Boy oh boy the food was amazing! We had the ceviche, and it was perfectly seasoned (with flavors resembling tom kha), and it works so well with the rice crackers. We also got the tofu dish, which was just FULL of flavor and a good amount of spicy -- rarely do I come across a tofu dish that's this flavorful and unique. The xôi mặn is also very delicious, albeit on the greasier side (but that's kinda how it's supposed to be). The egg coffee I had was also really good. Admittedly not the best I've ever had, but still very good. Service was good, not much to write home about but nothing frustrating. And ambiance is on the casual side but nice!

Delicious food. I came for lunch before work and had the Shanghai dumplings and garlic noodles with fish. The dumplings were filled with pork and shrimp. It had a delicious spicy sauce. It's to bad these aren't AYCE. I'd be here all day. The garlic noodles were topped with delicious flakey fish. I love garlic, and I left with a happy tummy. Service is great. You scan to get the menu on your phone. This is the the third Kei restaurant I've been to and all were good. Kei will be seeing my Kia in their parking lots often.

It was my first time at this new location and everything we got was so good. The banh mi chao, garlic noodles and crab toast were all so flavorful and delicious. The filet mignon in the banh mi chao was really juicy and tender, and the crab toast was so crispy and had a subtle crab taste. The garlic noodles were also very good and cooked perfectly al dente. The service was phenomenal, as the waiter attentively poured water and took any trash we had. The ambiance is really spacious and the perfect place for a cute brunch or dinner!

My friend recommended checking this place out and it did not disappoint! It's a nice modern twist on Vietnamese cuisine. I got their banh mi chao with filet mignon and would definitely recommend getting this dish. The meat was very tender and easy to chew. The bread was a bit dry but it paired well with the juices in the dish. I also got their shrimp garlic noodle and it was very tasty. I liked that it wasn't too oily and the noodles were cooked just right. I also got their sea salt Vietnamese coffee and it was good but I wish there had bit a bit more contrast in the flavor. It was a bit too sweet for my liking Our server was very nice and he gave my table great recommendations on what to order.

Modern innovative twists on Vietnamese food!! Another Kei Concepts standout! Went for Sunday Brunch and thoroughly enjoyed our meal! This is not for the anyone wanting authentic Vietnamese food! But if you want a Modern twist and want out of the box flavors? Give Nep a try. We shared Pate, Wings, Crab Toast and Beef Tongue. And my GF had Vietnamese Egg Coffee! She loved it! The interior was clean, modern and an open restaurant. Noise level was energetic. Service was extremely fast and attentive! Our water was constantly refilled. Each dish came out when it was ready. Dont expect them all at once. Lets start w Pate Mousse - plated perfectly and the toast was toasted lightly. The cold Pate easily spread easily. A touch of Mayo and Pickled Cucumbers on top and the bite was perfect. Smooth flavorful pate w the pickled cucumber was so unique. Almost like a deconstructed Bahn Mi. The Chicken Wings were amazing!!! Caramelized Fish Sauce? Omg delicious!!! Fish Sauce with a sweetness and just enough stickiness! The wings were cooked PERFECTLY!! Juicy w a crisp exterior!!! This is a must for wing lovers. Very unique Crab Toast- beautifully plated. The toast was perfectly toasted. Add your crab spread and the first bite was flavorful!! Real crab w creamy scrambled eggs. The buttery crab/egg mixture with cajun salt was my favorite of the dishes! My GF picked the dish. I would not have chosen it but it ended up as my favorite dish. Bahn Mi Chao - Beef Tongue. This dish was a let down. It was good but not anything more than average. The tongue was full of fat and over cooked. The Bahn Mi bread was dry and had no chew. Just not good. We ate the tongue by itself. We were full, therefore did not try any desserts, although several looked good. I highly recommend Nep. My first Kei restaurant was INI which was Modern Asian Italian fusion - very good. I am now on a mission to try all Kei Concepts restaurant.

I'm going to be straight up, I'm a huge fan of Kei Concepts. All their restaurants slap and all the food they serve is delicious. Was super excited when I heard they were opening up another Nep Cafe in Irvine. There's plenty of parking because this restaurant is in a plaza shared with a lot of stores, but I know this area can get really busy especially on the weekend at night. My husband and I didn't have issue finding parking on a Sunday afternoon though. The building is great! Love the exterior and interior design. It's modern, clean, aesthetic. Didn't know we were going to be in the area, otherwise I would have made an advance reservation because the other location's wait times have been gnarly. However, even though there were 15 parties in front of us and the employee at the front estimated a ~40 min wait time, I'd say it took roughly 15 minutes before we were seated. Service is amazing!!! I don't know how they do it, but the waiters were prompt and friendly. Refilled our waters when we needed it, offered an additional baguette for out bahn mi chao when we ran out, asked us how our meal was and if everything was to our liking. We ordered an egg coffee with cocoa, bahn mi chao with filet mignon, and sichuan spicy noodle with dumplings. The food!!! Is so good!! As was expected. Sichuan noodles were hot and spicy, savory, but with a bit of tang! Highly recommend this dish! The Bahn mi chao was equally delicious. Savory, hearty, a little sweet but in a way that compliments the entire dish. This thing was hot! And stayed hot pretty much the entire time we were eating it. And their egg coffee was delicious! Love the egg foam they have at the top. Coffee flavor is great, and the foam compliments is really well. Will 100% be back. I want to try their berry french toast which is exclusive to this location next time!

This location is bigger than the Fountain Valley location... but bigger doesn't always mean better. IMO both the service and the food is better at the FV location. We shared a couple items here at lunch. The Pate was very good. For mains, we ordered the Filet Mignon Banh Mi Chao & Crispy Fish Banh Mi Chao. The filet mignon banh mi chao was good; but I felt like it was more flavorful when we had it at the FV location. The crispy fish banh mi chao is one of their newer items and the fish was good, batter was crispy and meat was tender. The sauce for the crispy fish bmc was alright. The server was unattentive. He didn't really check in on us and we had to hunt him down a couple of times. Most of the employees seemed like they didn't really wanna be there.

ORDER seafood ceviche shanghai dumplings shrimp garlic noodles coconut matcha everything was a 5/5! the seafood ceviche tasted fresh and paired perfectly with the shrimp cracker. there was a coconut-y sauce with a slight tang. the shanghai dumplings was flavorful and savory. i preferred these over din tai fung's. the shrimp garlic noodles was packed with flavor, one of the best garlic noodles ive had! the shrimp was charred, which i didn't prefer. very yummy regardless! the coconut matcha is on the sweeter side, but i also really enjoyed this. it came with a few coconut bits. SERVICE we were hesitant to go since our eta was 40 minutes before closing. regardless, we were seated right away and didn't feel rushed at all. our food came out quick. unfortunately, i don't remember our server's name, but she was very kind and attentive. AMBIANCE parking was plentiful. the interior was very modern and spacious.

I was so excited to hear that Nep Cafe was opening a location in Irvine!! We had to try it soon after opening & I have to say I love the ambiance of this space so much more than their Fountain Valley one. It's super spacious and vibey inside with so much greenery & a cool concept bar wowow! We had a dinner reservation but honestly there were some tables available, so you could probably walk-in w/o a huge wait! I hadn't tried their garlic noodles before so I ordered it with shrimp. OMG so delicious!! It is a bit on the salty side but it's super creamy and they provided a generous amount of shrimp :-) Portions are a good size for eating alone or sharing ~ I love Nep Cafe and hope to try more of their dinner menu!

Great food and ambiance! Large parking lot and lots of indoor and outdoor seating. There is table seating as well as bar seating inside. The drinks are quite delicious! And the food came out quite quickly. We started with the beef carpaccio and soft shell crab. We had the pork tomahawk and lemongrass hot pot with the garlic noodles with shrimp and beef tongue fried rice. They also are very kid friendly- high chairs, plastic plates, and a good kids menu selection.