Vivienne's Bistro

My friends and I came here on a weekday evening for dinner. I had made reservations online in advance, but on a weekday, I don't think they are actually necessary.Vivienne's is not your average local Chinese restaurant. It's a trendy and upscale Asian-fusion restaurant serving dishes with a modern twist. While you could easily do family-style at this restaurant, we decided to get individual dishes.My friend ordered the TRIPLE PEPPER CHICKEN (+$18.50) which had bell peppers, I think birds eye peppers, and jalapeño peppers. He picked out half of the jalapeños because it ended up being too much for him, but he liked the dish overall. My other friend ordered the PUMPKIN CURRY WITH CHICKEN (+$20) which honestly looked like any other curry from a Thai restaurant. However, she enjoyed it and didn't have any qualms about it.I ordered the NINE FLAVOR BASIL BEEF (+20) and a side of brown rice. The beef was wonderfully marinated and had strong flavors of basil, soy sauce, peanut, and a tad of sweetness from the hoisin sauce. I'm not sure what all nine flavors were, but it was extremely tasty and honestly tasted more Thai than Chinese. The beef came with sautéed bean sprouts, which I thought added a nice textural contrast to the soft beef.Portions are on the smaller side, but that was to be expected.Service was decent. We had two younger guys as our servers who were friendly and knowledgeable about the menu.Bathrooms are clean. The women's bathroom is quite bright and flashy with patterns of red tiling. Overall, 4/5 for food, 4/5 for service, 4/5 for atmosphere

So, I stopped by this spot early after the pandemic. It was good, but they had kind of a limited menu at the time so I reserved judgment. They have pulled out all the stops now. Incredible happy hour in the elegant (and sometimes very dim) back lounge (half off drinks?? What?? The apps are like $6 a pop?? WHAT??) a delightful and varied food menu, and a competent, friendly, and super cool staff. I've eaten many many things off of the menu and they're all fantastic. Very highly recommended. Come get some tasty drinks and tasty foods.

We had a serviceable lunch. I had hoped for better. I've been wanting to come for dinner to try the duck - and I plan to still do that. Lunch specials were $20 or $22. They come with two small fried dumplings (they called them pot stickers) with no sauce. Also, with the combination lunch, you get a small bowl of corn flower soup. I thought the soup was the best part of the meal. Flavorful and with a great texture. My entree was the mushroom chicken. It had a decent amount of chicken, a few small quartered white mushrooms, and other veg, such as zucchini. Just enough sauce to lightly coat the ingredients. You get a choice of rice, and I got the well cooked brown rice. It was a large portion. However, with no sauce for it, I wasted more than half of the rice. My other got the General Tso's chicken and thought it was pretty good. Honestly, I was expecting a bit more quality for the lunch price point.

Updating my review as the restaurant is now in full swing. We love that Mercer Island now has its own, local, delicious Asian restaurant. We come here at least once a month and every dish is fantastic!

Excellent Excellent Excellent! Food and Service! Not much more one can say in. 5 star review. My niece was visiting from out of town so we had to bring her to Vivienne's for their Forbidden Roast Duck. We also ordered Dong po rou (braised pork belly). Perfection with a Capital "P", Beijing pork chops, garlicky stir fried string beans. We were a party of 5 including my 18 month old grandson.They provided a toddler's bowl, dish and spoon, plus a paper cup with a straw. And of course high chair. So thoughtful of the establishment. Love this restaurant! They also have free 4 hour parking in the building's garage.Restaurant' restrooms are well kept and clean. Tip, if your order the roast duck. Ask the server to provide you with the duck carcass so you can make duck congee (rice porridge ) at home.

Heard a lot about this place and maybe it was over hyped but it didn't deliver for me.We made reservations for 5pm for a group of 8 people + toddler. The place was nice, simple yet sophisticated. However, for our group, we had to share the table with another group...which was a little weird for me....Food wise:Peking duck: duck was tender and meaty. The sauce was on the salty side and the orange slices were on the sweet side. So you got to eat everything to be balance - not bad though.Fried pork belly - this one was good too, like the texture and not sure what breading they use but it has a nice flavor.Lamb chops - cooked well and flavor was good.Squid ink fried rice - eh. Very cheesy, not fried but more like sticky rice texture, barely any bacon or onions.Baby bok choy --- super cheap presentation for high price and it was standard.Honey walnut prawns - standardBasil beef - standardFor all 7 dishes + tax + automatic gratuity, it was $300+I think the food overall was ok, some were better than others, but for the price tag, it wasn't worth it. You can easily get some most of these dishes elsewhere for a fraction of the price and it would taste the same...Overall, it was good to try once but probably not coming back

One of the best Asian fusion/Chinese restaurants in seattle I've been to! Great ambiance, service, and food! I love how their menu has pictures and so many options! Their happy hour menu is great too! I recommend the lollipop chicken wings! I'd come back!

Come down and ask for Mickey to be your server! First time to this restaurant and the food did not disappoint! We ordered their cucumber salad to start and the flavors were off the chart! If you like Din Tai Fung's cucumber salad, you would kill for this one! It has cucumbers and wood-ear mushrooms. Our main dishes were the duck and braised pork belly. Both were traditionally prepared, but the flavors were to die for! It wasn't enough so we also grabbed the crispy pork belly. The crispy pork belly was cut this and deep fried. Personally, I would have added salt and pepper for a better flavor or something for a kick, but it was still delicious. For dessert we had their mango crème brûlée and tiramisu. The tiramisu I thought was going to be like any other and I really was not excited to try it. Their tiramisu is more like a mousse and it was awesome! Of course the mango crème brûlée was something I wanted more of as well! Not only do I recommend this restaurant, I will add this to my list of favorites and go tos! Oh! And for a vegetable, Mickey recommends the pea vine. This was not disappointing at all! It looks like a normal vegetable thrown on a plate, but it had like a dashi flavor taste to it. We ate through everything!

Best Peking duck (called Forbidden Roast Duck here) in greater Seattle! The caramelized lemon slices are excellent! Pricey but have a handful of stellar 5* dishes, many very good and remaining comparable to decent Chinese restaurants. Dishes are generous & shareable so a nice place to come with groups. Large parties have an automatic 20% charge on the bill. Reservations recommended because sometimes very busy (and sometimes super empty)Favorite Dishes 1. Sizzling Rice Soup w/ Seafood enough for 4 bowls $20. 5*2. Forbidden Roast Duck whole Peking duck with excellent caramelized lemon slices and bao buns $56. 5*. Extra 4 buns $6 Extra Lemon $33. Slow Braised Beef Shoet Ribssuper tender & flavorful $46 5*4. Dong Po Rau (slow braised pork belly)melt in your mouth tender $28 5*5. Cucumber Salad $12.50 5*Also like to order!1. Fish Fillet w/ Ginger & Onion $20 2. Nine Flavor Basil Beef $203. Salt & Pepper Prawns $15.504. Honey Walnut Prawnslike to ask for 1/2 the dressing $205. Okra Eggplant $186. Sauté Seasonal Vegetables with Garlic great variety of veg $13.507. Vivi's Jujube Tea $8Wished it be better...1. Squid Ink Baked Rice (soft rice) $23 2. Kalbi Short Ribs (but chewy) $18.503. Radish Cake (want more seasoning) $12.50Lunch SpecialsM-F 11-3pm $181 small entree, soup, fried rice, potstickers or veg croquettes is okServicethumbs upParkingfree in the building with the entrance on the south side. Then walk through the 2 sets of doors through the lobby out to the street side and entrance to the restaurant will be on the right. Located-on 76th Ave in the same building as Mud Bay

DuuuuuuuucccckkkkkkkOh the duck! So we've been patrons at peony and had to try Vivian's when the chef started this place and oh boy is it worth it! We came here for our anniversary cuz what better way to say I love you then a whole duck!! Let's talk food Forbidden duck 5/5 SPECTACULAR!! I love how well the duck is cooked, luscious, glistening perfectly rendered duck and the buns are so soft and hug the duck and it's juices so well, add those brûléed lemon slices people, thank me later Master Chef Noodle 5/5 some of the best noodles I've had eveeeeer. Now I know I'm gonna eat as much duck as possible and still I couldn't help but go back to this noodle dish, perfectly made and cooked noodles Lollipop chicken wings 3/5 this was perfectly fine but was so outshone by the other dishes in flavorLet's talk decor, the place is a definite date spot love the ambience! Great decor and location is great, parking in the same building. You can't ask for more but waitLet's talk service: the attention to detail and how attentive service was is impeccable. Love love love