Vietnam Cafe — Restaurant in Urbandale

8-23-25 Wife and I came and stayed in town after visiting maquoketa cave park. She was feeling Asian food and mention this place located in Merle Hay Mall. First, this mall food court was pretty empty until we got to the main area, which has some people but not a lot. Walking thru this mall brings back memories of growing up in the 90s. I feel like I’m walking thru time seems as this mall doesn’t seem updated. I order a medium beef combo pho and bahn mi and my wife got a small bun bo hue. They did get the size order opposites but they corrected right away. My wife got to keep her medium bowl. Not sure if it was close to closing time that had to do with food flavors but the pho broth was just meh, very little flavor kind of bland. I wasn’t expecting anything too much from mall food, especially pho. There was a good amount of beef and the size of the meat ball slice was big. The only disappointment was that there was no tendon which was the reason why I got this combo in the first place. The bahn mi was just okay. I was confused when they said they had to toast the bahn mi. I’ve never bought bahn mi that was toasted but it was okay. My wife said her bun bo hue was spicy which made up for flavors. Overall, okay food for mall food...

While visiting Des Moines, IA this weekend, I was craving Vietnamese fresh rolls and started searching for a place to get them. I decided to try Vietnam Cafe Express inside the Merle Hay Mall.

Walking through the mall was a surprise — more than half of it appeared vacant, giving it a bit of a ghost town feel. When I reached the food court, I approached the counter and was greeted by a woman I later learned was Brenda, who may be the owner. They didn’t have any fresh rolls ready, but she curtly informed me they could make some. I ordered four, which were reasonably priced at $2.50 each.

It took about 10–15 minutes for my order, during which I observed Brenda being rather short with customers — to the point of seeming unappreciative and borderline rude. Honestly, it’s surprising to see that kind of attitude in a mall that’s already struggling with so many empty storefronts.

When my rolls were ready, the interaction was again abrupt, with no real sense of appreciation for my business. The rolls themselves looked decent, but they were heavy on vermicelli (about 95%) and light on greens.

Overall, the food was passable, but the lack of customer service and gratitude left a bigger impression. I’m not...

Do not let the food court setting fool you, Vietnam Cafe is a must visit in Des Moines. After hearing about this place from a very raving @sarahbooz on TikTok, the family and I had to give it a try for lunch during a day trip from north IA (I consider myself something of a pho aficionado) and it did not disappoint. The large beef pho was very reasonably priced for its serving size and bar none, it is the best pho I’ve ever had. Period. Every bite and sip down to the last drops of broth was an absolute culinary experience, made all the more ironic while sitting in an old food court with half of the other restaurants out of business.

Speaking of out of business, Vietnam Cafe has a Gofundme to help keep them alive. This is unacceptable. Everybody in the greater Des Moines area should be flocking to this place and enjoying their food. Let’s at least get enough people there to keep them thriving and maybe even enough for a boost to get them out of that dingy food court and into a more advantageous...