Hue City

This review is strictly service and friendliness.
I am on the hunt for Bahn Mi sandwiches, I was driving by and saw this joint… I thought ‘maybe they will have them’.
I walked in… 12:45 pm, nay a hello.
Okkaaay.
I found the menus, and sat to observe what this place and menu were all about.
BIG POUT. No Bahn Mi.
Welll… since I need lunch anyways, I decided to try something.
I noticed the place was really clean, well kept up. oh wait. only 4 people in this place. HUH. 2 business type fellas were leaving and that left a mom and her baby.
I walked to the counter and said that it was to go and that I had never been there. She was really friendly and offered up the specials. I said, maybe. I was really hoping for a Bahn Mi. She said she could make me one, I said Oh? really? She said, oh wait. Let me check.
Turns out she couldn’t, they were out of bread.
sigh.
She said, we can make them.
I said, but they are not on the menu.
She said, come back, we will make them.
NOTED.
So I got the #15 sampler platter. for 9 $. Hot Cakes, Banana wrapped flat cakes, and pork dumplings.
I took a seat and she offered me some tea or water.
(is this what happens at all Vietnamese places? It has happened to me twice).
I took the water and started to read my book. The food seemed to take almost 15 mins… I thought it odd since I was the only one in the place requiring food. The lady and baby were already eating.
I finally got my food from a different server and left.
I opened up my take out box… Hmm… I didnt know what to expect but it wasnt this.
5 Dumplings, 3 Rice Hot cakes and 1 long Flat cake (yellow colored, so I assume this is the banana one)…
I will say, I did NOT like the texture of these Rice Hot Cakes. or the Banana Flat Cakes. The only thing I ate was the dumplings. I was disappointed, but it was me, NOT THEM. The Hot Cake no flavor, it was topped with onions and crunchy things, which were good… but the cake, not to my liking. All the cakes had the same topping. The Banana one was… kind of like a crêpe.
Anyhow… I wanted to review the service. the 2 who served me were nice and the place was clean. I will slowly learn what I like and dont like.
ON to the next one…

This place was amazing! I frequent the Harbor Freight Tools in the same parking lot and stopped by for lunch. Their Vermicelli Combo Platter was delicious, came with lots of veggies (lettuce to wrap the grilled pork,
), had some sort of meat cooked around sugar cane, which was amazing to bite into and eat the juices.
I will defiantly eat here every time I come to Harbor Freight Tools and I’ll bring my friends.

This review is for the banh beo chen. This dish is very special and hard to find so I was extremely happy after seeing it on their menu. The texture of the banh beo was good decent, I like the fried shallot and the shrimp crumbs. The sweet fish sauce could be a bit more flavorful but overall I enjoyed this dish. A friend tried the Bun Bo hue and said it was bad, no flavor at all.

***3.5 stars**
We were all pretty impressed with this place — although I’ve been to many Vietnamese restaurants — there’s not too many that would just focus on traditional Hue dishes (Hue, being the middle region of Vietnam). Both of my parents naturally went for the Bun Bo Hue — probably the most well known dish of the region. According to them, the dish was decent. The broth had tons of lemongrass in it… and it had the works: beef shank, pig’s feet, «cha lua», pork blood, etc. Personally, I thought it needed more shrimp paste for that extra oomph.
My sister went for the «Banh nam» (steamed flat rice dumplings). With just 6 «dumplings», this dish was a better appetizer than an entrée. We also ordered some «banh beo chen» (steamed rice cakes with shrimp and pork rinds). Loved the fried shallots and pork rinds!
For my dish — I absolutely had to try their Hue-​style crepes. If you’ve had Vietnamese crepes before — it’s similar to that but there are a few key differences: 1) they are smaller. 2) the batter has egg in it – giving it that velvety-​custardy-​eggy goodness, and 3) the dipping sauce is different! Instead of fish sauce, this sauce was… more of a hoisin sauce. After trying this dish — I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I like it Hue-​style more than the Southern style =)
For dessert — we had flan with cognac. It came out with a blanket of crushed ice on top. This is apparently how it was done back in Vietnam too. The flan was pretty good and the cognac caramel wasn’t too strong — overall it was great but a bit overpriced.

I’m a big fan of clean, economical, and good Vietnamese food — who isn’t? This place not only had great, efficient service, the ingredients were fresh (crutial to good Vietnamese cooking) and the restaurant was clean. Not sure why the previous Unilocalers were so critical of the food — I took my parents here for lunch, and even with their usual discriminating tastes, they loved the bun bo hue. They thought the broth was very tasty.
Recommend this place. Happy to support local small businesses that are doing a good job!

Good food, a bit expensive (for vietnamese food) and they skimp on portions/​food!
I do like how they remodeled the place (used to be Cajun Grill something).
The place is clean and nicely decorated.
The food was good taste-​wise — we had the banh xeo and the banh hoi. Portion-​wise, they didn’t put much meat (it was all bean sprouts) for the banh xeo. The banh hoi had good meats and nem nuong but they gave you so little banh hoi and too much veggies.
On top of it, price after tax for those two dishes was around $ 21.xx.
Better options with better value offerings at other places in Renton/​Downtown Seattle/​MLK.

My dinner today: the pork spring rolls, mi quang and some of the bf’s bun thit nuong, and lastly Flan for dessert. Overall very satisfied with dinner. Will definitely come back. The music was pretty pleasant as well.

I work in the area and like to walk to the little strip mall Hue City is in for lunch. It was very nice and the service very friendly, although a little slow for only two customers in the place. I did enjoy the food, and the nice décor was great because most of the asian food choices in the area have somewhat run down interiors. I’ll be back!

Terrible! The bun bo hue was the worst bbh ever. Did not taste like bbh and no flavor, very bland.

The bun bo hue was ok because I had to add spice and fish sauce. The rest of the stuff was great I would so get the rice cake and the noodle-​less spring rolls again esp since it came with the lemon grass dip instead of the peanut sauce.

I had the banh xeo here and it was pretty good! I didn’t like that the rest of the menu options seemed little w/​variety and that the prices were kind of high considering the looks of the restaurant which is pretty modern, and urban. The restrooms were even nice! LOL (There was a can of hairspray in there). But other than that I wouldn’t consider this my top visiting restaurants.

I saw the grand opening sign for this place and thought I would give it a try. Their menu looked promising as it had a lot of items on there that are really hard to find here in Renton. I had high hoped for this place but unfortunately was disappointed. I ordered the Bun Bo Hue there and it was probably the worst Bun Bo Hue I’ve ever had. The broth was so bland! I had to put so much fish sauce in it just to get some flavor and to be able to finish my bowl.
Some of my other friends had tried this place out and said that it was pretty good but none of them ordered the Bun Bo Hue. I will probably go back here again to try some of their other menu items and hopefully those are better than the Bun Bo Hue. I really hope that they just had a bad batch that day because I really wanted a place here in Renton that served Bun Bo Hue since its one of my favorite.

We went there last weekend because my husband’s parents are from Hue. My father-​in-​law ordered the vietnamese ham nad it was 3 slices, about 1 inch by 2 inches long and it cost $ 3.50. This is very over-​priced for vietnamese food.
My husband ordered the Phở and asked for vegteables instead of noodles. They added 3 slivers of cabbage. At other vietnamese places we have been to, especially one in kent they fill the bowl with vegetables including brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower and it is delicious. The phở was $ 9.
If you are looking for vietnmese food in the Kent/​Renton area, I assure you to look further there are plenty of places which I will not name here, but that are more reasonablly priced and provide better quality food. We will not be returning here.

The recent demise of Saigon Palms eliminated any halfway decent Vietnamese food in the Kent/​Renton area. Even then, Saigon Palms would be a last resort when all my options have been fully exhausted.
As a frequent visitor of the neighboring Great Wall Shopping Mall (
) primarily for its diversity in Asian food, my eyes lighted up the moment I saw the green sign for Hue City.
I often make the long ride over to Seattle for Vietnamese but it looks like the 2 visits I have made on the same day (yes, the same day) brought a glimmer of hope for Viet food in Kent.
My mid-​morning visit — it’s soup time:
Bun Bo Hue — a spicy beef rice noodle soup is a signature item for Central Vietnam’s Hue cuisine. They gave me an option of having «the works» or the basic toppings here; this allows for those who don’t prefer to have the congealed pork blood and the pig foot to still enjoy the soup just with the brisket and the peppercorn pork roll. Broth was not super spicy and from what I understand they are tweaking the recipe. I definitely will give it a go again to see if they can make a good soup even better!
Bun Mang Vit — perfect bamboo duck soup. The soup base had the ideal blend of depth and soft bamboo shoots. The duck and cabbage salad looked and tasted fresh. The most impressive for me — the flavor of the fish sauce dip.
—-((Went to the Great Wall to do a bit of shopping and hang out at the park during the glorious sunny weather for a tan…)) so 5 hours later… — –
My afternoon visit — finger foods/​appetizer extravaganza:
Goi hen xuc banh trang — Manila clam salad mix topped on rice crackers. The baby clams weren’t «fishy» and with the dynamite fish sauce (mentioned earlier), made a tasty Vietnamese «nachos» snack. Most likely be even better if they have added extra fried onions/​shallots on top of the mix.
Banh xeo — Vietnamese pancake. Batter made not too thick and just enough crunch; I don’t think they will have any competition on this one in Kent. Just a note here is that perhaps using the larger lettuce leaves only would make it more convenient to wrap and dip this monster!
Banh khot — mini pancakes. These bad boys are like children of Banh Xeo. Again, the batter isn’t too thick so it retains a crunchy bottom crust, filled with shrimp, mung bean (?) and green onions. The same suggestion applies here: They should use the smaller lettuce leaves only so it can easily be wrapped for quick dipping!
The décor and dining area: clean and well laid out. I am sure that as with any new business, kinks need to be worked in the first few months based on customer experiences and feedback. Be aware that the price point is a bit higher for what you get. That being said, Hue City is a welcome addition to the Kent area. Many more dishes to try so multiple return trips are inevitable.
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Update 4÷30÷2012: I have tried even more dishes and notes:
Mi Quang — a yellow rice noodle dish with shrimp, egg, pork, peanuts and rice cracker toppings, all in a spicy sauce. My honey’s favorite.
Banh Canh — a crab soup with chewy udon noodles. Contains real crab meat and true to its origin.
Com Dac Biet Hue City — their special rice dish. If you are a carnivorous meat eater and want satisfaction, here you go. A slew of grilled chicken, pork and beef with a cup of rice, veggies and a fried egg. Be ready for a nap after this one. I feel the veggies could be more of a salad than the way it’s currently laid out with pickled vegetables to liven it up more.
Still have not yet tried any of their desserts but you know I can only resist for so long… My favorite of all the above– duck bamboo soup.
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Update 6÷2÷2012: It has been exceedingly difficult for me to continue patronizing this establishment when the price deltas are unfavorable. Surrounding businesses are offering similar items for several dollars less. On multiple occasions I dropped by to eat, they were CLOSED for reasons unknown. I may still drop by once in a while.