Blue Monkey Cafe & Restaurant in California

"Genius food! You have to visit here multiple times to try all dishes! Giving 5 stars for the food. The fish soup was so delicious!"

"The food is good and they have a decent menu. The place is small for the traffic of people coming to this place, especially for lunch. It's be good if it's packed. We had the pork belly and pork patty Speing rolls. You make the spring rolls yourself. I'm not good at it, so I eat mine like tacos. It's a little messy and sticky from the dipping sauce, but it's worth it because it's so good. We ordered two platters for 6 people and we all got full. My family and I will be back for great food."

"Casual Vietnamese food with a lot of seafood specialties and very efficient service. One of the best and most popular restaurants in this competitive Viet plaza! I’ve been here a few times and tried a lot of their menu and everything is consistently good. However, the popular item is definitely A1 which is a huge platter with vermicelli, pork belly, fish cake, shrimp paste, fresh veggies to assemble yourself in a rice paper wrapper. The small portion is good for one person, and the larger ones are great to share with a table. The seafood is another popular option. Super fresh and cooked perfectly. My favorites are the razer clams or the scallop. They come with a spicy green sauce and seasoning on top that really highlight the fresh flavor of the seafood. Some of my personal favorites are the turmeric fish (A3) which is a fragrant and lightly fried fish which you wrap in rice paper and the crispy chicken that comes with purple rice. Honestly you can’t go wrong with ordering anything, the whole menu is good. English communications are limited but the menus are in English with a lot of nice photos for me to point at :)"

"A HIDDEN GEM IN SAN JOSE You want bánh mì? They have bánh mì chảo (a creative version of bánh mì that's super popular in VN). You want hot pot? They have lẩu thái (hot pot broth with flavors from Thailand and the Mekong Delta). Blue Monkey is the most underrated Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose. Their menu is massive and delicious. What really sets them apart are the dishes that I haven't seen anywhere else outside of Vietnam. You can tell the chefs aren't cutting corners for the 'standard' palate; they are cooking with soul and heritage. If you're looking for creative and locally loved Vietnamese dishes that are beyond your typical Americanized Vietnamese menu, come here!"

"This place knows how to do chicken. Pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food at this restaurant, as well as the attentiveness and friendliness of the servers. The music isn't too loud which is great, and it's also not too quiet to the point where you can hear other tables talking. This place is good for big groups and families. We ordered mi ga quay (egg noodles with chicken), ga quay xoi la cam (chicken with sticky rice), and the bun cha ha noi (pork, meatballs, eggrolls, rice noodles, cucumber, roasted peanuts etc) with banh trang (rice paper) to make rolls. The mi ga quay was delicious - the portion is more for an individual and not big enough for sharing. The dipping sauce that comes with it is also tasty. However, the bun cha ha noi comes on a massive plate. The eggrolls were a bit chua/sour, but everything else was ok. The way they make the roasted peanuts here is unique and good. The nuoc cham (fish sauce) is served warm here. I also ordered a strawberry soda lemonade - it was good but could've been better if they used fresh strawberries instead of syrup. Overall, we had a really positive experience at this place. Would definitely come back here just for the mi ga quay."

"Our very First time at this Blue Monkey Cafe & Restaurant and we love it!!!! I have been wanting to come eat here so I decided to meet my siblings here 4 my birthday celebration. Definitely glad I picked this place! The Food here came out quickly and delicious!!! Authentic, Big Portions, and decent prices too! I love the indoor and outdoor seatings area. Great Decorations, Lovely Displays, and Beautiful laid back vibes. Plenty of tasty options! I am definitely looking forward to coming back and try other of my favorites Vietnamese specialty dishes!!!!4/05/2025"

"MOST AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE SPOT IN THE BAY AREA Don't let the rating fool you! There's a huge amount of sketchy reviews that are posted to target vietnamese restaurants in this area and Blue Monkey seems to be the victim of it. The price here is cheaper than most restaurants in the Bay Area! Most Vietnamese places specialize in one style, but Blue Monkey manages to represent the North, Central, and South with incredible precision. They even have specialty dishes that I thought I’d have to fly to Vietnam to taste again. If you care about the quality of the food and the authenticity of the recipes, do yourself a favor and skip the 'trendy' spots for Blue Monkey. The staff consist of both vietnamese and asian americans but the majority is these sweet Vietnamese aunts and uncles. They're often shy and speak little English so there might be minor miscommunication sometimes but don't worry. If you can look past that you'll find them very sweet and they just want to serve you hot food as fast as possible :)"

"Blue Monkey Cafe is a unique restaurant, first time visited this restaurant was a very pleasant experience and food was delicious. Our recent experience was ordering food for pick up and it was the same quality if you were to eat in. Ordered a large Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm and large Bún Chả Hà Nội, my wife and I both tasted this dish when we visited VN and Blue Monkey did and excellent job in transporting us back to our VN trip. The type of ingredients and the freshness of the dishes were on point. The portion they do no skimp out which we appreciated. You can tell this place does take pride in the dishes they make by the presentation and quality they select and it shows. If you are seeking that unique dish you had in Vietnam, Blue Monkey Cafe is worth trying, what stands out about this restaurant is that they have manage to capture the main regions of Vietnam with the dishes they offer very well, representing Northern, Central and Southern cuisine which is a fresh take on the many “standardized” Viet restaurants in SJ. Take a peek at their menu, you will see dishes not commonly offered at other restaurants. For sure we will be back for the Bún Chả Hà Nội and the friendly service. Keep up the great work Blue Monkey!"