Art Cafe

Thought I’d try this place out cuz it’s close walking distance from my house. There were no customers inside the nail salon (which the «café» is in) and I ordered summer rolls which took literally 20 minutes for her to make. Then I asked how much and she looked around and said this one 10 dollars. Totally made up that number and that’s even waay overpriced for a nice restaurant! The summer rolls were really thin, flavorless, and had like one piece of shrimp in them. Not worth the money at all. The iced green tea ($ 2) was good though, even though the straw was dusty like it sat in an attic for a year. probably won’t go back here.

We found this place only because we missed Jung’s the first time going down the block. And because I was lazy and didn’t feel like circling back (King is a one-​way street) we stopped over and got some shave ice at Art Café.
In fact, you might miss this place too because there’s no sign that says «ART CAFE.» Just look for the little beauty salon on the corner, and you’ll see a blue shack that has rainbow umbrellas.
There’s one guy who works there (at least when we went) and though he was eating his own lunch (looked like a big delicious bowl of phở — YUM), he happily dished out our shave ice ($ 2!!!). The unique thing is, he’ll put this strawberry swirl ice cream on top of the shave ice instead of at the bottom. Which was actually really cool because you don’t get all the slush at the end with your ice cream, and you can actually enjoy everything together.
Of course this place isn’t as good as Jung’s or Waiola in the area, but it’s definitely a good runner up if you want to grab some Vietnamese sandwiches or phở along with your dessert.

I’m a fan of Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi or Ban Mi) and the one they sell here is very good. The three types of pork packed into my sandwich were succulent, tender, and tasty. The baguette was nicely flaky on the outside and fresh and soft on the inside. The carrot and daikon filling had just the right snap when bitten in to. The sauce enhanced the flavor without overpowering. The peppers were hot and really added lots of zing to the sandwich. The cilantro was a bit wilted and I would like to have had more of it if fresh, but that didn’t detract much from the other great ingredients. But I give only 3 stars because the sandwich was too expensive.

This tiny café is at the corner of S King and Artesian, across from Alan Wong’s, but not the easiest to spot. In fact, it was pure chance that I discovered it. One late evening, I was going down Artesian on scooter when i heard a group of older folks karaōke-​ing away; I decided to stop and check out what they had.
Their menu is limited: $ 7 phở and $ 6 vietnamese sandwich. They also offer Vietnamese coffee, tea, and dessert. And shave ice for $ 2.
Food and coffee seem to take a while, so not the best option when you’re in a hurry. But if you want to place where you can take it slow and enjoy the hole-​in-​the-​wall vibe, this is it. The owners are an older Vietnamese couple, very friendly, especially the husband.
Open every day 9 a.m. — 11 p.m.