Hẻm — Restaurant in Houston

So Hẻm (meaning "alleyway" in Vietnamese) is the kind of place that I'd recommend to anybody who's curious, yet wouldn't consider it a prime dining spot myself.

Which is pretty strange, really. Because I found myself liking most of the dishes. Yet... I couldn't quite find a good reason to put it into B. Is it really "better than most"? Ehhhhhhhhh...

Well, first, to disclaim, the area that this place is in is extremely desolate with construction going on (but not in a "hẻm" way!), which did sour my experience a little bit. Regardless, I try not to review neighborhoods or strip malls, so let's move on.

I don't usually review décor either, but the atmosphere of this place is GORGEOUS. It really captures the feeling of an early-2000s Vietnamese alley while being bigger that most such alleys themselves would be. It also mixes a little bit of that American-style post-Prohibition aethetics into the scene while displaying slideshows and videos of delicious Vietnamese foods (from the restaurant itself or otherwise) on the various televisions dotting the room. It's all very cool yet still slightly humorous.

Anyway, onto the dishes. For our menu we ordered: Raw shrimps Seafood combo Seafood fried rice Quail eggs Crispy pork belly Sizzling chicken gizzard

The raw shrimps are the "star" of the night, but I mostly just found them to be too overwhelming on the wasabi. This is no amaebi, for sure. This is more like, I don't know, what a haughty Vietnamese auntie whose entire identity rely on the level of spiciness she can digest would imagine an amaebi would be. There's literally no flavor here except for chili-hot and wasabi-cold.

The seafood combo (really should've been translated as "grilled mollusks combo") consists of some baked oyster with cheese, mussels with what looks like spicy mayo and tobiko on top, scallops baked with eggs, clams with fried onions, and le good old escargot. Les escargots sont très bien. The oyster with cheese was also good. The oyster itself is whatever, but the cheese is quite deep of flavor despite being very light, with a slightly powdery texture that is just creamy enough to be easy to eat. I found most of the other dishes in this set rather underwhelming. The mussels in particular tasted like something out of a cheap Chinese buffet.

The seafood fried rice is your regular fried rice mixed with squid and scallop, before being topped with tobiko and ample amounts of shrimp. It is pretty good fried rice, but it also gets old QUICK and there's way too much rice compared to the amount of seafood offered. This fact is just obscured by the shrimps and garnishing on top providing a false sense of fullness, at first.

The quail balut (quail eggs just before hatching) was pretty good, served traditional style with herbs and lemon pepper. There's not much I can say about this dish. If you're adventurous enough to consider it, then you probably know what it's like already.

The crispy pork belly was properly done, yet didn't quite impress either on the crunch or the fattiness. My friends liked the sauce, though personally I didn't think it tasted much of anything. It does look pretty, though.

And finally, the chicken gizzard was the dish we all found the most to complain about... yet were also rather fine with. Eaten with the "leftover" fried rice, it makes quite a good topping. Eaten alone, however, and you'll find it overcooked, with frozen "young eggs" (eggs that are still inside the chicken's body, not yet hatched) that taste like jello, with a marked lack of flavor for something that is garlic-fried.

I also had an egg coffee. It was alright. Bit overpriced.

TL;DR Cool aesthetics, cool pictures, ok price, good service, and "technically" good food. Yet, a place I struggle to justify...

The food was good! It was slightly on the more expensive side but still affordable. We ordered the Bo Luc Lac and Suon Rang Muoi, along with Egg Coffee. They make you pay an extra $1 for rice which is questionable because who would eat Bo Luc Lac and Suon Rang Muoi by itself? The rice should be included or separate FREE. Also, the rice they gave us was cold...???

However, when we paid for our food, the tip option gave us options that were a bit high and we did not want to give tip so high considering how we are high school students- normally people would assume this seeing how we looked young and would not expect us to tip. We both went to the restroom and the server for our table waited for us to come out. We both walked outside of the restaurant, the literal parking lot, and they practically chased us outside and said, and here is the dialogue.

SERVER: "Hey, excuse me guys. Was my service bad?" US: "No?" SERVER: "Oh, because you guys didn't tip me."

How would you react in this situation? Mind you, we are teenagers... normally people wouldn't expect teenagers who don't have much of an income to give tip. Regardless of how old we are, why would you chase anybody outside to ask them for a tip and put yourself in this awkward situation begging for money? In the end, we only tipped them $2. I hope he was able to use that money to buy his pack of stickers or something??? Did he expect us to tip $20? Additionally, I asked him for napkins and he only gave us 2 napkins. Normally you give more than that. That part isn't a big deal but he didn't even do anything exceptional for us to give him a big tip. Nobody would ever chase somebody out of a restaurant to ask them for a tip. I attached a photo of them begging for our tip while we were in the parking lot. Notice how we're outside and they're holding us a machine to tip them. The man was ready to ask us for our tip. He was lucky we even gave him a tip.

We always tip, but this time we didn't. Either way, should not be obligating young people to be tipping by running outside! Pretty sure they wouldn't do this with adults. Also to add, they gave us a little machine and expected us to understand immediately what to do with it and gave no directions (when we were paying).

We got dinner on Friday, August 4 at around 6:30PM. We also tried to call, but their phone number didn't allow us to reach them.

This picture shows that the waiter went outside into the parking lot to ask us to tip him. Also, he specifically went into the parking lot because he didn't want to ask us to tip him as we were inside the restaurant because he most likely didn't want anybody to see.

If you're thinking "you should've tipped to begin with" Yes, but it's not a requirement EVER. We don't have much of an income, we are not professional scientists/doctors who are making a huge income to have spare money since again we are high school students. Why does it matter? You shouldn't be chasing after customers into the parking lot to ask them for a tip! Extremely unprofessional. We thought "maybe the guy was having a bad day/ needs the tip" but no matter what. you don't chase customers outside into the parking lot. It's unprofessional and we were taken advantage of since he saw that we were young and probably would've felt bad for him to give him the tip money. He would not do this if it happened with adults.

too long didn’t read : our server chased after us outside into the parking lot and made us pay for tip charges extra for rice and the rice comes out cold (charges extra for rice when the meal is traditionally made with rice in it) other reviews have said that they charge extra for fried eggs place is expensive for vietnamese food that are...

Vanessa’s sister, Theresa, as generous as always, invited us to lunch today with her best friend Michelle, at a relatively new Vietnamese Street Food spot, where we immersed ourselves in the full experience by sitting outside on plastic tables and stools, a Vietnamese cultural institution. The bonus of today's outing is that Baby gets to happily come along.

Before the restaurant opened at 11 am, a queue had already formed, indicating the popularity of this place. Once we were able to, we wasted no time in ordering their renowned dishes: Bo Ne with Bone Marrow add-on and their signature Com Tom. I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional politeness and efficiency of the service, particularly impressed by the young crew who disproved the negative stereotypes often associated with Gen Z.

A vibrant salad and a plate of pate and butter with a crusty French baguette arrived first, as has become the norm at any Houston spot that serves this culinary gem. The version of pate served here was moister than others, resembling mashed XiuMai, and had a rich, earthy flavor and velvety texture. We munched on pieces of baguette slathered with butter and pate even before the main dishes arrived.

The sizzling plate of Bo Ne was a feast for the eyes, with seared steak emitting tendrils of steam, fried Sunnyside-Up eggs with brightly colored yolks, all marinating in a cocktail of bold sauces and natural juices. In our case, a crosscut bone doubled as a gravy boat, holding creamy, luscious marrow. For me, the perfect bite was to first poke the runny yolk and allow the golden goodness to cascade all over the other ingredients of the dish, then soak a piece of baguette into this pool of richness, layer it with butter and pate, and crown it with jewels of juicy steak cubes. The combination of flavors and textures was a sheer delight that left an indelible mark on our culinary senses.

As for Com Tam, my preferences may be peculiar compared to others who focus on the variety of proteins and toppings. For me, the fragrant and fluffy broken rice, accompanied by a splash of complex and deeply flavorful Nuoc Mam, was satisfying enough. However, the other components of this Vietnamese classic were equally exceptional: the soft and succulent Cha (eggy meatloaf), the delicate yet textured Bi (shredded pork skin), and the slightly caramelized and smoky Suon (sliced pork chop). I always remember how, in my days as a poor college student, this rice platter with its medley of delectable proteins and quintessential fish sauce would nourish me succinctly.

While I look forward to the day we can actually eat on the bustling street market in Ho Chi Minh City, this interesting and unusual street food experience will have to suffice for now. Overall, we had a wonderful brunch at HEM, with their exceptionally attentive service and good...