Lien Hung Restaurant

Cash only business. It has a wide range of authentic Vietnamese selections. While it is generally better than other Viet places in SATX, broth in phở was not as rich as I would like to have. One great thing is that they always serve you with plenty of Rau (veggie) regardless of seasons!

First time eating phở so I’ll give this restaraunt a 3. They would probably have a lot more customers if they took credit cards (cash and check only). I had the rice noodle phở with pork, squid and shrimp based on recommendations. (Didn’t really enjoy the pork — various cuts, and the squid was okay… I think =\), best part was the shrimp, broth and the cilantro! I used plenty of cilantro and bean sprouts as well as a couple dashes of red Phở sauce and my meal was tasty. I also ordered shrimp toast and it was really good (very very rich — deep fried, but so good with the sweet dipping sauce) I will definitely be going back for more!

Apps («spring roll» and shredded pork roll) weren’t great and the steak phở wasn’t amazing either. Pretty plain but lots of meat.

Not bad ! I had passed this place a few times and always cars out front. Place is nothing fancy but the food was good. I was a little shocked it was 10.00 for sesame chicken thiugh. But other food inside looked legitimate and authentic. Looks like they may live in the attached building and the restrooms are a bit truck stopish but again food was good. Chicken was crispy. The rice was plain cooked with egg. I dont know if they offer pork fried or other rices i wasnt offered. The egg roll was pretty small, not the normal larger ones you het and dint seem to be the same stuffing but was still good.

Yet another visit here. Perfect day for Phở.
Must say the food here never disappoints and we try a different phở every time we come here. Spring rolls are awesome (fried) and the service is always on point.

They actually have the best phở in town. Vietnamese spring rolls are highly disappointing because there’s very little meat in it. Fish sauce, phở, summer rolls, even their egg drop soup is legit. Unfortunately, the service is extremely poor and cash only.

I ordered the vermicelli with pork and it was nice cool lunch for a very hot day. I like the fish sauce they offer for the noodles. Love the cucumber and lettuce in the dish. The were few cucumber with skin on and it was bitter to bite. Overall good food. Too bad they only take cash because I could not order an egg roll.

There aren’t many vietnamese restaurants in this area, but the food is not bad. The phở is like phở anywhere else, but I especially like the egg noodles and the porridge. They have a special menu that changes every day/​week (?), which I would recommend you ordering from as well.
They’ve recently fixed up the front so it’s actually pretty clean looking now.

My parents found this place when I was a teenager and now me and my family come here and we all love it!!! The food never disappoints and if it is to my vietnamese mother’s standards then it must be very good!

Lunch review. We were promptly seated, given waters and tea, and after that it felt like forever before our app came out which we couldn’t even put a dent in before the phó came out. Summer rolls (both shrimp and pork) are standard, the peanut sauce was great, and the egg rolls tasted freshly made even though fried.
As for the phó…watery, doesn’t have that hearty meat soaked taste to it. The herb add ons were nice and fresh, the basil and cilantro leaves were such a pretty green. Everyone in the group seemed satisfied.
In summary, minus one star for slow service, and another star for mediocre broth. They do use fresh ingredients though and are friendly! Try it out and decide for yourself.

Food was terrible the spring rolls will sleep vegetables no meat they really cut down the quality of food but I don’t see why a lot of people like this place while backing used to be good but now is terrible

My husband and I love the phở here! We also love the shrimp seafood rolls. We come here quite often!

Pros: Friendly staff, fast service. Generous serving size.
Cons: Phở broth was very bland with no color. Looked like water. The building/​area is very sketchy.
Would not recommend coming here

Based on this first visit, I would be hard pressed to come back to this place. Nothing we ordered was remotely good.
My husband ordered the #22 bun cha gio thit nuong (vermicelli noodle with egg rolls and grilled pork). The egg rolls and thin pieces of pork had no flavor. To make it even more bland, it was served with iceberg lettuce and cucumber. Pork wasn’t even grilled. To be fair, the noodles had a nice toothsomeness and the accompanying fish sauce was ok. Some mints, basil, or cilantro would have helped make the dish a bit better. But alas, there were no herbs. Fail #1
Fail #2 was my dish, the special — bo kho (beef stew). This is was greasy dishwater with a hint of curry. Could not detect any use of lemongrass, star anise, ginger, tomatoes, or anything else that makes bo kho BO KHO!
So why the generous 2 stars you ask? The service was ok and we did like the noodles, fish sauce, and bread. But we won’t be regulars here.

After more than two years break I tried this place again. The ambiance didn’t changed and the menu is now placed in a book, it has some pictures too.
BUT: there must be a major change in the kitchen!
I ordered Phở and it was delicious! Not fatty and seasoned just right. The accompanied veggies fresh and crispy.
I returned to this place many times since I never left disappointed. I tried the rice noodle seafood soup with won-​ton — great! I tried charbroiled pork chop & egg quiche — well done and delicious! Chicken with lemon grass — tender and seasoned to perfection.
You can see the menu, and more dishes I tried, here:
Click on the pictures for a detailed description.
I will keep going back and recommend this place to you too.
Open everyday till 9PM, no credit cards — cash or checks.
Enjoy!

We have been many times to Lien Hung. Phở #6 is the best for Seafood lovers. Down an off frontage road. Not pretty, service by the waitress is minimal… but when they get to know you, they are very friendly and give good service.
No Credit or Debit accepted, just cash or checks.
It is worth getting to know this restaurant. It grows on you and if Phở is what you like, you will like Lien Hung.

Great little hole in the wall Vietnamese cuisine. Can’t get anymore authentic then this other then having mom cook. Been establish for awhile now in San Antonio, food is great! But bring cash, no plastic here!

I’m shocked that this place has decent reviews. Maybe it’s because I have gotten used to eating phở for years in dense Asian communities in San Diego and San Francisco, but this place was such a disappointment!
The menu only lists 5 kinds of phở (no tripe or additions beyond well done steak, brisket, tendon, and meatball), very plastic/​hard meatballs, small bowls (all 105lbs of me ate the bowl easily), lemons instead of limes, and very under flavored broth. If you’re used to eating great phở where the very thinly sliced steak cooks in the broth then, I wouldn’t recommend this place at all.
My husband had the sesame chicken and he said it was meh at best. The egg roll that came with it looked like it came from a high school cafeteria and had no discernible ingredients inside (eg bits of mushroom or carrot). He eats everything, but didn’t even finish that. Normally in vietnamese restaurants we order egg rolls as an appetizer but this place sold them for almost $ 2/​each so we passed (which he said good thing that we didn’t buy a whole plate of them). He said his rice seemed day old and dry.
My phở and his chicken was about $ 20. We will continue our search for another phở place and won’t come back here.

I’ve been coming to lien hung ever since 2000, it reminds me of all the good ol high school days and memories spent here. It’s been open for so long, they’re doing something right with the food. Here’s my quick pros/​cons:
Downsides:
–Service isn’t spectacular so don’t have high expectations
–cash or check only
–parking can be difficult if you come during a crowded time
–vermicelli bowl (#35) with meatballs and spring roll. What a disappointment! Its either i had poor quality taste as a high schooler or the restaurant has significantly lowered in quality. I asked for more veggies, not that iceberg lettuce is nutritional at all, but they didnt even load my bowl up with lots of greens. Plus it was noodle overload. Not a fan of this and ive had much better vermicelli bowls, especially in houston. –my sister got the mongolian beef and was surprised by the amount of beef they served. It was quite pathetic. She disliked her entire meal, so I wouldn’t recommend ordering Chinese food at a viet restaurant.
Upsides:
–Vietnamese iced coffee is delicious, you cant mess up here. Tip: water it down so you can have at least 2 refills
–Theyve renovated this place and the menus. So much better than what it used to look like before
–my friend loves the lemon chicken here. You cant mess up lemon chicken.
–my mom and sister got #5 combination phở and they scarved it up. The best thing is probably stick with the Phở.
So all in all, I gotta give it 2 stars. My taste buds must have «grown up or matured» ever since I’ve been living in houston and having quality viet food.

I recently moved to the San Antonio area and they lack on Phở and/​or Vietnamese restaurants in general. I’m originally from Austin and there is one on every corner. But I’ve tried seriously ALL the phở restaurants in San Antonio. Hands down this is the best bowl of phở in San Antonio.
The neighborhood is kinda sketchy and it reeks outside but when I walked in I smelled the aroma and forgot about it.
The menu is extensive. They have both Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. Spring rolls and summer rolls are delicious!
I’m Asian and I know NOT to order chinese food at a vietnamese restaurant. Kinda like how you don’t order sushi at a thai restaurant. So I couldn’t tell you about the chinese food.
The service sucks but it’s like that at all Vietnamese places. They come once to give you water and take your oder and you don’t ever see them after that. So don’t expect the best of service. They’ll know you’ll be back so they don’t care. And I know I’ll be back!

not the best tasting food (same «watery broth» observation as elnina e.), but it’s hot and fresh. never seen bean sprouts that white and crisp before. never had soup served that hot before either. they’re pretty generous with their portions too. the weird thing was that on their green paper take-​out menu, the prices were about 25 cents cheaper across the board than their dine-​in menu. also, the shrimp in the noodle soup were extremely overcooked.