent, broth had good flavor. The pork chop was bit bland. I like the dessert drink: green jelly, red beans with coconut milk. It was really good.

I went to the WLA location a few years ago, didn’t like it, and haven’t gone back. I decided to give the new La Brea location a second, and I regret it. I ordered the spring rolls (shrimp and pork, $ 5.50) and the bun bo hue ($ 9.50) after reading all the positive Unilocal reviews. The spring rolls were a small step up from the grocery store, but nowhere near as good as Brodard’s. Too much lettuce and not much texture or flavor. The bun bo hue was also disappointing. I liked that the broth wasn’t super oily, but it was bland and the noodles looked like spaghetti. I’d rather take my chances elsewhere (except 9021Pho — yuck).

Ordered delivery… so convenient.
2 orders of noodles, 1 sandwich and some spring rolls. All delivered fresh and fast.
I had the pâté sandwich. SO GOOD. Crunchy yet soft baguette with thick slices, a very tasty pâté spread and lots of veggies. Loved the texture and the flavors together!
Spring rolls were crispy and chewy. Lived it all so much. Gonna have to try the phở next time.

Finally a good Vietnamese restaurant in my hood! Everything is delicious here & I don’t have to drive to Sawtelle or Little Saigon to get my Vietnamese fix, woo hoo. The food is all pretty authentic. I’d even say their Banh mi are better than little Saigon. The bread they use is absolutely perfect & really makes the sandwich. The Bun is tasty & refreshing. I recommend the pork & egg roll bun. I usually get an extra order of egg rolls because i love them so much. Chicken & cabbage salad is really good too but portion is on the small side. Instead of ordering the typical phở for soup i go for the Bun Rieu. It is usually hard to find & i like it better than phở. Warning, it might not be to everyone’s taste though! Another favorite here is pork belly with rice. So savory & delicious! Not sure why but this location isn’t as crowded as the one on Sawtelle. Lucky me!

This is our local Phở place and we’re glad that they exist. The broth is nice, and while dining in is good, I have to give this place high praise for the take-​out and delivery.
They know exactly how much of everything to include in the order to make sure it all fits in the container. Perfect flavors and they don’t skimp on the hot peppers.

Prepare yourselves for the most epic review…
Decided to give this place a try last Saturday after hearing all about it from my friends. I have to say I am… IMPRESSED. Right when I stepped into Nong La, I knew I was about to have the best vietnamese lunch in my life. Everyone and everything about this place just made me feel so comfortable and I really got to enjoy my meal.
Typically when visiting a vietnamese restaurant, you aren’t really given the warmest welcoming nor great service and the interior décor is usually very plain to cut costs. Here at Nong La, it wasn’t only about the quality of food, but also how well the ambience was. I could seriously LIVE here! LOL!
Ok, enough about how beautiful this place is… now on with the food… You have to realize that this place really does have a very unique flavoring to everything they make which is unlike any vietnamese food I have ever tastes, which makes this place WORTH THE DRIVE. I’m from orange county, so this place is a bit far from me.
I came with a pretty big group, so I was able to try a lots of different stuff. LUCKY ME! :P
We started off with some crispy egg rolls, shrimp spring rolls, and a clam salad.
The CRISPY EGG ROLLS are probably the best thing everrrr! Besides everything else! Hahaha! I never really order eggrolls anywhere because i’m more of a shrimp spring roll girl… However the crispy spring rolls here are *hands down* amazing!!! I can say with 100% confidence, that because of Nong La, I have converted my faith and I’ve become an egg roll gal! **MUST TRY**
SHRIMP SPRING ROLLS were of course bomb-​diggity as well, but I was seriously mind blown by the Crunchy Egg Rolls.
CLAM SALAD is nothing like you’ve ever had. The strangest combination, but the most genius as well. I don’t know how they did it, but get this… The main flavors of this salad are mango and clam… kind of weird right? But please don’t sway away because it is not fishy at all! They somehow made it so it’s just so delicious!!! You put the salad on these black sesame crackers they provide and it’s seriously… So great. The server recommended this to us as well because its his personal favorite. He said they don’t serve this at their first location on Sawtelle I beleive? So if you’re here, you MUST TRY!!! Or you’ll regret it.
I shared a PHO TAI with my boyfriend. It was sooo delicious!!! I was so happy that they use the thick fresh phở noodles here!!! You can only get these at LEGIT phở restaurants, but you have to request it. I never am able to describe it correctly to them so I can only get it when I eat phở with my Viet speaking friends. It’s the way to go. I believe it’s the Northern Vietnam style of Phở. Anyways, when I visit Vietnam, I know which side I’m visiting first! lol!
I tried some of the BUN BO HUE here and it was seriosly the BEST! There’s a mom and pop place in Alhambra where I usually go, but I have to give it to Nong La… I don’t know what they did, but it just tasted so fresh and it kind of had a seafood taste in my opinion which I loved!
Also, my niece ordered the COM TAM? I think that’s what it’s called. It was a rice dish with super thick pork belly! I had to resist eating her whole plate… The sauce they marinated the Pork Belly with was super savory. XD This is also a great choice!
I also got to try some of my friend’s PORK BELLY BANH MI!!! Seriously, this place is kind of evil… The next time I come here, I’m going to be so TORN! Everything here is seriously so good!!! My mouth is literally watering just reminiscing about my visit last Saturday.
Also, don’t skimp on the drink! You MUST TRY the HOMEMADE PASSION FRUIT ICED TEA!!! I kind of had about 3 orders… And also kind of drank out of everyone else’s… Hehe… It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and tea.
Hope this review helped all you fellow Unilocalers!!! All this typing has made me hungry!!! Definitely plan on coming back soon!!! (x

Situated right on La Brea in the bustling hipster Hancock Park/​La Brea area in Mid-​Wilshire is Nong La Café. My expectations were high because of the raving reviews. I tried the Bun with Thit Nuong Cha Gio. I’m not Vietnamese, but that’s vermicelli noodles with charbroiled pork and egg rolls. The lettuce, herbs, and other veggies in the Bun tasted fresh; however, I struggled with the vermicelli noodles and egg rolls. The noodles were cooked properly, but the consistency was weird. It was thicker than most vermicilli noodles I have tried at other places, and it resembled more like white egg noodles. The egg rolls (actually, egg roll) was decent, but I was disappointed with the portion. It was only one small egg roll cut in half. Come on! If I’m paying over $ 10 for Bun, give me at least two!
I also tried the Nem Nuong Cuon and no thanks. The pork roll was dry and lacked saltiness. The vegetables in the rolls did taste fresh, however. The dipping sauce that came with the pork rolls was overbearing. Lots of garlic and ginger overpowered whatever you dipped in it.
Others in my group tried the phở with rare steak and phở with chicken. Both said the soup base was bland and lacked that «phở» flavor one would find at a phở restaurant in Westminster or even in the 626. When I walked in and did NOT see the green-​tip Sriachi bottles, that should have been a clue.
Service was very friendly and helpful. Food came out fast.
Parking is not very good, especially during peak hours. Basically, you’ll need to find street parking on La Brea or one of the side streets, or park at the «pay» lot a few feet west of the restaurant.

It’s hard to find a good Phở near the Hollywood area, so I got pretty excited over Nong La Café when it opened. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the first week of opening. I thought everything’s top notch, from Phở to Bun, with a bit of fusion flair. I became a regular.
However, I felt the quality of the food had dropped with each of my visit. It’s nothing major, but just the little things such as the broth of the Phở not being hot to having too many flies everywhere inside the restaurant while you’re eating to having to wait for a long time for food without hardly any customers around. I still enjoy the food, but it’s just slowly becoming more and more inconsistent compared to when it first opened. I’m not giving up on it yet. I think it’s fairly easy to correct with some management oversight and just attention to detail.

I’ve been waiting for a good Vietnamese spot to open up in our neighborhood. WELCOME, NONG LA– and thank you so much for blessing us with your presence!
It’s a pretty restaurant. Simple, modern, and clean with mild hints of Asian décor. I walked in after being super hungry from shopping on La Brea just to «check out the menu». Decided to sit down and enjoy a meal and I’m so glad I did.
+ BBH — Bun Bo Hue is always my go-​to. For those that are unfamiliar, get familiar. It’s phở, but with spicier beef broth with thicker vermicelli noodles. Nong La’s comes with pork patty and beef and it’s topped with red onions, green onions and cilantro. I like to add more chili sauce and jalapenos. It’s relaly good here.
+ Banh mi — I came back shortly after to try their banh mi. They have steak, chicken, pork, pork belly, mushroom/​tofu, and my fave: PATE CHA, which has chicken liver pâté and Vietnamese meatloaf. The baguette was perfectly crispy as you initially bite it, but soft inside. Mmm. Veggies are fresh and the meat/​pâté was SO YUMS.
Service is awesome– quick, friendly, and accommodating.
Can’t wait to try their Bun Rieu, nuem nuong cuon (pork eggrolls), and some of their rice dishes.
They deliver for $ 1.50 uh oh!

I definitely have mixed feelings about Nong La. I’ve gone to the Sawtelle location a few times, and then this location just recently. Maybe this is because of personal preference, but I would rather go for a warm bowl of authentic phở if I had to choose. This place, however, does deserve 4 stars based on the price point and location.
To start off, the service is pretty great. All of the servers were really nice and efficient. Typically, if you order egg rolls they are supposed to come out first. Our server let us know that they were cooking a fresh batch and that our phở would come out before then, which I thought was considerate so we wouldn’t think they forgot about it.
I ordered the Phở Tai and all of it was very good and satisfying– the broth had a nice flavor to it and was the perfect temperature. I only wish I got a little more meat in it, but the pieces I got were pretty large. The atmosphere was cute and bright and had more of a modern vibe to it, which was a fun alternative to the hole in the wall phở places I am used to. This place is definitely worth coming from time to time if you want a different phở experience.