LCX Noodle Bar

Sweet décor, LCX! Keep up the cleanliness and sweet customer service!

I haven’t been here in years. LC is one of the oldest vietnamnese restaurants in the Bay area. Came here for lunch. The place was pretty packed and the service was very slow for Phở. I liked the greens, very clean and dry (some places in Oakland chinatown the greens come out dripping wet with water). I had the the Bun Bo Hue. Not spicy enough, no pork blood, and the pork and beef was very chewy, and very Americanized. If you want more authentic BBH, still should go to chinatown. Overall though the place was clean, prices for the phở was good, but the phở was very mediocre.

This updated review goes to the great service and accommodating menu. I don’t prefer eating beef but love the taste of beef phở broth or beef stew broth. So the waitress/​waiter are always willing to provide the beef stew broth by removing the beef meat and replacing it with shredded chicken! Must try! Goes so good together ESP with the egg noodles. Plus the staff are super nice. I’m here at least biweekly and with glum weather approaching, I’ll be here weekly.

It’s tempting to ding this place on price just because you can probably get comparable phở at a better price but I just really like the phở. I happen to like the thicker cut of the rare beef in the beef phở. It stays rare which I like. My favorite thing here though is to build my own combination. The fish, won tons, with spinach noodles keeps me coming back!

Decent phở in the hood. Lunch spot for a federal worker who wants to grab a fast meal alone at the counter, with a magazine.

omg! get. in. my. mouth!!!
Seriously relaxed and yet classy atmosphere. The restaurant is stylish and the service great… still the food is even better. I had the meatball noodles last week, and I’m still thinking about them.
Reasonably priced for a huge bowl I couldnt finish (take it home and have it for dinner).
All in all, highly recommended!

I generally avoid the standard lunch hour especially when in a downtown area. However, I found myself in a two day seminar in downtown Oakland with a designated lunch break.
I entered the establishment to find a line of about four people in front of me thinking this would be a typical rush through a short lunch. However that did not happen. The two tables in line in front of me were sat, and before I had anymore time to wait, I was seated.
It was easy to see how well the staff worked together; even the person cleaning the tables placed customer service as the number one priority.
My standard meal at places like this is the vegetarian phở. So I kind of new what I was ordering before I sat down. I was informed in addition to the standard noodles they also offered a spinach noodle, so I opted for that. Maybe it was that I am used to the standard rice or bean vermicelli noodles, because there was nothing wrong with the spinach noodles. However, the next day I opted for the standard rice noodles.
On both days the restaurant was bustling, clean and working efficiently. I was able to get in an out both days in less than forty minutes.
On the second day, I first thought to check out a different restaurant, an Indian place down the block. However, the service was not at par and their foods were already made to the extent I could not have them hold the tomatoes. As a result, I returned to LCX and was not disappointed; the same efficient, friendly, clean service, and the phở did not skimp on the vegetables like some places do.
Even the music was at an appropriate level. Just loud enough to know it was there, but not loud enough to drown out your thoughts or communication.

I’m a fan because it’s close to work, inexpensive, and just what the doctor prescribed on a cold and rainy day. I usually order the Bun Bo Hue — spicy noodle soup with pork and beef shanks. Delicious, filling, and spicy enough to bring my body temperature back to normal. The wait staff is super nice and attentive too even during the busy lunch rush.

Hmmm This place is awesome! Love PHO. Have only been to one PHO restaurant and so had to step outside of my box and this place delivered and even better it was reasonably priced for lunch. Very friendly, attentive and super delicious!

I come here once or twice per week for the vegetarian phở with the spinach noodles. Delicious – I am addicted. Fresh vegetables, fried tofu, roasted garlic, and the broth is perfect, and actually vegetarian. All the other soups have meat and use a meat broth, but I haven’t tried them.

It pains me to say this, but LCX has devolved to an «it’s OK» kind of eating experience. The beef phở, which still sports good broth on most visits, fails with both the noodles and «rare» beef. The former offer little texture; the latter too much. Rare beef should be ultra-​thin (to cook easily in the broth) and smooth. LCX’s is too thick and textured like it’s cut with a buzz saw in need of sharpening. Once my phở’s meat and noodles seemed so overcooked, I even sent the dish back, which I’ve never done with phở anywhere.
Plusses: The service is usually attentive and always sweet (as when I sent back the phở); and, they’ve added some non-​noodle appetizers to broaden the menu. But when you bill yourself as a noodle bar, especially as an offspring of Le Cheval, your noodles (and meat) really should be better than this.

Had two meals here — both awesome ! Fish, Vietnam style is my favorite. Top price for lunch is only $ 8.50 — a true bargain.
Understand they will be open for dinner soon, with prices in $ 10 range and lower. How do they do this?
Since they just opened in May, I expect this place to be crowded by the end of the summer.
Since they were slammed on my second visit, the service was a bit slow, but no problem, I had the time and I really enjoyed meal.

LCX is an offshoot of Le Cheval’s return to it’s orignial location. as the name implies, the focus is on noodles of the soup variety, phở plus appetizers.
an interesting mural depicts settlers (east coast) in america meeting american indians. not sure how this fits into lcx theme.
eats: phở tai (7.5)
only 5 toppings for phở
–ven don.
–tai-​rare tenderloin
–Nam
–fatty brisket
–beef balls
12ish very small, thin tender curly beef thingeys
broth had a beefy, sweet flavoring (from onions, rock sugar). no/​little msg tasted.
noodles different from usual, more sphaghetti like, round not flat.
very enjoyable bowl of phở
though labeled as large, contents equals med. or small elsewhere
leftovers
–3 ish star for not being a good value, few phở topping choices.

I was swayed by a coupon, without it, I would’ve been flippin’ out. Everything was mediocre at best. But what pushed it down to 2 stars was the Fish Sauce.
You messed up FISH SAUCE in a Vietnamese restaurant!!! Any Vietnamese person would know in a second that the jar with the salty brown water on the table was not fish sauce. Did you just water it down? How? –Does not compute–
Onto the food. We had the Mien Ga (Glass Noodles in broth) 7 the Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Beef Noodle Soup). Lets start with the Bun Bo Hue — or what was supposed to be Bun Bo Hue. It sure looked like it, but I think we definitely go the bastard stepchild version. There was no herbal flavor, no spice, it was just a saltier version of Phở broth dyed red. This, my friends, was not BBN. So much so that my friend was astounded when I reminded him that he ordered BBN. The Mien Ga was just OK. We had to do a lot of manipulating to get the broth to taste right. When we were done, it was OK. Noodles for both dishes were overdone, so it was mushy.
Service was good though. The people were nice and the food came out fast.