Pagoda Vietnamese Bistro and Bar

It’s in an old Heights house which gives it a quaint, but at the same time modern feel. The food is great and not that expensive. There menu is extensive enough to cater to a large group, so it is a great place for a date or a group. Whenever I go there (usually lunch) it is quite enough to eat in peace and enjoy a good conversation.
I recommend the Lychee Green Tea and Pagoda Bowl.

[ Food: ¹⁄₅ ] [ Ambiance: ³⁄₅ ] [ Services: ³⁄₅ ]
Prices: $$$ (average $ 15/​person)
Its Sunday and most of the more «reputable/​reliable» Vietnamese restaurants are closed within 10 miles radius of Montrose. So, this is the only place screaming on Unilocal that its open. I was craving for some bo luc lac and decided to check this place out despite my apprehension…
We came about 8pm and there’s only 1 other table with 4 patrons. Love the building from the outside, an old style house painted in yellow with the sign and art. The interior is very inviting with hardwood floor and natural lights from the windows with the backyard fountain where we were seated. As I already looked at their menu online, I suggested the following to my partner:
Egg Rolls $ 5.95: You get 4 very thin and bland pieces of egg rolls with fish sauce and 2 leaves of lettuce, that is only big enough to wrap 1 eggroll, how about the other 2 rolls? Oh and did i mention BLAND?
Shaking Beef (bo luc lac) $ 14.95 + $ 2 (add tofu): Had it prepared medium, came with tomato rice. Lots of onions and not even a clove of garlic. Again, their specialty prevail — BLAND food! I had to use up all the salt & pepper dipping in order to finish the dish. As for the tomato rice, its more of rice fried with tomato purée…
Jumbo Shrimp $ 18.95: Came with 2 skewers with 4 «REGULAR» size shrimps on each that are slightly grilled with mint sauce, again, they were TASTELESS/​BLAND. The only tasty part of this dish was the huge side of sauteed vietnamese spinach with garlic.
As you may already notice, the only specialty in this restaurant is to produce very BLAND over-​priced food. The only reason i can think why this place survive thus far is the location and maybe their spring rolls as the other only occupied table ordered 2 portions of their spring rolls… If I ever crave for some Vietnamese food again on Sunday, I rather go to Hollywood Restaurant, cheaper and definitely better than Pagoda but of course not on par with Huynh or any other restaurants in Bellaire that you blindly stumble into…

Great setup, service, and food. Definitely recommend and will return. Relatively limited parking though. Visited at 12p on a work day, but was not overly crowded :)
I ordered the Dragon Noodle (crispy), and my friend ordered the Pagoda Bowl. Both were delicious

SWEET and not in a good way. Seems like everything has honey in it. We started with martinis on martini Wednesday, They are $ 5.00, but you can only order off their menu, and they are all sweet. For appetizers we had the dumplings and spring rolls. The dumplings were tasty but too doughy. The springs rolls had nothing going on, so we asked for more of the ginger soy sauce that came with the dumplings to help out. Watching some of the other meals coming from the kitchen, we weren’t inspired to order, so we stuck with appetizers. Next the crab stack. Don’t be fooled by the photo on the website. It is tiny! And full of honey and fishy crab. We gave up after that.
If you want to try this place, go for happy hour where you have to sit at the bar. You’ll get reasonable prices on apps and some cheap drink options you won’t get in the dining room.
Parking is tight. I was told Cadillac Bar was fine. I have read from other reviewers it is not?

I dropped into this place on the way to a nearby training. I don’t work in this area of town so I hadn’t heard of it. As Vietnamese bistros go, Pagoda appears to have mastered the balance of bringing hole in the wall flavour to a midscale crowd.
For those who love Vietnamese dives where the majority of customers are working class Vietnamese and most of the wait staff don’t speak English, Pagoda might seem Americanized on the surface. But one look at the menu tells you all the usual favourites are there for the picking. Funny moment: I asked the waiter for soda chahn, and he claimed he’s never heard of that, but that they did serve «soda limeaid» or something Snapple-​sounding like that. I looked at this on the menu and underneath that term was «soda chahn.» I smiled and asked for the soda limeaid.

This place is so flipping cute.
We decided to throw my best friend’s bridal shower here and I’m so glad we did. Viet restaurant + Bridal Shower don’t really go hand in hand but it definitely turned out better than I expected. Because we wanted to stay near the Heights, there weren’t a lot of restaurants willing to accomodate up to 25 girls without putting a deposit on the room; Pagoda not only gave us the entire upstairs private area but they went above and beyond to help us out the day of the shower. I even had our server crawling up and down step ladders to hang up decorations — who does that???
All in all, the ambience was perfect.
Food wise… meh. I had my viet food overload all weekend so it was pretty whatever for me.
If you’re looking for a good venue for a private party near the Heights, check this place out. You will NOT be disappointed!

We didnt end up here by design this particular Thursday night before the theater… but I am so glad we did. This tastefully revamped house is a mini-​oasis in the middle of the Shepherd/​Durham hustle and bustle.
Aesthetically, the place is stylish with a nice patio in front and a fountain pond in the backyard, visible through the main dining room menu. The waitstaff was pleasant, helpful and timely. I started off with a glass of Ramspeck red at $ 9/​glass. We ordered two appetizers in the chicken skewers ($ 5.95) and dumplings ($ 5.95). Both were presented well, tasted fresh and good and were accompanied by great dipping sauces. Dinner consisted of a scallops ($ 16.95) in a creamy mushroom sauce and tender fresh rice. Presentations on all the dishes were great. The scallops were tender but with a nice amount of firmness in tact. The sauce was heavenly and the tastes of everything together was truly delightful.
Dessert we picked out before we sat down as there were three cakes on display and we opted for a warmed up hummingbird cake… WOW…perfect ending to a great meal.
This is one of those times where using my groupon/​living social (fill-​in the blank) got me to a place I wouldnt have likely heard of or tried on my own… and we will definitely be back.
Pagoda…Well done! Oh, and twenty something girly with the unbelievably loud voice, sitting across the dining room. Mix in a hearing test.

I’ve been to Pagoda for a few special events (Dining in the Dark and Speed Dating) and really enjoyed the food and the upstairs dining room but I used a groupon and finally got to experience the restaurant for a normal dinner and I was not very impressed.
The dumplings were good but overpriced at about a dollar per dumpling in a town of fantastic dumpling houses with homemade dumplings for half the price. The pork and egg dish was yummy but not quite like momma makes it. I got the vegetarian claypot and the sauce was way too sweet. All that followed by a minor groupon fiasco, probably will not return.

Looks like we got another HARRRIBLE (see my review of The Independent in Minneapolis) one. My bf and I came to Pagoda after buying a Groupon.
We attempted to order Pork Sliders and Firecracker Shrimp but apparently at 6PM right at the early cusp of dinner, they ran out of both appetizers. We settled on the Hanoi Short Ribs. For our entrée, we got the Bo Luc Lac and Bo Kho. My bf had a Vietnamese coffee as well. I appreciated that the Bo Luc Lac came with the tomato fried rice and the salt & pepper dip. It appeared to be authentic-​ish. But to my dismay, all the food from the short ribs to the Bo Luc Lac and Bo Kho came out at room temperature. REALLY? At least be warm! Not only was the temperature off but the taste of really bland on both entrees. The Bo Kho also had ginger in it… my arch nemisis. So between wishing my beef stew was piping hot like it should be and spitting out ginger, I was miserable.
When our waiter brings us our food, HE offers hot sauce to us which my boyfriend said yes to. He totally forgot. We had to remind him about the hot sauce HE offered to US and to remind him about our order of Vietnamese Coffee. And here come’s the Vietnamese coffee late in the game. Each sip came with coffee grounds in it. Ridiculous.
Our bill for these few items came out to $ 40 WITH the Groupon on it. Quite the deal… NOT!!! $ 40 is way overpriced for the crappy food and mediocre service. This place is on my shit list.

The Great Arctic Freeze of 2011 had me craving phở! The dilemma: I was nowhere near Van Loc — my «phở-​to».
Solution: Pagoda — as I had no issue spending a extra $ 2 on «fancy» phở so long as it’s delicious and nearby (since I was in The Heights).
You know that feeling when your friend has described someone for weeks, months or years and you finally meet them and they sound /​look nothing like what you built up inside your mind?
That’s what happened with me and Pagoda. I have passed what I realize now is an upscale, trendy Vietnamese hot spot more than 100 times thinking it was a quaint, random bungalow turned Vietnamese Ma and Pa restaurant.
And why wouldn’t I — it looks like a typical Heights house.
WRONG. SO WRONG.
To my surprise, Pagoda’s got it going on, but it appears nobody knows it as we were one of 2 tables in this 2 story gem (maybe it was the weather).
Pagoda boasts an asian-​zen décor with grand chandeliers and a gorgeous bar.
Mind blowing and extremely contrary to my imagination.
Many Vietnamese fanatics would criticize its menu much like others criticize Gigi’s Americanized Asian fare in the Galleria. You are not going to find $ 5 noodle dishes here. What you will find is a rather large selection of Vietnamese inspired dishes that will make your taste buds dance in excitement.
My trio started out with the spring rolls that came with shrimp and pork. I went sans pork and thoroughly enjoyed each bite with an excellent peanut dipping sauce.
Intrigued by the menu, my friends deviated from the phở plan and went with a pot roast and beef noodle dish, Dragon Noodle.
I however, stuck to my initial plan. The second I ordered my bowl of phở, I began having buyer’s remorse. Should I really be ordering phở from a place with weekly live DJ nights???
My fears subsided after just one sip of broth and slurp of noodle. My craving quieted, my body temperature defrosted — heaven. I dressed my otherwise excellent broth with a little hoisin and a dash of Siracha in pure delight. I’ll admit that the beef slices could have been a little less tough, but at $ 8, this was no deal breaker.
My friend’s pot roast, the Bo Kho was the actual envy of the table. This was one of those «stick to your bones» stews that looked as delicious as it tasted. Served in a deep bowl of dark brown sweet and savory gravy with a fresh baguette on the side to dip with, it’s a dish not to miss.
I did not make room for the Dragon Noodles, but my friend noted the freshness of the Chinese broccoli in the dish and cleaned his plate.
In addition to their excellent cuisine, Pagoda doubles as a lounge I would not mind having a drink or two in. As I mentioned, the bar itself was beautiful and produced an appetizing cocktail list. I passed this time, but would return for $ 5 martinis on Wednesdays or reverse happy hour on Thursdays (this is where the live DJ comes in)!
Their upstairs doubles as an excellent spot for private events, mixers, and even a unique rehearsal dinner location.
To put a bow on this package, Pagoda’s service was outstanding as well, starting with the warm hostess down to our friendly waiter.
Bottom line: Don’t dismiss Pagoda as just another pretty Heights restaurant lacking true flavor. It’s actually a date friendly bistro giving a gracious nod to Vietnamese cuisine in a surprisingly, sexy setting.

Groupon visit
I think we just ordered the wrong things… but it was a very sweet dinner
Pork and eggs (⁴⁄₅): pork belly and quail eggs. comes in a clay pot… it was not pork belly (looked more like stew meat) but it was tender and delicious. the sauce is fish saucey… delicious with rice and a random salad on the side
Catfish clay pot (³⁄₅): the fish was tender and delicious. the only thing i didn’t like was how sweet the sauce was. and the vegetables that came with the meal tasted burnt, nothing special.
Hanoi (spare ribs appetizer) (³⁄₅): sweet as well. okay
Overall the food was good, just sweet. Maybe we should’ve gotten the shaking beef like everyone else did.

I’m not typically a fan of Americanized-​Asian food. I typically like the real deal. You will never find me at a P.F. Chang’s or the like. I was really hesitant when the S.O. really wanted to go to Pagoda. To appease him, I opened up my mind and agreed to go.
On first glance of the menu, there was nothing too impressive to me and the prices were kinda steep for basic stuff. At least that’s what I thought, I was proven wrong though. This hip place had more to offer than just ambiance.
I started my meal with a shaken lychee iced tea. I was so excited to have a flavorful iced tea that I gulped it up in about one minute. We started out the meal with the pagoda roll– banh xeo cuon which is a Vietnamese crêpe rolled in rice flour wrapper. This was my favorite dish because the banh xeo was rich with coconut milk and cooked to perfection. Banh xeo is one of my favorite Vietnamese dish and they got it more than right– it was perfect. Our entrees was a grilled salmon with a wasabi mashed potatoes and the shaken beef (bo luc lac). The salmon was a bit over cooked. The shaken beef was a bit salty. Both dished were overall satisfactory though.
Some how fancy Vietnamese food worked in this case. If you are looking for rustic, authentic Vietnamese food, this is definitely not the place. Pagoda was able to elevate Vietnamese cuisine with a modern twist and it works!

Our non-​profit had an event here in the upstairs of Pagoda and had 3 trays of appetizers: eggrolls, dumplings, and various types of springrolls.
My fave were the dumplings which were extra savory. I’ll have to go back for a real meal sometime.
parking is very limited, and there are some tables outside as well.

I bought my first restaurant related Groupon and went to Pagoda to use it on a Sunday evening. As I drove up I wondered if they were open. There were no obvious lights on and only two cars in the parking lot. The door was open but there was no one at the hostess stand. We wandered in and were told to sit anywhere. There was one waiter, but that didn’t seem to matter since we were only the third table in the place and one table left quickly after we arrived.
Our server was great. We ordered Vietnamese egg rolls which tasted off. I love Vietnamese egg rolls ($ 6.95), but these were some of the weirdest I’ve had. The orange chicken ($ 10.95) was fine, but not very orange. The chicken lo mein ($ 11.95) was very good and the only thing I got that I would order again. None of the food was served with serving spoons, so I wonder how we were supposed to serve the rice, etc… We asked for a spoon for the rice and the server gave us one happily but didn’t act like it was something that we should have gotten to start with.
The interior of the restaurant is very pretty. It is certainly a high end Vietnamese place and the prices reflect that. I was very surprised at how expensive the food was. It was the main reason that pushed by review from a 3 to a 2 star rating. Some of the food was good and some not so good but nothing was worth the price they were charging.
I struggled with a 2 or 3 star rating, but decided that since I wouldn’t go back, it deserved a 2 star rating. I wouldn’t go back because it just wasn’t worth it. If you do go, try the lo mein and skip the egg rolls.

The reviews on this place are so mixed, it terrified me to buy the Groupon several weeks back. We finally made our trek here last Sunday for dinner. We ate rather early (6pm) but surprisingly there were 4 other tables occupied besides ours.
We started with the lemongrass chicken skewers. I really liked it but at $ 7 for 2 small skewers, I thought it was pricey. For our main entrée, I ordered the seabass dish which comes with pineapple ginger relish, sauteed spinach and rice. This dish was really tasty. Seabass was on the small side but at least it was prepared properly. My husband ordered the dragon bowl with soft noodles. It too was tasty, after some application of hot sauce.
Along with my meal, I had the lychee green tea. Not sure if I’ll order this again as it was really sweet (sweeter than normal)! I had to ask the waitress to add more ice to it. Therefore, I have to agree with one reviewer that the food here tends to be on the sweet side.
I liked the way they decorated the inside. The main room we were in was painted in yellow, with dark colored furniture, overlooking their little fountain garden. The bar on the other hand was painted in darker colors to match the ambiance of a bar. They have patio seating with few tables outside though I doubt they’re dog friendly.
Parking was plentiful when we went but then again, it was really early on a Sunday night.

Like woman, no two phos are alike. There’s not a specific type of phở that I prefer, I just know when I taste it ;). I had the beef phở, the broth (most important component of the phở) was too complex and sweet for my taste. The quality of the sliced beef was the best I ever had at any Vietnamese restaurant.
The restaurant is simple, elegant with contemporary décor. It was relatively dark inside, at times I struggled at distinguishing the Sriracha from the hoisin sauce.
Conclusion: This is a rich man’s Vietnamese restaurant. If you’re trying to introduce your anglo friends to Vietnamese food and think chinatown is a bit too third world, this is the place to do it. Just expect to pay a premium.
See below for supplemental info (compared against its peers):
— Price: High ($ 9 per bowl of phở vs. $ 6 in Chinatown. All-​in, we paid ~$ 35 for two)
— Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅ stars. Fake flowers and candles, traaaash…
— Service: Terrific, very attentive and courteous.
Big turnoff:
— Phở took a while to be served, not sure why. It’s soup (pre-​made) + noodles (pre-​made). Traaaash…
— Parking is limited

Parking is limited… They have their own parking lot but you CANNOT park your car across the street into Cadillac bar’s parking lot.
Pagoda is a yellow house that doesn’t even look like its a restaurant until you walk in. The décor is trendy and I have to talk about the owner & the waitstaff. They are all friendly!
I came here for a event called «Dining in the Dark» and it was wonderful! I love every dish that came out. Yum! (I can’t tell you what I had or they will shoot me. Hehehe…) Had a really awesome experience! Need to come back to try their Black pepper beef. I heard that instead of rice, they give it to you in a different way. Yum… I can’t wait to go there. Hmm… maybe I should try to get a date to go there. LOL!

This place is a pretty swanky Vietnamese restaurant, but don’t be quick to judge the big Yellow house off Shepperd. I have had a few menu items here and I can say that I will be back, mainly because it’s blocks from my house.
The service is solid and the food is tasty. The Phở is good. The broth is full of flavor and I have never been disappointed with the quality of the sliced beef. What brought me to Pagoda was when I read the menu and saw they had a pork banh mi. I’ve been looking for a good banh mi since my first at Les Grivals. The price is .45 cents more, but that’s the price you pay for convinence.

Pagoda is an unusual name. It is some kind of pyramid-​like tower with a roof that curves, a house of worship for Buddhists in Asia. This structure of course looks nothing like that; it’s rather homey from the outside.
Two weeks ago a gathering for event planners in Houston too place here; I had never been to Pagoda prior to this event. From the moment, I walked in I really digged the décor. It wasn’t what I was expecting. Memory has erased details about the décor, but I remember liking the chandelier design; it is unique and elegant.
Upstairs on the second floor, the staff had a variety of spring rolls presented beautifully in neat rows. Sauces were contained within silver containers. The white plates provided a nice contrast to the food itself. I served myself a fried egg roll, and skewers; the spring rolls looked great but I am not a fan just yet. There was plenty of food at all times, the diligent staff made sure everything was well stocked and neat.
After the lecture began the bartender took off, like a pilot over the radio, his service was over and out of the bar. This was the only hiccup to this experience was that the bartender took an extended break. This was a long meeting, about 2 hours into it a handful of people wanted drinks the bartender wasn’t in sight. Eventually he came but by then they had been waiting for a good 10 – 15 minutes.
Overall, I found it to be a nice restaurant with good food. I would totally like to grab a Vietnamese friend to dine here with them to get recommendations and feedback on the food.

I love this place, although I wish I wasn’t the only one at the bar during happy hour. The staff is so welcoming, the sparseness is no longer a bother. When you initially walk in, you will find a long bar on the right supplemented with two flat screens. The floors are wooden and the décor includes modern chandeliers, track lighting and clear vases filled with neat floral arrangements. Their music is enjoyable and they often have djs that play a variation (and take requests) of music.
The spring rolls, pagoda rolls, chicken wings, egg rolls and beef satay are all very flavorful and offered on the happy hour menu for $ 4-​$ 5. I went on a Thursday and learned that they have a reverse happy hour with an even more extensive menu that includes a couple of martinis, domestic beer and additional food items. The well drinks during the first happy hour are $ 2, select martinis are $ 5 and a cold sake carafe is $ 2/​$ 3. The staff is very accommodating and attentive, which is one of the main reasons I return other than the inexpensive happy hour menu.