5 /5 Lindzy Pham: My family and I were looking for a sit-down fine dining experience in Pasadena, and we definitely found it. The restaurant itself is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the staff is truly amazing. It is a bit on the pricey side, but absolutely worth it.
As a Vietnamese person, I can tell the food isn’t strictly authentic Vietnamese cuisine, but honestly….it doesn’t need to be. The flavors are so good that authenticity becomes secondary. The bò lúc lắc was outstanding. The meat was incredibly tender, packed with flavor, and easily the highlight of the meal.
I ordered the most expensive dish on the menu so I could really try it…the beef rib. While it was good, it’s clearly priced for the cut of meat rather than the flavor. The bò lúc lắc actually had more depth and seasoning. I found myself pulling meat off the beef rib and dipping it into the bò lúc lắc sauce, and that combination was phenomenal.
One small suggestion for the restaurant: adding rice paper to the $43 beef rib plate would make it much easier to roll and eat. Using only lettuce made things a bit messy. Including rice with the dish instead of making it an add-on would also elevate the experience.
To top it off, the meadow jasmine tea juice was delicious, slightly sweet but very refreshing. I kept adding water as I drank it, and the flavor just kept getting better.
Overall, this was an amazing dining experience with incredible food and service. I would absolutely come back.
