Kim Son Vietnamese Restaurant

Omfg. I am so. Freaking. Full. We ordered: #50 spring rolls with peanut sauce, #13 Phở w/​prawns & BBQ Pork, #82 Spicy prawns with onions and spicy sauce, a side of steamed rice, and Vietnamese Coffee. We’re about to BURST. With tip, we paid $ 43-​ish. Oh god. So full. So good. So tasty. AND we packed our to-​go boxes to the brim with leftovers. … You guys, I’m stuffed. Time for a nap.
The 3 stars doesn’t mean it’s bad! We like this place, actually. We like Gordo’s Mexican Food also, which we would also give a 3. I guess after you’ve eaten at enough places in San Francisco and around the West Coast, you get kinda selective with the restaurants you’d give a 4 and up.
Kim’s is inexpensive, tasty, has decent service, and is super low-​key/​non-​judgey. That’s my kinda place for a lazy Sunday dinner. :) We’ll be back!

I love this place! Rather this place made me love phở! I wouldn’t eat phở until I came here and got the wonton soup, it’s by far my favorite soup.
I came to day and got #41 which was the crispy noodle seafood, veggies and chicken dish it was amazing it’s very large and I could only eat a little but have plenty for later.
Thai tea was amazing as well, little pricy but overall good. I would highly recommend this place especially if your in the balboa area.

To be quite honest, I don’t think I’m the best judge of Vietnamese food: give me a vermicelli bowl with tasty BBQ meat or a soul-​warming bowl of phở, and my Unilocal review will likely be a thumbs up (+/​-​snarky comments if I find something to make fun of)
Kim Son stands out beyond my typical vermicelli/​phở complacency in two respects:
1) The vegetarian phở ($ 8) has quite a lot of ingredients, and it is not a sad bowl of regular phở minus meat as you might expect. There’s tasty fried tofu that soaks up the broth as well as a good selection of veggies (broccoli, bok choi, carros, mushrooms. Who knew broccoli would taste so good in phở). For the broth, you can even choose vegetarian, chicken, or beef for pseudo-​vegetarians like myself. I thought the chicken broth could have used more flavor (my gold standard is Turtle Tower’s phở ga) and it was borderline lukewarm (or maybe I just spent too much time taking food pictures and it cooled down). Overall it was satisfying and refreshing, and the topping of fried garlic added a nice touch.
2) Their broken rice entrée ($ 12) is essentially a sampler with 7 specialties, and it’s a dish I’ve never seen at a restaurant before. One can scoff at the composition as a hodgepodge of miscellaneous items (or, as I’ve seen in another review, it’s a peasant’s dish of leftovers – hence broken rice – that ironically costs more here as a special). However I did appreciate the various textures and flavors, ranging from umami BBQ prawns and chicken, to the sweet shrimp-​wrapped sugarcane, to crunchy classic imperial rolls. It also comes with an interesting egg thing (sort of like an omelette), a pile of shredded pork (reminiscent of sukiyaki), and a fried tofu skin roll (no idea what was in the filling but it was good). The concept reminded me of street food because you try bites of traditional, time-​tested favorites. I can totally imagine myself nomming on a sugarcane shrimp on a stick while strolling in an open-​air market.
Kim Son very local business-​y – a homemade cooking style and a family-​run vibe, the server was a very friendly lady who looked like she may be the owner. The neighborhood is a bit out of the way in the Outer Richmond, and parking is not too impossible on weekends if you go for an early lunch (then you could beat the Purple Kow crowd too!)

Came here on a Friday night as a party of 7, no problem getting seats.
I ordered the number 1 house special beef noodle soup, that came in a HUGE bowl, but the portion is actually just medium with lots soup. I was not starving but still have no problem finishing it. There were not that much beef/​meatballs/​tendon, and the few slices of beef were tough. The broth itself is a little blend, really not much flavor. It only look stunning visually when served in the huge bowl, but everything else was mediocre.
My friends ordered the special combination plate and Bun tht nag with barbecue pork. I tried a little bit of the pork and it was delicious! it was tender, and grilled and seasoned perfectly, definitely not the rough over-​cooked thick pork chops. The rice noodles were soft and fresh. When rice noodles are sitting out too long they get dry and break easily, but not the ones in Kim Son. The restaurant even gave them a complimentary bowl of chicken broth on the side!
The phở was only average but the rice/​noodle plates were delicious! I will come back for sure to try the barbecue items but will skip on the phở.

Ehhh. Good phở is few and far between in the city. This place is no exception to the statistic in SF of sub standard phở. It’s simple, straight forward, not a great deal, not expensive either. Just very average overall. Staff is chill

Recommend their Bún tht nng!!! Delicious AND healthy! Great for anyone hoping to lose 10lb for their NY resolution!
FOOD: I got the Bún tht nng (#32), which according to Wikipedia, is a «cold rice vermicelli noodle dish… with grilled pork, herbs… salad and bean sprouts, and ch giò.» It came with fish sauce on the side and my friend told me to add only ¾ of it into the bowl, and leave the rest to dip the ch giò that came with the dish, which is ground pork wrapped in rice paper and deep fried. Everything tasted great in combination, and I really liked the ch giò. Definitely recommend this dish if you want something light and don’t like wasting food (like with Phở you feel like you have to drink the soup to not waste it. Not a problem with this dish)!!!
SERVICE: We were here Sunday during lunchtime and were seated immediately. Our food was ready in 10 minutes and the waiters are nice and attentive to our needs.
SETTING: The restaurant is really spacious and seat maybe 50 – 60 people. There is a Purple Cow conveniently located right next door. Street parking is also do-​able.
PRICE: For $ 12 (+ tip, tax), I was really happy with the food. I was just about full and didn’t feel too bad about it, since the dish itself is pretty healthy.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Great experience! I’m glad that I tried something other than phở. I will come back again for sure.

Yeaaaaaas! Vegetarian phở in vegetable broth? That’s what I’m talking about! Why hasn’t someone done this sooner? Who cares. It exists now at Kim Son. And the veggies are fresh and firm– not sad and soggy. This phở knocks the socks off of the rest. And for less than $ 10! Wha-​whaaaat? Kim and I (yep I went with Kim to Kim) each had a bowl and banchan tea. Our bill was $ 20. Stop it.

~ Review solely based on veggie phở ~
Best one I’ve had in the bay HANDS DOWN.
The broth is very flavorful which is such a nice surprise after always being served hot water with vegetables and noodles and having it labeled as «vegetable phở.» I didn’t have to add obscene amounts of hot sauce to make it interesting, it was already lovely.
The array of vegetables that comprise the phở will surprise you as well as the kick ass broth. There were tons of button mushrooms, sliced carrots, broccoli, fried tofu squares, fresh scallions, fried scallions, and even bok choy! So noms!
The service is also fantastic here and they are super fast at bringing the food out.
Vegetarians ya’ll should come here for phở!

Went here for a mid afternoon snack (so, basically a meal) so I got the crab paste tomato soup. I thought the flavor was a little weird and on the blander side but it is your standard crab paste, so if you’ve had it before in any Asian dish that’s what it tastes like, in soup form, and more watery.
My friend got the phở. The phở bowl was huge! Much bigger than Turtle tower and other standard phở bowls. Didn’t try it but friend said it was decent /​nothing to write home about.

Discovered this place while in line for Purple Kow one night & decided to bookmark it to try one day since its nearby us.
It’s a decent phó place. My fave thing about this place was that they have the sink for washing hands outside of the restrooms. Very great idea!

The imperial rolls here are the BEST. I’m usually very critical on how imperial rolls are served at Vietnamese restaurants. Sometimes, it’s too burnt or does not have stuffing. They definitely make better cha goi (imperial rolls/​egg rolls) than me. Mine usually comes out burnt. Kim Son’s egg rolls are crispy, chunky and well stuffed!
The Bun Rieu on the other hand is not too bad. I might have to revisit Kim Son a couple times before I’m able to make a decision. The bun Rieu was extremely minty. The mint overpowered the broth and everything else in the soup. There was also a bit too much fried tofu. The bun Rieu meat tasted more like sui mai instead of the authentic crab meat mixed with eggs. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the broth.
The service was quick and fast. The restaurant looked quite clean from the outside and the inside. The place was still relatively crowded at 2 pm on a Sunday. I’ll be back to try other dishes that they offer.

Very good soup noodles, running from
$ 9−11/ big bowl. One size only.
Chicken phở and bun rieu ordered. Had I been hungry, would def have tried other menu items. Your standard, no-​nonsense eating restaurant for Viet food.
Located one store space east of Purple Kow!