Ba Bar

Seriously Unilocal,this place definitely deserves more than ³¹⁄₂ stars!
If you got that late night cravings for food, and don’t want to settle for some typical bar foods definitely come here. They do last call at until 1:30 AM and they serve some flavorful Vietnamese dishes. Yes, Phở, Vermicelli, Spring Rolls and all other good stuff until about 1:30 AM. At least that was the last call for us when we came on a Wednesday night.
Also while you’re at the restaurant, try their famous Moscow Mule. They make that drink into perfection here!

Love the atmosphere here. The place is never too loud but it’s somewhat dim, without bright lights in your face. Vietnamese/​French fusion. The food here is always quality, no matter what I order. One of my favorite appetizers are the Chicken Wings — crispy on the outside and juicy white meat inside, with a unique slightly sweet flavor. The Oxtail Soup is probably the best Phở style soup I’ve had around here. Prices are on the higher side but I think it’s worth it. I also recommend the deserts. Their French style bakery desserts are all made in house and you can tell by the taste.

I had the phở tai nam and enjoyed it. As someone who cooks phở regularly, I will say they got the broth flavor right. My guess is they are using oxtail to make all the beef phở broth, which usually gives better flavor than just beef bones. I was pleasantly surprised, although I could have used more herbs on the side. They use nicer quality meat, so I can sort of understand the price (and especially if they are using oxtail phở broth).
I also enjoyed my drink, the imperial city, which basically tasted like cold pressed juice plus gin.
One item I was not a fan of was the pâté chaud. Pâté chaud is actually one of my favorite things to eat and I grew up cooking it, but I didn’t enjoy this variation. It may be the large portion size, which makes for weird proportions of pastry to meat (too much meat i think).
This place is so interesting to me, I actually looked up the owners online because I was so surprised to see banh cuon on the menu at a restaurant with seemingly no Vietnamese employees. The diversity of menu offerings from all over Vietnam is impressive, although I cannot say if they are all well-​executed since I didn’t try all of them. It looks like a menu I would have created with many of my favorite dishes so I would be very interested to try more.

I had high expectations of this place because I love Vietnamese food and they do a bit of a fusion. The interior is very nice much more upscale than your typical Vietnamese place. The food is where it fell. The phở I ordered was flavorless and lack a deep rich beefy taste it was also more expensive than your typical phở at a mom and pop joint. They really skimp on giving you enough fresh veggies and herbs. Overall this wouldn’t be the first place I think of if I really wanted a bowl of phở.

This place is always packed. So that intrigued me and I figured I should give it a try.
The location certainly helps. The fact that they have an awesome drink menu also helps. Being open late is also a plus. But, what about the food?
The pâté chaud is a must. And get it with the bacon jam for sure. The fried egg is a nice touch but the bacon jam is a must.
I ordered the oxtail phở which was nice on a cold day. And the makings of a good bowl of phở goes down to its broth which was exquisite. But it was also pricey compared to others, so I was a bit torn here. Overall just a solid restaurant but if venture to say that people keep coming back more for he drinks and ambiance.

Went surfing for happy hours around Cap Hill and found ourselves here off a quick Web search. While the food was excellent and interesting and the drinks pretty good, the service was… not.
Really, really not.
It took fifteen minutes to get a seat at the bar for happy hour when we were told ‘a couple’, our waiter took another five before he showed up, and promptly gave our drinks away to the couple sitting next to us and we had to reorder (and they still charged us). The food earned them a pair of stars, but I doubt I’ll be going back!

Seated very quickly. But it took some time for the server to come by.
Broth tasted very saturated with salt. Nothing touches my broth except lime after I taste it before feasting. That’s how you feel out phở.
Nothing special, and with the price being as it is for such a small portion… wouldn’t call that close to Vietnamese style. Something hip to talk about, I guess.

I’ve been here a few times and it continuously seems to be winning me over from 3 stars to 4 stars.
Went on a Sunday afternoon and they were projecting football games into the wall to appeal to that crowd which was a nice surprise.
Ordered the imperial rolls, bun cha Hanoi, and pork belly congee. I’m a large fan of bun cha and was very pleased with that dish here. The congee lacked a bit of flavor and I wished they would have put the same char grilled pork used in the bun cha for the congee — it may help the dish quite a bit.
Service was great per usual. Our waitress was accommodating and gave us extra chilis to add to the sauce to make it extra spicy!

From a Vietnamese…
Good: Plating is on point. Majority of the ingredients reflect authentic Vietnamese food, but a bit different. The Vietnamese milk coffee is lack of boldness – ratio of milk and coffee is off, more milk, but not bad. Randomly a Vietnamese song air+the Dim lights brought me back to Vietnam days, when oil lamp are light on during power outages. Very smart use if spaces. Despite of having full house the food has no delay came out pretty quick. Staffs seem happy even under pressure and busy!
They have oxtail Phở!
Bad: The wait is about 20 minutes, on a rainy day. The chefs aren’t Vietnamese on dinner shift; the only Vietnamese is the head waiter/​manager. Some of the plates use none-​Typical rice noodle
The «Lemongrass Beef,» is another version of Bo La Lot, it’s dry and the sauce and garnish doesn’t make any sense – pickled cabbage???
Fish sauce for noodle is too sour, we use fresh lime, but this taste more vinegar-​ish.
Suggestions: «Lemongrass Beef,» garnish with butter lettuce, fresh carrot, noodle, and fish sauce for dipping. Maybe, they should use less lean ground beef and cook it less.
Phở broth isn’t terrible. The aroma is there, but it is lack of rich-​buttery-​marrow taste, and can use maybe a little more brown sugar/​radish added.
There is no way the ‘Beef Lemongrass’, an appetizer should be $ 9, more like $ 6.
Growing up in a Vietnamese-​Family-​Restaurant business and hotel business, I learned that price, portion, and customer services are crucial. Back home, we do not advertise much. Customer retention is Vietnameseness. We stress less on profit, but more about building a name, branding, and our customer first. Prices for this place aren’t bad, but need serious review on a certain items.
My server was polite, but more than a few times I asked for help packing my food, due to space is tight and sharing a table with other strangers – I was instead offered a box. I wasn’t happy with having to pack my own food, spilled some on my suit, and told that I couldn’t have assistant. This place would have gotten a four stars, but two many missed points. I will minus two stars for customer service, food taste, and pricing. Next time, in 3 – 6 months, I will come back and try a different shift.

The food! The food! The food! I can’t even think coherently right now! I am intoxicated with all the freshness, deliciousness and amazingness of this place. I have had an epiphany! I have realized that maybe we live to eat and not eat to live!
In all seriousness, go for the oxtail or duck confit you will be happy you did.

This is such a great restaurant of Vietnamese street food located near Seattle University. Depending on what time you go the place may be busy. I’ve gone here for lunch, which wasn’t too terrible, yet the place can start to pack in. But no matter what day of the week you go for dinner the place will get busy/​full.
I have had the Duck Phở, which differs than most phở I’ve had, as it’s made with ramen noodles and duck leg. It was very good, and would definitely order it again for whenever I’m craving soup. But I recommend going outside the comfort zone and ordering the more street and authentic dishes. Last time I came here I ordered the Idaho Catfish Vermicelli Bowl and shared the Vietnamese Soy Dumplings with my boyfriend. Both of these items the waiter recommended and explained that they were authentic dishes that you’d easily find these in the Hanoi area. It was a solid choice. Also, since we came on a Monday, I learned that a Monday special is their moscow mule, which is one of the best moscow mules I’ve had, for only six bucks. Great place!

Have eaten at Ba Bar three times… one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It may be some of the best French tinged Asian street food that I have ever eaten in my life.
We had dinner on 11÷25÷15 around 5:30 pm. They don’t take reservations and the place was happily just starting to get busy. Steven was our server, professional and prompt.
My wife and I started out with the Bò Bía (Chinese fresh spring rolls (2), $ 6.00)lap xiang (Chinese sausage), egg, basil, jicama, shrimp jerky, carrot, peanut, hoisin sauce… light, crunchy and super flavorful. One per person is a truly excellent appetizer.
I had a Moscow Mule and the Combo Bun-​($ 15.00):Chicken thigh, shrimp, housemade beef/​pork sausage, crispy shrimp & pork imperial roll… eat a very similar dish in San Diego at least monthly, but at Ba Bar, the flavors are bolder and the dish just tastes fresher. That’s the thing that makes Ba Bar so awesome… the dishes are lighter and fresher tasting…“cooked with love”, sounds silly, but it rings true there.
The pastries are standout… have had amazing macarons there, but not on this night which is why they «only» get four stars. When you have a pastry chef as good as Ba Bar, you should never run out of the «good» stuff.
Please check it out and see what you think for yourself!

The insanely talented Tanya made us a whole mess of custom macaroons for our daughter’s birthday party. They were individual works of art! Each one was custom made and were beautiful. And the taste… we had pistachio, caramel, chocolate, and Nutella flavored, and they were devoured by everyone.
I can’t say enough good things about the macaroons and Tanya. Don’t even think about it… you want the best for your party, event, or Saturday night? Go here and prepare to have everyone bugging you about where your desserts came from.

I love the food at Ba Bar. The service is hit or miss – sometimes friendly, sometimes cold and aloof – but the food is always so dang tasty, I’ll eat here any chance I get.
My favorite dishes are the noodle bowl with catfish (Wow! So good!), the rotisserie chicken, the fried imperial rolls, and the incredible and mind-​blowing «Double Happiness» cro-​nut pastry with chocolate hazelnut filling (available only on certain days of the week – call for details). Go to Ba Bar. You won’t regret it.

It’s a decent Vietnamese restaurant. The atmosphere is better than most Vietnamese restaurants because it’s cleaner and more modern.
As for the food, it’s good but nothing special.
What I highly enjoy about Babar are their hours and their Salted Caramel Macaroons.

Authentic Vietnamese, great drinks, in a cute, well-​appointed space. While I had avoided Ba Bar as I’m seldom convinced by fusion spots, I was pleasantly impressed with Ba Bar’s menu and execution.
Oxtail phở is phenomenal — the rare beef was high quality, tender and oxtail was beyond flavorful, not dry. Love their beef broth, richly savory.
Coworker also enjoys the veggie phở (shiitake mushroom and tofu) served in their beef broth.
Saw a beautiful vermicelli bowl pass by, which is always tempting.
Bartender made us tasty Pimm’s Cup and service was prompt.
Look forward to returning to try the pâté chaud and catfish claypot, or perhaps happy hour (3−6pm daily)!

I think this is more of a 3.5 star review. Mainly, I like it but I’m not really sold yet. Probably needs more than one visit. Service was a little slow and my sister felt the giant pot of orchids next to her head was going to swallow her alive.
We came for a late dinner– around 930. If we had only checked the time– we may have waited until 10 for happy hour! We split a vermicelli bowl and a plate of fried chicken wings. Due to my recently developed love for Moscow mules, I ordered one of those too.
The chicken wings were really tasty, if a bit salty. They came with little sides of pickled carrot/​radish and pickled mustard cabbage (!!!). I say (!!!) because pickled mustard cabbage took us straight to our childhoods (and our mom’s)– I loved that part of the dish. The wings were great hot, fried perfectly crispy, moist on the inside. Don’t let them get cold; I think they taste saltier.
The grilled chicken vermicelli bowl as lovely– light and refreshing with lots of veggies. I found the chicken a little salty, but my sister didn’t. (I know, Sally– drink your drink and shaddaup about the salt!)
As for the drink, it was alright. Both too sweet and too strong at the same time. Could’ve probably used more balance.
Still, not a bad spot. There are other things I’d love to try another time. Will look into happy hour next time!

If I only tried the Rotisserie Chicken, this would be a five star review. The crispy, perfectly roasted skin was great. The sauce was wonderful on the chicken. I would love to have this sauce for Hainan Chicken. Eric and/​or Sophie Banh are the Supreme Masters of sauce.
The Banh Nam and the Cucumber Salad were pretty pedestrian, but I’d love to come back to try more of the offerings.

Wow. That’s all there is to say. It’s easy to get lost in all the delicious selections on their menu.
This time I had the duck confit phở noodle soup. It was AMAZING! Delicious duck, ramen, and killer broth.
The beer selection was as extensive or deep in range as other places, but I’m not complaining since they had Boneyard Brewing on draft.
I am wicked stoked to get back here and try some more stuff.
The staff and waiter we had was also very nice and great to chat with.

Oh my… what a wonderful place! Came here for dinner on a weekday and there was no wait. A little bakery/​coffee counter as you enter, somewhat of an open kitchen in the front, nice decent sized dining room with a nice bar area. Dont forget to check the chalk board for drink specials.
Menu is pretty straighforward with starters/​apps, phở, noodle bowls, rice plates etc. We decided to start off with fried frog legs and boy was it delicious! I’ve had frog legs before but these fried little gems were glorious! Freshly fried, nice spice mix on the legs, and perfect crispiness. Legs all on top of a lightly dressed salad bed. Great starter!
As for mains, we got the Oxtail Phở and Combo Vermicelli Bowl. Oxtail was super tender, came with a few slices of beef steak as well, broth was rich and flavorful… just super tasty!
Combo V-​bowl had a boatload of meats from shrimps, plenty of chicken thigh meat, a beef patty, and a cut up egg roll, all with the normal veg you would get in a v-​bowl. Dump the nuoc mam dressing on top, mix it up and you are good to go!
Service was fine and very friendly, they are quick to clear any plates, quick to pour your water glass for you and very attentive. No desserts are available except the macaron counter you can get on the way out. Prices are a little higher for what I want to pay for phở, rice plates or v-​bowls, but its ok since the food was good, service was great and nice atmosphere to be in which made it totally worth it.
Can’t wait to come back and try more of their menu!