Sung Son Vietnamese Bistro

This is too slow. Spring rolls and sprouts were not fresh.

As of 12÷11÷12
Per KMBC, Sung Son is closed due to roaches. Roaches were found EVERYWHERE… egg roll packages, freezer, on top of appliances and on the floor, both dead and alive.
When KMBC went by to talk to them, while closed, a sign read, «Closed due to plumbing».
Check
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we come here often, mostly because it’s close. that doesn’t mean we love it, but it’s convinient. anyways, this place is just ok, not even my top 5 vietnamese place, but it’s not bad, it’s just not great. it amazes me though how empty it is, practically every single time I come in, completely 100% empty. their phở is pretty bland compared to the places in/​near city market, and their noodle dishes are fair to average. i would and will continue to eat here, but it’s not my favorite. it’s not the best. it’s just ok.

I went here because I bought a Groupon for it and like to check out new places. I went with a friend who had been before and liked it. We ordered something (I forgot what it was called) that was made to be shared and came out in a metal dish with fire coming up through the middle. In the moat around the outside was basically a seafood soup, which was AWESOME. Cool presentation, very tasty, awesome deal with the Groupon.
My only complaint was that the service could have been a bit better. My water glass sat empty for so long that I contemplated getting up and filling it myself. I’m not sure if we received less than par service because we were Groupon customers? Hard to say.
Anyway, good food, not great service. I would probably go back if I was in the neighborhood, I’d just hope the server was paying a bit more attention this time.

I got a Groupon for Sung Son and do not regret doing so! The food was flavorful, colorful and left me feeling… ful (l)! The location is fantastic and the service was good, too. I had a chicken, shrimp and beef medley (I know there was probably a better way to describe that) from the Chinese dishes menu. Unlike some Chinese restaurants/​buffets, it wasn’t bland. I feel like some of the dishes could use a bit of a kick (more spice!) but that’s just a personal opinion. For appetizers, we had the crab rangoons… it was definitely more than enough for two. Serving sizes are super generous so come hungry.

This place had been in my wishlist for a long time but I did not have a chance to check it out. Finally, I went to Sung Son for Sunday lunch buffet. The food was good. Phở and rice crêpe are made by order, which is very nice. The rice vermicelli with grilled pork was very good. The grilled pork was very yummy. The fresh spring roll was okay. They put too few mint and basil into the spring roll. Phở was just okay. The soup was a little bit bland and the rice noodle was too solid. They also did not have the side dish of veggies for the phở. The fried spring roll was crispy and yummy. Most importantly, the rice crêpe was yummy. The crêpe was crispy. The other food were okay like other buffets. I also ordered the iced Vietnamese coffee. It did not let me down.
The price on Sunday buffet is more expensive than the other day but I do not know the difference. Pretending that I ignored the Vietnamese café in the city market, I would say this place is nice to go. If Phở is better and the side dish is provided, I would add this place to one of my favorite restaurants.

Given Kansas City’s sizable Viet population, Sung Son has a pretty high standard to live up to. I’m sorry to say that they fall far short. I didn’t have any of the service issues that others apparently did. It’s just that their food isn’t very good. It’s not very good at all. The phở is watery and not very flavorful. The various types of rice noodles always seem to taste like they’ve been sitting out too long and have started losing their intended consistency a bit. The other dishes I’ve had are okay, at best.
I have to say, I really like the idea of a phở bar/​buffet. If only it was at a restaurant with better food. I can’t say the fare here is truly terrible, it’s just mediocre and nowhere near as good as the other options available nearby. I’d recommend going somewhere else for your phở cravings.

I had the spicy beef phở (#15), and it was herby and delicious! We ordered the spring rolls, and they were fresh and tasty as well.
I would like to go back and try the lunch noodle buffet. This wasn’t open for dinner, just the regular buffet which was small and looked like the average Chinese buffet.

I have been to this place once back when I first moved to Kansas City and decided to try out a new Vietnamese Restaurant. To me the first impression is when I first walked in it just felt like not a lot of work was put into the place and didn’t expect it to be a buffet.
Most of the items with the buffet were pretty decent but what really took the cake off the icing was the phở. I was expecting the place to serve phở in a good size bowl like some of the norms I go to. Also wasn’t a big fan of the clear noodles or the broth reminded me of like a french onion soup.
Lastly I’m not sure if this is standard protocol but we were never given the bill to pay for the meal so I was sitting there like an idiot waiting an then was told I could come up to pay for it… Thanks a lot buddy for letting me know ahead of time. You won’t see me returning to this place.

This place is great and it’s opened Sundays from 11 am to 5pm.

I’ve walked out of Korma Sutra so many times telling myself, as I looked across the street, «I need to check out that Vietnamese place and find out if it’s as good as Vietnam Café.»
Verdict? Split decision.
What I find to be absolutely brilliant is the «noodle bar» concept. Incorporated as part of their lunch buffet, the noodle bar offers 8 different types of phở/​vermicelli/​noodle soups in smaller snack size servings so you don’t have to commit to the large bowl and you can sample different flavors.
The standard lunch buffet was nothing terribly exciting, and was as much Chinese and Thai as it was Vietnamese. Was really disappointed to not see much in the way of Vietnamese dishes on the buffet, but I’m sure there are plenty on the a la carte menu.
The friendly attitude and service of the owners who waited on me on a quiet day combined with the awesome idea of the noodle bar make this a 4-​star. Buffet otherwise? Nothing exciting — and some of it — looked and tasted average at best.

I have not even one bad or even average word to say about this place. EVERYTHING I ate was above average. The tastes were crisp, fresh, and light tasting. Nothing heavy or too saucy. They were maybe the best egg rolls I have ever eaten. My cousin agreed.
I’m not an aficionado of Vietnamese food, but it was a delight. The noodle bowl (prepared to order from a dozen or so choices) comes with the meal and was tasty. Again, I have not much basis for comparison. The only perhaps question I had was some of the dishes on the buffet seemed to be more Chinese than Vietnamese. I could just be dumb on that.
The two sweet tiny older ladies that seemed to be the entire wait staff, hostesses, and bussers were so cute. But more importantly, they were right there to fill up my water glass before it got empty despite a nearly full restaurant. Great price, Sriracha on every table, good service, great atmosphere. I called it a gem of a spot on FB and I will be back!!!

Westport’s best kept secret!
I’m typically not a fan of buffets — the concept of eating till you burst nor the hot food sitting out for god knows how long — however, for this deliciousness I’d make an exception any day. Rules were made to broken, right?
Came here for a weekday lunch yesterday and couldn’t have walked away any more satisfied, incredible bang for your buck. For $ 8.99 you get a steaming hot appetizer section of crab rangoon, spring rolls, tempura fried sweet potato fries with shrimp, egg rolls, papaya salad and much more. Entrees include 3 or 4 veggie dishes (with rice and with noodles) as well as several pork, chicken and beef ones (as a pescatarian, these were not my focus, sorry). Highlights included shrimp pad thai and fried tofu in ginger sauce… my mouth is watering just thinking about that tofu (now how many times have you heard that one folks!?) Oh and they have peanut sauce in huge squirt bottles so you never have to worry about running low!
To top it all off, they have a noodle bar — yes, all included in the original buffet price. You can choose one of 12 different types of phở, made to order with clear noodles and delivered right to your table. The homemade fresh (and free) tea was refreshingly perfect to wash it all down. Wow, I think I gotta bring the coworkers tomorrow… also want to check out the dinner and weekend line up. They boast a Vietnamese crêpe bar and different entrée dishes.
Sung Son, you’re dangerous for my waist line, but oh so savory for my soul!

Remember when Westport was a hippie hotbed? Well I do. There was more than one head shop and Broadway Café wasn’t the only place to see crust punks and hippies hanging out with their scruffy dogs with rope for leashes. Those were the days. And that crew would have LOVED Sung Son, and with good reason.
Inexpensive food that’s fairly healthy, and exotic enough to keep you on your high horse about social issues and well, everything.
This place has 44 reviews, 45 when I finish this one, so clearly people are going. But the place is always mostly empty when I’ve been there, which is weird. Maybe it’s more of a lunch spot for weekdays, and I’ve most been there on weekends for lunch or a weeknight dinner. Who knows. But I feel like back when Westport was a more even split between retail and restaurants/​bars, this place would have had a bunch of hippies chowing on bun and vermicelli like there’s no tomorrow.
In my opinion the weekend buffet is best, because it also includes the made-​to-​order bun and crêpe bars in addition to the buffet itself. I normally hate buffets, and Vietnamese food is my least favorite Asian cuisine generally speaking, but this buffet lets me get a little of all the things I DO like, instead of committing to ordering only one thing.
My favorites include their fresh spring rolls which I think are easily the best in Kansas City, as well as the cabbage and ground chicken salad, their currys are good, and I really enjoy the crepes, filled with sprouts and cilantro, that I then douse in fish sauce. Plus, everything fried is awesome, the battered sweet potato, crab rangoon, egg rolls, all pretty awesome. Off the menu I really enjoyed the vegetables in spicy garlic sauce, which is perhaps slightly more Americanized, but still very well prepared. I added tofu to it, which was really delicious.
The staff is friendly and the space is clean and modern. I wish the buffet was still available for weeknight dinner, but the menu is big and covers everything you want. Even if you’re not a hippie, you’ll really enjoy visiting Westport to eat at Sung Son.

Using the Unilocal Android app, I peered into the Monocle this past weekend, searching for somewhere good to go on the corner of Pennsylvania and Westport in Kansas City. I spotted a well-​rated Vietnamese bistro, and my boy and I both got excited and walked just a few doors down to Sung Son.
I was impressed upon entering Sung Son Vietnamese Bistro. As the smell of delicious broth wafted into my nose, I turned to my boyfriend and grabbed his arm and said, «This smells like home!»
Don’t get me wrong– I’m not Vietnamese; I hail from the San Fernando Valley in California. There is, however, a large Vietnamese population there. Phở places are rather common place, and I’ve had my fair share of both good and bad phở. This place is definitely good.
We passed a buffet on Saturday night, and I honestly was not impressed by what was put out. I did not, however, realize that there was basically a phở bar that you could eat as much as you wanted. Instead, I ordered a phở tai, or rare steak phở, which is usually my litmus test for Vietnamese places.
It was so incredibly good. The broth was complex and good, and my face lit up when we were served up lime, bean sprouts, basil, and cilantro without me asking. Their Iced Coffee was also spectacular, although I think they put a little bit too much condensed milk in it for my taste.
As par for the course with phở, I was full before my bowl was empty. The service was prompt and friendly, and our server seemed very pleased that we enjoyed the place so much.
I will be back!

Accidentally stumbled upon their Sunday brunch while looking for a Phở place. Not going to lie, the Phở was pretty spot on. The broth seemed fresh but very tasty. The liquid had a fairly clear tint to it, which isn’t that common among the Phở places I frequent, yet it still packed all the flavor. I could assume that this is because the stuff is fresh. Noodles, al dente. It was pretty delicious.
I’m not sure the $ 13 sunday brunch was worth it since I predominately ate the Phở. But I’ll definitely be returning in the future for some more noodles.

BUFFET! This is my FAVORITE BUFFET in the whole wide world. You can order off the menu or they have lunch buffets all week and weekend long that are reasonably priced.
The food here is just amazing. The taste, the texture, the freshness. I went in expecting some exotic super ethnic stuff that I wouldn’t care for, but absolutely loved it. They have a big «bar» with hot items to serve from, a dessert bar with green tapioca pudding with coconut cream. OK, so green pudding doesn’t sound appetizing, but TRY IT. It’s SO GOOD. They also have a phở bar (where they make soup for you from scratch) and an omelette bar (also from scratch).
The staff is friendly and you can go up and serve yourself right away.
COME HERE HUNGRY! You won’t go home disasatisfied. We’ve been several times and I can’t wait to go back. Who knows… maybe TODAY!

The second time was better due to the Phở… I had the #11… a vegetarian bowl that was lovely and lively in flavors.
Also, the chicken curry was a hit, thanks to suggestions from fellow Unilocalers we were dining with.
The rangoon was also better this time around.
Ah… the dessert. Coconut milk with some strange greenish tapioca and nuts. Looks weird. Tastes great. Had two cups of the good stuff!
:)

The staff at this place is so helpful. There’s a little old lady that reminds me of my grandmother… if my grandmother were Asian.
I’ve only tried the lunch here. And just buffet style. I like the idea of a buffet, though usually not the reality of what a buffet is. This buffet is actually pretty good. Being super indecisive and liking to try a bit of everything, I wish there were more buffets where the food didn’t like like 5 year old gym socks and taste pretty much the same.
I only get to try a fraction of the dishes since many have seafood or pork in them. There are a few vegetarian and chicken options. In particular, I loved the curry chicken and the veggie vermicelli or noodles (I forget). The latter tasted so extremely fresh that I could sit around and eat that everyday.
They offer about nine varieties of phở. They are not your standard size bowls of phở, rather about a third of the size. Still filling but it allows you to try two or three varieties. Having been there a couple times, it was nice to try the different versions. I’ve got to say, though, the phở here is lacking a bit. It’s not as flavorful as I’m used to. It’s not really bland, just not that flavorful. But it is made fresh and on the spot so that’s great.
For just under $ 10 for weekday lunch, I think it’s quite reasonable given the quality and choice of the buffet.

Best phở ever. Seriously.
Who would have ever thought that Kansas City would have this amazing restaurant hidden away in the Westport neighborhood? Not me. But this is the one place that I stop at whenever I’m in Kansas City. The phở is just amazing… it is unique in flavor, nonoily, and they don’t skimp on the fresh ingredients. I’ve had nothing but excellent service, even when I stop in at 10:45 pm to order phở to go. Packaged, hot, fresh, and ready by closing time.
I heart Sung Son.