Phin Cafe - Fremont Blvd | Fremont — Restaurant in Fremont

2/26/2024 This is a review of the Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) and not their drinks.

My son made a special lunch for someone he is very close to here and wanted to drop it off for her. I had never been so I went inside to see what the fuss was about but had seen pictures online of this space. When we arrived they had a line going out the door with many others just waiting outside for their order to be completed. Once I stepped inside I could see why. The interior is small but bug enough for a handful of tables. The cafe does such good business that they are running 6+ people behind the register making drinks who move shoulder to shoulder. It is decorated nicely for a Vietnamese cafe, much more modern than most Viet establishments which tend to look more like a space you would see in the actual country of Vietnam. This looked American modern and could be a nice place to chill if it weren't so crowded. Don't get me wrong, the crowded is a good thing which speaks to the popularity of the biz of which they have 2 including this one.

Once inside, I decided to get a Banh Mi. My son declined to order anything because he had been here before and said it takes forever to get ordered food. He was right. I ordered the #1, which in most Viet Sandwich shops is the standard and is typically made up of the same set of ingredients. It took about 20 minutes to get the sandwich, something I could not understand, because it's basically a cold cut sandwich. Nothing 'prepared' that would seem to warrant the amount of time it took to deliver to a waiting customer.

The first thing I noticed when I was handed the sandwich was that it was close to a foot long, and how hard the bread was. People underestimate how important the bread is in a sandwich and I typically believe the bread makes or breaks the sandwich. My immediate thoughts were, I don't think they bake the bread here, and I am going to have to heat this up.

I take the sandwich home and pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Ideally, you take all the internals out, toast up the bread and then put everything back in cold. This was fine, however, and when it came out, the sandwich felt more appropriate with a bread crust that had some give.

The bread tasted fine. Did not seem fresh even if it was made on the same day, and had a notable salt taste. It took about 3-4 bites for me to get to the main ingredients which meant the fillings do not reach end to end. One of the sins of a sandwich is not having your internal ingredients in every bite. Once I did get to them, disappointment. It was one of the most soul-less Banh Mi's I have ever had. The flavor was low almost to the point of being mute. No single ingredient had any punch and the ingredient that typically does punch seemed to be not there altogether. The mayo. The pickled veggies had nearly no pickle flavor and the pate was without personality. The mass of the meats were average but leaning towards the low end of middle. I could go on but I think you get my point.

This was one of the most disappointing Banh Mi experiences I've ever had in my decades career of enjoying the Banh Mi world. It wasn't awful, but it was very unsatisfying and extremely flat. It was not worth the excessive wait nor the price at 8.50 and tax (plus tip). This is less a criticism of the restaurant pricing and a remark about how costly eating out and food in general has generally gotten to here in 2024.

As always, my review is not a death sentence for Phin Cafe and they could very well have other excellent items in their menu. I just didn't enjoy this one and would caution other classic banh mi lovers to consider this experience before buying one. This is one menu off an item and no restaurant deserves to die on 1 experience. I would be happy to try an different sandwich from here one day. Maybe a meatball (xiu mai). I won't, however, order the #1 again.

Ratings: Food - 2 star. Not a good classic Banh Mi Service - 20 mins for the order of a cold sandwich Atmosphere - Nice place but...

Overall: 3.9/5 (dine in)

My friend and I came in the morning on a weekday so the line wasn't that bad and the food and drinks came out in pretty quickly. The space is a bit small but we were lucky to grab a table. While we catching up there, the line got really long but moved fast. Customer service was good too. I really liked the concept of Phin Cafe but feel like they make a few adjustments to improve the food & drink experience.

Pandan Coffee ($6.90): Before I moved out of the Bay 2 years ago, I couldn't find a cafe that had pandan coffee. When I lived in SoCal, Orange County had a lot of Vietnamese cafes with pandan coffee but the pandan flavor was so subtle. Now that I'm visiting the Bay, there are so many more cafes that have the previously unique flavors like pandan, ube, durian, etc. Anyways, back to Phin Cafe. You can really taste the pandan flavor which is the star of the drink. However, I think the amount of pandan cream they used is too much. Typically it's like 15-20% of the drink but as you can see from the picture, it's like 75% of the drink. If they reduce it to ~50%, I think the creaminess and sweetness level would be just right. It would also let more of the coffee flavor come through. Honestly you could probably make another drink using half the cream + a shot of espresso. I didn't try the wafer straw since I gave it to my friend but this drink is needless to say, high in sugar.

Egg Matcha ($6.90): I took a sip of my friend's egg Matcha and thought it was good. You can see from the picture they put less of the egg cream so it's more balanced than the pandan coffee. I like their matcha too; you can taste the matcha but it's not bitter.

Pandan Waffle ($4.75): Texture was good where it was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and it was fluffy. However the flavors were more on the subtle side and it was not sweet enough for me so eating one fourth of the waffle was enough for me.

Combo Special Banh Mi ($7.50): It was okay. The flavors were also lacking for this banh mi. If you order banh mi from here, eat it fresh. It does not taste good later or the next day.

Unagi Musubi ($8.50): Good concept but they executed it at the most basic level - Just rice, seaweed, unagi, and unagi sauce. Nothing stood out. If they added some furikake, spam, or even some pickled radish to elevate it a bit, this...

I actually used to love going to this cafe because the food and drinks are top tier but this cafe really caters to the laptop crowd. It’s unfortunate because if you want to order the Vietnamese drip coffee (Phin cà phê) you can only experience it inside the cafe at a table (and no, I don’t want to stand at the tiny bar). I went at 3pm on a Tuesday planning to mess with my sleep schedule and indulge in a late-afternoon coffee but every single table except for one (which was occupied by a couple) was occupied by a person with a laptop.

How does this cafe make any money to stay in business when they prioritize their customers with laptops? I understand people don’t want to work or study at home but what about the people that just want to go to the cafe and experience it for what it is… a cafe ?

Three stars for Service because one person that works there (never caught his name but he’s a bit more mature and slightly older than the two young boys I interacted with today) is actually really chill and cool and made me the best rose lychee tea of my life (the Rosie Dream).

The two young men that were working today (Tuesday 6/4/24 around 3PM) were pretty horrible— no other way to describe them.

Can you offer some outdoor seating to free up some space? Have a no lap top rule in place? (Lmao they would never)

Overall 2 stars— NO PLACE TO SIT BC OF LAPTOP CULTURE AND THE GENERAL VIBES...