Onyx

I loved this place. WHY DID THEY CLOSE DOWN!
The people there were the sweetest. The chef was the mom of the owner. MAN!!! I miss them.
Food was great too btw.

Boo. They shut down. Why, oh why???
Please re open.

This place tries to make itself look like a higher end restaurant like those on Santana Row, but it doesn’t entirely succeed. If you’re walking from the private lot to the restaurant, I would suggest that they keep their back doors closed since their exposed kitchen ruins any illusions of grandeur. It was kinda like scene in Wizard of Oz with Toto pulling open the curtains.
The hostess and staff is nice as they need to be. They fill you water glass pretty consistently. The intimate interior seems more suitable for couples and not big groups. I felt a bit awkward even with a group of six.
I also felt weird because everyone else in the restaurant was wearing somewhat dressier clothes, but I’ve been to more expensive/​elegant restaurants where everyone is much more relaxed with the attire. I didn’t really like the atmosphere that this place exuded.
The appetizers are small and not really worth the price. For my entrée I ordered the sea bass ($ 25). The sea bass is served with florescent pink rice, some veggies, and a small cut of sea bass.
My meal was cooked well and the flavors were there. The only problem is that the meal was incredibly small relative to the price. I’m willing to pay for good sea bass, yet I’ve never received a sea bass portion this small. I was still pretty hungry after dinner even though we had appetizers.
As for the execution of being an asian fusion restaurant, I didn’t really get it. I think there were some asian techniques utilized but I sure didn’t taste it. Perhaps I didn’t order the right dishes?
_​_​
A nice place for a date, but not the first place on my list for either Asian fusion or dinner in general. Onyx has potential, but I’m not paying for potential. I’m paying to fill my stomach and invigorate my senses.

Pulled into the parking lot on V-​day to find nothing but Mercedes and Porsche’s sitting outside. A clean candlelit interior with soft mood lighting and hip 80s tracks playing in the background. Was promptly seated in a table for two and had plenty of time to look over the menu although I already knew what I was going to order. By about 8−9pm there were plenty of couples and groups of dates coming in for the night.
Menu items went something like this…
Black Mamba ($ 7?)
Lychee+Sake Cocktail ($ 7?)
Grilled Salmon Roll = $ 8
Crab Cake = $ 8
J Pepper Crusted Ahi = $ 16
Cubed Filet Mignon = $ 16
Mint Salmon Romain Salad = $ 8
Forgot how much the cocktails were, but they were excellent. Was looking forward to trying the Mojito Beer, but they said they ran out.
Anyhow, I think the best dishes were the grilled salmon roll, J Pepper Crusted Ahi, and Mint Salmon Romain Salad. Best of all was the desert soufflé, OMFG. Was a 20 min. wait but simply amazing, haven’t had a great desert dish like this in a while. It was complimented by three lychee and some light caramel sauce. YUMMMY. Definitely will come back to this place sometime again in the future. Dinner went long as expected with high-​end eats, and the place had an excellent ambiance for intimacy.

Incredibly good food. The chef’s American-​by-​way-​of-​Vietnam food has made this restaurant, nestled in the outskirts of downtown San Jose, the place to be for special occasions.
When you walk in, there is a greeter who opens the door for you. Adds a classy touch. The place is dimly lit, matching the dark furniture. The menu is simple yet pricey. Even with the common food found in a Vietnamese restaurant, Onyx somehow found a way to add a bit of flare to the traditional food (the spring roll for example).
My suggestions: Grilled salmon spring roll (you won’t be disappointed!), Baked Sea Bass, and Spare Ribs. Each plate that comes out is brilliantly presented. There’s usually a parrot or some sort of detailed design on your plate.
Something different: Usually when I order tea from an Asian restaurant, the tea comes out in a tea cup or else I get my own tea pot. At Onyx, they give you your own individual tea bag (organic btw) and a glass of hot water. I’m not used to drinking tea from a glass cup, but it was still good. Speaking of drinks, they offer a wide array of wine selection to pair with your meal. A very impressive list.
This place doesn’t get crowded (surprisingly), so you should be ok without reservations. One of my favorite restaurants. Truly a hidden gem in downtown san jose! Shh… don’t tell anyone

Overpriced Vietnamese food. Nice effort on the design and ambience, but the food was not as tasty as it looked. The service was very pleasant and welcoming with a nice selection of beer, and fair wines (the Riesling by the glass we had was OK for the price $ 6)
The shrimp chips (think puffy crispy crackers) that were complimentary were tasty and not too oily. They had a spicy garlic mayonnaise sauce sitting on a split dipping plate with spiracha sauce (chili paste sauce)
We started off with the soft shelled crab was battered right, but tasteless… it was dressed with a nice garnish, however the slices of yellow and green onions with rings of bell pepper were very typical of any Chinese /​Vietnamese restaurant. It needed a tamarind or some tangy sauce as special as the lovely garnish to make it stand out.
The rare beef with lemon salad (bo tai chanh) looked good, but was very chewy, the beef could’ve been used as rubber bands.
The do-​it-​yourself Rice Paper Wraps (choose 3: Grilled Kaffir Lime marinated Chicken — Ga Nuong La Chanh, Grilled pork Meatballs — Nem Nuong, Grilled La Lot Beef — Bo La Lot) was enough food for two as an entre. This part of the meal would get 3 stars. Tough I did run into some unwanted rubbery pieces in the grilled beef. A lot of work if you don’t know how to roll your own «spring rolls», but all the veggies and Vietnamese herbs you wanted were there for the making.
Grilled Quails with Penne Pasta in Vietnamese Pesto — Chim Cut Nuong Voi Nuoi Penne: this was a unique combo and had worked well with the quail, though the quail was hard to dissect with a fork and knife, you’re gonna have to resort to fingers if you really wanted to make the most of it… fortunately my wife doesn’t mind as much.
Cubed Filet Mignon with Tomato Rice — Luc Lac Voi Com ca: large pieces of filet mignon were tasty and well dressed with thin slices of cucumbers, grilled onions and sweet red bell peppers.
So why 2 stars? The food can be had with better quality at Anh Hong (7 courses of Beef) or Vung Tau Restaurant both have two locations in San Jose and Milpitas, at better prices if you wanted to give up the nice dinnerware and better dcor. Tamarine in Palo Alto does a better job of catering to a classy environment and truly unique Vietnamese culinary arts at a higher level. Enjoy!

Oh Onyx, how you’ve changed my use of the Sriracha sauce. Ever since I took that first bite of those prawn crackers with the sriracha sauce, I was changed into one of those people who uses sriracha on almost every food they eat. I love your other sauce that you use with the prawn crackers too.
Your pesto chicken pasta is oh so yummy but why did you take it out of your lunch menu and put it on your dinner menu? =(Your other lunch menu items are yummy also. I have yet to come to your place during dinner time but maybe sometime in the future I will.
P. S.: I always love looking forward to eating your prawn crackers. :grins:

Does every plate need to come out with swashbuckling Chinamen?
Seriously, at first the plates looked nice, but after a while, the cut up fruit and vegies in the form of swans, puffer fish — which even my son was afraid to touch, etc started to look real cheezy. As did the paper the napkins and disposable chopsticks.
As far as the food, I wouldn’t call it fusion either — more true to refugee form. Just because it isn’t served at your average Phở joint doesn’t mean it’s fancy Vietnamese food.
So the food wasn’t bad, but for being true to Vietnamese form AND expensive, I am not sure I would pay to eat here again. The drinks were ok, although they were named after Kill Bill characters — CHEEZY.

Dear God,
Please strike me dead if I have to read one more glowing review of this place. Vietnamese fusion? Refugee, please. This place is Vietnamese fusion like Fat Burger is health food.
I had to come up off my self-​imposed Unilocal moratorium just to review this place because I happened to stumble across all these 5-​stars while looking up a place for a group lunch.
All it is is very small portions of so-​so Vietnamese food, served on very large (and very pretty) plates with the same lame mayo/​sriracha dipping sauce on each. The cocktails are all sweet ass sake concoctions that will turn the most hetero man gay.
And, lucky you, you get to pay two times what you should for ¼ the food. To top it off, this supposedly «elegant» restaurant gives you wooden «splinter waiting to happen» disposable chopsticks and PAPER napkins. Are you fucking kidding me?
I told my dining partners that if I was single and trying to get into a simple chick’s pants, I might take her here to impress her, but other than that this place is shit.
I did have to give it two stars and not one because the service was actually very good. And also, any time my peoples can get pretentious patrons to overpay for something worthless, I feel like maybe they are getting one over on THE MAN.

Food — 4
Service — 3.5
Ambience — 3.5
I just hosted a 30^th b-​day dinner at Onyx for my husband and our friend this past Saturday. There were two other parties there, though neither group was as large as our party of 16. The staff was very friendly and attentive. They continually refilled our water glasses and the white Asian (shrimp?) chips without any prompting from us. I never once felt that we got sub-​par service from our waitress despite the guaranteed 18% gratuity.
The food was quite delicious and the presentation very inventive. Almost every entrée had a unique animal carved from vegetables. Our top faves were: a dragon made from a carrot, a Japanese crane made from jicama and a pair of Samurai warriors from radishes and jicama (I uploaded some pics). It was a fun addition to the meal, which definitely was a hit with our group.
We started with a vegetable Spring roll which people seemed to like. I didn’t try any myself. We also ordered the calamari, which was really good. The table sauces they brought were also tasty. I ordered the Jumbo Prawn with Asparagus and Buttered Cellophane Noodles. The prawns were indeed jumbo — almost like mini-​Lobsters. The flavor was good and the prawns were cooked perfectly. Many of our friends ordered the Pepper Crusted Ahi with Baby Bok Choy over Lemongrass Croquets, and they all raved about it. My husband ordered the Mint Marinated Salmon with Spicy Alfredo over Cellophane Noodles, which I thought was over-​cooked, but he seemed to like it.
The only demerit mark I would give Onyx is that they wanted to charge me a cake-​cutting fee, which I thought was lame considering I had called to confirm our reservation a few days earlier and wasn’t told about the cake cutting fee when I mentioned that I was bringing a cake. In the end, they agreed to let me cut & serve the cake myself so they wouldn’t have to charge me the fee.
All in all, I would definitely come back to this place.

I’d have to confirm the word.
Great Vietnamese fusion. Really surprised about the presentation & quality of the food considering the area. They could use a brighter sign to highlight the location. I have to admit, my gf & I were a little worried when we were greeted as the only guests at the restaurant. But don’t let that scare you.
The food is awesome. You start off with shrimp chips accompanied by a spicy aioli sauce. The salmon roll (like Vietnamese spring roll) isn’t light on salmon at all and has a great sauce. The shrimp crab cake comes with a great salad and vegetable tree.
The only room for improvement is their ahi tuna entrée. Pepper crusted ahi tuna with baby bok choy and lemongrass croquettes. The ahi was good, but didn’t mix well with the bok choy & croquettes. I would’ve gave this place 4.5, but gave 5 considering the service and modern décor.

My coworkers and I came to this place for lunch one day. The totally black exterior, not all that interesting. The inside décor is much better, luv the gauzy white curtain things. The colors were very soothing.
Service, impeccable. Well, we were the only table in the whole friggin’ restaurant. How can you go wrong? Mallory, our server was great. But at some point during the whole dining experience, it felt weird to have 3 staff standing there watching the 3 of us eat.
Food, mediocre and overpriced in my book. I ordered the lotus stem salad with shrimp. Uninspiring. It needed so much more fish sauce and the shrimp were still frozen cold. I also had the kaffir lemon grilled chicken. Much better than the salad. however, the small portion left me yearning for some real viet food and maybe dessert elsewhere. Not worth the $ 13 bucks for the lunch sampler, I tell ya.
I felt bad for my coworkers who hardly touched their meals because it was so salty. See Maj and Somala’s reviews. But the defining moment for our dining experience at Onyx was when Maj upped and walked to the vegetarian place next door and grabbed some to go items as the Onyx staff watched her every step. They looked at each other in puzzlement. That pretty much sums up our lunch here.
2.5 stars for trying, Onyx! =)

I thought this place was okay. When my friend and I arrived there was no one else there which was odd considering it was a late lunch on a Friday. The place has a very Japanese feel to it. Was there something else there before? I forget. Anyways, someone opened the door for to greet us when we walked in. That was very nice, but you know, since we were the only customers I would expect excellent service anyways.
The server gave us some shrimp chips to munch on while we wait for our food. She was very nice but a little slow but hey, it probably wasn’t her fault. We got two glasses of cucumber water and shared a mojito beer which was very light.
My dining partner got the lunch special. The time between the appetizer and the entrée was way too long.
I got the catfish dish with broccoli. It was pretty good but not great. Reminded me of ca kho that my mom makes at home but I’m paying for it! I liked this dish a lot but it wasn’t amazing. I also asked if they offered any sides of vegetables (they don’t) but they could do a side of tofu, so we got that.
This restaurant doesn’t do «family style» so everyone pretty much orders their own entrée. I wish they had a category of smaller or side dishes.
I thought this restaurant was mediocre, there are plenty of other restaurants with better Vietnamese food that I’d rather go to.

NET:
Highly recommended, especially if it’s now 5pm and you need to find a decent restaurant to impress your friends.
GREAT DISHES:
1. Seabass
2. Filet Mignon Cubes
3. Quails — spicy
4. Chicken Wings (drumsticks)
5. Salmon Vietnamese Rolls
6. Lychee Sake Cocktail Drink
OK DISHES:
1. Ahi Tuna
SERVICES:
Great
ENVIRONMENT:
Clean. Some tables were crappy.

Edit:
Onyx needs to add the penne chicken pasta to their lunch menu! It was so good and I miss it already. That dish is a total winner and I believe many others will love it too. Just looking at my pictures of it makes me salivate over it. In addition, I came back and had the kaffir lime chicken and soufflé and both were very delicious. I am definitely coming back for more! In addition, Onyx has lowered their lunch menu items from 8 bucks to 7 bucks and added some new lunch specials to their enhanced menu. Items such as more vermicelli dishes, cubed filet mignon over tomato rice, soup bowls, salads, and their updated menu can be found online.
So after reading the reviews for Onyx, my friend and I who came here all the way from Santa Ana, decided to check this place out. When we had arrived, the door swung open and we were greeted by the host. We were seated and I immediately looked around. The place had a Japanese feel but some Vietnamese characteristics. The restaurant is spotless and our server was impeccable! Her name was Carla and she refilled our crackers bowl and sauces a few times. The crackers alone as a starter were fun.
So, today’s special was the penne pesto pasta with chicken and my friend ordered it. I didn’t want to order the same dish so I had ordered the grilled lemongrass chicken over rice. When the food had arrived, I was shocked. Impressive presentation of food for only 8 bucks! The food was perfectly portioned, not too small or too big. It was just right. I will post pictures later on but wow, all I can say was wow. The flavors of both dishes made me scarfed them down so quick, an hour flew by so quick. I wanted dessert but I had to get to work. Beautiful setting, great atmosphere with fun music playing in the background, wonderful servers, and great food! Cannot wait to come back again. All entrees and lunch plates come on nice big square plates and there is plenty of parking.

Me and my friend went there yesterday, two plain clothed Asian guys eating by themselves at a pretty nice restaurant… I felt kinda gay, but what the hell. It was damn good I tell ya! Drove up and the hostess opened the door for us, not only was she nice, but she was hot, which makes me wanna go back. We went when it was really dead because we were the only ones there except for two guys that were leaving when we got there and three people that came when we left. It was awkward because no one was there and I felt like we were talking too loud. I really like the décor as well as the friendly staff. First Vietnamese restaurant I’ve been to with a waiter that wasn’t Vietnamese! He was Caucasian, but it’s all good in the hood, he was a good waiter. I spoke to him in Vietnamese hoping he’d understand, but he just gave me a weird look, and I just looked away stupidly.
Me and my friend split the assorted platter which was made of grilled nem, steamed shrimp & pork dumpling, la lot beef (beef wrapped in vegetable with a ginger-​based sauce on top), and rocket shrimps (small egg roll with shrimp basically). It was good and well worth the $ 14. For entrée I got Ahi and my friend got the diced filet mignon (bo luc lac). His meat was real tender (no pun intended) and tasty. My Ahi was good as well. Two waters, an appetizer, and two entrees totaled to roughly $ 62 including tip. Great first time at Onyx, I will return for sure (to see the hostess, forget the food, jk).
Anyone see the review from Thy D. Only one review and it’s for Onyx and that person talks more about the business than the food (references to Saigon 75 and Vung Tau). HA! Doesn’t it just scream «BS»? Sounds like Onyx has already made some enemies from rival restaurants.
EDIT: They just got +99 999 stars for having SJSU KDPhi workers lol.

Last week, we celebrated my friend’s graduation dinner at Onyx. Seeing all the great reviews, I expected the restaurant to be full. When we got there, I was surprised to find out that we were the only group in the restaurant. That didn’t deter me from trying several dishes there though. Seeing that this place is fairly new, it’s still a gem waiting to be discovered by local folks.
The restaurant itself is clean and well decorated. It has that modern, minimalist, loungy feel to it. The menu emphasizes on Vietnamese fushion cuisine. This place will even satisfy the palate of picky eaters. Service was great, although we had to wait a little long for our entrees to arrive (which I totally understood because we had a huge party). We ordered several appetizer platters which didn’t dissapoint at all. For my choice of entrée, I had the diced filet mignon with tomato rice. It was DELISH! It was the best cubed steak I’ve ever had compared to other Vietnamese restaurants I’ve visited in the SJ area. At $ 18, it seems like a pretty hefty price for that type of dish, but it’s worth it. The portions are pretty big. The slices of beef are pretty huge compared to other places and the meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful. The essence of the rice and salad well complimented the beef. Other members of our party were amazed and satisfied with their entrees such as the Jumbo Prawns (they are really huge), short ribs, and the baked sea bass. For drinks, I recommend the Oren-​Iishi. It is a mixture of lychee and saki. It’s refreshing and delicious.
Overall, our party, including myself left happy and satisfied. I highly recommend this place if you’re willing to pay a little more for great service, great food, and a pleasant/​hip ambiance.

Great new fusion Vietnamese restaurant in the downtown SJ area. I definitely swear by Vung Tau for traditional fare but have yet to find a fusion place that impressed me. Well there’s a first for everything.
Being somewhat offset into the street it was hard to find even though we were looking for it. Even though the sign is at sidewalk level practically something about it doesn’t make it stand out. I hope this doesn’t cause the business to suffer because of it.
Since it’s only been open for a short time even on a Friday night this place isn’t really crowded. Lots of modern dark colors, lots of black and dark titanium and the floor has this crazy interesting texture.
As we perused the menu we dug upon the Kill Bill theme. So I had the O-​Ren-​Ishii while my friend had a drink called the Bride. Unlike the family style dishes you usually get at Vietnamese places these were definitely geared as individual entrees. That didn’t stop us from sharing of course. The spread we got were:
–Mixed Greens with Toasted Almonds in Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
–Seafood Spicy Lemongrass Soup
–Baked Xa Xiu (Char Siu) Sea Bass and Grilled Eggplant with Short Grain Rice
–Hoisin Glazed Pork Chop with Grilled Eggplant and Jasmine Rice
–Pepper Crusted Ahi with Baby Bok Choy over Lemongrass Croquets
I have to say that the creativity behind the dishes while upholding the traditional flavors in balance was impressive. We were all very pleased with the flavor and presentation with the dishes. Since it wasn’t very crowded we were very well taken care of and with the customer to staff ratio being three to one, it was hard not to be. The other interesting thing I noticed (maybe just for that night) was the propensity of 80’s music playing. Depeche Mode, New Order, and other dark British pop artists of the time. If you’re in the area definitely give this place a try because frankly, it’s hard to find good Vietnamese Fusion in the area. I’ll definitely be back.

I was supposed to cook this night but Friday’s are meant to celebrate! We drove around and after circling the block to find parking for Saigon 75, the Onyx sign (blocked by a tree) caught my eye!
I immediately Unilocaled it on my blackberry and rushed right in! Here is what we had:
Mojito Beer: B+ It was refreshing and tasty. $ 12 for beer, sake and mint not so refreshing! lol
Hanzo Cocktail: A+ Sake with redbull and lemon zest. $ 8
Crab Cakes: B+ Very tasty! Perfect appetizer for 2 $ 8
Shaken Beef: A+++ $ 18 Filet Mignon cooked to perfection. The waiter did not ask how we wanted it done, but the chef knows what he’s doing! Melt in your mouth, cut with a butter knife GOODNESS. The only thing that was different was they don’t give you the seasonings with lime to dip your meat in. I guess thats the only part I missed.
Service is great. The hostess holds the door open for you, greets you with a smile then seats you. I am rating with 4 stars because this was a light dinner which we shared and didn’t try any other dishes. I will re-​review and update once I try something else on the menu!

WOW!!! What a beautifully remodeled space! A touch of San Francisco in downtown San Jose.
I went to their pre-​grand opening and I was floored by how great this place looks. They’ve remodeled it from the more traditional Vietnamese restaurant, to a modern yet comfortable lounge.
I’m so excited for this place to open!
Update: So I”ve been here 3 more times since my first review and have been impressed every single time. It’s such a treat to go to Onyx. Yes, it’s pricey. but you get what you pay for. It’s a great place to have dinner & hang out with friends.
They are maintaining some of the Vietnamese chefs from the previous restaurant, and then adding a twist. I’m sure the food will be to die for!