About NẾP Cafe
Beyond their size, small businesses are defined by their spirit. And at the helm are their intrepid founders—scrappy, ambitious, and resilient. They invent and build things despite uncertainty, because it’s what drives them. Their risks lead to innovation that moves the world forward. And we need them.
I hadn't been to the Fountain Valley location, but finally made time to go after a walk around the park. Had a reservation, so the wait wasn't a problem. I did see quite a few people waiting, but I think it's safe to assume you're in for a wait without a res. We ordered off the brunch menu and everything was amazing. Bone Marrow pasta was absolutely exquisite. Shrimp salad was crisp and acidic, perfect. Also order the Crab Curry Banh Mi Caho and Crab Toast.
Food is great flavor and creative but the potion size is one of my score elements. Potion is quite small for a regular people with such price. Service is good but always a line there if you plan to go.BTW ,sizzling dish always come with a bread.
The food is really good. We love the food and drinks are awesome. My family of 8 , we ordered almost everything on the menu . Even though its been a while but im Still craving for the drinks and sweet sticky rice till now. but the waiting and reservations are kind of messy in the beginning when we were there. Then they are rushed to get us out of there but i was visiting my family so it was kind of disappointed to be rushed out .
Nep is my last restaurant from Kei Concept to try. I have to say, it was a big disappointment. Over priced, over rated. I feel like they took a few dishes from their other restaurants and showcased it here with fancy protein add on of beef tongue, filet mignon, or shrimp. Garlic noodles…I rather order that at their other establishment, Vox kitchen. The sizzling plate is pricey from the protein choice. You can order the same thing, less fancy, less price elsewhere. I assumed the coffee would be same as Kei cafe but it’s different. Some items are with Vietnamese milk coffee and some are made with black coffee. I ordered an avocado coffee which is w black coffee. It had fresh chunks of avocado at the bottom with black coffee layered on top. It needed a spoon. Also got egg coffee and that was weak. The food came out super fast. Maybe because it’s lunch and people can be in and out under 30mins. Or, food was ready in mass production, waiting. We had 12:15 reservation, got there at noon, seated immediately and home by 1. We ordered: -Crispy wings - typical glazed fish sauce topped with peanuts -Crispy Brussels sprouts - instead of your typical bacon or pork belly, it’s with Chinese sausage -Shanghai dumplings - nothing special Food was mediocre at best and food came out extremely fast. Great if you’re on a lunch break. There’s a nice outdoor patio if you want to have a large girls brunch or sit outside.
I used to love this place when they first opened, but unfortunately, things have gone downhill over my last two visits. On our most recent visit, we arrived about 15 minutes after opening, and the place already seemed busy. The host asked if we wanted to sit outside, and we agreed, thinking there weren’t any indoor seats available. Later, we noticed several empty tables inside, including severals big enough for our group of 4 and a baby. It would have been nice if the host had offered us the choice between indoor and outdoor seating, especially since it was a bit too windy outside for our baby. Service-wise, we ordered two Xoi dishes and two Banh Mi Chao. The Xoi came out in a reasonable 10-15 minutes, but the Banh Mi Chao took an additional 30 minutes with no updates from the staff. We had to check in with our server twice, and both times he said the dishes were “coming,” but we were left waiting. To top it off, one of the Banh Mi Chao dishes, which we asked to be medium-well, came out closer to medium-rare. On the positive side, the drinks here are great! We really enjoyed both the coconut matcha and the ube coffee. Sadly, this experience just didn’t live up to the standards we used to enjoy, so we probably won’t be returning anytime soon.