Birthday Lunch at Nep Cafe

 Nep Cafe

14346 Culver Drive 

Irvine, CA 92604

I feel like I'm in a game of Whac-A-Mole. Whenever I feel like I have a handle on the restaurants that Kei Concepts has going on, they open up another restaurant or concept. After looking at their website, they list ten restaurants, one of which has closed (GEM Dining) and one coming soon, QUA, which is seafood-focused. It's like that old arcade game where you must hit a mole with a hammer, but they just keep coming. 

It was my birthday. My good friend David and I have the tradition of treating each other on birthdays. Since I'm the restaurant guy, he usually lets me pick the restaurant. I was surprised he chose Nep Cafe in Irvine for me this time. Yes, it's another Kei Concepts place and one that I had never been to until now. 

Unlike other Kei Concept restaurants, Nep Cafe is not really a fusion restaurant. According to its website, it serves modern Vietnamese cuisine, blending traditional flavors with contemporary culinary techniques. This must resonate with many people because this is the restaurant's second location, the other being in Fountain Valley. In just 18 months, it has a very impressive 4.5-star rating on Yelp, with over 1,300 reviews and counting. I was intrigued, even though I have really enjoyed all of their restaurants. 

I met David at Nep Cafe on a Wednesday at 3pm. For those unaware of where this is, it's in the Heritage Plaza shopping plaza, which is always jammed with cars, no matter what time you visit. No wonder since it butts right up to the 5 Freeway and has numerous dining options, like Baekjeong Korean Barbecue, Buffalo Wild Wings, Boiling Point, Spicay City, Habit Burger, and Sup Noodle Bar, which is a sister restaurant to Nep Cafe. 

There are two menus at Nep Cafe. The brunch menu is offered seven days a week from opening to 5pm, and then it's the dinner menu only after that. There's some overlap between the two,  but the dinner entrees jump anywhere from $29 to $65 for the ribeye. Brunch is more modestly priced, with the ribeye only going for $39, and everything else is right around the $20 price point. The brunch menu includes bowls, rice and noodle dishes, and appetizers. There's also a wide selection of coffees, cocktails, beer, wine, and matcha drinks. Let's see if Nep Cafe is another hit for Kei Concepts. 

I looked at the online menu and could not find this Fried Chicken ($10). I believe this has been replaced by chicken wings. Anyway, I really enjoyed this version of fried chicken, which used thigh meat seasoned with five-spice seasonings and a very pleasant spicy mayo for dipping. The chicken lacked the greasiness that almost always goes hand in hand with fried chicken. I'm hoping this comes back on the menu in the future. 

The early leader for the most photogenic plate I've had this year is this Filet Mignon Banh Mi Chao ($25), which is almost impossible to snap a bad picture of. I learned that the name of this translates to "bread with combo pan."  This is a very apt description of what this is. In the pan is some cubed filet in a black pepper sauce, two eggs, tomatoes, pork roll, onions, and some pate served with a rather large loaf of bread. With so many ingredients, I thought they might cancel each other out, but that was not the case. Each had its moment. The steak was tender, and the black pepper sauce was a nice compliment. I also felt I would miss a base like rice, but the sunny-side-up eggs kind of worked as a substitute for a base. I was unsure if I would need so much bread, but I used it by sopping up the remnants of the skillet at the end of my meal. 

David got Chicken Fried Rice ($17), which is not on the Nep Cafe menu. They do offer fried rice, but only with beef tongue or shrimp. This came with a fried egg on top and soy and aji sauce on the side. The portion size seemed a little on the meager side to me, but David did not seem to mind. I also did not mind when David did not utilize his aji sauce, which I used with the remaining chicken. 

Nep Cafe was good, and it reminded me of what I had at their sister restaurant, Vox Kitchen, a while back. I enjoyed what I had here, but with such a limited menu, I'd be afraid I'd tire of having the same things repeatedly on frequent return visits. My burnout would also be inevitable because all of their items are similar, but at least the execution is there, as everything here is made to a high standard. Nep Cafe is a great introductory restaurant to Vietnamese flavors and more tame dishes. A restaurant where I could feel confident bringing my less adventurous parents to, which I think is part of the goal for the founders of Nep Cafe. Mission accomplished, guys.  

Out of five mules (because this restaurant is located on Culver Drive, which is named after Frederick Culver, a farmer in the early days of what would become Irvine and who was a very adept mule handler), five being best to zero being worst, Nep Cafe gets 3 mules. 

For more information about Nep Cafe, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.nepcafe.com/