Ha VL

Love the Phở. I try to go on weekends for breakfast for the turmeric soup as much as possible. my favorite soup in the world.

Not all things are created equal, the same is true for SE dives serving up hot pots of glorious phở.
Ha VL stands apart. The soup broth is as authentic as moms. It’s made with love, and a craftsman understanding of balance between sweet, salty, spicy and sour. This is hands down the BEST phở in Portland. Mic drop.

I drove quite a way to visit this restaurant, arriving at 3pm and the sign on the door was flipped to closed. I opened the door and the girl said it was closed, one hour before actual closing time on the door and on Unilocal.Can’t rate the food because I didn’t have a chance to try, but this experience was not cool. Please don’t close early or at least update Unilocal accordingly.

Upon our arrival the gentleman asked us if we were sitting or take it to go. We were eating in.
The waitress brought us two glasses of water, and without a simple hello; stated the were out of the banh mi. Okay.
This left us with the Sunday dish of choice — Hanoi Phở.
The broth was not clear nor was the dish inviting. I can chow down most Vietnamese dishes, but this particular bowl felt like eating Stone Soup. Neither of us finished our small bowl of Hanoi Phở.
We ended up going to Ocean City to clean out our palette and filled our stomachs.
I’m not sure what all the hype is about, but I’ve yet to experience it.
Two more tries before they are off my eatery list; now, if I can summon my stomach to go back.

I just really fucking love their soups and banh mi. There was a time when I ate there four times a week because why not?

Best Vietnamese soup I’ve had. Perfection.

AMBIANCE: casual family run restaurant. It is a tight fit, maybe 25 – 30 people max
LOCATION: tucked in a nook in a small shopping center area in SE Portland
SERVICE: quick and friendly
FOOD: I love their simple menu. Only 2 types of dishes per day that changes daily. I’ve been on 2 different occasions and have tried 2 different days, meaning 2 different dishes and they were both so flavorful and authentic. Made me miss my moms cooking. I have personally tried the tumeric noodle soup and peppery pork ball noodle soup. My goal is to come back till I’ve tried all of their soups.
PRICING: fairly priced for the size and quality! Approximately $ 10

I could wax poetic about the different kinds of, but having only tried one, I’m not sure that’s the right approach here. But after only once, what I can do is tell you that I was satisfied, mystified, and tantalized into wanting to come back again.
As others have stated, they only brew a couple of batches each day. Get to know the menu, get to know your favorites, and I won’t judge you if you’re here once a week, twice a week, or every day for one of your favorite kinds of this bossy broth.
The bánh mì would be worth an investigation to, and perhaps next time I’ll grab some soup and a sandwich for the road.

My sister always raves about this place and I had to check it out.
I love that they focus on one two a couple dishes a day. No, they don’t have a big huge menu for you to get lost in. I love this because it allows them to make one thing and make it well.
The staff is always friendly and the food is fast. Once they’re out for the day, they’re out. They’re not going to make a new batch of the soup of the day so come early. Some may say that’s stupid, but they’ve probably never heard the early bird gets the worm. Early people get the soup of the day.
Though I love the food and I was told that it’s msg free, I don’t know why I always feel super thirsty after the meal.

Soupy orders are heavily salted. My durian shake was so perfect in every way ($ 4), we turned around and bought another.
Banh mi— fresh but, for me，smaller size than what I always get, and $ 3.75−4 also higher price point than I’d like.
Soup bowls are small and they charge $ 9.5– also too high for me.
Bread is from that Lanvin place up the road. They put care into their food here!
Located within the funky parking lot (as in, once you turn in, feels like a motel parking lot) where delish Chinese clay pots at Wing Wa is located:)

Delicious soup and one of the best banh mi sandwiches in Portland. I’m a big fan of their curry soup and the sandwiches. Place is unique in that they only serve two different kinds of soup depending on day of the week. It’s a great system because they can focus on making the best soups of the day. I also love their sandwiches, they bread tastes freshly baked and the pork is very tasty.
Only cons are size of restaurant is small and gets crowded and parking lot is small.

Came back and took my little sister with me without my American husband. They clearly do not like serving Vietnamese people or something because the place is full of American and the man behind the counter was very friendly to everyone of them but us. The server was friendly and nice but the man was so rude to us. He even shouted out that «hey, thats the Vietnamese people» when we came in. I did tip generously for the server (a teen) but I am not coming back! Ever!
Cant believe I drove all the way from Hillsboro for such treatment.

I, like some other Portlanders, did not go to Ha VL under it blew up all over the media a few years.
I’ve been back a few times since then. It’s actually a great little spot, with a very home-​y feel. You see the little tables, the lady/​man behind the counter, and their gracious hospitality to get you seated (and most importantly, fed).
They focus on one main dish for that day – be it phở ga, or bun bo hue, or whatever they’ve decided to make. It basically means they’ve decided to highlight it, and make it the best it can be.
But they also serve other foods, like banh mi sandwiches (which I’ve only had once). The sandwiches are good, but everyone goes for the soups. And they’re very good and definitely tasty.
I don’t usually drive out of my way to go to Ha VL, but if I’m in the area (@ Fubonn) and 1) they’re open, and 2) it’s not the afternoon (because chances are they’re sold out of soup), I’ll stop by.

So the best thing about this place is their noodle soups. I usually go on Sundays for the Mi Quang (Tumeric) noodles. It comes with crabcake, a shrimp, fishballs, pork hock, and some vegetables. I usually like my broth piping hot so it can «cook» the veggies when I put them in, but the broth wasn’t hot enough for me.
Service is slow — they take bowls of soup out one at a time (even if the whole table is ordering the same thing).

Was excited to try this place after reading a review in Portland Monthly; left feeling a bit disappointed. Although the food was not bad, it was not outstanding. We had the Thursday specials: a snail soup and chicken soup. The snail soup was good, but my wife’s chicken soup was bland. We bought two Vietnamese sandwiches to take home — ate them later, and again, they were OK, but not great.
I will mention that the man behind the counter (owner?) was very friendly, and came to our table to make sure we were getting what we wanted, and even brought us a couple extra bowls to share our soups. The service was quick and efficient.
Bottom line: we only tried 2 soups and sandwiches on one day and they probably deserve another try, but there are many other Vietnamese restaurants in town with fantastic food. We likely won’t be going back here.

Parking, pain
Quaint, clean
Service, smiley
Menu — tam tam
Vietnam Deluxe Banh Mi — small, pric (ier)
Shredded Chicken Phở — flat broth, almost no salt, unsimilar noodles
Vietnamese Coffee — ordered strong, tasted bitter
Overall? Reasonably phō-​k :l

I had heard and read so many positive reviews about this place that I had to check it out when I was in town. I even dragged the bf out of bed super early during our last day in Portland because I had read that their noodle soups sell out early.
So let me set the scene, it was a rainy, foggy Sunday morning around 8:30am. We stepped out of the car in a small parking lot and walked toward the restaurant. I looked up and a group of 10 guys were hanging out in front of the restaurant with coffee and cigarettes. They suddenly stopped talking and looking up at us. I instantly stopped in my tracks and started to look around for the bf. They only paused for a second and went back to their conversation. But to me, it was intimidating, haha, way to be a naïve tourist! We joked that they were having a Triad meeting, which is incredibly silly as they were just hanging out and chatting. This was definitely one of the funniest moments I experienced during our sojourn in Portland.
Anyway, back to the food. As I mentioned, we went on a Sunday, so the two soup noodles they offered were Northern Phở and Turmeric Noodles. We got one of each.
Turmeric Noodles — I adored the soup that came with this dish, there was no need for any additional condiments. I can have a vat of this soup by itself. The wide noodles were cooked to perfection, and was a perfect delivery system for the broth!
Northern Phở — It was ok, not sure it tasted much different from all other phos I’ve had in my life. One thing that stood out was the beef meatball. Of course, I stole all the meatballs and put them in the turmeric broth, it was a good combination
Vietnam and Paris Deluxe Sandwiches — Really good bahn-mi’s, the only difference between the two were that the Paris one came with cheese. Both had good ratio of meat to bread.
Last, but not least, they had really good Vietnamese coffee. I am completely ignorant to the Vietnamese coffee brewing process, but most of the ones I’ve tried taste burnt, but not here. The coffee here was smooth, and they ask you how you like it, i.e.strong, medium or light. Most places do not bother to ask and generally put way too much condense milk in their coffee. This place had the perfect coffee to condense milk ratio. Ok, I’ve spent way too much time talking about coffee. Bottom line, if you like phở, you will probably like this place. It’s no frills, the people are friendly, and service is fast/​efficient. I would go back again if I lived in the city.

Thank God for chili oil. Was craving for authentic bun rieu and Unilocal told me to go here! Run by an old couple, felt like a home, super cute. But the food selections on Monday were just bland. Hence my intro sentence. Chili oil was the only thing that saved my utter disappointment.
We had also read reviews about their amazing durian Boba and ordered 2 to go. Ten minutes passes, no Boba and no tea refill after we had asked. Mind you, they had a steady flow of customers but it all seemed normal. Then the lunch rush came in and all of the sudden, their bubble tea machine «broke.» Did it break, or did you see the yield in profit flood thru the front door and no more open tables? Either way, we had no choice but to get up since we were done eating and left Boba-​less and craving unfulfilled.

Love this place. They have a daily rotating noodle soup special and each one is made to perfection. Seriously, how can you go wrong with a place that only has two items on their menu a day (perfect for the indecisive). My favorite is the turmeric noodles and the snail meat ball is worth a try. This is not your typical phở joint.
I once showed up on a Thursday at noon and they sold out. So we always try to get there early and usually know what we’re getting before we sit down.

I think its some kind of torture method that they practice at Ha VL. They do this thing where they make this addictive chicken curry soup and ONLY make it one day a week… and you have to have it mastered so that you show up before they run out. Yeah, I know right.
The portions are huge, and I already told you how addicting and delicious it is. The noodles and soup spray every inch of your face, but all the better to save for later with.
I’ve been thinking about buying a couple bowls and storing them in my fridge to eat during the days of deprivation, because I’m sure its just as good the next day (s) as it is at first. But I’ve never actually left enough to get it as a leftover because I just can’t.
If you have any spare time on wednesdays before 1ish, you better go and save me a spot.