Le Emperor — Restaurant in Cypress

This is actually a six-star review, it's just knocks it off of the five-star meter.

The location doesn't do this establishment justice but it's not in a bad neighborhood it's just kind of off the beaten path in a sense. Parking is ample.

Once you step in you are greeted by a newly opened restaurant with professionally oriented staff and nice down to earth furniture that is not cheap but don't expect to be sitting on Downy feathers. The plates are not from the dollar store like other places they really did put money into the establishment here.

Not the biggest menu you ever seen but that lets them concentrate on what they actually have. I have Vietnamese staple soup Pho, Banh mi, appetizers, desserts and a few are probably missed.

We started out with the edamame spicy which had a chance of vinegary spice on there, I'll have better but this is probably the least favorite thing off for the menu but it's still good. Also had the soft shell crab which was company on top of a bed of "spring mix?" accented with chili sauce. It was a really good light starter with accents of flowers on top for eye appeal. The pho that I had tasted almost like what my mother would make at home but that would take all day, you can come here and have it instantly. Mother had the duck which she approved of.

And another pet peeve that they do not do here is they wash the tables with a seemingly clean rack instead of using something they just slap out of the bucket that's been there for the beginning of the week.

The ambience is quite inviting with soft piano music playing in the background instead of these younger badonkadonkadonk loud music playing at other restaurants. The server attire is professional in which even the walk up and down the aisle to deliver food is proper and they deliver cart style instead of just holding dishes in their hands with their thumb in your plate. Casual date or first date? This is the place I would definitely take somebody. You can thank me later on that.

There is also a Sugar Land location which I just found out about but I am content here. It's a good thing this restaurant isn't on Bellaire because the line would be out the door! And the service here just blows every other Vietnamese restaurant I've ever been to out...

I ordered take out; $77+ for (4) items. The appearance of the restaurant (inside) seemed like the food was about to be amazing! When I got home (5 minutes away from the restaurant) the shrimp in the steamed shrimp dumplings smelled and tasted old. The beef steamed dumplings redeemed the appetizer part of my meal. The vermicelli bowl tasted great (tofu) but some of the veggies looked brown/slimy. That turned my stomach just to see it. My husband’s chicken pho tasted okay but he found several veggies (from the bag they give you for the pho) that were brown (had gone bad) or slimy. Thankfully we went through the bag of veggies before assembling the pho soup. We had to throw the bag out and he just ate the noodles, chicken and broth. We won’t be ordering from this restaurant again. We were excited about the 5 star review but that was too good to be true! Oh and when I stepped into the restaurant it was empty (they are new so not many people know about this restaurant and that made sense once I knew that) but they had 2 staff members just sitting there at a table (1 had on a hairnet), they were not eating…just talking and they didn’t seem like they were happy to be there. They looked at me and did not welcome me to the restaurant. I would assume the staff (if they are out in the area where customer will be) would say hello at the least. Happy staff makes me feel like my experience will be a good one. The person who greeted me at the register was very kind and dressed/behaved professionally (it was the exact opposite of the 2 staff members that I saw at the table when entering the restaurant) and this review is not a reflection of his service this afternoon. This restaurant and the food I received was not worth 5 stars! Hopefully, they will make improvements if they want to make it in this area. Several businesses have failed, only a few make it and are still thriving and proving great food and service level to the neighborhood. I wish them luck. I just can’t put our health at risk to try their food again after...

Was referred to this little family owned restaurant by a friend from church; she said that it’s fairly new in the neighborhood and it’s really good. So we decided to trust her judgment and check it out for ourselves.

Everything was superb from the moment we walked into this beautiful little bistro that’s both cozy and inviting. The young lady and gentlemen who took care of the service were both so authentically kind and appreciative that we stopped in for a meal and it was our first time there. They showed us the very modern backlit drink menu and we started our meal with the popular go-to for Vietnamese restaurants, Cha Gio and Goi Guon, and both were beautifully prepared & presented and tasted very fresh & good. Next up was the pho, went with the Le Emperor and wife with the ramen style, and again, both were delicious but how they presented it was awesome and unique. They brought out the bowls with the contents within them but the broth was kept in a special thermos that kept the broth piping hot before carefully pouring it into each bowl - what a special presentation for such a staple of Vietnamese cuisine!

When we finished our meal, we both knew we’ll be adding Le Emperor into our weekly rotation of favorite family-owned restaurants. It checked all the boxes for what one looks for with dining out: good food, fair prices, nice atmosphere and superb service, kindness and hospitality you only get from small businesses. If you like supporting local businesses, go see this family and enjoy a meal with them, you’ll be glad you did. Tell them David &...