So me & my former roommate wanted to try something new. Our waitress was not English speaking. She couldn’t help with the menu at all. I pointed specifically to a picture of a piece of grilled salmon on a bed of salad & other garnishing. She brought back in about 3mins a plate of a breaded deep fried pale salmon. IF it was Salmon! She said no. I chose another dish curry & same not available. I asked for Bu Luc lac & nope they don’t even serve that. Then I ordered WHATEVER literally tarted just pointing to items & she said yes & it was bland no flavor no color. Veggies over steamed. Nothing of the french side cuisine was available neither. Also I found the bu Luc lac & she said ohhhhh, after I got that plain beef dish. Basically they needs minimize their menu because clearly they don’t offer everything & cannot produce a dish at the chance a customer like myself came in & ordered it. Ok I’m done ranting but they sucked.
Edwin S.
Place rating: 4 San Jose, CA
actually I’m surprised by all the low ratings review. I just went there tonight dinner with my wife. Service is not that bad, it’s okay. We are asians, but aren’t vietnamese, at first a lady server who only speaks vietnamese, and have difficulty with us. So she asks another waitress to serve us instead, other than that, thing is okay. nice Décor. Waitress suggested the Shrimp cake appetizer, I thought it will be like Thai’s Fish cake type, but it comes out a real deep fried shrimp sticked to some pastry. We use lettuce to wrap around to eat it, supposed to eat the whole shrimp including head too, but i take it off. it’s an interesting dish. Main course is seafood combo hotpot, it’s really good price performance, for $ 12-$ 13 for a 2 people sized hotpot, not bad at all. Seating is comfortable, I will come back next time to try some more traditonal noodle soup type of dish. it’s only around $ 6-$ 7, considering their nice deco and comfortable seating, it’s worth a 2nd try
Daisy T.
Place rating: 4 San Jose, CA
I have renewed faith! I came back and the service FINALLY picked up. We were seated promptly and our waiter was actually attentive AND polite! =O NOWAY! And our food actually came out pretty quickly without missing a beat. On top of the great service, they ACTUALLY had the Lobster Noodles I have been wanting ever since my first trip there. For only $ 12.99, this dish was a STEAL! There were several pieces of lobster(with the shell) in a tasty bed of noodles stir fried with baby bok choy, abalone mushrooms, celery and lots of garlic. Sometimes the lobster can be a little overcooked and dry, but for the price it’s totally worth giving it a try. My table also tried one of their most popular dishes: Crystal Seaweed Salad. They may look like clear noodles, but that’s definitely seaweed. The seaweed is imported from Japan. Totally unique. It has a yummy sweet and sour dressing for it. A must order item! I also tried their Peach Iced Tea with Diced Peaches and Strawberries. I liked it because it was a very light drink. It wasn’t drowned with tons of sugar. Definitely not for those looking for a typical, overly sweet fruit drink. I hope my experience during my return trip wasn’t just a fluke. Hopefully a new leaf has turned for this place. They FINALLY got it together!
Nancy F.
Place rating: 2 Santa Clara, CA
This place is down the street from where i live, so it’s convenient if i don’t feel like the usual phở or other run down vietnamese place. we tried this for the first time, and while the décor is ok, it isn’t dirty. they probably just opened about 6 months ago, but they still have photocopied menus!(??) i had a crab and shrimp udon. i thought i’d play it safe, but what came out wasn’t expected. it was a red base broth(thought it was tomato) but dont think it was, loaded with lots of flour so the soup was thick as hell. at least they put real crab. my bf ordered the beef wrapped in lettuce with egg, but it was sold out so he got the pork instead. it was alright. i think this place was supposed to be more the hot pot so maybe i’d go again to try that. otherwise, it be a last choice in dining. oh yea, prices were cheap and service wasn’t bad.
Liz L.
Place rating: 2 San Jose, CA
2 stars for the extremely poor service! We saw at least 5 server’s and the service was still slow. I live down the street from this place and decided to try it for the first time. It is supposedly Vietnamese/French cuisine. which could explain the snails and frog legs I saw on the menu… I went with the pad thai just because. and it was allright. it came with lots of shrimp but it was missing that extra kick to it. I think this place is known for their hotpot because everyone else around us seemed to be ordering that… Don’t think I’ll be coming back here!
Christina T.
Place rating: 1 San Jose, CA
One star bc their service SUCKKKK! GETBETTERSERVICE. ughh waitress please don’t ague with the customer. The food there is okay, but their service is not good. They have no one at the front to greet their guests. its hard to grab their attention.
Kenny T.
Place rating: 1 San Jose, CA
I went here with my family and it was confusing with the sign as «Lemon Grass» but the white board specials said«Viet Express». The service was poor, the waiters were to busy bringing food in and out. The lobster noodles were over salted and bad. The frog legs were mediocre at best. There are better places for the com bo luc lac. The goi phe lan(crystal seaweed special dish) was bad. Overall I will be not be returning to this restaurant, the food was cheaper than most places and the ambiance was better than most cheap restaurants that’s about it.
Don N.
Place rating: 2 San Jose, CA
«Lemon Grass» or «Viet Express» 0⁄5 stars for customer service — Customers often stand at the door wondering if the establishment is open or closed due to an inexperienced waiting staff. 1⁄5 stars for food — I had the Lobster Noodle which was colorful, however became bland and simply a monotonous chore to eat. My gf had the Beefo Oso Bucco which was ok. A bit under spiced and over cooked. It might be a mere coincidence, but after eating there last night my gf and I have been frequenting the restrooms. 3⁄5 stars for ambiance — It’s nicer inside than most asian restaurants. Marble tables, booths, and spacious dining area. I don’t see myself returning here in the near future unless there’s a change in management. I suppose they are trying, but they’re obviously new in the hospitality industry.
Scott C.
Place rating: 2 San Jose, CA
I must have went on an off night. Saw the sign outside saying that it was a grand opening(Lemon Grass). Went inside with my friend and the place was pack but how do you get seated? I mean there was no one to great us and no definite«front» of the restaurant. We ended up just sitting down at an empty table. After about 5 min someone came by and gave us the menu but it was a paper menu with menu items that seems photocopy. I mean it didn’t even looked type out or in those plastic menu holder like most other restaurants use. Anyways, our waitress arrived and we order our food. I got the noodle with fried chicken and my friend got the lobster noodle. I notice most of the people in the restaurant got the hot pot. Got our meal at separate time. Her lobster noodle came out before my food, we shared it a bit. It took 10min later to get my food. Overall the lobster noodle was okay. It seems like the lobster was old and the noodle had been frozen because it was clump together when we ate it. Plus it didn’t help that they gave us chopsticks only. I mean how were we suppose to crack the lobster shell? With teeth? My fried chicken noodle was okay but the broth was salty and again I can tell the noodle was salty. When it was time for the check we didn’t even know where to pay? I mean a sign that say pay here or something would be nice. Even TK noodle has that. Anyways, it is at the bar just in case you come here and can’t find it. Total came to be about $ 20. Will give them another try just in case they had an off night Oh, they might be in the process of change their name because the outside says Lemon Grass but the menu where still hand written«Viet Express»
Jasmine P.
Place rating: 4 San Jose, CA
so good! the shrimp cakes are so amazingly good i left school early so i could get some for lunch, they are sweet potatoes shredded and fried lightly with a whole fresh shrimp piled on top with fresh herbs and butter lettuce. then you dip it in fish sauce and bamm your mouth explodes with applause! the combination noodle soup was great too, it had quail egg, pork, shrimp, onions and lots of veggies and noodles. It was the best hot viet soup i have ever had. The tea was also wonderful and fresh, no sugar needed. the only think that makes me give it a four is the décor and customer service. it needs to look more like a restaurant than a buffet line.
Kim t.
Place rating: 4 San Jose, CA
My friends said, «lets go to Viet Express for lunch»! I was like ok sure, it sounded like Panda Express so I was thinking… hmmmmm. fast viet food and because I like to eat at not so fast viet places, this better be good! Anyhow, we were having lunch late in the day so there was nobody in there but us. The ambiance is quite cozy and very clean. I ordered Com Bo Luc Lac(shaking beef with tomatoe rice). To my surprise it was pretty fresh and the meet was oh so tender. I ordered a strawberry lemonade which is on the sugary side but it wasn’t too bad, I of course finished the whole thing. Service could be better, being that we were the only people in there. The waiter could have checked on us more often.
Butter G.
Place rating: 2 San Jose, CA
ok service, not so great food, wouldnt come back again. If you want to try it out, dont go in the evening, they are not so busy so i dont even know if the food was fresh. I felt like my food was microwaved my banh canh and my bf steak. He asked for it to be extremely well done, it came out within 3 – 4 mins and it was still raw inside. We hate to throw away food but it was so bad we couldnt eat it.
Gilbert C.
Place rating: 2 San Francisco, CA
It pains me to give a negative response to a restaurant that has only been in business for a short while. But I have to stay true to what I believe. I’ve tried both their combo plate(3 item combos you choose) and some of their menu dishes. The taste of their mix and match combo plate stuff just isn’t that good to me. They change up the items everyday and Ive tried it twice but both times it didn’t taste that good. Their Phở is ok… nothing to gripe about, nothing to rave about. Their Hu Tieu Nam Vang is ok/good. The crab broth flavored Banh Canh is not to my liking. Someday if friends insist on going there again, I would like to try their Thai Style Squid Salad thing I saw on the wall as well as a couple other appetizers. Service is good tho.
Don V.
Place rating: 4 San Jose, CA
There’s a new restaurant in town and it’s called Viet Express. So new that I couldn’t even find the address online. My mother’s friend recommended this place so I decided to give it a try. I walked in and I noticed it was half bakery/half restaurant with very limited seating. It’s not your average restaurant. It had a very small menu, small meaning as in there was probably about 20 – 30 dishes total combining appetizers, entrée and dessert. They had lots traditional Vietnamese dishes and most of them were just under $ 10.00 which is why I give this place 4 stars. I visited this place with a large party and I was able to try all the appetizers. To be honest, I think it was better than my $ 9 new york mushroom steak and that’s because I don’t think the chefs know the difference between, rare, medium rare, and well done. In my party, 4 people ordered steaks and they all came out well done which kind of killed it for me. With the steak, you get a salad, and the choice of sliced baked potatoes or rice. Overall it was a pleasant experience.