Restaurant Review: Vuji Café

As recently as the end of June, Vuji Café opened its doors to the public at their location on 18th Street in the Heights. The founders, Ian So and Tristan Nguyen, opened this Houston-based sandwich shop with the collective goal of sharing the flavors from their cultures with a wider audience. Originally focused on the banh mi, their passion for food and experiences traveling in Asia inspired them to go further, developing a full menu of Asian fusion sandwiches with chef Kevin Villanueva. The owners have expressed their desire to provide a positive experience to Houstonians by making food that is just as Instagramable as it is tasty, but let’s see just how well they have accomplished their goal.

Experience & Ambience

This is a sandwich shop and café with a significant amount of natural light coming from the floor to ceiling wall of windows by the entrance. Plenty of potted plants adorn the interior space, pairing with the deep green tiled wall behind the counter and accenting green chairs around natural wood toned tables. These elements combine quite well to create an open and natural feeling atmosphere in the restaurant that is especially enjoyable on sunny days. The seating options are an odd mix of styles including a few tables and chairs, a couple cushier arm chairs, and a longer bench against one wall, which is adorned by a number of smaller Japanese style floor tables. While these smaller side tables contribute to the space aesthetically, they seem somewhat cumbersome to eat at and may not be the favorite choice of an American audience.

Since Vuji Café is a counter service restaurant, you should place your order at the prominent counter straight ahead from the entrance. You will be given a number, which will be called when the food is ready. Until then, you may take your pick of the open tables. Down the path on the leftward side of the restaurant you will find napkins, cups and a self-serve pitcher of water. Once your order is ready, they will call your number and you can pick up your food from the counter. Each sandwich comes wrapped in wax paper, sliced in half, and served in a wooden steam basket. Their presentation is simple, but visually quite appealing, and helps them to stand out from other sandwich shops.

Prices & Rating

While the ingredients used in their sandwiches are above average, and the flavors do work very well together, the price to portion ratio is somewhat low compared to other options in the area. A customer who shows up with a larger appetite may not end up feeling particularly full from a single sandwich, and for an average price of 11 to 13 dollars excluding tax and tip, I would usually expect something more substantial. Especially with the Negitoro Tuna option running for nearly $20, customers may feel that the smaller sized sandwiches do not justify the price. I will grant that with this dish in particular, they are using high quality ingredients such as salmon roe and sushi grade tuna which is the reason for the increased price. Coffee and other drinks make up the second half of their menu items, and all cost between $4.50 and $5.50.

Aside from the relatively expensive pricing, the overall quality and flavor of the dishes were great. If you compare this to a small plates establishment, it is a great location to find more unique flavor combinations with the expectation that they will cost a bit more. As a sandwich shop, there are certainly other places where you can acquire a much more substantial sandwich at a similar price. Considering the other factors that the restaurant has going for it, I would still grant it my recommendation. While I did not feel that the prices were so high as to feel out of place, it was worth mentioning that the sandwiches are on the small side. The atmosphere, the presentation, and the flavors of the food were all well executed, so I would definitely say it is worth a visit.

What To Order?

There are a variety of options for different “Sandos” on the menu, but some of the best are the Bulgogi Ribeye which features bulgogi beef, grilled corn, kimchi, cilantro, and cheese or the Hainan Chicken which is cooked in a savory ginger and scallion sauce. Both of these options had a surprising depth of flavor and are somewhat outside the range of sandwiches that you can normally find elsewhere, making them solid options to choose. The Tom Yum Tofu is a vegetarian option consisting of tofu tossed with lemongrass and their tom yum sauce, crispy shallots, and a Japanese cracker to add more texture. The Negitoro Tuna is a fancier option, although the $20 price tag is hard to justify, it comes with sushi grade tuna, scallions, tempura seaweed chips, yuzu truffle oil, and salmon roe, which makes for a visually stunning sandwich.

A couple more traditional options are also listed such as the Dac Biet which is packed with Vietnamese bacon, ham, cheese, pate, and pickled papaya salad. While I wouldn’t personally order the Century Egg Sando, those who enjoy the fermented eggs may also like this sandwich that pairs them with yuzu avocado mash and salted duck eggs.

The final two dishes are more oriented towards kids, with the classic Grilled Cheese and finally a sweet Ube Pandan option with marshmallow fluff and a Japanese cookie wafer. This wouldn’t be the dish that I would order, but I can see how this colorful dessert sandwich would be very appealing to a child in search of a sugary snack.

Lastly, an assortment of uncommon beverages are available from the menu. The Honey Yuzu Seltzer is a great option for a refresher with its citrusy flavor and nice aromatics. If you are interested in branching out even further, they have a Salted Plum Limeade or a variety of interesting cold brew mixes including Calamansi, Durian, Coconut, or Pandan Coffee. Some of these uncommon drinks are not intended for all audiences, but for those of us that are a bit less adventurous, standards like the Thai Iced Tea and Vietnamese Iced Coffee are also offered.