Nam Nam Café — Restaurant in St. Matthews

We were looking for Pho in the area, and this place came up as being the closest. There aren't many options in KY for Pho, and this is probably one of the better ones we could have gone to.

The Good: The food is all made by hand, there's no frozen or pre-packaged anything, and that's including sauces and desserts. The wait staff was courteous, and took the time to make recommendations. They had boba tea in many flavors and the boba were on point. The dessert was incredible and they usually sell out very quickly we just were in that sweet spot of them having juuust made more. It was not a heavy, super sweet thing.. a light weight, fluffy pastry that did not make you feel like you just put a brick of sugar in your stomach. The pho itself had a really great broth. I'm a sauce fiend, and I even had trouble putting more than a few drops of sriracha in. The appetizers were incredible.. we had spring rolls of all different types, and that was a refreshing change from the generic "#1 or #2" menu that's usually accompanied with this type of food.

The neutral: The portion sizes/price ratio were not the sort you'd find in Texas.. The food was filling enough with an appetizer, and they WERE on point with this area (in Asheville the prices are the same way) and the freshness of the food made up for it.. but the initial sticker shock for 2 spring rolls and a bowl of soup was hard to see at first.

The bad: The place is very small! If you have a large group and it's a friday/sat night you might look elsewhere. We were a group of four. We were in the corner of the restaurant and they are attempting to keep it cool enough to enjoy soup but warm enough to protect from the cold outside, and I was sat under the A/C unit and frooooze to death. I recommend trying to sit away from the door if you're easy to chill. Also, the pho does not come automatically with veggies you must request them (a good thing to me, less waste), except when I did I got alllll of them instead of just the basil ... and.. no cilantro at all. Also, the basil came with 2 (admittedly large) leaves, but part of the fun of pho is the abundance of herbs and toppings to add to the dish and.. this just really lacked in that part. There was nothing to prepare... shred up 2 basil leaves and get to eatin' I guess. Also, this probably matches the temp of the broth.. a lot of cold things in broth cools it off, so usually pho comes out piping hot. This came out juuust shy of ready-to-eat.. so I have to assume they know there isn't many cool toppings being provided to go into the soup.

I wouldn't let the bad paragraph detract you too much. There are not many options out this way for good Vietnamese food, and this place was very tasty and satisfying. The portions were large enough to enjoy and not feel overly stuffed, the price was on par for this area of the country, and you can tell they put a lot of effort and love into the food. If you want a healthy meal in a cozy, small spot,...

Let me start by saying that the food I received was excellent. However, the portion was a bit small for the price. Additionally, I thought the place was quaint. It is a nice place to go with your spouse or a friend. So why did I only give it three stars? I gave it three stars because I am a father. This place is awesome for grown-ups. However, I am not sure if they want to be considered a family restaurant. Their menu doesn't list any kid friendly options or portion sizes. This is ok, I have been in this situation before, I normally look at the appetizers. They usually have some inexpensive option that one can select for a young child, not in this establishment. We later found out from our server, that they do have kids options. They are just not listed on the menu. I guess I was supposed to figure that out through mind-reading. Other than not let us know about the children's option our server was nice, friendly and attentive. So what with the picture of the utensils. My child is five, and all the utensils they had were too big for her to use alone. The mobile phone is for reference. All these things together, leads me to my conclusion, that this place is not for children. If it is just a group of grown-up, by all means, go and enjoy. If you have a child you might want to go...

I'd like to thank the fighting couple at the Louisville Slugger Museum for the involuntary recommendation. After spending some time at the museum learning about the famous slugger I over hear a arguing couple in a heated battle about where to eat for lunch Jack Fry's or Nam Nam Cafe. The husband stated it was his mothers favorite restaurant and he dearly missed her today and he would not stand to eat anywhere else on this day. After hearing this I knew where I needed to eat that day. Needless to say his mother and the man both had amazing taste. The food was amazing, the establishment looked great , and from what I hear the owner is a real stand up guy. After eating there I found my self dining there a few times a month and continuously ordering the Kahlua Mocha Cream Cake its literally to do for. During this time it's more important than ever to support our favorite small business restaurants so that we can continue to enjoy them long into the future much like the guy from the museum. While I am not comfortable being out in public I can still do To-Go orders and buy gift cards to support the establishment and help give the employees a...