Café Nhan — Restaurant in Philadelphia

This restaurant is one of the hidden GEMs in Philly. The place is small, but it has a quaint atmosphere. The owner is super friendly and often comes out to say hi and see how you like the food.

Service: The service here is superb. I come to this restaurant a lot, and I have never been disappointed with the waitresses and servers. They were attentive to any of my needs.

Foods: I have not tried everything on their menu, but here are my reviews of their dishes so far.

Appetizers Fried Wonton - 3/5 stars. It was not my favorite. The minced shrimp and pork fillings disappointed me because the flavor was bland. When I pair it with the sweet chili sauce, all I can taste is sweet. I would love for it to combine salty, sweet, and tangy in the flavor profile using pickled daikon and carrots.

Fried Chicken Wings(I forgot the name) - 4.5/5 stars. The chicken is excellent. The wings might have been double-fried, but you get the super crunchy bite, and they were all flavorful. It is one of the "Must" items you should get here.

Soups Bun Bo Hue - 4.5/5 stars. I adore this dish. It has an excellent flavor profile and reminds me of my mom's cooking when I come home to visit in Boston, MA. Broth: The flavor profile is superb. The pork flavor permeates throughout the broth with the lemongrass accents to the profile. The added heat to the soup makes it come together. Adding the lime to the broth will break the fattiness out but give the broth an excellent complexity layer. Noodles: The rice noodles were just right. It has firmness for you to slurp on. This is a spicy noodle soup; slurping will get those spicy oils on your clothes. Just be prepared. Proteins: The soup comes with pork trotter (feet), blood cube (to give a hint of earthy flavor), and slices of the briskets. The brisket was overcooked, but I can understand when cooking Pho.

Bun Rieu - 4/5 stars. This soup is one of the more underrated soups in Vietnamese cuisine. The shrimp and crab flavor permeates throughout this tomato-based soup. Broth: Excellent crab flavor with the shrimp accenting the flavor profile. The minced pork adds another layer to the amalgamation of tastes as you slurp your noodles. The one drawback I see from the soup is there is not enough tomato flavor. The soup is tomato-based, but I didn't get any large tomatoes slices in the soup. Noodles: You get thin rice noodles. Nothing is wrong with this part. Proteins: The bowl comes with dried shrimp, minced pork, crab, tofu, blood cubes, and pork trotter. I would love for this dish to combine the shrimp, pork, and crab meat into a large patty for a better bite.

Pho Dac Biet - 4.5/5 stars. Superb beef flavor intensity with influences from the southern regions of Vietnam. Broth: The moment the broth hits your taste bud, you will get hit with an intense beef flavor followed by the usual spices of Pho. Pho broth typically has subtle differences in various regions of Vietnam. The amalgamation of spice flavors makes it hard to distinguish the spices such as cardamom and star anise. It leads me to hypothesize that the broth was influenced by southern regions of Vietnam, where the herbs are placed earlier in the cooking process. The saltiness was just right with small kicks of sweetness. Noodles: It's the typical pho noodles, and it's okay. Proteins: The bowl comes with sliced round-eye steak, beef brisket, meatballs, tendons, and a little tripe. The portion of the tripe could increase a little, but that's my preference. Condiments: You get the usual side bean sprouts, mint leaves, jalapeno pepper, lime, etc. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Price: The prices for the dishes were pretty reasonable. Appetizers range between 4 - 12 dollars. Soups range between 11 - 15 dollars. You can pay with your credit cards here, but there is a charge. Also, please don't expect the waitress or waiter to come with your check; just come to register to pay.

These are my thoughts so far as I continue to try everything on the menu. Please check this place out and determine...

As a Vietnamese-American with a mother who cooks fantastically, I have high standards for Vietnamese food. Cafe Nhan blew me out of the water and more from the perspectives of authenticity, quality, value for money, and quality of service. I ate for the first time at Cafe Nhan for my birthday with a party of friends with various dietary restrictions and culinary preferences, and they all similarly fell in love with the restaurant -- no notes.

Everyone working at Cafe Nhan was kind, courteous, and extremely attentive. The experience was akin to having a home-cooked meal in a well-loved family restaurant. All meals ordered -- from the bowl of phở dặc biệt that I got to the tofu bánh mì ordered by my vegan and vegetarian friends were spectacular. The ratios of toppings to noodles to broth among the soup dishes were spot on, whereas other restaurants tend to overload on proteins. Moreover, you could tell that each dish was made with care, as opposed to using the same stock concentrate that other restaurants use en masse.

This is a restaurant that I would both 1) point to every newcomer to Philly as the best Vietnamese restaurant in town and 2) treat my mother to when she's in town. I am grateful to everyone at Cafe Nhan who made my birthday experience here so wonderful, and will be returning here...

More of a 4.5 star review. Decided to go to Philly with the wife for the weekend. I was craving some Bun Bo Hue and decided to go here after reading the reviews. Got there a little after opening on a Saturday morning and there was a good number of patrons. The restaurant is on the small side. We were able to seated right away.

We got a couple of items: cafe sua da, bun Bo hue dac biet, Ca Kho to, and the Nhan’s wings. The bun Bo hue was pretty good and had a good kick. The meat was pretty fresh. The braised catfish was good but the portion size is on the small side, like a couple of pieces. The wings were okay, not sure when I read the reviews said they were the best wings. I felt like it needed a sauce or something since it was pretty salty. The service was super friendly. The do accept credit cards, but they do charge 4%; which seems pretty high.

Overall I’m glad I got to try this place. I would definitely suggest checking it out, hopefully I get to come back and try the...