Kim's Cafe & Sandwiches

Did delivery with the family. Look, I have no complaints but it also didn't knock my socks off.Sandwich bread was crispy, chicken was well cooked, stuffed with veggies. Would certainly recommend.For me, this was the lower end of five stars. I don't think I'll order take out from them again over Ike's (I love Ike's) but I'd certainly stop by if I'm out on Solano.

Hella bomb...I always get a spring roll and lemon grass chicken sandwich combo. Service is quick and easy, they accept card and Apple Pay. Seating is plentiful outside and inside. I wish my stomach was bigger so I could eat more of their food. Sandwiches are about $10 each so reasonably priced during these times.

Surprising knock out of the park was the turmeric noodle soup which was spicy, peanuty, and very filling. There is a good amount of protein and felt like a great meal. Tried their tofu lemongrass banh mi and it was missing a lot of flavor. It was more on the dry side. The tofu itself was mildly spiced and pretty good but the rest of the banh mi was dry with not many vegetables/filling.The staff is very nice and the food comes out quick. Seating inside and outside.

It seems like they pared down their offerings with a new, cleaner menu on the wall but OMG! I've been here countless times and typically get a vermicelli bowl because DELICIOUS. But it's been chilly and my nose is stuffy and I'm interested in adding more turmeric to my diet so when I saw there's a noodle soup, I had to have it. HOLY MOLY IT IS GOOOOOOD! Flavorful and fresh, crunchy bits, soft bits, chicken cooked to perfection. I couldn't even finish it all and I was HUNGRY! I cannot recommend it enough. The staff is always super friendly and there's various ways to tip them. Lots of beverage items and I saw they now sell smoothies, too. No wonder they won Best of Albany Lunch Spot! There's outdoor seating which is super pleasant, a back dining area I always forget about, and some tables right in front as well.

I thought I reviewed Kim's already? Can't tell on the app. Anyway I love their banh mi on an authentic chewy baguette, I love their soups and salads, and I really love their dog-friendly parklet!

Kim's Cafe is my go to lunch spot in Albany. As a vegan, I love their lemon grass tofu bahn mi, lemon grass tofu vermicelli, and the tofu turmeric noodle soup. (don't sleep on that soup! it is SO good!) I appreciate their speedy service and consistently delicious food.

Came here as I just had to have a bahn mi this afternoon. This spot is a little hole in the wall, with plenty of seating both indoor and out. Service was friendly, we were helped fast and food came out quick. Seat yourself and pay at the cash register. The prices were moderate, not too pricy.Thai Iced Tea (5/5) - delicious! not overly sweet and you could actually taste the tea. Bbq chicken bahn mi (3/5) - tasted fresh, but was kind of bland. The bread was not crusty and didn't have the typical crunch you get with a good bahn mi. Also, the chicken was cold. All in all underwhelming.bbq tofu Spring rolls with peanut sauce (0/5) - i'm not even sure you can qualify the sauce as peanut sauce. it had no peanut flavor and was liquidy. i am almost wondering if i was accidentally given a different sauce. the spring rolls were so sad. no flavor at all we ate one each. The lettuce was not fresh and even looked old. Literally just old lettuce and bland tofu.Not a total let down, but the spring rolls were terrible and the sandwiches were lacking flavor.

I spent about $15 for the beef banh mi here with pate included (you need to ask, and it costs 1.25 extra). In addition I got the papaya salad with chicken and crispy spring rolls.Beef banh mi wasn't terrible but I strongly dislike their crusty bread. It actually was more like a french baguette than a Vietnamese baguette. The beef flavor was quite good actually but the pickles were lacking in acidity/sweetness. Pate was fine, but not $1.25 fine... If this were $9 or $10 I'd feel better but $15 was crazy. The flavor felt lacking overall (despite the meat). Maybe it needed more pate or presence of the mayo.The lemongrass chicken papaya salad was ok. Their fish sauce doesn't have enough fish sauce or spice or sweetness. It tasted quite bland as well. The veggies had a fresh texture at least. Chicken was dry, but did have good lemongrass flavor.Finally I got their crispy rolls and this actually wasn't bad. I wish the filling had more texture other than mush (you'll see what I mean when you try it), but the exterior was very light and crispy. Nuoc mam was ok but again lacked spice and sweetness and more fish sauce.They also don't have AC in the restaurant apparently. It was really warm in there and there was just a single fan waving from the top. Parking is plentiful around the neighborhood. People are quite nice. No cold water available, just room temperature water.4/10, would not come again and wouldn't recommend. Flavors felt diluted and didn't appreciate the prices. I'd honestly rather make it all myself.

4-ish stars but I'm gonna round up because service was pretty friendly. The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the BBQ pork in my banh mi. Although flavorful the exterior of the meat slices were old-crusty, almost jerky-like. The banh mi bread was a bit different than what I'm used to. Really dense and hearty.....reminded me of sourdough but without the tang. At first I wasn't really on board of it not having a crisp but it grew on me after a couple of bites because of how springy-spongy it was.Favorite part of the sandwich was the pickled veggies! Yeah, they matter to me a lot in banh mi and I think this was the best rendition of the veggies that I've had. Veggies were cut more thickly and were perfectly pickle-y and al dente. No skimpy portion of them either!I also had the Vietnamese iced coffee. Smooth and actually pretty strong for a Vietnamese coffee. Minimal cream used here, which I didn't mind at all since I generally like the Vietnamese coffee brew taste.Seems like a family-run business. Staff were thriving during the lunch rush. Several customers were unfamiliar with this type of food but staff were eager to answer any questions about it.Located in the outskirts of midtown where parking, although still on the street, is only time-limited (no hourly meter charge).

OMG! Drove down from Santa Rosa. Ordered BBQ chicken sandwich (Xlnt) but then added chicken soup because everyone else was having it and - WWWOOOOOOWWW! Truly unbelievable soup - best I have ever had. Tons of tender chicken but the flavors - out of this world. More dimensions than my tongue could count.TO. DIE. FOR.