Quan Bac

Good service. All dishes were passable on par, but did not find any to be extra special.
bun rieu was huge on the large order. i liked the light flavor of the broth. could of added some spiciness but good as it was.
beef stew curry also wasn’t spicy or too sweet. a bit runny but had nice flavors and the meat and tendon was cooked well, soft.
garlic noodles needed more garlic.
bun thit nuong, clean and lots of lettuce. looked healthy…

I won’t go into too much detail, but:
— Food is good. Tried the beef carpaccio (delicious), shrimp spring roll (pretty good, and filling as a meal would be IMO), fish cake (hot, fresh, yummy), imperial roll (again, yummy– quality Viet places had better not mess up imperial rolls!), and my dining buddies says the phở is good as well; they left no noodle behind. The dessert of caramel? ice cream with fried banana wraps was sinfully delicious. And I’m not a huge fan of banana desserts.
— Prices were very reasonable.
— Service is great. They were fast, didn’t mind that we had a baby in our group, and even played with her when she started getting a little fussy. Plus they let us have that dessert on the house.
— Place was very clean.
— Parking… well, it’s like parking in the Geary/​Clement area. Can’t blame a restaurant for that.
I will be back to try garlic noodles. They have a very extensive menu.

When I visit the West Coast, I try to get my fill of Vietnamese food in. My friend from SF recommended me this restaurant after her mom (who is Vietnamese… LEGIT!) took her here.
We ordered phở, garlic noodles with prawns, and the a beef sandwich (came with fries). The portions were respectable. Especially the sandwich… it was HUGE. I thought everything tasted really good.
My only complaint would be that they served my iced Vietnamese coffee in a paper cup, which started to get soggy. But the coffee itself… pretty darn good.

Went here for dinner around 8:30pm and received the worst service. Stepped inside and we had to walk up to the waitress for her to notice we have been waiting to be seated. Took forever to grab her to order and get the check too. Lost a star for bad service. Had the Bo Tai, which was good but too much onions for me. Also had a chicken salad which was probably my favorite of everything I had tonight. Also bought the first dinner deal that feeds 2 for 29.95. Got fish, tasted bitter, got fried chicken; had a weird taste to it, and the hot and sour soup didn’t have much flavor to it. The fried banana and ice cream was also good, but the banana pieces were so small ;/​I came here a few times before and order Bo Lo lac and it was my favorite dish here. Wanted to try something new and didn’t enjoy any of it but the chicken salad and dessert. Next time ill stick to my usual order, bo lo lac.

WTF, honestly one star on my site is travesty to food. Before i started this review i seriously tried to see if i could give this place no stars.
By the time i got my phở, the noodles were soggy… and the waitress would not give me a new bowl cuz she thought nothing was wrong with it… I made every attempt to grab the noodles with my chopsticks, but it disintegrated into mush. Needless to say I was pretty upset.
Can’t even write about the rest of this place.
OVERALL: me no likey likey… no happy ending here muchacho o_​O

Went with the family to celebrate uncle’s visit from Hawaii.
There were 21 of us and we went to the back room. I love the décor, it is fresh and updated with silk lanterns hanging around. There’s the lovely aquarium that kept the kids entertained. And there were two large remarkable Argentine Tango prints in the room, too. I am not sure what that connection is, but as a tango dancer I appreciated it.
For the food, we had garlic noodles, chicken salad, imperial spring rolls, two types of crab, oxtail stew with wine sauce with french bread, shaken beef, five spice chicken, crab red fried rice, bananas and ice cream and hot tea all served family style.
My favorite dish was the chicken salad and the imperial rolls.
Beautiful restaurant. I know we’ll be back.

This place does not have the usual phở noodles. the first time i came here, i was disappointed when i ordered the beef phở because i had to eat the flat noodles or egg noodles or something, but then i discovered the bun rieu. Every time I really crave soup noodles, I always come here. I always order the bun rieu (crab and tomato phở) and I love it! it’s so flavorful and gives you plenty of crab. They are definitely not skimpy. I’ve also ordered the coconut shrimp soup noodles. That was also very delicious.
I’ve introduced this place to some friends and they love it! The only time (recently) that was a bit disappointing, was that my friend ordered bbq beef garlic noodles and it was just way too salty. Other than that, everything else that we ordered (including oxtail stew and calamari) tasted great!

Place is nice, but food is eh.
I ordered Curry Beef stew not much beef or tripe — lacks flavor, just salt.
Hubby ordered Garlic noodles and pork chop– quality sucks. You can tell their meat is not fresh and noodles are overcooked.
Sucks that this place is good for groups but don’t provide good food.

I had my wedding reception for around 40 people here, and the service, food, and space available was AMAZING!
We called about 2 months in advanced and communicated with them until the event. Every time we called they were very polite and eager to help out. The day of we actually finished our ceremony early and called to see if we could come early, which they said yes :)
Our family loved the food, they accommodated our vegetarian AND meat loving family members, we got to listen to our own music (loudly too), AND no corking fee for byow (wine).
This place has been my husbands and mines favorite for awhile, and they went over and beyond for wedding day. Thank you SO much to the restaurant for making our day so special :)

Get:
Supper Value Meal Set. $ 30 feeds two.
I attached a photo of the 4 different combos. Lots of food.
Okay:
I got the Bun (Dry Noodles) with Grilled Pork and fish sauce.

We stopped and ate here yesterday because we were in the neighborhood and craving Vietnamese. We didn’t check any reviews first, just looked at the menu in the window and decided to try it out.
We enjoyed the food. The Vietnamese crêpe appetizer was quite delicious. We also had shaking beef and rice, sizzling short ribs and stir-​fried vermicelli with pork and prawns (I think). The third dish we didn’t think we had actually ordered but apparently the waiter understood that we were ordering that too; when it came out it looked good so we just kept it. Since the prices are very reasonable, it wasn’t that big a deal… we love leftovers.
Everything was yummy. For the complaints about the service, I didn’t find it offputting. Our server was very nice and offered recommendations. There was the mix-​up about the extra dish, but it was an honest mistake and I’m sure if we had chosen to argue about it it would have been rectified, but really, who wants to see delicious food go to waste? The only thing I would say is that when we came in, it wasn’t clear if we were to seat ourselves or be seated; finally a waiter cleared a table and sat us there, but then it took a few minutes before anyone came over. However, when he did, as I said, he was very pleasant and after that the service was fine, everything came out quickly, no problems.
We would definitely go back there and try some other stuff. The menu goes on forever and there were so many things we wanted to try… next time!

We ordered the French Styled Seafood Set Meal for $ 29.95 + tax. The chicken salad came first. I have to say, it’s not bad because it was crunchy and tasted sweet and salty. We were able to split the appetizer three ways. Then came the crab (whole) and the fried rice. The crab was somewhat big. It was fried and had a crusty crumb-​y bread-​like taste to it. The fried rice was pretty amazing since it tasted oh so good (soft, chewy, lots of egg). At the end, we were served dessert: fried bananas and a scoop of ice cream. I thought it was pretty small but then again, the meal was for two people, not three people.
I really like this place. I’ve been here a few times already too. Service is not bad but could be better because on our last visit, they forgot to bring us our iced water. As for the authenticity, I can’t really guarantee anything but that you should go and try it out. The tv is also a plus since the Olympics are on right now but even when it’s not Olympic season, they probably show stuff on tv from the Viet channel. If you want to learn some stuff about Vietnamese culture, you can eat while watching it.

We called to reserve 2 tables in their private dining on the other side… for about 16 peeps…
We ordered the 188.00 special for each table, tons of food that I don’t know where to begin…
We added garlic noodles to our fixed menu because they are my favorite…
The one item on their menu that got me going was the lobster, that was in a deep dish, filled with a papaya sauce, it came with bread and dipping the bread into the sauce was a awesome taste… we had to order extra bread just because it was that delicious… everyone raved about the food…
The most important part was the guests we entertained, a few friends from Victoria, BC… and they loved it… every single dish…
I don’t know how to explain the importance of great food with great company, we had a blast…
The service again was superb… the total came to 540.00, that is including tips…
Definitely recommended for family gatherings and they were so great for helping us keep the peanuts out due to one of our guests having an allergy to peanuts… just an awesome overall experience…

Dear Unilocal,
Why the 3 stars?
The prices are fairly decent for what you get, and the décor is pretty nice inside. I haven’t had a problem with service here either!
I’ve tried a variety of things here.
NOTE: I am not a fan of PHO or noodle soup stuff so I can’t judge these items but my mom likes their phở? Lol.
Vermicelli w/​chicken/​imperial rolls/​pork: I usually get the vermicelli when I come here. I don’t usually finish. I love it with the chicken and they give you a good amount. The imperials rolls are ok, nothing special. Grilled pork is pretty good. The vermicelli itself is ok and they give you a good mix of veggies.
ANY curry item: Holy shit their curries are bomb. And a big plus for me is that their potatoes in here are PERFECT. I think they pan fry it first and then put it in the curry. Ahh. have not had one bad potato in the curry yet =)
3 or 5 color rice: Nom! Great way to try diff kinds of viet food since I’m used to the standard phở/​vermicelli/​spring rolls. Portion is HUGE.
Garlic noodles: OK. But I don’t think I’m a big fan of garlic noodles in general since I’ve had it at a few places and haven’t really been wow’ed yet. I guess I just look fwd to TONS of garlic each time and don’t get hit with it.
Garlic crab: My dad confirmed it was FRESH crab and the batter is soooo good. Damn fried food… it is well worth the calories tho ;)
MMMMM… I’ve had some other items here but their menu is very vast so do come here to give it a try! They also have vegetarian options.

DON’T be deterred from the 3-​star rating. DO come and try Quan Bac and do the judging yourself!
I admit, I was hesitant to try this place, but was convinced by the BF. We ended up having a surprisingly pleasant dinner!
First of all, the décor is lovely and unique! The walls are busily covered with a ton of great paintings and there are a lot of beautiful decorative items scattered about the entire restaurant. You immediately feel very cozy, warm, and invited.
We stuck to just a couple of dishes, so can’t vouch for the whole menu. We got the Escargot Rice Noodle Soup, the Beef Satay Noodle Soup, and shared a Deep Fried Salmon Rolls appetizer.
The Escargot Rice Noodle Soup is very similar to a Bun Rieu (crab in tomato broth noodle soup), in that it had a tomato-​based broth. The flavor was present yet light, so it was very refreshing on a warm day. There were a ton of snails, which had a cartilage, tendon-​like texture. I couldn’t end up eating all of them!
The Beef Satay Noodle was very rich and the flavor ran deep. My BF preferred the taste of this one compared to the PPQ in the Outer Sunset. The noodles were nicely cooked also. I may consider getting this next time.
The Deep Fried Salmon Rolls were a Special item on the dry-​erase board. It tasted kinda Japanese fusion, as there were some salmon roes and wasabi. The flavor was great, though for $ 7, we were expecting a little more.
Overall, Quan Bac was surprisingly good! The menu is huge so we’ll definitely go back.

I came to try Quan Bac because it is one of the few vietnamese restaurants I found that make banh xeo. But was sadly disappointed because it was very oily. Once I tasted it I knew the BF and I would not be back. That is his favorite Vietnamese dish and he was not happy with it either.
i found the food to be ok, somewhat on the pricy side. I will stick with Yummy Yummy.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this place. We were there with a fairly large group. Each person got something different, so we were able to sample a little bit of everything.
The Five Spice Garlic Chicken Noodles is probably my favorite dish. The flavors married very well together, and the chicken was tender and juicy. That was the first dish to disappear on our table.
My favorite soup was the Crab Meat Tomato Soup. Sadly, I didn’t really taste the crab that much. The «crab meat» in my soup looked more like ground pork or ground chicken… However, the dish still looked and smelled wonderful despite the lack of crab-​taste. Still, I was thoroughly satisfied.
We also had this egg crêpe thing… according to the pictures, it’s called ‘banh xeo’? If you’re not a veggie person, you might not like this so much. There were a ton of bean sprouts inside. yum :)
One dish that I really wasn’t a fan of is actually one of their most famous signature dishes. I wish I caught the name, but there was a hint of lemon grass in this noodle soup. The flavor was just much to pungent for me, and it masked the natural flavors of the broth. Yet, it’s still one of their best sellers.
There were a few other dishes we had. They weren’t too memorable though. From what I remember, we didn’t care much for them.
Although they claim to be a Viet/​French restaurant, I don’t really see the French influence. However, they do have more unique dishes in comparison to your average phở joint.
Overall, the food was either a hit or a miss. I loved the Five Spice Noodles and the Crab Tomato Soup. That’s about it. However, the décor is worth mentioning. I loved the elegant and modern designs that flowed through the space. They even have a beautiful banquet room with bamboo to tie the whole theme together. Very well done in this aspect.
Oh yeah, they also gave us complimentary fried banana ice cream :)

To get the final cuisine of my desired triad of Mexican, Thai, and Vietnamese food while in California, a friend suggested Quan Bac for Vietnamese.
Quan Bac is just another of dozens of restaurants along Geary, across from the Kaiser Permanente building, painted in eye-​catching garish green. The interior is dark, pleasant enough if somewhat forgettable, and the seating roomy enough, if worn; also a big bar on one side. Our waiter was friendly and pretty eager to serve, but a bit too eager to sell certain items on the menu (notably an expensive lobster dish). Not that I didn’t want lobster, but he needs to work on subtlety or he ends up making people NOT want to order it.
Enough with the service, onto the food. My friend chose this particular place primarily because it offers a menu with more regional variety than the usual. Sure enough, I recognized many things I saw for the first time while having Vietnamese in Orange County California last year. Until I had Vietnamese in Southern Cal, I never had bun bo hue before; I was only familiar with phở bo.
We tried Quan Bac’s bun rieu, a bun bo hue of crab meat and tomato, in a rich, earthy, tangy, sour broth with fluffy meatballs and loads of vegetables, herbs, and egg swirled in. I actually think what I had in Southern Cal was better, but this was tasty. We also had bun thit nuong cha gio, cold bun served without soup, topped with grilled pork, yummy deep-​fried Vietnamese rolls, and herbs, crushed peanuts, and sauces. Not so unusual a choice, but also good.
I definitely like the opportunity to eat Vietnamese food I don’t have easy access to, so I enjoyed the bun rieu. The food was solid, but also not comparable to what I had in Southern Cal. Probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again, unless I’m craving bun bo hue.

Strange to see all the negative reviews that this place has.
Quan Bac isn’t bad at all. We usually come here for birthday dinners because it’s fairly spacious and the back rooms give you the privacy that many other places don’t have.
I’m not completely sure which set menu we get but it comes with TONS and TONS of food. it seems to never stop coming which is great, especially for the price.
The other night there was this seafood combo in tomato sauce which was delicious, it also came with french bread so that you are able to dip it into the sauce. It was really good. Salt and pepper crab was on point. ox tail stew was good, other various Viet dishes were all good.
At the end you also get a tower of desserts, ice cream on top, this Viet jello type thing in the middle and flan on the bottom.
Overall, this place is pretty solid. I wouldn’t mind coming back here for future birthday dinners because the price is great for the amount of food you get.

3 stars for A-​okay.
It’s difficult for me to rate this restaurant, because I have dined in all the previous restaurants at this location, so I can’t help but compare them. The previous places had a more upscale décor than this one, so expectations were dashed in my mind. It claims to be a French-​Vietnamese restaurant.
The remodeling was minimal. The giant fish tank remains and it has been restocked with new fish. And the right wall in the dining room has a nice Asian plant décor. Those are the only details I liked.
The bar area at the entrance was repainted, and the sushi station in the main dining room is gone, replaced by a stage. Would be a nice feature for parties, live singers/​bands or other celebrations.
The new owners inherited all the old tables and chairs including the fancy dinnerware and Japanese plates. All the chair’s backs have a crack in the middle and the tables could use a coat of paint.
It was odd for me to recognize the plate and cup that were used for tempura and sauce in the past, now holding imperial rolls and fish sauce.
But the chopsticks and spoons are new, I know that because part of the price sticker was still stuck to the bottom of my spoon. I just peeled it off and rubbed off the left over glue before using it.
The modern bathroom from the old place is intact, but the liquid soap dispenser was empty. The staff are helpful although a bit inexperienced.
I guess that family, friends, and acquaintances were dining that first night too, because many children were running around screaming and playing loudly.
I tried to put all those minor superficial aspects and opening day mishaps aside and focus on the food. Otherwise they wouldn’t get as many stars.
I ordered basic items — cha gio (imperial rolls) and beef phở. This is Northern Vietnamese style phở, so you get no side garnishes, and they use ho fun noodles. I think that their frying oil was too hot because 2 pieces of the rolls looked like it had exploded, taste was fine. It comes with lettuce, rice noodles, pickled veggies, topped by some yummy garlic chips and crushed peanuts.
The beef phở was okay, rare beef was good quality and meatballs also tasted good, but broth was average.
The menu is super extensive (also posted on the window, in case u want to check it out). The noodle soups (under $ 7 – 8) and rice plates (around $ 8) have reasonable prices, but entrees are $ 10 – 12 (can’t tell which ones are the French-​Vietnamese dishes). The one surprise was banh mi sandwiches priced at $ 7.25 (don’t know what justifies that price), that’s high since you can buy them for $ 3.50 half a block away. And the best ones in this area from Y&Y cost $ 3.20 (my opinion).
The stickers near the entrance (Visa/​Mastercard accepted, People love us at Unilocal) are all from the previous place. I don’t know why they didn’t scrape them.
It’s CASH only.