Cafe Diem

I'm a very picky eater. My first impression was not so positive. The shop was small and a bit uncomfortable until I took my first sip of their spicy beef soup; everthing else seems to did not matter at that point. It felt like i was eating a home cooked soup that is very comforting. The deep rich flavorful broth is amazingly good. The shop and menue maybe small, the flavor is as good as it gets.

To start this off, I love Cafe Diem and have been going there for years. I recommend everyone to come there and I bring my friends whenever we can't decide where to go: Cafe Diem is normally an instantaneous and unanimous YES! It is a tiny little restaurant with about 10 tables total (including tables they place together to create a table for 4) I appreciate the "home-y" feel. Service is great since they're mostly family run. They won't fold the napkin for you or anything but they get the job done. Definitely a hidden gem in the heart of Vietnamese South Philly. But with that said, I would have given this place a perfect score if I was rating it from its quality years ago. Now, I feel as if the food quality has went down a little since it's starting to get much popular now. Granted, the food is still great but not compared to my fond memories. Anyway, definitely try the Bun Bo Hue, which is their signature dish -- I get my BBH with meat and pork roll (thit and cha lua) since I'm not a fan of eating it "central (Hue) style" with the other stuff like tripe, pig foot, liver, etc... As for the pho, I definitely would go to North Philly (Thanh Long) for chicken pho. I have been unable to eat the pork and rice but I was always satisfied with BBH and never felt the urge to stray from my regular.

dddin a I've been coming to this joint for 7 years. I moved back to Philly to eat their food twice a week! Im a head chef at the Bellevue and I know good food! It terms of atmosphere its nothing enticing. Dont expect forst class trearnent you beyyer hirry up and eat and get yhe hell out on sundays.Their main clientele is mainly blue collar Asians who has good tastes in food and a quick bite! I love their porkchops and rice! The porkchops are marinated and griiled to perfection, not dried lick all the other(warning.. they don't make it if they're busy.. which is understandable since it is such a small place). The pho is amazing too! But they only have the cooked beef.. which I think is much more fragrant than the raw meat.

For those of you that don't no Bon boi hue soup, it's like pho but spicer, lemon grass and beef broth, and thicker noodles that aren't the typical rice noodles. This place is amazing and the big places (pho 75 and pho há) have nothing on cafe diem. The big places use cheap ingredients and honestly get me very sick 7 times out of 10. Try it and make sure you ask for "just steak" if your not into tripe, liver, hamhock, and other stuff I can put down. TRY IT!

It's a small place but definitely has the best Bun Bo Hue in the Tri-State. We drive almost 1 1/2hr to eat there when we have time. Despite the service and atmosphere, the Bun Bo Hue there is one of a kind!!! Everyone should try it atleast once then you'll be addicted to it.

This place has the best Bun Bo Hue around this area. I have been referring many friends to this place and they all love it. Definitely should stop by and try!

Cafe Diem have the best spicy noodles!!