Madame Tam Asian Bistro

I was just looking at the pictures of this place and I could be out of my mind, but this place looks nothing like the photos after dark apparently, and I don't mean better looking at all. Hello Jekyll and Hyde transformation. I came here for drinks with friends and it was pretty dead empty, but to be fair it was during interquarter. The place looked like it had a tiki theme going on and we were one of the only tables occupied. A few friends got a pretty sad looking banh mi sandwich from them. Overall, not fabulous.

I came in for lunch and had a vegetable dish with rice. Meh -- it was kinda tasteless (it was supposed to be in a garlic sauce, but I didn't taste any) and goopy (too much cornstarch?)

The service wasn't bad, fairly prompt, though by the time they got busy the servers seemed a bit overwhelmed.

Nothing special.

Review for Happy Hour only:

Came here on a Saturday night and was wooed by the happy hour prices.
$2.99 for draft beer
$4 for wine (cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay)
$5 mixed drinks
$3 select appetizers
$4 for two tacos (fish, kalibi, etc)

Pretty decent place for some tacos or drinks, though, don't order a "liquid cocaine" here...we asked the bartender for it and he gave us a puzzled look and tried to look for someone else to make it, so we immediately canceled the order for that, lol.

If you like Pad Thai, don't order it from here.

I love eating Pad Thai and I haven't found a place that makes it better than Krung Thai. One of my co-workers was craving some Pho so we decided to check this place out. We came here for lunch and our food took a while to come out even though it wasn't very packed.

When my Pad Thai came out, I was surprised to see the amount I was given. It was definitely a generous amount, but it wasn't tasty at all. As I was eating the very saucy Pad Thai, I felt like I was eating some spaghetti.

On the other hand, my co-worker ordered a Pumpkin Curry that was tasty.

This place is just okay the only thing going for it is location. It's just down the block from the Apple store so there's lots of foot traffic on University. Stopped by at lunch time and there were a few tables occupied which is a good indication of the place.

Service wise the place was slow, we picked our own table and sat down. Ended up going to the front because there was no one around and picked up menu's on our own.

Food wise it's not too bad the bun Saigon is pretty good. It had good flavor and they separate the meat from the noodles. The other dish was the spicy seafood soup noodle. If you're looking for something spicy this is isn't it, the soup was pretty mild. It could be catering to the clientele that they receive.

Overall this place is just okay. If there's no wait, go for the bun Saigon and if you like spicy don't come here.

We got here at 11:30 and the place was pretty empty. I got the chicken with vermicelli. It came with an egg roll which I ate right away since I was hungry so I'm not sure if it was really good or if I was just starving and anything at that moment would have been good. I also burned my mouth so be careful as the egg roll was hot. The chicken with vermicelli was pretty good. You have to add the sauce they provide or else there is no flavor. My friend got the Malaysian fried rice and asked for spicy, but it didn't come out that way. She had to ask for a side of hot sauce to give her dish more flavor.

Overall, price was decent - $9 per dish. Service was ok.

The interior design and decorations make this place look like a cozy place to eat on University Ave, when compared to other Asian restaurants. The servers are also very polite and welcoming, inviting you in to dine.

Unfortunately, the food did not meet my expectations for something that was self-proclaimed "gourmet." Given that this restaurant is an Asian fusion of Vietnamese and Thai, I was actually quite appalled by my Bangkok Pad Thai -- the sauce was very thick and plain, and the texture of my chicken reminded me of that of tofu's. The unsweetened iced tea I had was also quite disappointing, and the three packets of sugar/sweetener were not enough.

Though the servers were very polite, I find that they were difficult to have consistent communication with. The prices are definitely much more than I would usually pay for, especially for the way it tasted, sigh.

My mom really likes the pho here so she brought me here for lunch one day, and I must say that I agree with her. The broth is very flavorful, the meat is good, it's just...tasty. It's nice to know there's good pho right in downtown PA.

Besides that I've only tried one other noodle dish - the Madame Tam Noodle Soup, which is rice noodles with meaty shiitake tomato sauce & prawns / chicken on top, a bowl of broth separately on the side, and the usual bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapenos, lemon slices, and hoisin/sriracha. It was like eating pho-spaghetti with the added treat of a bowl of tasty broth on the side. Considering that I never like my noodles sitting in soup anyway and I had been craving spaghetti the entire week... it was so delicious, and indeed hearty like the menu describes it.

Service was quick and we got plenty of water refills. Despite the low yelp ratings I currently have faith in Madame Tam and will come back to try other dishes on the very extensive menu that seems to cover every Southeast Asian dish I can think of plus much more (And fresh Dungeness crab? Can it be?)

Even coming back from NY this place seemed a bit over-priced, but you can't help but love 12-hour brewed pho broth, especially when you don't have to do it yourself.

I got the beef Pho which was a bit Americanized given the lack of trip, tendon, and other goodies, but the broth was oh-so-delicious-who-cares good. There is also a big difference in size between med and large, so for $1 definitely get the large bowl.

Mmmmmmmmmm back in NY and still missing the broth!

It's the place to go. Both the menu and the service. You won't be disappointed. I've ate there several times in last two weeks, both with friends and by myself and I'm coming again.
You can find some tasty exotic appetizers as well as standard Pho noodle soup. I've being there mostly for dinner.

It's very enjoyable settings. You can enjoy watching pretty people walking on University Avenue and chat with waitresses at the same time.

Great eating experience!

On a Saturday afternoon when Madame Tam's was empty, we decided to give it another shot. Lowered expectations do not improve the experience much.

This time, we ordered the pho ga. It wasn't bad, but I probably wouldn't get it another time. My girlfriend said it used to be better!

We also ordered the grilled chicken vermicelli. Like the pho ga it wasn't bad, although chicken was a bit bland. You get a whole chicken breast, so that's good if you're into eating more healthy. The spring roll was also good and particularly flavorful, with the right combination of filling ingredients. I found myself wanting more.

Overall, this bumps up my rating one star. It's not quite as bad as I had previously stated, but again it's not anything special either. It may be the only vietnamese place in downtown Palo Alto (short of the overpriced Tamarind), but even then it would take a lot for me to go. Solid, but there are better options.