Oc Cay Dua

This is my go-​to place when I’m trying to spoil myself with yummy vietnamese food. I’ve only ordered take out from here since its in such a close proximity to my house. (Its easier than trying to eat out with an infant.) I’ve tried a few of the items but the ones I would recommend the most is the Bo Tai Chanh or rare beef salad (which is really hard to find in San Jose), Razor Clams and their coconut snails.
There is a take out fee though which docks them a star and probably why I don’t order from them as much.

Im giving 4 stars to this place because i really enjoyed my oxtail hotpot with a side order of fishballs with roe inside and my chicken salad (goi ga bap chuoi) was really delicious! I was satisfied with my orders. The waitress An was really sweet and checked up on us a few times so i was glad she did. The only downside was that the hotpot took awhile and i had to order more shrimp chips for my salad because they only give you 4 lol. But yay it was yummy!

After a food exploration down socal, i found out theres places up here for OC. I really like this place a lot. it was actually better than socal. ordered the coconut horn snails, clams, blood clams, pork intestines, the escargot goi, regular escargots, seafood hot pot, and the bombin fuckin oysters. that shit was on pointtttt. i was sad they didnt have razor clams. overall, i am pretty happy with this place and service. i will def come back again.

It’s nice place to eat but the food is getting worse. I felt like there are just vegetables only. Less meat than before a lot. The waiter was really bad. He ignored us and took an order of another table before us even we came and waited for him. He kept going back and forth and did not pay attention at all. He did not even refill my water or give sauces until I was begging for one. I’m not going to give any tips if next time he is still like that again.

This place serves authentic Vietnamese «beer» food! Vietnamese people have «beer» food where they eat only the food items while drinking with friends but no rice, noodles or vermicelli. This place serves straight up food that you will find on the street of Saigon Vietnam. I love their Coconut Snail dish, very curry creamy coconut milk sauce. We also ordered the Snail Watercress Salad which was served with a delicious fish sauce. The Grilled Oysters was amazing m, grilled with green onions and the Albacore Hot Pot was very tasty as well. My girlfriend and I ordered up a storm for just between the two of us but everything was worth trying. Very flavorful and made just like how I remembered it when I last visited Vietnam.

I gave this place another try recently, and I have to say it was even worse than my first experience here. We ordered the stir-​fried noodles with beef, Bun Rieu, Grill Clams with Green Onion, and Stir-​fried Escagot with Garlic Butter. The only acceptable dish was the Grilled Clams. Other dishes were poorly flavored and prepared. Stir-​fried Escagot was way to greasy and flavors weren’t there. The Stir-​fried noodles was bland as well, we used a lot of soy sauce to adjust the taste. Last but not least, the worst of all, the Bun Rieu. Honestly, I have been eating and cooking Vietnamese dishes all my life, but I have never seen fish balls served with Bun Rieu. They also have this weird blackish components that didn’t look too good and the taste were weird as well. All in all, the dish is horrible.
I am not going to come back for sure…

Had the ox tail hot pot soup and it was yummy. Also added fish balls to the soup. We ordered a small size and it was perfect for 3 of us. There was alot of of oxtail and tendon in the soup. Only if it was spicier, it would’ve been perfect. We asked for more pepper to add in but that didn’t help much. But other then that everything was good. Oh yea we also ordered the coconut snails. The sauce that they cook it in was flavorful.
Service was good. Place is nice looking. Came on a Wednesday so we got in right away. Will be back when I’m in town craving for oxtail soup!

Had a pretty mediocre my first time here, unsure if Id like to give it another try. Buuuut I left here thinking wow, what a waste of my two hours meant for relaxation and good food. Id suggest going to lau hai san for hot pot, and im sure you all know where to find better do nhau food — may as well have went to lemongrass (it no longer exists) for the snails. wouldve been one star if the food wasnt at least decent.
Service, was spotty at best. Our server took our order and served us two of 5 dishes. Never came back to check on us or refill anything. It took 30 minutes for a different server to realize they had forgotten the rest of our order (we had noticed they served another table our dish so we reminded them gently). After that we inquired about the rest of our dishes and was told theyd come out shortly (she named the dishes we ordered) 20 minutes later our original waitress claimed we never ordered it. Ended up cancelling and wrapping up the night to dine elsewhere. We were all still hungry!

Be positive… Be positive… Try to be positive.
OK, I’m ready.
Well— On a positive note, the restaurant was nice and spacious and had several TVs for us to watch the football game. The place is clean and new and didn’t smell. They also had young coconut which was great. The fries were also really good and so was the quail.
On the not so positive note:
1. They were out of razor clams which is pretty much what they are known for – or so I was led to believe
2. They had sea bass but could only do deep fried and not steamed. Pass.
3. We ordered a plate of clams that were the vietnamese equivalent to clams casino and there was way too much fish sauce (couldn’t taste the clam at all) and what’s worse was each bite left you with a mouthful of sand.
4. Steamed clams — so gross. Again, mouthfuls of sand and the broth was some kind of cooking sherry that was not good.
5. When we complained about the sand they took the dish away and charged us for it anyway. Lovely.
6. Dirty plates were left all over the table we basically had to chase them down to get them to take it away.
7. Salty fish fried rice — OK. This is usually my favorite dish of all time but here it was SO greasy and stinky. I know salted fish has some sort of aroma, but this stuff was particularly pungent.
At the end of the meal, I left wishing I saved those calories for something good instead. Like a sandwich. Or really, anything else. At all.

Come in around noon on a Sunday and the place’s pretty empty so we were seated right away. Food order comes out pretty fast.
Tried and loved:
Hot Vit Lon Rang Me– Balut in Tamarind Sauce (the sauce is delicious)
Goi Oc Rau Muong — Snail salad (very tasty)
Oc Len Xao Dua– Coconut Escargot
Oc Huong xao toi — pretty good but a bit salty
I will definitely come back … In the mean time, I’m gonna try to cook up their tamarind sauce at home. Happy eating !!!

Meh! I came here with my famiLy yesterday after weeks and weeks of wanting to hit up this spot .
ALL the commerciaLs advertising for the pLace definiteLy did its job!
UNFORTUNATELY, the food did not Leave us satisfied and the portions are teeny tiny.
You aren’t getting any bang for your buck here!
We ordered 5 dishes:
Oc Len Xao Dua– Coconut Escargot
Muc Nuong– GriLLed Squid
Hot Vit Lon Rang Me– BaLut in Tamarind Sauce
Banh Trang Suc Ngheu Bam– Chopped CLams with Toasted Sesame Cracker
Com Chien Ca Man– SaLted Fish Fried a Rice
ALL in aLL, the pLace is too expensive for the portions that they give. Food is good but nothing that makes it stand out. Be prepared for a big tab and mediocre food.
I couLd see this being a decent spot to snack at and a good spot to relaxing with a few beers– NOTHING MORE.

I was hesitant to try this spot after seeing the mixed reviews, but I’m glad that I went anyway.
Oc Cay Dua is a reasonably sized Vietnamese restaurant in the corner of a plaza that notably has the Maxim supermarket. Their specialty is shellfish, as indicated by their name. While they were out of supply for razor clams, my table still experienced a variety of solid alternatives.
— Oc Huong Nuong Mo Hanh ($ 12): Oc Huong, referred to as «babyloni» by the menu and variously as Japanese ivory shell or baigai elsewhere, looks like a large snail. This dish is made by grilling them with sauteed scallions and crushed peanuts. The three-​pronged fork is useful for removing the meat from the shell, as well as for dipping it in a salt and pepper customer-​squeezed lime sauce.
— Oc Huong Hap La Que ($ 12): another Oc Huong dish, but this one is steamed with Thai basil instead and served with fish sauce-​made dipping sauce. Both of the Oc Huong preparations are chewy but not overly so, and fairly well seasoned.
— Hao Nuong Mo Hanh ($ 10): grilled oyster with sauteed scallions and crushed peanuts. Similar flavors to the similarly prepared Oc Huong, but much juicier. I was tempted to call for another portion of this.
— Canh Ga Chien Nuoc Mam ($ 11): fried chicken wings served wet with a «fish sauce» glaze. I didn’t really get the fish sauce. It seemed to taste more of tamarind, sugar, and a chili sauce. However, it was really delicious and held a crunch outside while remaining tender inside. Definitely something I’d get again.
— Muc Nuong ($ 12): sauteed squid with pickled veggies and cilantro. Tasty, not rubbery in the slightest, and much more satisfying than…
— Muc Chien Gion ($ 12): deep-​fried squid. This was the worst dish of the night. Whatever the tempura-​like batter was, it made the pieces clump together into larger chunks. The crunch level was really inconsistent, varying between properly crunchy and improperly chewy. The accompanying mayo-​y sauce was a bit heavy, but that’s the least of my concerns with the dish.
Service and pacing was nice, with empty plates and the bowl of empty shells being removed and replaced fairly quickly, barely a few minutes’ wait until the first dish, and a gradual build-​up of dishes onto the table that didn’t quite reach an overwhelming point. Pricing is reasonable, except of course for the dish that didn’t deliver. They have two nice large TVs with HD cable channels, so perhaps you could catch a game here?
The menu is definitely more extensive, with a variety of salads and hot pots, some of the real premium seafood items in shrimp, crab, and lobster. and more traditional rice and noodle dishes. I’m game to try different things next time because I enjoyed most of the food tonight.

Surf clams –its cool, tasty
Japanese emperor clams — my favorite, flavorful and tasty, order one per person, not to share!
Razor clams — so good, get it with the tamarind sauce
Seafood hotpot — tasty, great for sharing
Steamed clams — flavorless, skip this!
Bo tai chanh — pretty good, went overboard with the sauce since its pretty wet… still good!
Escargot — this is scary, not for me… tasty but the look and touch scares me!

Oc Cay Dua was a pretty cool spot. I enjoyed trying the various ways clams can be cooked and seasoned. My girls and I ordered so many dishes that day while we watched the game on their TV.
Clams with Onions and Ginger — Pretty good. I’m thinking they sauteed this with a little bit of oyster sauce and onion and ginger.
Baby Clams with Rice Paper Crackers — Very flavorful! I really enjoyed this. Baby clams with I’m thinking minced pork belly? I could’ve sworn I saw some pork belly fat in the mix. Some veggies and basil to top it off.
Fried Frog Legs — this was okay. Mild curry flavored and deep fried to crispy perfection. The frog legs were cooked well and tasted like curry chicken.
Calamari — This dish was okay. Nothing special to me.
Tamarind Razor Clams — Probably my favorite dish here! I love razor clams and cooking it in tamarind sauce was a real treat. Definitely different than I’ve ever had it before.
Coconut Snails — My only complaint was this wasn’t spicy. I like this with more spice. I thought it was tasted a little «dirty» but I’m not sure. It never really looks clean lol. Overall tasted was good but I’ve had much better elsewhere.
Service was okay. They get pretty busy and they try to get to every table so I respect that. The pricing is reasonable for what you’re ordering. I mean, compared to some other seafood restaurants in the area, this place is a steal.

SNAILHEAVEN!
No really! They have all types of snails and clams and shell fish! I don’t know the names of all of the ones we had but the first dish I remember was cooked with coconut milk. It was sweet yet spicy. The small snails was drenched in the sauce and all you had to do was suck on the shell to get the sauce!
My family and I ordered the seafood hot pot. We got a large and it fed about 7 people! The broth was super good and there were tons of seafood to dunk into the hotpot!
My favorite is the razor clams topped with green onions and peanuts! Sorry I forgot what it’s called on the menu, but I just remembered it was delicious! The razor clams were tender and sweet! The plate came out with about 5 clams. Not bad for the price!
This place is very small, so expect some wait time. There are large big screen tv to catch the game! It’s nicely decorated and the staffs are really nice.

My fiancé and I took my mama here on a Friday night for dinner. It wasn’t packed at all (you most likely have to wait on a Saturday night). It did get more filled up around 8:30PM.
Among the three of us we shared the following:
Salad with snails: Pretty tasty. Was a refreshing salad I would get this again.
Small size seafood hotpot: Pretty damn good portion, us three didn’t even finish this pot.
sauteed snails with butter and garlic: Too greasy for my taste. I needed some rice with it. I’m not sure I would get this dish again.
and Oc Len xao dua (coconut snails): DELICIOUS! We ate this up. I would get two orders of this if I could. Freaking love it.
I want to take my friends here to try, it’s definitely a good spot to try.

My mom came here with her coworkers a few weeks ago and raved about the food so I had to make a trip out some time with my sister & friends.
We tried to come here on Saturday but it was packed! We opt’d to go another day and we came on a Monday at around 5pm; there were only 2 other tables at that point so we were seated immediately.
My sister and friends aren’t too adventurous with food so we got something everyone would be able to eat; a large size of the seafood hot pot with a side of beef & an extra side of fish. If you ever had canh chua before, that’s exactly what the broth taste like; sweet, sour & a little spiciness. The portion size was good, the large could easily feed 3 – 4 people. The platter consisted of clams, mussels, fish balls, shrimp, fish, mushrooms, bok choy and cabbage; everything was fresh and plentiful for our meal. I wish the bok choy was cut up smaller and maybe more options of veggies to choose from but everything was satisfying to our hot pot cravings.
The service was pretty good, they were attentive with clearing out plates/​bowls and refilling beverages. The restaurant itself was well decorated and clean; I could see why its very popular. We will be back and next time we shall try some snails/​escargot!

THANK YOU DOAN !! For being a great waiter ;)
First time here and we will definitely be back to try the other yummy dishes.
58 bucks after 8 dishes not bad .
We tried balut two ways, definitely enjoyed the tamarind style more.
Coconut snails, grilled oysters, rare beef, hot and sour catfish soup, were my favorites.
I like how the restaurant was set up, it reminds me of the pictures of my mom eating in Vietnam.
One thing that made me enjoy my food even more so is the service we received. It’s Valentine’s Day so I can see that the servers are working really hard but through everything they had to deal with, Doan made us feel welcomed.
It was nice meeting you and best of luck living in America ;)

I’m not going to describe everything I ate because everything I had was really good and I completely recommend this place.
Here is what we ordered: stir fried frog legs, sturgeon hot pot, sate chili razor clams, oc la dua (coconut flavor snails), and salted fish fried rice.
Frog legs tastes like chicken but a lot more chewy. I didn’t care for the noodles that accompanied this plate. I would def want to try the fried frog legs next time.
The sturgeon hot pot was delicious! This pot tastes a lot like canh chua, but is one of the best I’ve ever had. We got a small order of this and it is enough to feed 2 – 3 ppl. They give a generous amount of fish too.
The snails and razor clams are both great tasting flavors! Salted fish fried rice is standard but comes in good portion.
Couple things I will mention. This place gets packed so definitely make a reservation! There are a lot of tables here and it was all full. When we left, there was a crowd gathering outside, I felt like it was a line for Boiling Crab. They only give you 20 mins before they give up your table so make sure at least half your party is there.
I notice that not too many of the employees here speak English. In fact, when I looked around, everyone (including the patrons eating) were Vietnamese. Even when my sister called in to ask (in English) to make a reservation, they just hung up on her (lol). She called back and spoke Vietnamese and they answered. Funny.
Go check this place out!

It’s been suuuuper cold so I’ve been craving for hot pot a lot lately. We decided to check this new place out (old Xich lo)
We ordered an order of the Japanese clam, razor clams with sate, and Lau duoi Bo (oxtail hotpot). The Lau duoi Bo was just all right to me. It has some oxtail, tendon, and some tripe. The soup was kind of plain =/​. Better off eating Lau duoi Bo at a Vietnamese bar seeing as the prices here are not that much cheaper. The clams were fresh and yummy yummy! Again the prices were not that much cheaper than Quan nhau. Service is pretty friendly.
If you ever want Quan nhau style food without the loud music, bad karaōke, and drunk girls falling on your lap, come check this place out!