Hué Cafe

Great tasting phở. The broth was made well and wasn’t overly oily or salty. I tried the rare beef which I found to be a good cut of beef and not super fatty like what some other places serve up. If you like Vietnamese subs, I’d recommend trying one here as you won’t be disappointed.
The décor is unpretentious and simple but clean. If you were to walk or drive by you may be tempted to just move on based on the looks. However, you’d be passing up a pretty good phở joint in Richmond.

From the outside, it didn’t make me want to come in. From the inside, it didn’t make me want to stay for too long. But from the food, I wanted to stay and come back for more!
Just off the busy No. 3 road, there is a little «mall strip» where this hidden family run phở café exists. The menu is selective so making a choice shouldn’t be too overwhelming and the chalk board menu shows pretty much the same items.
I came here for the Bahn Mi. There aren’t that many Phở places that serve bahn mi in Richmond, so when I found out this place had some good ones, I couldn’t pass up that opportunity.
On the weekend they have a special for the bahn mi… Buy 5 and get one FREE! So round up some friends and share! Or be like me and eat all 6! hahaha
Okay, now for what you’ve been waiting for — my bahn mi story! First off, the french baguette was really fresh, warm, crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. You know it’s always good when you take the first bite and you see a pile of white crusty bread crumbs on the table. Excuse my mess! The grilled pork I ordered was warm and juicy with lots of sweet, savoury flavour. It was really too bad that there wasn’t more pork in the sandwich because it was delicious. The thinly sliced carrots and radish were refreshing and had all the yummy pickled, crunchy goodness. And my favourite part, the fresh cilantro… I love cilantro. Everything about this bahn mi was bite after bite delicious!
The summer roll was really good too! Big, fresh shrimp. Crunchy bean sprouts. Tender noodles. All wrapped up in a well-​textured rice noodle skin wrap. The peanut sauce was really good too, not overly sweet and had bits of real peanut in it.
Next time I’m back I’ll try out their phở, but I’ll always have room for their banh mi!

I have visited this restaurant several times now and can’t wait to go back.
At first look, it’s very sketchy hole-​in-​a-​wall type of restaurant. The restaurant is very small, with the menu board on the wall.
First time, I tried the Banh-​mi and I was hooked. This is one of the best Banh-​mi I have tried outside of Vietnam.
Second time, I tried the phở noodles and again, it was very good. The broth was extremely flavourful.
Third time, I tried the crab noodle soup. I was speechless when the owner put it down in front of me. That smell of crab from the broth was intoxicating.
Overall, this café provides delicious vietnamese food. I give it 4 stars, food is excellent, but the décor is a bit lacking.

ice coffee passes the test! ;)

They have later hours during the summer. Got there at 7pm on a thursday and they were open still. Good food and a nice little restaurant. Had the shrimp salad roll, crab phở, and chicken curry. Was very satisfied with the food. Felt very homey.

Must try the Shrimp salad rolls! they are huge and tasted great! The banh mi was not great at all. As a vietnamese, this did not taste like a traditional vietnamese sub. Big thing that was lacking was pâté and very little shaved carrots. Not sure why there is beam sprouts in the sub

I needed a Vietnamese fix, and the place we originally went to was closed, as the people running that place were on a month long vacation so the Unilocal app led me here. My partner, she was hesitant, as she used the words sketchy, and the pause of silence went through the car, I slowly handed the phone to her to read the reviews. Her fears were silenced, we parked the car and went in.
As for décor, there is not much in here, some cheap wooden Ikea like tables, a blue concrete wall on one side, and if memory serves me, a green one on the other. A bar like area with cash register and a chalkboard hanging above to show the limited menu of what they are serving. You can come in and sit anywhere if you are staying, which we were, and menu’s were provided. You will notice only 2 pages, there is not much here, and I have the belief that if your going to be limited in items on the menu, you better be flippin good, or you better wait for the reviews to pile on in to close your business down. Well, the good thing is that this place does their food good, get rid of the notion that you need a big restaurant, or a place (according to my sweetie) to not look sketchy to be good, as per her review, this place is legit.
Two orders on this day, one was the the spicy beef noodle soup, the other was the pork bahn mi. Let’s start with the phở, it came out, the bowl looked a little small, due to the fact it wasn’t deep, and there seemed to be not enough spciy broth. The one thing I picked out was there was no cesspool of red oil, and it made me think, is this thing going to be spicy, the broth kinda looks like bun bo hue, but it wasn’t but there was enough spicy kick to it (eaten wrong you will give a spicy cough!). The broth was clean, no sense (or headache) of any MSG (magical sprinkled goodness) coming from this spicy liquid. The noodles, they were not breaking apart, cooked al dente, if you can cook phở noodles this way. The bowl came out hot, with some fresh red raw meat on the top. My dear may not like the rawness of the meat, but I was totally fine, as you can see this meat was fresh, unlike all cooked meat, you don’t know how they are masking it. It cooked quite quickly in the hot broth, so if you have fears of this, you may want to mention this to them so you don’t see some fresh red come out to greet you at the table. The basil leaves and the beansprouts looked fresh coming out on a seperate plate.
The pork banh mi was really good too. Came nice and toasty, where you can hear the crackle of the outside of the bread, and the shattering of the crumbs on every bite. Bread was the right size, and the stuff packed into it was right, not too much meat, not vegetables to sway the flavour one way or another. For $ 4, it’s not bad, I can’t think of anywhere else, right now, in Richmond I would come to get Banh Mi.
A place I would come back to, yes, and knowing that they have a limited menu so you really don’t have to think much on what your getting sometimes is a great help. The parking situation is really the problem here, as I see most spots are marked for other buisnesses. It’s a good place for a casual meal, so if your craving for Viet, put this one on your list.

I can’t agree with Karen R. more that this place looks very sketchy from the outside, but I must say the food here is legit.
My partner and I like how the menu items are very limited. Often times this translates to that the food is specialized — further translates to food being good. And if the food sucked, well, you shouldn’t be in the restaurant business to begin with.
We ordered a spicy beef noodle soup and a pork bahn mi. I thought the spicy beef noodle soup was bun bo hue but I was dead wrong. The bowl came with regular phở at the bottom and thinly sliced raw beef on top with some small bits of meat balls. And Karen R. is bang on, the bean sprouts were very fresh, so were the basil leaves.
The soup base was clean with a good amount of heat and full of flavor — none of that instant soup base powder garbage loaded with MSG. The phở noodles were al dente, I know, that’s impressive. It had a great chew and bounce. The beef slices were fresh and tender.
The pork bahn mi was delicious too. The bread was fresh, toasty and crunchy on the outside and savory on the inside without being salty. The carrots, cilantro, and the pork all seemed very balanced.
This is a great place for a quick sit down snack/​meal or a grab and go. If you are coming in large groups consider yourself given the heads up that this place doesn’t seat a lot of people. I’d say 20 approximately. While you wait for your food you can enjoy the green and blue colored brick wall.

It might look sketch on the outside but the inside is really cute and very clean. And Delicious! The beef phở was 6 shades of awesome. The broth was very flavourful and the limes, basil and bean sprouts were extremely fresh and plentiful. For $ 8, it was definitely good bang for your buck.

I’ve been going to hue café for some time now and the food is just great, and you can’t complain about their prices as they’re very reasonable. I recommend their phở, their lemon grass chicken and their shrimp salad roll. These are my favorite.

Located across from Richmond Center, my friend kept insisting that I try the subs here. I told him to go to Au Petite Café on Main St. We both tried each others’ suggestion.
Well, this place has really good bahn mi (vietnamese subs). Very clean interior and a really friendly counterlady (owner?) and staff. My sandwich was delicious! The bread was crusty and warm. The fillings were savoury and fresh. They use a slightly sweet mayo which makes the sub tangy and different from the ones at Au Petite Café. It was a great surprise and I will definitely be back!
Yeah, he was right.