Such an authentic spot! I came here after hearing from many friends how great it was and I'm so…read moreglad I gave it a try. I went with 3 other people and we ordered the bun rieu, the bun dau mam tom for 2, and the canh bun to share and there was more than enough food to go around. The bun rieu was delicious and the broth was some of the best I've had. I loved that they had all the fix ins like the pork patty, the banana flower, the shredded red and green cabbage. We also added snails to ours and even though I was skeptical at first, I was proven wrong. It was a great addition and really added a nice texture to the dish. (9/10) The canh bun was also great. It's basically like banh canh but with water spinach. The broth was very flavorful and I liked how the noodles were a medium thickness. (8.5/10) The bun dau was super yummy as well. It came with tofu, sliced boiled prok belly, 2 different types of hot and fresh fish cakes, rice noodles, cucumbers, a variation of greens and herbs, and rice paper. We also opted for the shrimp paste and pineapple sauce rather than the fish sauce tho both are tasty. It was like making spring rolls but just with different proteins. I loved the freshness of the ingredients and the generous portions. (9/10) The atmosphere is casual and the smells of fish sauce and shrimp paste are very potent/ pungent throughout, but don't be fooled they taste so much better than it smells. The service is also quick and the staff is very friendly. I will definitely be back!

Had such a satisfying Vietnamese meal today! The bún đậu mắm tôm was beautifully put…read moretogether--crispy golden tofu, flavorful pork slices, and perfectly fried patties, all paired with fresh herbs, cucumber, and soft vermicelli. The mắm tôm dipping sauce had that bold, authentic kick that really brought everything together. The bún riêu ốc was just as impressive--light yet deeply flavorful broth with a rich tomato base, tender snails, and a nice balance of tangy and savory. Adding the fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime made every bite even better. Everything tasted fresh, well-prepared, and comforting. A great spot if you're craving authentic Vietnamese flavors done right. Definitely coming back for this combo again! Hôm nay mình có một bữa ăn Việt Nam rất ngon và trọn vẹn! Bún đậu mắm tôm được trình bày rất đẹp--đậu hũ chiên vàng giòn, thịt luộc thơm, chả chiên đậm đà, ăn kèm với rau sống tươi, dưa leo và bún mềm. Mắm tôm pha rất vừa miệng, đậm đà và chuẩn vị, làm cho mọi thứ hòa quyện hoàn hảo. Bún riêu ốc cũng rất ấn tượng--nước dùng thanh nhưng đậm vị, có vị chua nhẹ của cà chua, ốc dai ngon, ăn kèm rau sống và thêm chút chanh là càng dậy vị. Mọi thứ đều tươi ngon, chuẩn vị và rất "comforting". Một địa điểm tuyệt vời nếu bạn muốn thưởng thức ẩm thực Việt Nam đúng điệu. Chắc chắn sẽ quay lại!

I was intrigued by the article in Houstonia magazine and wanted to come check it out. I fell in…read morelove with Bún Chả Cá Fish Noodle Soup. I have read about the origin of Đà Nẵng specialty. The restaurant employees were friendly and spoke fluent English. It makes ordering at ease. I only waited for about 10 minutes. I also love the nước mát lá dứa Artichoke Tea. It's lightly sweetened and refreshing. It has great flavor from pandan and retained the color of artichoke. Another reason being here, I wanted to try the freshly made Bánh Bôt Loc Vietnamese dumplings. They were tiny compared to those I found at grocery stores. I asked the manager if I could order ones without pork. He said no, they were premade. I was pretty stuffed after eating half of the banh mi sandwich and dumplings. I had to get an order of Bún Chả Cá Fish Noodle Soup for dinner. I enjoyed it at home after heating up the soup on the stove. Then, pour it over the noodle bowl with the vegetables. The parking lot was full on this side of the Ha Oanh Plaza, where Bún Bò Huế Đức Chương Midnite is located. But the restaurant was not quite filled halfway. That was a good thing because I got served quickly. There are many tables that can be rearranged. That makes it easy to bring a group of hungry foodie friends to try the lighter side of Vietnamese noodles. Yeah, I will be back. https://www.houstoniamag.com/eat-and-drink/2016/09/our-latest-obsession-bun-cha-ca-da-nang

This place is known for their fish cakes and they were definitely good. The appetizers were good…read morebut I thought the main dishes we got were okay. The vibe is nice, but our group ran out of water and had to wait a while to get water refilled.

We always get their dry Migo or Miga. Very flavorful and I also like their bowl of pork bones…read more Service is quick and efficient.

Well... this place gave me emotional whiplash…read more Let's start with the food. Hu Tieu Go - 1/5 This soup was so light that I kept wondering if someone forgot to invite the flavor. The broth was almost... philosophically bland. The meat was dry and tasted like it had already given up on life. The noodles had no personality either. There was a tiny hint of savory flavor hiding somewhere in the bowl, but it was playing an excellent game of hide-and-seek. Beef Stew - 5/5 Now THIS... this was made by a completely different person. Seriously, did the beef stew chef take the day off from another restaurant and secretly cook only this dish? Rich, savory, slightly sweet, a little tangy, incredibly balanced. The beef practically melted apart with a spoon. The carrots were perfectly cooked, and the tomato-based sauce was absolutely addictive. Whoever made this deserves a raise. Whoever made my noodle soup... maybe they should apprentice under the beef stew chef. Vietnamese Corn - 3/5 A simple bowl of corn cooked with crispy pork skin and tiny dried shrimp. It reminded me of comfort food--kind of like fried rice flavors without the rice. It was unique and enjoyable, but also something I feel like I could recreate at home without too much trouble. Not bad, just not unforgettable. Service - 2/5 We stood at the entrance for quite a while before anyone acknowledged us. Our server seemed much more focused on finishing her own dinner first. Maybe 6:30 PM was her dinner break... I get it, everyone needs to eat. We just weren't sure if we were supposed to wait or seat ourselves. Atmosphere - 1/5 The restaurant felt pretty cramped. Small tables, small chairs, and once a few groups came in, it felt packed very quickly. The reusable chopsticks and spoons caught my attention. Maybe they're trying to be environmentally friendly, which I can appreciate. The restroom, unfortunately, was the low point. Rust stains on the fixtures, a broken toilet paper dispenser with the roll sitting outside, and the whole place just felt poorly maintained. Maybe the previous customer was especially messy, maybe it wasn't cleaned recently--but either way, it didn't leave a great impression. Would I come back? Honestly... probably only for the beef stew, and I'd order it to go. The beef stew is absolutely worth another visit. Dining inside? Probably not.

I just love coming to Houston in the Bel-Air area because if you're a fan of Vietnamese Banh Mi,…read morethere's so many to choose from and I was not disappointed, but surprised. I read the online reviews and some were not good and some were decent, but I am really surprised how fresh all the ingredients are. Very, very clean, interior restaurant, bright, colorful menu, and what I really like about the Banh Mi is how fresh all the. From the pickled carrots and the daikon to the extra cucumbers they gave it was really nice and pickled. The bread tasted like the same exact bread from alpha bakery inside Hong Kong supermarket it tasted almost identical, which is a good thing because it's a longer wider meteor loaf of bread and you can definitely taste the pate and the mayo on both sandwiches I ordered. Generous amount of cold cuts I mean, each bite was just full of meat fresh tender, cold, cut meats and the grilled pork they could've added a little bit more, but in my opinion, it was a good amount. It didn't put it over the top, which would've been even better, but it was a good amount right amount of grilled pork. generous amount of jalapeños and cilantro and one mix altogether it's just a great bite. You'll see that I added my own red onions. I like that additional funk of red onion flavor on my personal sandwich, but it doesn't come with it. Price point was a little bit more expensive than your standard banh mi I would assume it felt like maybe an additional 15 to 20% more but it's nice to try something new. The Vietnamese coffee tasted exactly what I would expect nuclear and sugary by drinking a stick of dynamite. The iced sugarcane could've been better you know less ice in my opinion and it was a little too sweet. Overall great experience and I will come again.

Been here twice now and haven't had a chance to try the food. I quite enjoyed my passion fruit…read moresmoothie with tapioca, it kinda fills you up like a small meal. The cup is adorable, but I do feel bad about the amount of plastic waste generated by it. $6 felt a little expense for this size, but perhaps that's just the going rate these days.

Have you heard of hole in the walls? This is TRUE to that!…read more When I first walked in, I wasn't sure if I walked in the right place. My friend recommended their sandwiches and said they tend to sell out so I was imagining a full house. But no, I walked into a tiny cafe with freezers and refrigerators lining the walls and a few tables in the middle. There were only three others in the restaurant but it was a Tuesday lunch and raining outside. Apparently they've been around for about 8 years, but we are just visiting them for the first time. The menu has changed a bit, so don't pay attention to the posters on the wall. It's basically just sandwiches and 1 rice plate now. Their $8 special cold cut sandwich is expensive for being on Bellaire but I will say their meat was flavorful and there were a lot of it. I actually didn't finish my sandwich because I was helping my hubs finish his rice place. You can select two different meats for the $15 rice plate. I'm not even sure if my near-adult son could finish the rice plate by himself. Overall, I would highly recommend them and would come again! If you speak Viet, the owner likes to chat.

So I think this is my new favorite banh mi spot in town. Its definitely tucked away in a corner and…read moredoesn't look like much when you enter. There's a small dining space with fridges and freezers lining the restaurant as it seems they also sell a lot of prepared foods for people to fully cook themselves. The staff/owner was super friendly and was happy to help explain what's popular and what options they had. Sadly, they were out of the cold cut combo (dac biet) so my partner and i went for a grilled pork and beef tripe. If you've read any of my other reviews, you'd likely know I love offal meat and to have beef tripe in a banh mi was a whole experience for me. The tripe was well cooked (think dimsum braised style) and they put a nice sauce that is sweet, savory, and spicy on it too. It had fresh veggies and the bread itself was light and crisp. They also are not stingy at all with the meat as both the tripe and grilled pork banh mi were stacked with protein. The grilled pork was also really good, lemon grass, char flavor, and same sauce that was in the beef tripe banh mi as well. They do also offer other plates of food and one person was eating one when we came in and it looked delicious. After having the banh mi here, I can see myself stopping by to pick one up every time I'm in the area. It keeps well and because they were so large, we couldn't finish them but air fryer they came back to life and the bread remained light and crisp. Honestly, super recommend for a very filling, delicious, and affordable meal!

Came here for the 1st time since the new owner took place. The service was awesome. Staff was so…read morefriendly and suggested that I tried the Special PHO. Which comes with free fruit drink per order. The fruit drink was so refreshing and so GOOD. I have to say the PHO was so good and I am glad I tried. I am very seldom give restaurant a 5 stars but this is the one that I believe truly deserves a 5!! Price was right, services awesome and food was very good. Definately come back again.

Love Vietnamese restaurants that specialize in hard to find dishes such as bun mang. The noodle…read moresoup itself is very clean, simple, and comforting. It doesn't have too much of a pungent aroma as I'd usually expect from bamboo. The duck salad is light, refreshing, and plated nicely. The duck was cut in an easy to eat manner which I always appreciate. The ginger fish sauce on the side was delicious. I would've liked more banana flower in the salad personally. The egg rolls here have a unique crispy texture to them which I quite liked thanks to the rice paper wrapping. Came with much more greens than needed! Very affordable place to eat by the way!

Following Chris Shepard's episode of eating around Houston, when I saw this place highlighted, I…read moreknew I had to try it. This place thrives on to go orders, just a no -stop flow of people ordering or picking up Sat down and ordered from the menu. The clay pot catfish, the pineapple soup were all great. The highlight is definitely the spring rolls! It's a must get

I first heard about this via an article by local food journalist, Mai Pham, and, when I saw her…read morephoto of the crispy crunchy banh xeo I knew that it was just a matter of time. Today was the day. Spectacular. Fantastic. Delicious. Everything else was terrific too. Man, DO I EVER LIVE THIS PLACE. I'm already dreaming about my next visit. Umy

Vietnamese Fish Soup at the Purple Palace on Bellaire…read more Yep... I've named this place, The Purple Palace due to their love of purple. Even a purple auto parked outside. Totally cool. A while back, Greenway Coffee had a small coffee shop located on North Main. And it was close to where I live, and I had the opportunity to get to know the people there. One of the young ladies had recommended to me a very interesting Bangladesh grocery store way out west on Bellaire, specializing in all types of fish. well, today was my first opportunity to come and check out Bangla Bazaar. And as luck would have it, I discovered. Bún Mǎm. Some further research into their specialty revealed it to be a southern Vietnam dish, a fish soup. What immediately drew me in was the purple interior. Prince would have loved this place . Because I was solo today, I chose a banh xeo. But I must go back soon for the soup and I will report back with an update. Bun Mam, baby! But with the intention of returning soon to sample their specialty.

Gotta respect this place for the purple theme…read more The tomato crab soup thing was amazing and I would come back again to have it. We were looking to get a variety of dishes but I felt like the other dishes we got tasted like Chinese cuisine knockoffs lol. There was dish with beef and crushed peanuts on top of noodles where the beef was extremely chewy and hard to eat. Even the waitress (maybe owner?) told us we probably wouldn't like the bun mam (but isn't that supposed to be the speciality here? Lol).