Yến — Restaurant in Greenacres

TLDR good food, but expensive prices for the portion you get.

I recently tried this place after seeing an article on the Palm Beach Post on one of my friend’s social media and someone at work told me that they had really good food after I mentioned it to them. A few things came to mind after visiting for lunch. First, I found the location to be great as it’s in the Lake Worth area and has an Asian market in the same plaza so it helps draw in business. The atmosphere and decoration as well were pretty creative and reminded me of the little cafes I would see in Saigon. I also found that having food specials on certain days was a neat touch to keep the menu fresh.

The food was great 👍🏽 and I enjoyed it. Since it was our first time, I wasn’t sure what to get so I went with what I usually order at the Viet places we normally go to. I was going to order pho (ya know, the rice noodle dish one usually gets at any Viet place when trying for the first time 😄) but decided on another dish after my gf wanted to try the pho instead. I ordered a vermicelli dish with grilled pork so we can try more of the menu. Additionally, my gf ordered an iced Viet coffee and I ordered chanh (lime soda). Our cashier was very friendly and knowledgeable as he helped us with our order. As we sat down and waited for our food, I noticed that there were some pre-made dishes in containers set on the counter that you can easily grab to go for lunch. However, I thought if you wanted to dine in, it would probably be made to order instead. I was mistaken and my order was one of those that were already pre-made 🥴. Not knowing it was pre-made, I figured the grilled pork would at least be warm but nah. The pho came a few minutes later in a nice platter. I LOL’d on the inside as I thought, “Hers looks great and I thought mine would be made on a plate as well.” The pho was good and I liked that they added a little pepper on the sliced beef 🥩, something I noticed as we usually order it to be placed on the side cause I find it to cook fast when it’s on top of the soup. Lastly, our shrimp and pork banh xeo finally came out and it actually reminded me of the crepes my grandma used to make and also the ones I tried in Saigon. We finished our meal and the cashier came and handed us the receipt at the end. I looked at the check and bam!💥 our check ended up being $50+ including the tip.

Overall, I thought the food was good but not worth the price I was going to be paying for. In comparison to other Viet restaurants in the area, I can get the same food with the same quality but with larger portions for the same price. I forgot to mention the drinks which were almost five dollars each were full of ice and not topped off. Some final thoughts, I really want this place to do well but when I know I can get the full dine in or takeout experience from our regular places for the same price and quality but more portion, why wouldn’t I just order from there? I mean, this place has the potential to really kick the competition in being a fast casual Viet place with the “street food” quality but as of right now it’s just...

This restaurant came highly recommended by a Vietnamese friend, so I was excited to try it after their grand reopening.

When we walked in, we were greeted warmly and told to seat ourselves. Unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. It took about 15 minutes for our waitress to arrive, and when she did, she seemed impatient and rushed. When I mentioned we weren’t ready to order yet, she returned less than five minutes later, visibly frustrated, and gave the impression that we needed to hurry.

I took the opportunity to ask a few questions about the menu, but her responses were curt, and she cut me off mid-sentence to ask, “So what will you be having?” Despite her attitude, I asked my questions until my guest and I had made our decision.

The restaurant wasn’t busy—there were only four other patrons, with two waiters and two busgirls on staff—so the lack of attentiveness was surprising.

When our food arrived about 15 minutes later, my guest’s pho came out first, followed by my rice plate a few minutes later. When I asked for chopsticks for my rice plate, the waitress seemed taken aback and commented that it was an unusual request. While she eventually brought them, her tone was unnecessarily dismissive, which detracted from the experience.

As for the food, it was okay. The pho was flavorful, but my guest described it as “heavy.” My rice plate was underwhelming—the shrimp was dry and overcooked, one cold noodle dish with pork was flavorless, and the rice tasted like leftovers that had been reheated. Other items on the plate were decent, but nothing stood out. Portion sizes were generous, but the balance of flavors was inconsistent.

The lemonade drinks were good but not exceptional. I had the passion fruit lemonade, and my guest had the berry lemonade, both made with real fruit and seeds.

Throughout the meal, no one checked on us, and when I needed condiments, I couldn’t get the waitress’s attention. I eventually had to go to the register to ask for fresh crushed chili, which was also more difficult than it should have been.

The total for pho, two lemonade drinks, and a rice plate came to $56.64, which felt steep for the quality of the food and service.

Overall, the food was decent, but the service needs significant improvement. The other staff members seemed polite, and the cook was friendly, chatting with guests as they checked out through the chef’s window. The atmosphere was clean and relaxed, with prices on the higher side but typical for today’s economy.

Would I try it again? Maybe. My friend raved about this place, so I might give it another shot, preferably on a night when Yen is in the kitchen and the service is better.

For comparison, I enjoyed Pho Mee in Royal Palm Beach more. The pho there is lighter and doesn’t leave you feeling heavy, and the service is...

I perhaps selfishly have been reluctant in writing a review for Yen’s Kitchen. Mainly because I was worried that once word got out how delicious their food is that it could go down hill from there. But in a sea of mediocre/chain restaurants, Yen’s kitchen is a beacon of flavorful delights. I’d be doing a grave disservice to the rest of the world by not helping to spread the word.

While I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Vietnam, I have lived and visited in some of our countries finest states for food (NY, Portland OR, CA) and make it a point to visit their best Vietnamese restaurants. Without a doubt, Yen’s kitchen ranks amongst the best Vietnamese restaurants I’ve ever been to in the US.

Not only is their pho’s broth rich and flavorful, but they’ve an option to get it with freshly made pho noodles too! They have my🦄 Vietnamese dish, mi bo kho (aka egg noodle beef stew) which is just ::chefs kiss:: FYI, they only serve it on Wednesdays. I legit haven’t found a place in FL that has it till now - and I’ve been looking for 5 yrs. Their variety of iced teas are fun and super yummy (love their brown/green Thai milk tea, matcha milk tea, and the Oolong Himalayan cream tea). And for those of the vegetarian variety, they have something for you too (one of the best vegetarian pho’s I’ve tried). They also have a variety of Vietnamese snacks that you can purchase (think unique flavored chips). And the icing on top of all of this is their service. Every time I’ve visited, I have had the most thoughtful and prompt experience. Shout out to the son that’s helping to run it (you’re doing great and I hope you guys are a smashing success). This is a place where they take pride in their craft and where they treat you like family.

As a side note, once things become more manageable due to COVID, I hope to see them do more social events at their space (game nights, cool Vietnamese movie nights, etc). Our neck of the woods needs more places like that.

All this is to say, do not walk to Yen’s...