Ngoc Han Bun Bo Hue

Why of why did you close? I loved you and your amazing soup so.

Yes, as they named it. This place has delicious Bun Bo Hue. I’ve been in Westminster CA, Seattle WA (vietnamese community) but never got such a delicious and tasty Bun Bo Hue as this place. I would highly recommend this place to everyone that I know. The only draw back is that the staffs here are quite a bit inactive, they barely check on customer for water or ask them if everything was ok. Not sure about the other dishes as I always have «bun bo hue».

My husband is in love with this restaurant. He’s a big fan of the Bun Bo Hue, the spicy soup with thick rice noodles and «treats» such as the ham leg bones and pork blood. Because we experienced rain for the first time in awhile today, my gal pals and I craved these savory soups and decided to come in. However, we noticed the Hu Tieu Nam Vang on the menu and two of us ordered these clear broth soups with chewy clear rice noodles that came with quail eggs, pork, shrimp, and imitation crab. I ordered mine with the soup on the side and thought the noodles were seasoned well. Fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, and lime accompanied the dish. Our other friend ordered the rice plate which looked delicious! As the weather cools, we can count on warming up at Ngoc Han BBH.

I tried the phở today and between the decent bowl of phở and the friendly service, I’m going to up this review to 4 stars.
The phở came in a large bowl with plenty of beef and a nice plate of herb «salad» on the side. A note to cilantro-​haters, they put the cilantro on the side here (most phở places don’t do that), so that’s a plus for some folks. The broth is decent but lacks the star-​anise depth that a lot of places have. It’s more on the beef-​y side, and has a nice sheen to it. It’s not «wow» broth, and benefits from the addition of some of the accompanying sauces, but they also give you a pre-​mixed dipping sauce for your beef, which is nice.
$ 8 got me a serviceable bowl of phở and a ca phe sua da with a smile. Hard to beat.

We accidentally stumbled onto this place yesterday and I can say right now — I’m pleased as punch. My wife ordered the Bun Bo Hue (its their namesake specialty, so you have to give that a try) and I ordered their Com Thit Nuong special (rice with egg, dried pork, grilled pork and grilled shrimp).
We were very pleasantly surprised with the soup. There might be better out there, but this was really good. Very flavorful soup, the meats were tasty, a little kick of spice as I like it. Definitely will go back for more.
My dish was great. The pork and shrimp were grilled very well –moist, flavorful. But what suprised me was that instead of getting a traditional «egg cake», I actually got two pan fried, sunny-​side up eggs. What a suprise, and as it turns out, a fun change of pace. Even the little bowl of chicken soup that they serve on the side was suprisingly flavorful (not the bland afterthought I get at so many other places).
We also had Café Sua Da which was really good (not the best in Portland, but good none the less).
It’s clean, service was quick and friendly and I’m definitely a fan. Will have to try their other dishes next time.

Don’s intro i think is a great way to start the explanation of this restaurant. Hue is the middle region of vietnam and is famous for spicy food. One of the most famous dishes is bun bo hue literally noodle beef hue.
Now those who knows me knows i’ve been craving some of this stuff. Everytime i’m in cali i have to make a stop at one of the few places that makes this right. Does this place make it as good as some of the san jose places? no, but they are dam close that i’m happy with what i got.
Here is the little tidbit of info for those who are squirmish, there is pig hoof and coagulated blood in there. you can ask them to not put it in there. And if you’re vegetarian and you go into a vietnamese restaurant with bo in the name, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Yeah the place is clean… sterile clean.
…the décor of a brand new highschool cafeteria.
And don’t go here if you want a veggie dish.
They had 2 choices for vegetarians… and since there was two of us eating lunch, well we had the two things they had on the menu for veg heads.
Well the 2 dishes… they turned out to be the same thing.
If it wasn’t for the hot sauce I added for flavor, I would have thought I was eating grass and roots.

i like this place. good vietnamese food. their rice dishes are dirt cheap and comes piled high with tons of sides. the owners are nice and the place is clean. i love the way they marinate their meat… so tasty; my mouth is watering. try it out and ask for a sunnyside up egg with your rice… drown the plate in fish sauce and your good to go :)