Bun Bo Hue Quan Ngon Vietnamese Noodle House

Not bad. but not the best either…
I got the 5spice chicken with rice. and the chicken was a bit over cooked… the fish sauce didn’t help much but it was decent overall… It was a bit pricey for the rice and chicken… my friends brother ordered five spice chicken with the garlic noodles which was about the same price but it was a lot more food and looked pretty good too… My friend got a beef phở… look meh… im not a big fan of northern phở… but the meatball was good…

That is exactly how i would describe my experience here, «Eek! Methinks not».
A Bun Bo Hue place in the sunset and not having to drive all the way to the TL was a dream come true… NOT!
I’ve been here a hand full of times and the past few times i blame solely myself. «Fool me once, shame on you. Full me twice, shame on me».
So why the one star? If you advertise this as a Vietnamese restaurant then I’m assuming you understand the menu and know what I’m talking about. First time dining here i knew it was a sign when the waitress didn’t understand me when i said i wanted a CAFE SU DA. seriously it’s the only coffee beverage on the menu. café. coffee. ring a bell? And when i ordered again in Vietnamese she had no clue what i was saying but instead referring to the # on the menu.
But that isn’t why I’m rating it so low. it’s because honestly the food does not stand par to a authentic Vietnamese food. The Bun Bo Hue is the reason why I went here and the broth here is so bland. Mixture of water and stinky feet. We had to ask the server to bring us a bowl of lime so we can add flavor along with some fish sauce but that was a fail success! I had other items like that rice plates and there mehhhhh ok. Everything seems so imitation. nothing close to places in the TL or let along San Jose.
Its close to the sunset, but i rather drive the extra mile to get some legit Bun Bo Hue.
FYI= once you step foot in here you will walk out smelling like the food. It doesn’t seem like they have a vent system going on. The place is small and the kitchen is literally within reach from your table so prepare stink!

I came here with my bf on a Wednesday night. The place had a few other people eating here so I was like, «Yay, it isn’t dead here.»
I gave this place 4 stars mainly for the dish I ordered: Chef Special BBQ pork with garlic noodles. Yummy! The BBQ pork was thinly (but not to thin) sliced and not fatty like other restaurants I’ve been to. I swear, sometimes the pork at other restaurants resembles bacon by how much fat in with the meat. The noodles come with diced real pieces of garlic along with white slices of onion and some tasty garlic powder looking spice mixed in it.
My bf order #17? or #19? It’s the beef noodle soup with beef balls and slices of beef. Apparently they serve it the more authentic version? The soup only came with lime and green peppers/​jalapenos on the side and no been sprouts. The noodles were the flat rice noodle type too. He said the it was more flavorful than the usual phở places and since I didin’t taste it, I’ll take his word on it. Oh, but he did agree my garlic noodles were yummy. ^^
Not a cheap place to eat but not expensive. All together it was about $ 16 for both our meals w/​o including tip.
I don’t know about other people, but service was fine. We were seated, immediately served tea, got our order taken promptly, and received our orders in good time. Yes, I admit it wasn’t crowded but from past experience, that doesn’t always guarantee good service. No loud joking or impolite behavior. Maybe it was because we went later on in the night?
I’ll be coming back here again to try out the chicken garlic noodles.

Is this really the name of the place?!
This place has random things. No #1 though, the rare beef, rare tendon, etc etc. And they always have this trance/​techno music playing. I dont like that part. they have some italian, thai, dishes too.

My family does not go out of its way to Vietnamese restaurants but when we meet up with friends, there is that rare occasion that we will. So during this winter break, a couple of family friends gathered here for lunch. It was not my first time but I knew what not to expect.
I think my mom might have sent some wrong signals since the waiter kept trying to take the order but my mom insisted to wait until all were present at the table. What I thought was funny is that the waiter couldn’t understand Vietnamese, when I thought the place was pretty authentic. Guess not 100%…
We ordered the set «dinner for 10» for lunch which was plenty. Ironically, the dish I liked the most was one ordered in addition to the «set». Although I don’t know what it’s called, it was a very flavorful chicken dish itself. One of the starting dishes is a raw meat plate with peanuts and a vinegar sauce. It was different eating raw meat itself and I just thought of it as Vietnamese sashimi. The spicy soup was pretty good too, although it was hard to finish the bowl as food came out one after another pretty quickly. I also liked the pork in one of the set dishes.
We sat around for 2+ hours but no one came in that needed the table. There are only two round tables for groups of over 4 people. I think we occupied enough time for them to give us a complimentary fried banana with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Good gesture, but I’m not a fan of bananas in general (but I’m not complaining about the offer). Will return with others when I have the chance and craving something other than phở.

Whenever my friend has the opportunity, he’ll pick this place. He absolutely loves the Northern Vietnamese phở here.
Personally, I’m not too fond of the broth. Herby and less flavorful. Not too fond of the thicker noodles either. Too starchy.
What I do like is their Five Spice Chicken Garlic Noodles! The chicken with its crispy skin and succulent juicy flavorful meat, on top of a heaping pile of garlic noodles. Yummmmy! =D

Stopped in BBHQNVNH (seriously… is that the name?) today after the Woodstock festival at Golden Gate park because I was cravin’ some Bun Bo Hue. It did not disappoint. I thought it was a tasty version that I’d go back for.
Unfortunately, the Phở had the North Vietnam noodles which are thicker than ‘traditional’ Phở noodles which we prefer. I don’t mind that occasionally but prefer S. Vietnamese noodles most often. That being said, the broth and meat was still good and the nice waiter boy explained the differences in N and S Vietnam styles to us well so… round up to 4 stars. I think people are being too hard on this lil restaurant.
Cool décor inside and friendly service too. Love the umbrellas on the ceiling.
See ya there!

for their bun bo hue, it’s AVERAGE. but i’m not gonna rate about that. my rating is mostly based on their phở and garlic noodles.
their phở is just like the place on noriega and 33^rd-​ish, across from ABC and i love it. but their GARLIC NOODLES with pork or chicken is the besttt. I LOVE THE GARLIC. this is the only place that has it and thats what the 4 stars are for.

I love this place — cheap, good, and close to bf’s house. What more can an Asian girl ask for when she’s craving some spicy broth.
I always order the Spicy Beef & Pork Noodle Soup (Bun Bo Hue). It comes with bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, jalapenos, and mint leaves. I everything in except the leaves since I LOVE veggies.
The bf always order the garlic noodles. You get a plate of oily garlic noodles with beef in front of you, stare at the oil, take a bite, and proceed to eat. SO F — KING DELICIOUS. I’m in garlic heaven.
2 people + 2 orders = 4 meals. Why? Because we are not big eaters so we eat half for dinner and save half for our lazy Sunday morning brunch. You know those days where you wake up and just want to watch the game without wanting to go out to get food. Or maybe it’s because we’re cheap Asians.

Soup was average, but I do recommend the dry noodles, spring, and summer rolls like in the pictures. If you’re looking for good noodle soup, you will probably be more satisfied eslewhere. The broth is oily and the beef has a different texture than other places that serve the same dishes.
If I were to stop by again, I’m definitely ordering a rice-​noodle dish –perhaps the one with chicken and spring rolls over cold veggies and rice-​noodles.

Ok chumps I’m making this one short and sweet.
You come here for either the Mi Xao Toi (Garlic Noodle) or the Com Bo Luc Lac (Black Pepper Steak Cubes). The namesake soup of the establishment is pretty good too, ask for it EXTRA spicy. Burning going in, burning coming out!
While out in the Sunset stop in and check it out.

CLOSED — If can’t go to SanJo, this is where I’d go for phở (#11) as it’s consistent, though it is not as salty as I’d prefer (not enough MSG, ey?). Too bad it’s not ideal when sick; the soup may help but the oil and spiciness will kick your cough up a couple of notches.
Most people probably have a problem with the phở because it is norther-​VN style, which uses minced meat and thicker noodles. And the only condiment added is the Sriracha (sp?) hot sauce (no Hoisin sauce required). Having said that, this place has the best version. Dinner is average; good but not go-​out-​of-​your-​way good ITTET*. Bun thit nuong (#27) is average; decent but not as good as PPQ’s.
*In These Tough Economic Times

Bun Bo Hue is one of the greatest, lesser known vietnamese specialties there is! Spicy broth with rice noodles, beef, pork and some other goodies. It’s usually served with a side of shredded cabbage, jalepenos and some herbs.
Unfortunately for me, this place didn’t really deliver for me. Usually when a resturaunt is named after a specific dish, it’s usually great! The broth was a tad bit salty and the beef was chewy.
I can get better Bun Bo Hue back in the East Bay like at Phở King!

After reading some of the other recent reviews, I’m delighted I survived eating here in the first place.
The food wasn’t terrible and there was no reason for us to question the cleanliness of the place.
The only reason it didn’t get more stars was because the broth was on the bland side. Now, I don’t know if it because the flavor is more reminisce of Northern Vietnamese (or is it Southern Vietnamese) but it needed seasoning. The thing is some folks like the lighter, more subtle broth.
The wife thought her noodle dish with grilled pork and egg rolls was also in need of more taste.
At least they’re consistent.
Overall, if I’m really craving near-​by phở, I’m going to Phở 99.

This place is pretty good. Went in on a Sunday evening for dinner. We ordered the imperial rolls and shrimp rolls for appetizers. Both were great, and the sauce for the shrimp rolls were perfect, in my opinion. I like my sauce with more of a peanut taste and that’s exactly how they had it.
Their entrees are great as well and the server was always back to refill our drinks constantly.
The downside is that the place accepts cash only and is pretty small, so I’m sure can get packed pretty quickly.

To be honest, this place is more like 2.5, but I’m rounding up. I’ll let you know how I got to that in a minute.
My friend had to change his oil over at Pennzoil on 19^th and Noriega and when he dropped off his car, we met up with some friends and went out to eat. We decided upon Bun Bo Hue and went inside. Immediately I noticed it was cleaner than the restaurants on Irving. So I went with the Pork and rice dish because I thought if they could fuck up that dish, then they’re not worth my time.
My friend pointed out my judo teacher from seven years ago went there… but we didn’t say hi… just a side track from the main point.
I noticed the place was pretty loud as it was hard to hear my friends from across the table. I wasn’t too happy about that, but then again, the place was smaller than the Vietnamese restaurant I like to go to.
They served the tea in regular tumbler cups… which was odd to me because most restaurants go all out for the tea cups (and some don’t… but at least they were teacups.) That didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the food, though… and it’s just a minor aesthetic thing that really doesn’t distract me from rating places for quality rather than small things. The food, at the time, wasn’t that bad. In fact at the time, I thought it was pretty good. Other than some pieces of pork fat, I was satisfied. I don’t think my friends were all that satisfied, but they’ve been to more restaurants. In fact, one good friend is Vietnamese, so I think he would know his Vietnamese food.
As I walked out, I was ready to give it four stars. And then as the day went on and I didn’t feel so good, I was about to give it three stars… and then as the day went on, it was down to two and a half stars. I needed to get something to drink in order to feel better.
So I don’t know if it was the food per se… it probably was… but I didn’t feel too good afterwards. I don’t know if there will be another experience here, since I’m sure friends will choose Irving for their Vietnamese restaurant outings and I wouldn’t really go to a Vietnamese restaurants without friends since I’d probably pick something differently. But I mean if you’re lazy and this place is closer, maybe you’ll find it better and catch the place on a good day… maybe I will catch it on a good day later… but not anytime soon.
I’d still pick this place over Hanoi Bistro, though… any day.

Two stars is the average for my two experiences with BBHQN which could not have been more diametrically opposite from each other.
First time there last week, ate in house, place was empty but the food was good — fresh, bountiful and zesty, our taste buds danced out happy (those that remained after the super spicy beef & pork phở burned off half my tongue). A friend did note that he thought one dish was not up to snuff though. Service was polite, reasonably quick, overall 3 ½ to 4 stars.
That visit got us craving more and within a few days our hankering brought us to try and order to-​go for some comfy home comestification. Well that turned out to be ridiculously impossible, whoever was manning the phones was simply not able to communicate in English and was irascible and rude, really put the can’t in Cantonese (which was the language du jour) — we were forced to give up, Ngon in 60ish seconds. No stars.
It was frustrating, unpleasant and off putting. Have placed plenty of to-​go orders with similar joints over the years and never encountered treatment quite like this.
Not inclined to return, talk about a phở pas.

This place is A-​OK. Not the best and not the worst. My friend loves Bun Bo Hue and he says its gotten better over time (or that he’s gotten used to it). I had the Bun Cha Gio, which was decent. Came packed full of veggies and bun. The spring rolls were quite tasty and freshly fried, not soggy.
I like to speak Vietnamese when I’m at a Vietnamese restaurant. But when I ordered, they had no idea what I was saying. So I had to point to #45. Sad. so sad.

You know what?
I like their broth and ho fun noodles.
My bf thinks it smells funky inside but uhm, it’s the smell of grilled meats and roasting duck. I would know, i’m HELLA Chinese, hahahaha. My grandpa’s kitchen smells like it when he makes the crispy pork.
The first time, I ordered a beef phở. I forget which exact one but I really enjoyed the broth. The meat, I rarely ever touch when I order phở. I don’t know why.
This time I ordered the house noodle special but i ended up with some kind of combo of meat and seafood? I guess that’s the house special?
The broth was light, yet salty and oily enough. And with enough freaking MSG for that matter because my MSG loving freak of a bf was satisfied. (JK honey, you know I’m still weirded out by your love for MSG)
anyway.. will definitely come back because it’s convenient and they’re quick.

I really thought this could of been a good Vietnamese spot that I could go to instead of PPQ when they get really busy on the weekends. I guessed wrong. Service was fast. Can be good or bad. There wasn’t much people in there, maybe two more tables then us.
Got our menus and not even two minutes later got hassled by both waiters into getting our order in. What’s the rush? It’s not like you have a whole lottah people waiting for our table. Finally ordered after another two minutes.
I went for the Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio (BBQ Pork and Egg Roll Vermicelli $ 6.95) Who ever ordered the soup base items, their food came quick style, less then two minutes! Mine came probably around three.
My Bun was bland, no taste at all. I added probably the whole bowl of fish sauce and still didn’t help. The pork was cold and egg roll tasted like it have been sitting in a toaster oven since opening.
My friends said that their Phở was also bland and one of their Bun Bo Hue was too sour. I couldn’t judge cuz I didn’t eat them. But Both sizes look the same except the large had a bigger bowl.
They also have rice plates, catfish claypot, soups, fried rice, chicken garlic noodles or BBQ Pork, and crispy noodles.
Still sticking with PPQ…