Nam-Viet Pho 79

I wanted this place to be good. I really did. If you’re looking for something similar, but a bit cheaper, try phở 14 one metro stop away.

4 stars for consistency and great service. The garden rolls are freshly made and among the best you can get and the soups are great. The phở may not stand up to places like Phở 14 but the variety of soups makes this a great stop when you want a change of pace or are in a larger group on a cold day – try the Spicy Hue noodle soup and the vegetable soup. On a hot day, the bun is excellent and authentic, as is the lemongrass chicken.
Not a hipster spot, but a very good neighborhood restaurant that has been serving the area well for decades.

I rarely write reviews, but the fact that this place has 3 stars is nuts. I order from here all the time, get many different things, and it is awesome every time-​so consistent. Big portions, great flavor. Best phở I’ve had in DC, and I’ve tried it all. The food is fresh, they are quick and pleasant, and it always smells so good in there. There might be better Vietnamese out there, but this place is perfect for what it is. Go there, see what i mean, and rate it higher then 3 stars!

This place was wonderful! We swung by here after the zoo, my friend’s recommendation. I can honestly say that this was my first time at a Vietnamese restaurant where I didn’t get phở, I was feeling adventurous and it was hot out!
We started with an order of fresh garden rolls with shrimp and the grilled lemon peel chicken. The rolls were tasty, fresh, and came with a sauce for dipping that complimented them well. I LOVED the chicken and the sauce for it was also outstanding.
On to the entrees. I ordered the pork chops that came with steamed veggies and white rice. This dish blew me away. The pork chops were PERFECT, everyone at the table agreed with me on this. My boyfriend got a noodle dish with shrimp (cannot remember the exact name). It was delightful and packed with great flavor. He scarfed it down before I even got a second bite! My friend ordered the soft-​shell crabs and they were excellent as well! Such a fun dish when you can find it and this place gave it perfect flavor.
Nice job, Nam-​Viet!

We still really like this place and come here regularly, especially just before a move at Uptown Theatre. We did discover a better Vietnamese restaurant here in DC though: Phở Viet, on 14^th Street NW can’t be beat, especially for their phở.

Got chicken phở to go. The broth was delicious but the chicken. It was cold sliced deli chicken. Pretty terrible. Not going back again, unfortunately.

This became our last supper in DC pick. We took the Red Line up to Cleveland Park and walked over. Did not know what to expect because it was empty when we arrived, but by the time we were done the place was filling up. I had the spicy beef soup (phở) and it was delicious. My friend’s won ton soup look yummy as well.

Their crispy rolls are the best, crunchy and flavorful with crab filling. We keep coming back for those (no place else comes close except in Clarendon) and the #31, grilled pork over vermicelli, and the Saigon shrimp and pork noodle soup, which I get with phở noodles instead of yellow or clear rice noodles. The quail appetizer is also lip smacking, not a lot of meat but intense flavor. I recommend sticking to the soups, apps, and grilled items, or the spicy seafood. The sauted stuff is pretty bland. Casual, kid friendly and value priced. Not a spectacular «just phở» place, but a great option in Cleveland Park.

Prices are about 25% higher than the menu in the window
Service is fast. Old and a bit run down.
#23/​24 salmon soup was bad and only two pieces of salmon. #35 beef over noodles had very little meat.
Haven’t had the phở yet

Nam-​Viet was the closest option to my home for some cold weather Phở and Im not sure it was really the best of decisions. I order their beef soup (which was their equivalent to Phở). It was not awful, but lacked a certain degree of deliciousness from the broth. My boyfriend ordered the spicy beef soup and it came with a completely different noodle, making it a variation of Phở we were both unfamiliar with. My recommendation is to stick with dishes aside from their soups. We ordered their appetizer spring rolls and those were very good!

I have eaten there before, and the food was good – the phở has a good star anise flavor, and it is very comforting and warming on a cold night. HOWEVER, last night we went there and it was either too crowded, or too understaffed. We ended up leaving. We waited several minutes to be sat, and got water – and then nothing. We signaled to the waitress several times, and left. Another couple stood by the door for 10 minutes with nobody coming to greet them, and a third couple left – again without being serviced – around the same time we did. It was bad.

Fast service, reasonably priced food, and pretty good phở. The broth and noodles were tasty although the beef wasn’t very appetizing. I ordered the spicy beef and it didn’t seem spicy at all. Not a bad spot for a quick bite.

No thrill Vietnamese food that is full of authenticity, flavor, and excellent taste. If you are in the area seeking a casual and good/​satisfy Vietnamese meal, then stop here. You won’t be disappointed.

My boyfriend and I stopped here for a late lunch while we were in the area. Honestly, kind of underwhelming. We had the beef jerky papaya salad and a bowl of the BBQ vermicelli. The papaya salad was straight up not good, kind of strange – not really flavorful at all, while random strings of beef jerky mixed in – I wouldn’t recommend it. The vermicelli was good, but nothing extraordinary, but it was a little pricey for Vietnamese food, IMO, but probably in-​line with the Cleaveland Park area, I guess.
I don’t think we’ll be back, but I think this place has its hits and misses for sure. They do have a pretty good beer selection and service was quick and friendly!

The spicy beef soup and seafood soup are staples in our house. You get almost two meals out of one large soup and you get to put the ingredients together yourself so it is always fresh and crisp.

I go here when I have a hankering for Vietnamese food and don’t want to make my way to a better Vietnamese restaurant. I just experienced poor service at Nam-​Viet and asked to elevate my complaint to the owner. I got hostility and the excuse that there was no way for me or restaurant employees to reach the owner. I would have kept «my review» in– house but, since there is no way for me to do that, I decided to post it here. I hope you have a better response than I did. But I won’t go there again.

The best Vietnamese food I’ve had. Very flavorful, fresh ingredients, and not too salty like some Vietnamese food can be. My favorite dishes are the papaya salad with beef jerky and chicken phở. Friendly staff and fast service. Never a wait for tables

Went there on a cold day 12/​27/​2014. Perfect for phở. We each got a bowl of phở and the soups were very good. The spicy beef noodle soup was really spicy! So be careful when asking them for extra spicy. The beef noodle soup was good, not a lot flavor so I added in some myself. We got the fresh garden rolls which came with a peanut sauce. We added some hot sauce to the peanut sauce.

I love this place. Their phở isn’t all that but all the other dishes are sooo yummy! We really haven’t had a bad one. Hands down THE best crispy spring rolls. If you haven’t had them here, there’s nothing like em anywhere else. Orange beef is delectable — crunchy on outside and super tender inside. We’ve had the stir-​fried seafood noodles, soft shell crab, ginger shrimp… it’s all fantastic, super clean and not greasy at all. And it’s a nice touch to have the warm towels after :) and their ice coffee is bomb!

What they say is true… this restaurant has «phở» in its name but is not a phở place in the way you would expect. My friend and I came here CRAVING phở all day after an event at the National Zoo. So imagine our surprise when we looked in the menu and didn’t see a dedicated phở section? There was a beef noodle soup listed under noodles, so… that’s what we got. (On the bright side, if you’re always worried about which meat combinations to get in your phở, you don’t need to worry here because there is one default combo.)
We started with some shrimp garden rolls, which are hard to mess up and were really good. Two rolls, peanut sauce, deliciousness served.
Phở in DC… it never gets me that excited. The large was a little under $ 10 and was not a very big bowl at all. The broth itself was good, no complaints about that. But the condiments were a bit odd. Instead of a bottle of sriracha and bottle of hoisin, as I’m used to, the sauces were in jars with spoons. This method would be fine for the sauce dish method of adding your condiments but we weren’t given little sauce dishes? So it was a bit awkward spooning sauce onto my noodles.
ALSO this was not hoisin sauce? I’ve had something like before, but it’s not actually hoisin and so I was unpleasantly surprised by the flavor of the sauce. It wasn’t quite as sweet and smooth as hoisin sauce is.
Service was fine, I guess. Servers were pretty quiet but filled our waters when needed. We realized that GOOGLE LIED because we thought the restaurant closed at 10 but in fact, they closed at 9:30 as we learned when they turned off the lights. While we were still inside. At 9:28. Message received.
It’s good if you have a craving in the Cleveland Park area/​after a visit to the zoo, but I would not go out of my way to visit here.

I have been coming to this place for years. And in general the food there is great especially the grilled foods such as lemon peel chicken and and Lemongrass beef. I also like the vegetable garden Rolls and the crispy spring rolls. The phở is solid and very tasty though I have tasted better. The service is very prompt.
The décor is out of date and kind of tacky. The restaurant used to be owned by The father «Mr. Thou» and now is run by the son and widowed wife. I believe most of the tradition has been preserved however the prices have gone up a lot and they now use things like paper napkins instead of clothe ones. I will keep going back.

I’ve been back to this restaurant a few times. I fell in love with the grilled pork chop. It was thick and full of flavor. This time the chops were much thinner than I expected and tougher as well but the veggies are fresh and tasty. Service is OK but I wish they would renovate as the décor is extremely outdated.

I ordered the Bun Hanoi (their version of Bun Cha) and it was okay. I lived in Vietnam this summer so maybe it was nostalgia but I just felt like it wasn’t anything special. I honestly can’t even remember what my boyfriend ordered but his tasted remarkably similar and while fine was just… yeah. This place is fine no major complaints just no major compliments, either.

Update:
It’s been awhile since I last sat down in this establishment from nearly two years ago. My coworkers usually bring me back some takeout when they go to eat here. I decided it’s time to step out of the mundane office environment and commercial eateries of Friendship Heights and delve down to Cleveland Park which feels like a 1980’s neighborhood but hey at least it stays historic.
Consistently the food was not any different from the last time I was here, it’s usually not over salted, not spicy, usually fair and down the middle — not often a commonality amongst Vietnamese restaurants who try to reinvent the most typical of dishes with whatever they hear is the best new and hot trend.
Today I settled down with an order of Crispy Spring Rolls, a stir fried noodle dish (#61) and a Vietnamese iced coffee. The lunch including tip was $ 29 but I think it’ll make me skip dinner because everything was hearty and delicious. And I know the place has Phở in the name but let’s be clear a Phở restaurant and a Vietnamese restaurant are two separate entities. One serves soups and rolls with the occasional grilled meat dish and the other one sells more dishes, rolls, than soups.
I noticed the crowd this place attracts — the older variety, almost like a Sunrise nursing home of sorts, with the occasional young couple, the older people like ambiance, small meals, and whatever food dietary trend is trending (stop exploiting the gluten intolerant people out there people) whereas the young couples can get a meal, rolls, and beer and enjoy one another’s company.
All in all a great meal, with fast service, friendly joking waitstaff, and the best part… ABSOLUTELY NO COMMERCIAL FEEL like your Maggiano’s or Cheesecake Factory. I need to come down more often and stop being a cubicle jockey who only eats the catered office stuff or the typical packed lunch.

An absolute gem in Cleveland Park!
The servers are attentive, friendly and always smiling.
My favorite items for lunch or dinner are Fried rice (any protien), Wonton Soup, Egg rolls and Phở. I usually start with egg rolls and then have the rice or one of the soups for entrée. The portions are generous here.
The food has a much purer taste to it than other Phở/​Vietnamese places. I think their food is healthier for you, it certainly tastes that way. I have read many reviews dogging their phở, but, I think it’s because most people are used to mass produced crap, chalked full or MSG and other junk. The phở here has a less salty, cleaner, richer taste and I always enjoy it.
A fantastic family establishment overall! I always leave happy and looking forward to my next visit.
My compliments to the owners.

It’s an unassuming storefront in the Cleveland Park island, but actually rather impressive inside; it stretches far back, is nicely decorated, and even has a skylight.
Their menu offers a decent vegetarian section. Only one dish was available as a lunch special, however: salt and pepper tofu. Can’t go wrong, right? Well, I was a bit miffed that it came without rice; basically just tofu and dipping sauce over a piece of lettuce. Maybe it wasn’t meant as an entrée and they don’t have lunch specials really; it falls to them to be clearer about that and their entrees are quite expensive for lunch. Not that I couldn’t have gotten rice with a small upcharge, but I shouldn’t have to do that. So my issue is it could have been a more filling meal for the money. It was, though, fantastic tofu. The menu said it was homemade, and I don’t doubt it. Between the salt and pepper breading and the sweet chili sauce on the side, I had a choice of two easy to like flavors.
The only other thing I have to say is their music selection vacillated between ‘90s hits and Vietnamese songs that sound like bad imitations of ‘90s hits. It seems to me that every Asian culture makes better food than us but has worse taste in music.
Their dinner menu was diverse enough that I would consider returning if I was in the neighborhood. Not quite exciting enough that I’d go out of my way.

Wonderful surprise – Family owned attentively cared for service and food
Superior Vietnamese quality cooking
The chicken noodles soup enjoyed a wonderful scent– when they say it is a small bowl it is indeed small
Fried Quail never seen in Viet restaurant before was tender perfectly cooked — could not tell it was fried — more of a roast
Almost ate too much with the blue collar pork fried rice — that alone could feed an army
The chef owner recommended his homemade flan — probably the freshest I’ve ever had – since it was just made — he makes a fresh each day

We went here one Saturday evening about 6pm for an early supper and had a delicious meal of two entrees, a beer and a mixed drink (blue martini), phở soup, and rice. The waiter was very helpful and provided prompt and friendly and professional service. The drink was large but well-​made and worth it. The food was fresh and tasty but nothing extraordinary. Our bill including tax and tip was under $ 50, so we felt we had very good value. Wheelchair accessible but a bit crowded (narrow aisles and trash bin, tho movable, blocks bathroom toilet door). Street parking that you pay for, up to 6.30pm. Across the street is the Uptown AMC movie theater, and the Firehook bakery is nearby so it’s very convenient to other establishments. We’d go here again if we wanted a sure-​thing viet phở fix.

Over the course of the past few months, I think I’ve fallen in love with this restaurant. Let me just preface this review by saying that I order the exact same thing every time I visit this restaurant: the phở ga (chicken phở noodle soup). It is consistently amazing and the service is consistently good. Who doesn’t love a warm, hearty, large bowl of soulful phở? But this is just so you have an idea that I am by no means familiar with the other items on their menu (though I’ve heard the spring rolls are pretty awesome).
A word to the masses: They have a minimum of $ 15 if you want to pay with credit/​debit card, though I’ve only been asked this once and have been able to pay with card other times with no problem.