NEP Cafe

NEP Cafe is a proven and established restaurant by Kei Concepts that provides a consistent and enjoyable experience for anyone seeking a unique taste with fun and inventive dishes. NEP has two locations: the original in Fountain Valley and the second in Irvine. Similar to other Kei Concept restaurants, NEP stands out by serving fusion cuisine. The menu primarily features dishes rooted in Vietnamese flavors and ideas combined with Italian cuisine. I have tried other Kei Concept restaurants, and despite being my first time at NEP, I already had an idea of what to expect. The lights were dimmed and the restaurant was very clean. The restaurant was not completely full, but was fairly busy for a Tuesday night. We were lucky to have reservations, and as our whole party arrived, we were promptly seated by the bar. My experience with the service at NEP was mediocre. The section we got sat in had a lot of tables and lots of bar seats. Our server was one of the bartenders. I don't blame our server since they had so many tables and guests to manage on top of making drinks; however, it was hard to get someone's attention when we needed something, and they also made infrequent trips to our table to check on us. We weren't ready to order the first time our server came to our table, but the next time someone stopped by was ten minutes later, which was a little too much time. The menu is not super extensive but has a lot of interesting options. I was given some recommendations beforehand that I ultimately went with. We got the calamari, shaking beef, garlic noodles with shrimp, and pork tomahawk. If I were to order more, I was thinking about getting the bun bo hue dry noodles or any of the other entrees. As a party of four, we shared every plate. The dishes don't come out in any particular order regardless of some being labeled as appetizers. This isn't necessarily a problem, but it is also something to note. The first thing on the table was the garlic noodles. The plating was very visually appealing. The shrimp was nicely charred and the noodles were creamy, supplemented by a light garnish for color. However, after digging into the dish, I was surprised to find that the noodles came out not even room temperature, but slightly cold. And after biting into the shrimp, I was disappointed to find that it wasn't warm either. Flavors in the sauce weren't bad, and the shrimp and noodles were cooked perfectly, but unfortunately, this dish was ruined by the temperature. The rest of our food all came out at the same time. Between the three dishes, the most stunning by far was the pork tomahawk. The pork is served on the bone, heavily garnished and gleaming with a honey glaze and nuoc cham on the side. This was my favorite dish of the night. Trying the pork on its own was delicious. The sweetness of the honey glaze comes through beautifully, and the pork is cooked to perfection. The meat was unbelievably tender with a texture similar to that of bossam: a Korean boiled pork dish. To make it even better, the nuoc cham added the perfect amount of acidity and tanginess that the dish needed to make an outstanding bite. This dish was bursting with flavor. And even with all the garnishes and sauces, the pork still came through as the star of the dish. The other two dishes were good, but not as special to me as the pork. Of course, calamari is an Italian dish, and this iteration at NEP had little Vietnamese influence. It was served with a chili lime aioli. The calamari itself was alright. Some parts of the batter were crispy while others were soft, but the meat inside was still tender. The aioli served with the calamari wasn't great. I found it to be too bitter and overpowering. It added some much-needed richness to the calamari, but the bitterness left me questioning whether or not it was worth it to eat the two together. Lastly, the Vietnamese shaking beef provided the most standard take on a Vietnamese dish that we had at NEP. I found the rice to be the strongest component of this dish. It was aromatic and flavorful with great texture. The beef was a little bland. Despite the garlic butter soy, the beef needed more salt. Texture-wise, I also expected the beef to be more tender, but it was still good. Overall, the calamari and shaking beef weren't particularly memorable, but still tasty. The garlic noodles were definitely disappointing, but could easily have been made significantly better if served hot. The pork tomahawk was definitely the highlight and a must-order dish at NEP. On every level, this to me was a perfect dish. I had a good experience at NEP. Coming away from my meal, I was elated with the pork tomahawk, which will be a dish I remember for a long time. However, the rest of the food I had was good, but not great. Perhaps there may have been an off night with some of the dishes, like the cold noodles and underseasoned beef. I would be more than willing to take another chance on NEP. The dish concepts were fun and unique, and with some minor improvements, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed every dish.