Gabriella's Vietnam

Gabriella's was wonderful! We made reservations (which I do recommend, since sometimes it can be hard to get a seat last minute) for 3 people at 7 PM on a Sunday. We ordered the water fern dumplings, the banh xeo, the shaken beef, and the seafood fried rice.Everything was delicious. My favorites were the banh xeo and the shaken beef. The banh xeo shells were super crispy but not dry. And the shaken beef was so tender!! I would definitely be back to try more things. Also if you pay in cash you get 5% off!

Came in earlier with my daughter for a last minute dinner decision. Since we got there around 5:30 PM, we were promptly seated even though we didn't make nor have any reservation. Luckily, we got there early because it started getting busy after 6. Our server, Tony, was spectacular. He has a wonderful smile that was welcoming and can light up the room. Our water was never empty. The food was fairly decent.The prawn & mango salad was a little different than what I've anticipated but still delicious. Lots of different textures and flavors but, somehow, managed to compliment each other. The lightly battered fried calamari was splendid. The sauce it came with made this simple dish feel whole and complete. The water fern dumplings, on the other hand, were my least favorite. Wished it was served piping hot from the steamer and the shallots were freshly fried crispy. Maybe adding ground pork to the mini dish would also enhanced the flavors. Anyway, is it worth coming here? Definitely at least once. Would I come back here? Maybe.

Came here in a Friday night. Great BYOB place in the city. Great service and great food. Here's what we ordered:WATER FERN DUMPLINGS - BÁNH BÈO CHÉN (GF)rice cakes, steamed and served in individual small dishes, topped with minced shrimp, pork crackling, mung beans, fried shallot, scallion - refreshing, light, and SHAKEN BEEF - BÒ LÚC LẮCwok-charred marinated filet mignon cubes, onion, cucumber, grape tomatoes - this was definitely worth it. Great flavors and enjoyed every bite. LEMONGRASS TOFU - DẬU HỦ XÀO XẢ (GF, V)wok fried tofu with lemongrass & soy sauce - the best dish of the night. So flavorful and worth the cost by far.

I was beyond skeptical about Vietnamese food in Philly, as I just got back from Vietnam last month. Ohhhhh you haven't been to Vietnam? Oh ok, I'll handle this one then.My skepticism morphed into excitement when we were entering Gabriella's and I saw an authentic Vietnamese scooter in the window. The streets of Vietnam are LITTERED with scooters. I've never seen anything like it. How I didn't see one accident in my 2 weeks there will never make sense to me. You wouldn't get it though because you haven't been....After walking through a small rustic space with beat up walls and a gritty open kitchen, we were seated at a high-top table. I only made it about 27 seconds before I told the waitress I had just recently gotten back from Vietnam, expecting her to be like "Wow this half Croatian half Mexican American guy was just in Vietnam?! He's so cultured and well traveled!"When I informed her I had gone to Northern and Southern Vietnam, she scolded me on how I missed the best part of the country which is right smack in the middle. "The food better, the beach better, everything better! Why you no go to Central Vietnam?!?" I was getting COOKED.She really was so vibrant and engaging, and a good waitress like this can really make your experience at a restaurant. She also confirmed the authenticity of Gabriella's as she was from, you guessed it, Central Vietnam.She helped us decide on food, and we opted to pull the trigger on the Water Fern Dumplings, Chicken Wings, Shaken Beef, and Brussel Sprouts.I had never come across dumplings like these, as they are essentially unwrapped. All the fixings are in the individual bowls with the dough at the bottom, but you put your preferred amount of fish sauce on each one and eat it with a spoon. I loved them, DELICIOUS.No matter what you do, no matter where you come from, you need to get these chicken wings with the fish sauce. I, like you probably reading this, was skeptical about fish sauce on chicken wings but these were some of the best chicken wings I've had this year. Sometimes two things you would never think of putting together can be a perfect fusion. Yin and Yang.The Shaken beef was ELITE, tender and juicy just as any good beef should be served... and don't even get me STARTED on these flash fried brussel sprouts. Brussel sprouts need to be perfectly fried for me or they are just a BRICK, and these were sensational.All in all, Gabriella's was yet another case of the Philly food scene slapping me in my face for my New York food scene arrogance. I also need to get to Central Vietnam...IG @jnov_Tiktok @jnov_reviews

I've been wanting to try Gabriella's Vietnam for forever, and was finally able to go for a cute date night. We were seated in the most romantic table in the front part of the restaurant, the little two seater that you can see from the window outside (if you go on a date, absolutely try to request this table it was the best vibe).We ordered a ton of different dishes, and no exaggeration every single one was a winner. We ordered their tamarind and I think it was pickled apricot drinks, which were so delicious and hard not to just sip down immediately. For appetizers we got the water fern dumplings (an ABSOLUTE must get) and their savory crepes. For mains, we got the seafood fried rice to eat with our soft shell crab. That soft shell crab was the best bite I've had in a while, it was so perfectly crispy and fried and insanely juicy. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be between the dumplings and the crab. To finish everything off we tried their flan and it was also so good, the caramel had a slightly smoky taste and the flan itself was so creamy and thick, not one of those flans that veered more towards gelatin. The quality of everything even to the simple dessert was so obvious.Everything was so good and just in general it's one of the best meals I've had in a while, worth every single penny. Gabriella's Vietnam deserves every accolade it's gotten in every Philly mag and food spot and I cannot wait to come back another time and it's one of my fave spots for sure now. Service was amazing and the vibes inside were really cozy and cute. Definitely make a reservation in advance and come in here ASAP!!

We keep coming back here and ordering the same dishes!!!We LOVE the savory crepes (amazingly crispy and light crepe with unique stuffing and amazing sauce), shaken beef (the best dish, according to my partner), sizzling catfish (served with herbs and crispy rice cake things and a sauce), seafood fried rice (lots of seafood and chunks of eggs), lemongrass tofu (large portion and the second best thing we order) and brussels (standard Asian way of cooking them that is tough to replicate at home).They are always bustling, which is nice to see so service can be a bit slow, but it's nice not to be rushed out of your table honestly like in some places (esp top NYT restaurant). PS you get a 5% discount if you use cash.

Spent a few days in Philly for a friend's wedding and decided to make a trip out of it as well. I did some research on restaurants to try and read some great reviews on Gabriella's Vietnam. We made the trip out for dinner and was seated outdoors, which was perfect for a cool evening. We ordered water fern dumplings, savory crepes, shaken beef, and seafood fried rice. The presentation of all four dishes were beautiful. Since we're from Southern California and have eaten a lot of Vietnamese food, the flavors were lacking for us. The service and the dining experience was excellent as the staff were friendly and attentive. If we come back to Philly, I might give this restaurant another shot and try different dishes.

Really loved my dinner at Gabriella's Vietnam. Some notes:- cool location on East Passyunk- nice interior with nothing too crazy, but good energy- very knowledgeable and helpful staff that stood out- really good food. My favorite was the shaken beef but also enjoyed the water fern dumplings and savory crepes we got to startCool spot!

Wow! Came here on a recommendation of a friend and I was not disappointed. Came on a Sunday night so I didn't think I'd need a reservation and I was sorely mistaken. There was about a 25 minute wait and even when we returned we still had to wait a bit more. When we were seated, our server came to help us immediately and answered our questions about the menu. She helped us determine how much we should order for our group and even provided some suggestions! We were so hungry that I hardly took any photos but the food was DELICIOUS and I'll be back with my husband.

Not worth the hype.Heard a lot about Gabriella's Vietnam, but I was disappointed by the actual food here. Service was great here and the restaurant was also really cute inside! Ambiance is 10/10 but food is 4.5/10. The seafood fried rice was nothing special. It was honestly comparable to grocery store frozen fried rice. The chicken was hard to eat because there were so many bones and the chicken itself was slightly dry. The best thing we tried was probably the shaken beef, but it still didn't "wow" me. The portion was also pretty small for the price.