Good reviews for this place--with some complaints of course
One man says " I don't know why, but lately I have become addicted to Thai food." He hardly seems alone in that
ViV
36 reviews
Rating Details
138 E 34th St
(between Lexington Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10016
Neighborhoods: Midtown East, Murray Hill, Kips Bay
(212) 213-3317
(between Lexington Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10016
Neighborhoods: Midtown East, Murray Hill, Kips Bay
(212) 213-3317
- Nearest Transit Station:
-
33 St. (4, 6, 6X)28 St. (4, 6, 6X)Grand Central - 42 St. (7, 7X)
- Hours:
- Mon-Thu, Sun 12 pm - 10:30 pmFri-Sat 12 pm - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
- $$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Romantic, Classy
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
36 reviews for ViV
Review Highlights What's this?
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"I've tried Chicken&Shrimp Dumplings many restaurant, VIV by far the..." In 3 reviews -
"Pad Thai has become one of my favorite dishes to eat." In 11 reviews -
"Both portions were huge and served with a bowl of rice." In 3 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
36 reviews in English
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Review from Lisa Y.
Kips Bay, Manhattan, NYAfter getting home from a 10K, I had no desire to cook or even move. So we decided to seamless it.
ViV was offering a 15% off deal on Seamless, so we went with it.
They had really great lunch deals, so we got that. I got the pork pad thai with a salad and Fried Calamari with a side of Crab Rangoon. The girlfriend got... I didn't eat it, so I don't remember. I think she had a curry of some sort.
What I had was great! The Pad Thai was one of the best ones I've ever eaten (I might be biased because I was super hungry). They put cured tofu in it, and I've never had that before. It really brought out the flavors and complimented the dish.
I still dream about the fried calamari. It was perfectly crispy, and the squid itself was tender and flavorful.
The crab rangoon was okay, not amazing, but I think the calamari overshadowed it.
Additionally, we got the Thai Tea, and it was good. Nothing out of the ordinary. The salad was also nothing out of the ordinary as well. The down fall of all asian restaurant salads is that they use the WORST pieces of iceberg lettuces money can buy. Even if the sauce is awesome, the terrible pieces of lettuce can't fit in my mouth/taste terrible.
Yes, I would come back here again, but I'd probably just get rice and the calamari. -
Review from Tarika P.
Bronx, NYDecided to have dinner here with the BF on a whim because their decor and ambiance seemed too pretty to pass up. It was empty for a Saturday night, but we liked that it was more intimate.
Our waitress was really attentive and the food was amazing! The portions were big enough for me & my BF to share and the prices were extremely reasonable. -
Review from Steven L.
Came here with a Living Social deal.
Location is a little far from the 6 train but still walkable.
Came in at 6pm on a Saturday, there was practically no one here, but after 7 it started to fill up.
Ordered a side of Vegetable steamed dumplings, Kao Sao noodles and pad thai.
Order came fast and tasted pretty good. Flavors were all there.
Sat in the tables with benches. This can be pretty uncomfortable without a backrest. Good thing there was no one behind me, or else my back been touching other person's back.
Service is very attentive and waitress would give us new plates after our appetizers were done. Very rarely do I see any restaurants do this anymore.-
Steamed dumplings -
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Review from Richard H.
Sunnyside, NYViV pays attention to detail. And serves the best Thai food I've had in NYC. FWIW, I consider the other best places as that place in Woodside (I can never remember its name) and Joya/Song/National in Brooklyn.
My wife and I have been there three times and tried most of the noodle dishes. They've all been great and at the right spice level (you can probably ask for Thai spicy, too, but I can only handle so much). If you go during the week then there are great drink specials, which usually undo our workout on the way home from the gym. We're vegetarian and a few of the noodle dishes are only served with meat, but I'm sure that those are good, too. You have to love a restaurant with strong convictions on how some meals should be prepared.
OK, the food is great, but so is the atmosphere. Whoever put this place together thought of everything. The tables, fixtures, wall coverings, bar, and kitchen all go together perfectly. The kitchen has a glass wall so you can see, but not hear, the chef work. The AED sign matches the decor. The lady in charge (owner?) hustles to clear empty bottles so as to not detract from the interior. And somehow she remembered my wife's dietary restrictions several weeks after our first visit. I don't know how she does it.
Now I'm on the lookout for any flaw at Viv. No luck, yet. I have no idea why this place has 3.5 stars. I wish I could give it six. -
Review from Divya S.
Bluffton, SCThis place is my new favorite thai restaurant in the city. Not only is the place nice, the food and drinks are very good. We had curry puffs, papaya salad, pad see ew me panang curry with chicken. All had the perfect amount of spice, but beware the papaya salad is super spicy but I couldn't stop eating it! The portions are very generous. All around great place. -
Review from Nissa P.
Brooklyn, NYI love the decor in this place. It's so chic! The food is awesome, and the price is beyond reasonable. Best part- happy hour begins at noon! It really doesn't get much better than that! -
Review from Ariana R.
Manhattan, NYI came here with a friend for their lunch specials.
It was $7.95 for an appetizer and entree with you're choice of chicken, vegetables, or tofu. AND they had $2.50 beers. the total came out to be $13 and some change including tip and tax, who can beat that?!?
I got the spring rolls which were crunchy and good...you're basic spring rolls. And for my entree I got the stir fry vegetables with chicken and a brown sauce (I think it was called the garden delight?) The entree was a bit sweet so I asked for hot sauce (which I never got), but it was a good portion and I ate it all. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, the chicken tasted like it was blanched and then tossed with the the veggies and sauce.
The beer was cold and refreshing, albeit a lighter beer, but on a super hot day it was exactly what I wanted.
Now I would have given them 3 stars but the decor won them the extra star. It's small but very well decorated. They have a lot of details throughout the restaurant and it made me feel like I was at a fancy tea party, not there solely because they had a lunch special and $2 beers. I wished the benches moved though.
Our waitress was also very sweet and attentive.
All in all, I enjoyed myself and would come back again. -
Review from Tony C.
ViV's odd name all makes sense when you see the numerous amount of candles in the restaurant. I guess the V's and I are supposed to represent candles on a candle stick. I was impressed by the interior of ViV. The restaurant looked clean and elegant and the exposed kitchen was a nice touch too.
Each item on the menu is listed with a clever description of the food that is more entertaining than a fortune cookie fortune any day. I was pleasantly amused as I went through each page of the menu. Using a livingsocial voucher, we ordered the:
Volcano Chicken ($15.00) - Holy flaming chickens, the chicken is on fire. The waiter sets the hen on fire after he brings it to the table. Luckily the fire died out before the chicken was burnt. The cornish hen was moist including even the white meat and the zesty thai sauce gave it great flavor. There was a little bitterness from the alcohol used for the fire but it didn't interfere with the dish too much. (8/10)
BBQ Spare Ribs ($15.00) - "We spare no ribs" haha puns...The ribs tasted a lot better than the short description. Viv serves up a huge rack of ribs marinated with different Thai spices and delicious tangy BBQ sauce. ViV doesn't just give you the bone tips of the ribs but they also add on the meaty sternum. The meat fell right of the bone and was full of flavor. The only negatives were that some of the rib parts were burnt. (8.5/10)
Both portions were huge and served with a bowl of rice. I definitely recommend ordering from the "featured" and "attractions" sections of the menu instead of the typical noodle or rice with the choice of "insert meat here." You would definitely get a good idea on the more unique and complex dishes of the restaurants. Great service and lastly they have a nice bathroom too. -
Review from Greg C.
New York, NYGreat quality food and if you like really spicy food ask for authentic Thai style Grade A -
Review from Amrisa N.
New York, NYThis is a really good spot for lunch if you work in Murray Hill. They have a lunch special that comes with a starter and meal for $8 and beer for $2.50 right now! I have sit down lunches ther e often. Their staff is friendly (if curt), but lunch is about $12 after tax and tip. It's also super yummy, and usually you get seated right away. A must. -
Review from Ayesha M.
Ronkonkoma, NYI came here on a living social deal only because their 9th avenue location was soooooo superb. The decor is very elegant and once 5 pm hits they dim the lights for the evening ambiance and the restaurant is very clean.
Appetizer - beef ribs were a lil bit too salty but good and the meat falls off the bone with ease.
entree - Beef with Jasmine rice and a little bit of veggies.... My steak was cooked too long and it was a bit dry.
I would return on a deal and just inform them next time about what I didn't like.
Waitress was super friendly and attentive.
I would suggest going to VIV on 9 avenue because their location was great no problems at all with the food and their decor is more of a night club atmosphere very nice for a date night for the younger crowd. I'd suggest the 34 street location for the more older / sophisticated crowd. -
Review from Stephen S.
Manhattan, NYThe flavors were good, but they use cheap bad quality beef that was not fresh and it was rubbery. The shrimp in the shrimp dish was better but the shrimp had no flavor.
I can not comment on the chicken or other proteins we had only beef and
shrimp
It's too bad because this place has the right idea with the menu and put alot of
creativity into the descriptions on the menu. Too bad, yet one more Murray
Hill Thai restaurant that is not good. If they stepped up the quality of their
beef and shrimp they would get 4.5 stars from me. -
Review from Natasha C.
OZONE PARK, NYWent here for a girls night out. I started off with a Vulcan cocktail which was vodka, lime & pear juice - delish. We shared the fried chicken dumplings which were awesome! I had the chicken pad thai and ate the whole thing. It was really tasty, had nice peanut flavor but not too much, the noodles were cooked well, and it was the perfect portion. The chicken was a LITTLE dry but the sauce and noodles made up for it. I tried the fried green tea ice cream and the fried cheesecake - both were tasty but I preferred the fried cheesecake. The ice cream outer layer was a little doughy and tasted a little weird - probably from the liquid fire they pour over it.
Overall the food was really good but the service kind of sucked (hence the three stars). What good is having really nice food without great service? They just moved like molasses and I felt like we waited a long time for everything.
On the fence if I would go again or not - If you do go you wont be disappointed by the food! -
Review from Ann P.
New York, NYThe decor really caught my eye so I decided to check it out today for lunch and really wanted to love it.. But I don't.
The open kitchen idea is nice. Can't say much about the food because I came here alone and had the basil fried rice with spring rolls - pretty basic, can't really mess it up. I noticed that all the appetizers that come with the lunch special are fried. Not that I'm a health nut or anything, but for those who are can either pay more for a salad/soup or opt out of the appetizer altogether.
I don't like to write negative reviews, but there was one thing that really irked me about v{iv}. I asked the waitress for hot tea and she began to recite the different tea options. I got the impression that they would charge me extra for the tea, so I asked her and she gave me the stank face, shook her head, and began reciting the tea menu again. So I asked her again and again, wording it differently each time and, still, I got the stank face. I tried to mask my frustration with a smile and told her nevermind. She left and came back to take my food order.
I realized that her English was limited so I made it a point to point to what I was ordering - Thai Basil Fried Rice with pork. The Thai Basil Fried Rice is right below the Thai Fried Rice so it could be confusing. Considerate as I am, I left out the "Thai" in Thai Basil Fried Rice and repeated my order twice. She didn't have a pen and pad, but nodded her head - no stank face this time - and went to punch in the order. A few moments later she comes back to make sure I'd ordered the Thai Fried Rice and not the Thai Basil Fried Rice. Wrong answer, my dude.
As a disclaimer, I'm normally not a huge snob about the quality of service (especially so at Asian restaurants), but they didn't even have a manager or another server who could come to the aid. In this case, it was just hot tea. But what if someone had a food allergy and wanted to ask a question about that.... but couldn't be understood. Then what? I mean, thank God, they're only 2 blocks away from NYU Medical.
All in all, the food was fine, it's pleasant to be inside, the bathrooms are nice, but you will feel your IQ dropping a bit and your blood pressure rising before you even dine.
All I really wanted was some tea. :( Gosh. -
Review from Ryan F.
It's not delivery, it's...
....oh wait it was delivery :)
Some friends and I ordered in from ViV for the Boardwalk Empire season finale and split three apps and three entrees right down the middle:
- Crab Rangoon (2 orders, 5 per order) - Nice and cheesy with tasty sweet chili sauce, but a bit small for the $7 price tag.
- Chicken & Shrimp dumplings (steamed, 5 per order) - Also tasty, but unfortunately, also small for $7. I asked for a sixth one so the three of us could split evenly and he happily obliged, at no extra cost...thanks!
(Side note - we wanted the crispy calamari but they ran out.) Now for the entrees:
- Pad See-Eiw (ordered w/ chicken) - Flat rice noodles w/ chili sauce, onions, fresh basil, egg, and scallions. The noodles were delicious, the dish had just the right kick, and this was definitely my favorite of the three!
- Pad Thai (w/ pork) - Traditional thin noodles stir fried w/ carrots, bean sprouts, egg, and crushed peanut. Good as a noodle dish, but not nearly as hearty as the other two - pork and accompanying veggies were scarce.
- Cashew king - A light stir-fry served with cashews (duh), onions, scallions, bell peppers, pineapple, and carrots. Choose chicken, pork, veggie or tofu for free - anything other meats (or extra portions) are additional. I really enjoyed this hearty dish, and it wasn't too saucy that you couldn't taste the chicken and veggies.
...Entrees ran us between $12-$14, but the portions were HUGE, especially when compared to the puny appetizers that cost half (or more than half) of our entrees! The gentleman fielding the phone orders was extremely friendly and was quick to answer questions and make recommendations without barking into the phone like most other places tend to do. -
Review from Shaina B.
Lately, I have become obsessed with Thai food! Pad Thai has become one of my favorite dishes to eat! When I walked into this restaurant, I felt like I was in an episode of "Sex and the City" where I was entering one of those exclusive nightclubs because there was a shade blocking the entrance to the seating area. The staff were all dressed in black, and the restaurant was very modern. Kind of like we hit a fast forward button and this is the future!
I am not going to lie, the service sucked! One waitress barely spoke English and didn't understand what you asked her, and the others were slow with everything they did. Getting a glass of water took 15 minutes for them to do...Unacceptable!
The pad Thai here is some of the best I've ever tasted! Since I am not a big fan of peanut sauce, I requested to not have any and even without the sauce, it was excellent! I also got some rice with shrimp in it which was SO GOOD!
Prices are expensive in here, but I expected that! Just make sure that you are willing to spend the money first! Is this place worth it? I think the food was great but if you want to go on a date, I feel like there are so many better places in the city!
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