Da Nang Quan

Eh, I need a do-​over. I clearly didn’t know what I was ordering. I should’ve stick with my first mind and got phở ga. But I had read a few reviews and a write up in East Bay Express about the baby clams, and I like clams, so I tried it. Bun hen… it was good. But I was a lil confused with all the additional toppings… I wished it came with better instructions. Ha! Iced coffee was ok. The restaurant was modern bright & clean, compared to a few surrounding places.
Ill come back & try it again, because I do like clams.

I love this place. Great customer service. Every time I come here I always order the bun bo hue, I truly believe they make it the best in town. I would recommend this place to everyone.

I don’t know what to say… I’m speechless. The Bun Rieu here is beyond my expectation!!! Ever since I moved from the east coast to California, I’ve been searching everywhere in east bay for a Vietnamese restaurant that makes authentic/​homemade tasting food (I wanted bun rieu, bun bo hue, and Phở like how my mom made them back at home, super rich in flavor). I’ve been to high rating restaurants like Ao Sen and Tay Ho but the food at those places were so bland and «Americanized».
If you are Vietnamese and want Bun Rieu with that rich and flavorful homemade taste, I highly recommend this restaurant.

Okay so I have a favorite bun bo hue place already, and I usually don’t stray but my mom brought me here with a promise that their food was on point and if you want a TL: DR I’m happy to announce that this place is definitely on point. The service was fast and friendly, the place was CLEAN. Which I find is rare out in that part of Oakland. The portions were generous, the only thing keeping me from coming back weekly is that parking is a B*. We came here for early lunch and the place quickly filled up but it never got overwhelming. I already recommended this place to a few people and so far everyone agrees that this place is a must try.

Da Nang Quan served up some surprising new flavors. We had the Hen Xuc Bahn Trang– baby clams with Vietnamese chips, the Bahn xeo and the bahn beo which ended up being too much food for two.
Everything was exceedingly flavorful and fresh like a home cooked meal made by a Vietnamese grandma. The clams were great to add to the rice wraps you make with the Bahn xeo crêpe and greens. I actually had a half a cup of clams leftover that I took home and made an omelette that I drenched in nuoc mam that I also brought back.

So far, the bún bò huê and mì quang are fire.
Not sure why they use lemons instead of lines though.

The Bun Bo Hue is definitely the go to item here. Broth is very rich and flavorful. We also got the Banh Beo which is thicker than most places but is still very very good. The Bun Rieu was okay, but not as flavorful as the Bun Bo Hue. Would definitely come back!

This is my usual place to go but recently they compromised their dishes greatly. The meats are no longer fresh and they prep. was not well done.
My friends just called me yesterday for a lunch and she said that she is not willing to meet at Danang anymore for the same reason.

Even though the bulk of the menu is still soup noodle bowls, the menu is extremely different from all the other Vietnamese Phở restaurants I’ve ever been to and I really appreciate that difference. I’m not Vietnamese and I’ve only been to Vietnam once, but if I had to guess, then Dan Nang Quan either represents a cuisine from a specific region of the country, is a more traditional representation of Vietnamese food, or it’s the complete opposite and is a fusion. I’m not sure because I’m not well versed in the culinary history of Vietnam. I just know that Da Nang Quan is doing something decently different than the «standard.»
I’m pretty much addicted to the baby clams and crispy wafers. I’ve had it the last three times. My wife thinks it’s too peppery, but it’s just right for me. Fortunately, my mom and wife don’t eat that much and so I always share their dishes. I enjoy their soup bases, but my mom would agree with what others have mentioned about warm rather than piping hot soup. I would agree it would probably be better if the soup was hotter, but the soup base is really good compared to the majority I’ve had at other restaurants.
Another criticism I have is the portion of the fish cake appetizer. For $ 7, the dish is really pretty, but too small. I talk a lot about value in my reviews and it’s just not a good value.
Last thing, the dishes they present are really well presented. They seem to take a lot of care in this matter. Great pictures for food blogging if you’re into that.

I really wanted to like this place. The food sadly does not taste like how it’s suppose to taste. If you want bomb bun bo hue and mi quang, go across the street to Phở King. Wait in their line and you will leave happy. The décor is very nice and the service is awesome. However, I’ll squat to eat my food if I have to is its bomb ass food. this place is not it.

The flavoring of the bun bo hue broth was tasty but wasn’t hot enough. We also got the fried fish cake but it looked nothing like what was on the menu and pretty expensive for what you get. Frankly the taste of the fish cake didn’t make up for the price. Hopefully owners will see this and make some improvements.

Had 3 Bún Bò Hués for our table. 1 hot coffee, 1 iced coffee, and a tea pot.
My parents were visiting the bay and we were recommended to try this Vietnamese spot. My parents know their stuff, so I was already nervous trying a new spot out with them as I get my food criticizing ways from them except they’re the real OGs. My mom is a phenomenal housewife cook, worked at a Vietnamese restaurant in her younger years, and has mastered just about every Vietnamese dish you can think of. So she’s the real critic here.
I told her my thoughts about the food and service and she agrees with exactly what I have to say.
I approve of the Bún Bò Hué here, but there was one thing wrong. My noodles weren’t as soft as I wanted them to be. Though the spicy beef noodle soup was good and the variety of meat was also really good, my noodles lost some cool points.
My dish– 3.5 stars, would’ve been 4 if the noodles were cooked a bit longer
Service– 5 stars
Thus, 4 stars for this place.
You don’t come to Vietnamese spots expecting great service, you just don’t. The culture is very speedy, straight to the point, and usually they’re not going to fluff you up with kindness. However the service was definitely great here especially with my needy parents asking for this and that several times.

I found this place while searching up top Vietnamese restaurants in the Oakland area. The location is on 12^th street right when you turn around onto International Blvd. There’s plenty of parking on the neighborhood streets if you need to find a spot. Otherwise we came around 6pm on a Wednesday night and it was pretty empty.
The restaurant is SUPER clean compared to a lot of Viet places I go to often in SoCal. I wasnt sure why it wasnt packed because this place deserves all the hype (even more so than Ao Sen).
Looking at Unilocaler’s reviews, I settled on the Bun Rieu while my friend settled on the Bun Bo Hue. The prices were not TOO bad for these two, however I was a bit turned off by the price of the appetizers (damn, spring rolls $ 6). Then again most places in Oakland charge crazy prices for appetizers.
Anyway, the food. Oh the food was BOMB. Both of us got the large and it’s been a while since a Vietnamese restaurant actually had a large bowl when they say they have a large. The bowl was HUGE, the portion sizes were AMAZING, and there was PLENTY of ingredients inside. Overall, it was interesting tasted Bun Rieu from Da Nang, where my dad was from. It was a bit less flavorful compared to my mom’s, but a lot better than most of the places I have tried in Oakland.
Combined with the price as well as the taste and portion sizes, this place is LEGIT.
Eat well and prosper,

More like a 3.5, but again Unilocal does not permit me to provide half stars.
This is not your typical phở/​vietnamese joint, so be prepared if you go. You won’t find the usual suspects. From Unilocal,it appears that the clam vermicelli and the bun rieu are the highly rated items. Wasn’t feeling like clam, and I can make bun rieu at home. Instead I opted for the Mi Quang special which was really good. The noodles are the typical rice/​ho fun noodles. It has a good variety of protein. The soup is a bit sour and savory. There were also roasted peanuts My only complaint is that the bowl of soup was not hot enough. I prefer my hot food to be hot, as opposed to luke warm. If it wasn’t for the temperature, I probably would have rated it 4 stars. In any event, its worth a try Unilocalers!

Delish bun bo hue that was elevated by the toppings of cabbage, bean sprouts and pork rinds. Pork cake had a nice texture as well as the meatballs. Add the shrimp paste on the side for more umami. Broth is flavorful without being overly salty. I plan on working my way thru their menu.
Parking can be tricky; look at side streets off e 12

I usually frequent Thanh Ky a few doors down, but decided to try this place based on the reviews and different dishes they had.
Interior was clean and spacious. Both bf and I ordered the Mi Quang since we’ve never had the dish and it seemed to be highly recommended due to the reviews.
There a good bit of broth that was flavorful, and there were different proteins in the bowl. The noodles however, were overcooked and broken into tiny pieces, making it difficult to eat with chopsticks.
Overall, the dish was average. But I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to come back again.
Service was friendly and attentive.

Only problem I have with this place is that it’s so far from San Jose. Not many places (or any at all) do Da Nang style banh xeo. It’s different because they are a lot smaller than what you’re accustomed to but they cook it with a lot more oil. This means that it’s like a Vietnamese style Chalupa! The thing is on point and I just love the CRUNCH. Won’t get this kind of banh xeo anywhere else! I just wish there was more meat on the inside. I also got their banh beo. I loved this too. They don’t use the dried pork rinds. You get these small bits of pork instead. Totally loving it.
This place doesn’t disappoint. Even coming from San Jose it’s worth the trek. We literally had to do a «food op» and find this place the first time. Come and check out this place if you haven’t already. I’m actually surprised it’s not much busier than it is.

In a row of other restaurants and markets, this place certain does stand out with their décor and service. They’re super attentive to their customers and this place doesn’t seem like a typical Vietnamese restaurant to me (with their décor and utensils). Street parking was horrible and I’m a bit sad that were wasn’t handicapped parking for my mom (at least we just dropped her off in front so that she can get a seat asap).
Food came out really quick and the portion sizes were pretty decent.
Banh Xeo came with 2 portions, rice paper wrap and veggies. It was very crispy but it had a very heavy coconut flavor and was pretty thick (inside was very soggy from the moment it came to our table). I wish there was a bit more meat/​shrimp in it since I mostly got soggy bites with some crispy skin.
Banh canh gio heo (Special rice noodle w/​pork leg, shrimp, pork, pork cake and fried fish cake), the noodles were really good but the pork cake was very dry and left a horrible aftertaste… like a bland mush taste).
Bun mien mang vit (Bamboo shoots, duck w/​rice noodle), it had a super crazy fishy taste to it.
Banh uot cha lua (Steamed thick noodle w/​pork cake), the noodle was very oily but they had pretty good fish sauce.
Final Thoughts: Prices there are pretty decent and I would be back to try different things. maybe the fried flower cake with egg next time :] One thing though… I need to get myself a rice wrap holder.

After reading the reviews my wife and I went to Da Nang Quan looking for some good Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu. The restaurant is located in East Oakland and lunch is the only time I would be in that part of town. The interior is nicely decorated in a French Colonial theme. Parking is on the street and luckily we found parking across the street. We ordered the Bun Bo Hue and the Bun Rieu both were Excellent! It comes with a bunch of veggie toppings and a dab of shrimp paste. Each bowl was $ 8. My wife and I commented these bowls would be $ 12-​$ 15 in Walnut Creek or San Francisco. The place was busy at lunch hour but quickly cleared out by 2 pm. I wanted to try the Mi Quang, maybe next time.

Authentic Vietnamese restaurant AND clean? That’s always hard to come by in the area, and I’m glad I got to check this place out. Had one of their specialties on the menu: baby clams. Enjoyed the unique flavors paired wonderfully with the sesame chips. Also had the bun bo hue, which was not bad, but I would’ve preferred it to be a little spicier. Will be back to check out the rest of their menu :)