Sup Vietnamese Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

After reading a lot of the other reviews I believe I just had a one time bad experience.

The somewhat of an issue here is the service, we had what may appeared to me to be one of youngest servers I have ever had.

I'm of a certain age and have gone out to eat a few times so I may have high expectations and the little things can stand out to me, also I have worked in food service almost my whole life.

To begin with most places the server comes by and introduce themselves might tell you about specials recommendations ask if you would like some water and then gives you time to decide.

At this place what happened was we were sat and for some reason given 2 menus when there was 3 of us. Then there was a long wait and then they asked if we were ready to order, my party still needed time to decide but then I was able to ask for water for the table.

Eventually everyone decided and we put in our orders which to the servers credit they recommended that we order one meal as a lunch special to save some money.

We get the appetizers which do taste good I got the chicken wings which I enjoyed, however there is a delay with utensils and napkins. These things aren't the end of the world but are a part of service and should be given.

Also both members of my parties ordered drinks but one of members of the parties had to ask for it because I believe they forgot about it. Especially since my other member of the party didn't ask about her drink and never ended up getting it.

When I got my Thai iced tea (a part of the lunch special) it taste like plain milk and tea. Usually when I get Thai tea it's sweetened and thicker because of the condensed milk. I mentioned this to the server and they said they mix condensed milk and plain milk such so the condensed milk doesn't stick to the bottom. However I didn't really taste any condensed milk and it didn't taste sweet.

We eventually get our entrees and everyone seems to enjoy it I get the pork chop over rice, another member of my party gets the pineapple fries rice and the third gets pho. All enjoyable no complaints.

For desert we get the magic sticky rice which was pleasant, not overly sweet but just right and it had some nuts which I believe were a nice touch.

One final issue with the service though was a member of my party ordered a drink that came in a coconut and wanted to eat the jelly in the coconut. However when they asked if they could cut it in the kitchen so that she could enjoy it they refused.

Overall the food isn't bad but the service could be better. I'm not looking for Michelin star levels of service but I think these things could have...

Beautiful atmosphere! We started off with mocktail teas. The summer and spring teas were beautiful and fresh fruit inside were good, the water used to make it had an weird taste. Otherwise, it would have been perfection. The food was good. We started with the crispy wings and crispy spring rolls. I highly recommend the crispy wings. So good! I'd order 2 for an entree, they were that delicious. The spring rolls were okay, there was a strong all spice like flavor in random bites. For entrees we ordered the sirloin steak and the shaking beef. Sirloin steak was perfection!!! Shaking beef was on the saltier side. For dessert we ordered the mango sticky rice and ube egg tarts. The egg tarts had a ube cream on top of a standard egg tart and then there was a tart layer of,i think,passion fruit between the egg tart and ube. Loved the sweet potato crisps on top, it gave a really nice contrast to the creaminess of the tart. The mango sticky rice was phenomenal. Never had one quite like it before, we cleaned that bowl, it was so good. Service was excellent from the male servers. They were attentive to clear off plates and service the food. The female we 1st encountered to make our order, was just not that great. She'd jump to assumptions of what you're ordering hearing one word, before waiting to fully listen to your order, so when trying to order a spring tea, she already talking over me saying spring rolls. Two completely different things. And with alot of the menu having the word "spring" in it, i.e. crispy spring rolls, spring tea, fresh spring rolls, etc....it would be decent to let the customer finish their sentence to accurately take down the order.

Note than even though the parking lot is in the back and there is a door in the back, you still have to go through the alleyway to the front entrance. I'd definitely try to get street parking in the front, to avoid having to walk through the smelly alley of dumpsters. Both parkings you have to pay either way before 6pm, but upfront restricts you to coin payments, where the back you can do...

I've been to their other location on the island. Decor wise, each location has their own identity. Immediately greeted by friendly host and servers. Decor was not overpowering but distinct and interesting, thoughtfully decorated for the small space it was (previously Tony Colombo's). We ordered the traditional spring rolls and fried chicken wings to start the meal. The spring rolls came with fresh green leaf lettuce and a liquid dipping sauce along with julienned sweet picklee daikon and carrots. Super crispy, great filling flavor and the fish the dipping sauce paired very well. The chicken wings were large in size and they give you no less than 6 wings, but they were not as crispy as we were hoping for so we had some leftovers. Then for the main, ordered Pho Tai with the brisket add on. The brisket is tender and fatty with nice subtle flavor, but def on the fattier side. The rice noodles are cooked perfectly and they give you fresh bean sprouts, thai basil, jalapeno slices and lime wedge. The broth itself is a bit muted in flavor, but def tastebud friendly for those who have never had pho. Usually, the broth is very fragrant and spiced with cloves and star anise. Their broth was milder. Good and fine, but not the best I've had. They were generous with the sliced eye of round, but fell short with the add-on brisket. We had asked for the check after our meal, but didnt see our server for a but. But then the manager surprised us with a complimentary ube egg tart, telling us it was their best seller, and I can see why! Delish flakey warm crust, nice smooth egg custard, topped with whipped ube cream, almost like a cheesecake tart. That was def worth the wait and surprise. Overall would try them again and want to try their other menu items. I recommend giving them a shot with an open mind and hungry...