Bun Bo Hue

Bun Bo Hue has been here for decades (it shows). first to offer central Vietnamese food from Hue. i.e.: Banh Beo, Bahn Nam, Banh Ram It, Cha Hue, Bun Bo Hue…
roomful has about 12ish tables. no waiter present so i just picked up a menu and picked a small able. told waiter what i wanted. HIm: «everything?. blood, pork…» me: «everything».
eats: Banh Beo (5/3,5)
–grounded rice flour steam in saucer plates with ground shrimp and fried pork rind on top.
add noc nam. deliz. (many more varietals available)
–bun bo hue (8.25)
lot of pork blood shrivels, cubes, one pork feet portion, pork loafs, beef slices,
–broth slightly spicy, sodium content low. add cabbage, deliz. not much noodles.
4.5 stars. fab not wowed.
take outs:
–cash only
–waitstaff very helpful, make sure i got right eating instrument and right food.
–downer decrepit parking lot, lot of parking later in the day,
–surpriese they had banh beo, yummy…
–cash only

Even though still not my favorite yet, Bun Bo Hue here is definitely better than An Nam, and the one at Hue restaurant is quite a hit or miss.
So I have come here 3 times, and their Banh Beo was one of the best in the area. Bun Bo was ok. It has more ingredients in it than An Nam, such as pork blood, and pork knuckles. Somehow last time I tried, the broth wasn’t that good towards the end. They have Cha Hue (Hue pork patty), which was pretty special here.
I tried Mi Quang once but don’t quite remember the taste, have to re-​try it next time. And yeah, this place seemed to have only Vietnamese customers, which proved its authenticity.

Bun Bo Hue is a small place in an even smaller plaza.
My boyfriend took me here because he’d frequent this place as a kid for the appetizers.
We ordered Banh Beo, Banh Bot Loc, and Banh Ram It.
The service was prompt; they brought everything out in about 5 minutes.
The food we ordered was delicious and humble. The pork rinds they brought out were crispy on the outside and the right amount of chewy on the inside. Perfect rinds to eat with the apps!
Their appetizers are decently priced, and I would come back again just for their Banh Beo.
The overall décor was lacking, which might turn off some people. And the sides of tables and chairs were a bit sticky.
But really, I couldn’t care less about the décor if the food is on point like it is at this place.
It seemed to me like this place is run like a Mom-​and-​Pop restaurant.
I would rather come here to this humble establishment to be served good, delicious, humble food than to go to some of the more privileged and ostentatious Vietnamese restaurants that I’ve been to.
Something to note: I wasn’t aware of their 8 o’clock closing time, so my boyfriend and I loitered inside the restaurant until 20 minutes after 8 pm. We were never told to leave and the workers at the restaurant just continued to clean up and wipe down the table tops. I was impressed at how hard the workers worked after the restaurant closed and by the fact that they didn’t feel the need to rush us out.
If you like good food, and you’re not turned off by first-​appearances, I’d highly recommend you try this place out.

This hole in the wall place has been in business forever. They have the best Banh Ram It and Banh Nam. Their fish sauce I would say is the best I have tasted. Most place fish sauce is either too sweet or too fishy. I come here once or twice a week for their vietnamese dim sum. One of my all time favorite place for a quick meal. The place is ghetto but who care as long as the food is consistence and good.

BANH BEO. CHA HUE. Just order those. Omg, I come here and order 3+ orders of those and it never fails me. I have yet to try anything else, but I’m okay with that ! Shit service but what do you expect from a place like that. CASH only, but that’s norm for Vietnamese places in SJ.

I have a soft spot for Banh Beo and Mr. Dubs love Bun Bo Hue. A quick Unilocal search later, we found BBH and were super excited about being able to eat two of our favorite things at one place!
Bun Bo Hue is definitely what you’d call a hole in the wall, which is not really a problem for me as long as I don’t fear instant food poisoning from their food. Which I didn’t feel like while eating at BBH.
On to the food:
Banh Bèo (comes in a set of 5) — If you’ve never had banh bèo, they’re thin rice cakes steamed in a little dish topped with mung bean and ground dried shrimp. Unfortunately, this was a bummer for me. The mung bean topping didn’t have the crunchy texture that other places have and the nuoc mam (fish sauce) wasn’t as tasty as other spots. They did service it with pork rinds, which is something different, but not necessarily better.
Bún Tôm Cua Hu — This noodle came in the same broth as the bún bò hu, which was not bad, but the shrimp and crab balls were just mediocre.
Bún Bò Hu — Mr. Dubs loved his bowl of bún bò hu! If it were up to him, he’d give BBH 5 stars!

Our family has been going here for years. And they still have the same sticky tables and chairs, but the food totally makes up for lack of décor and ambience. We usually come here for their bun bo hue and banh beo. Their mi quang is pretty good too! Food is somewhat cheap. Service is pretty quick. We’ve always ordered in Vietnamese but if you’re not proficient in it, you can always point at the menu. Don’t forget to bring cash since it’s cash only.

This place is the epitome of a hole in the wall restaurant. The restaurant is small, ugly, and dirty but the food is great. This place has never let me down. I’ve been to their other location, Hue, and even though it’s cleaner, the quality is very inconsistent. The broth is super flavorful and I don’t ever have to add much — a squeeze of lime and a little chili paste and I’m good to go! What I love most about this place is the toppings. They add the pork blood, pork leg (which they don’t give you at Bun Bo Hue An Nam), and etc. I always leave satisfied and would recommend this place to all BBH lovers ;)

All the hype about bun bo hue? I totally get it now!!! After an incredibly stressful flight, my sister took me here after picking me up from the airport as my first meal in San Jose. The bun bo hue is so delicious and warm. The spicy broth is very aromatic and full of lemongrass flavor. The noodles are thick, round, and white. You get pork feet, pig blood cubes, and various beef cuts. The food also come out quickly (less than 10 minutes). I will note that the service is definitely not the greatest and when we first walked in, it smelled like cleaner and like a wet basement. Also, We had to ask for water three times and it didn’t arrive until after our food. But it’s still worth it to come here! Come for the noodles, but not any extra frills.

This is the best place for banh beo, hands down. They are little steamed rice cakes topped with dried shrimp, fried shallots, pork rinds, and scallion. I like to add lots of chili paste to my nuoc mam (fish sauce), and then spoon it over my banh beo before devouring.
Pretty much all of their appetizers are delicious and we just order these as our main meal. Add a café su da and I am literally in heaven.
If I could give more than 5 stars for this place I would. It’s a tiny restaurant located in an underwhelming strip mall, and the parking lot is a mess most of the time, but please give it a try. They have delicious food and the best service, they are always so kind to us and make us feel welcome.

I love coming here every time to eat their Bun Bo Hue! I usually order, 2 sets of Banh Beos (10 total) for appetizers and a large bowl of Bun Bo Hue. I eat with my girlfriend here before dropping her off at the airport!
Since the restaurant is small and you have a big party coming, I’d recommend calling beforehand to make sure there is a spot. Before eating Bun Bo Hue, I like to eat Banh Beo because it is like a teaser leading up to the noodle soup. Their Banh Beo is very delicious with the sauce which I’d recommend to try out! One of the things I really like about this restaurant is that they leave out the spicy sauce that you put in your Bun Bo Hue compared to other places I have been at where you would consistently have to ask for more if you like your Bun Bo Hue to be spicy. They also give a good amount of both the noodles and the meat which definitely fills you up! The male waiter gives off an annoyed feeling throughout making you feel like he hates his job. Other than that, this place gets a thumbs up from me!
I would for sure come back to Bun Bo Hue because their food is delicious! Would I recommend this restaurant? Of course! I recommend those who are in the area or those who are craving Bun Bo Hue, then this is the place for you!

I only come here when I crave for their mi quang which is $ 8.25. Broth is flavorful and they’re pretty generous. Noodles weren’t overcooked which was a big plus. (tastes even better with their chili sate and a lot of lime juice)
This place is pretty dirty though. My boyfriend and I stay away from here as much as possible. lol We’d go to their sister location, Hue, if we crave for their other known dishes –banh ram it and banh beo. Their restaurant is cleaner and they take card too!
Oh yeah. I thought it was pretty funny when they slammed their microwave door when they reheated orders. and their microwave was sitting in plain sight! Good to know that it’s not made fresh to order. No shame here. Haha

Best bun beo, ban nam, and ban beo in the world hands down.
If I could I would move to San Jose just to eat here every single day of my life.

+ Parking lot
+Great place to pick up other goodies (Banh Coun at Tay Ho, and Tofu)
–Cash only
I think I just found another food to add onto the list of «Things I’d want as a last meal if I’m on my deathbed»…that, and «Reasons I can’t diet correctly». Yes! Carbs are my world and the very reason I have to run so often. BBH’s banh beo is so delectable you almost lose track of how many you’ve gobbled up if it weren’t for all the dishes piling up next to you. I also love their banana leaf wrapped version as well as their cha luo. Everything here is so affordable! Only thing missing is for me to try their restaurant staple, BBH duh!

My Quang was very tasty and flavorful but my Bun Bo Hue was ok. Nothing too special about Bun Bo Hue here and a small is quite small. However, I still enjoyed lunch and wouldn’t mind coming back.

The restaurant is very small and simple, nothing fancy. Originally came here for some Bun Bo Hue (after all, that is the name of the restaurant) but after looking at the menu, I was very surprised to see MI QUANG on it. I’ve only ate Mi Quang in the streets of Vietnam, but I’ve never seen it in a Vietnamese American restaurant before.
We ordered the Banh Beo, which was OK, and the Mi Quang — hard to describe what it taste like but it is a very flavorful and refreshing noodle dish. My friend tried it for the first time and he loved it so much, he said it was his new favorite dish. This is not the greatest Mi Quang but it satisfies the craving when I’m not able to have the best in Vietnam.

If you judge a place based on décor, how busy it is, or the service, you’re probably going to hate this place. It’s pretty small inside and not the cleanest. When my friends and I came around 6:30pm, there were only 2 other parties inside and pretty soon we were the only ones. The service is pretty nonexistent as the workers just hide in the kitchen and don’t really interact with the customers. Even at the end when we wanted to pay, we had to go up to the cashier and pay. They weren’t going to come give us the check.
However, if you just want some goddamn awesome viet food, then you’ll really like this place just like I did. This place has banh galore. Starting with appetizers, I ordered the banh beo which is served in little round dishes that includes a tapioca like base with shrimp, pork rinds, and you pour the fish sauce on top and eat it with a spoon. Flavor explosion and talk about foodgasm. I love banh beo and this place did not disappoint! We also ordered the banh lot loc which is a viet clear shrimp and pork dumpling. It was really interesting as well but was a little tough and lacked flavor. I almost felt like they should serve it with something to dip in. And lastly for the main course, of course we got the bun bo hue. Duh, who would come into a placed called bun bo hue and not get that lol. Bun=noodle bo=beef and hue is the region in Vietnam from which this dish originates. I called it BBH and it’s one of my favorite viet foods in the world! It’s a savory noodle dish with round noodles, pig feet, pork blood, beef, and lots of veggies. If you like noodle soup, you will like this for sure! I like the bbh here better than bun bo hue anh nam because it’s spicier and has more flavor in the broth. Price is reasonable as well! Only about 11 dollars for all this food per person. Definitely hit the spot and I left a very happy person.

How did this place even get rated at 4 stars?
I’m sorry to be overly mean and have high expectations even though I know that it’s a small business that’s owned by an old couple. I’m not going to lie just because I feel bad… if you are going to name your restaurant after a specific dish, you should at least make that dish well!
Service was just terrible. As soon as my younger sister and I walked in, we weren’t even given a menu and 30 seconds later we have an older woman come over and ask us what we want to order. We ask for the menu & she continues to stand there expecting us to order on the spot. I’m sorry, but I need a few minutes to look over this small menu…
We ordered two appetizers and a regular size bowl of bun bo hue each to try.
The banh beo was plain even with the sauce that accompanied the dish. The consistency was off – like it didn’t have the right mixture of flour and water or something along that line.
The banh bot loc was ok, but you can tell that it wasn’t made to order. You can pretty much tell that it was microwaved or something because it was served warm, but got really tough after about 30 seconds of sitting on the table.
I don’t cook Vietnamese food, but I’ve had them often enough to know when they are made right or not.
The bun bo hue was probably the only thing that was decent. We both added a lot of chili paste and shrimp paste to get the flavor to come out how we wanted our soups to taste. The vermicelli noodles were falling apart as if they been boiled too long.
To top that off, we didn’t get our water until the end of our meal, even though they asked us if we wanted water as soon as we sat down.
Most likely won’t be coming here… mission unaccomplished!

I love this bun bo hue place. The cha hue is amazing!!! The gio heo isn’t that soft but still yummy. I always eat here before I leave to San Diego. Recommend to all!!! My family and I love it here!
The banh beo is the best too. I always order 10 banh beos for appetizers! Their nuoc man for it is perfect. Not too sweet and not too lemony.
One of the only male waiter always makes me feel awkward. Not a huge fan of him but the cashier guy is always super sweet and smiling all the time!
The place is very small which sucks when there’s a long line. Whenever I come, this place is always filled with people.

Perhaps I am biased. So I will list my biases before I proceed with how much I disagree that this restaurant is 4 Stars quality.
1. I am Vietnamese American.
2. Being Viet-​Am, I have eaten Vietnamese food my whole life. Like 90% of my diet is Vietnamese food.
3. I have been to Vietnam! And yes, I have tried authentic Hue food in HUE!
My family and I enjoy this hole in the wall Hue restaurant because of its reasonable prices and how this restaurant does NOT mess up cooking Hue appetizers. However, Bun Bo Hue An Nam will still reign supreme king in bun bo hue (spicy beef noodle soups), so don’t even bother ordering it here. If you’ve been spoiled by either yo momma’s BBH or BBH An Nam, this place will disappoint you greatly (it was mainly spicy water lacking blends of spices and flavor with tough noodles and bland meats).
However I do recommend ordering:
Banh Beo (ground shrimp over round rice cakes)
Banh Bot Lot (shrimp and pork tapioca dumplings)
Banh Ram It (steamed dumpling atop fried dumpling with shrimp and pork)
Other than that, this place is old, outdated, grossss. I do believe that restaurants should at least keep clean and simple. If their sister restaurant, Hue, is so trendy and modern, they should reward their loyal customers here with a tolerable looking establishment.
Just because they don’t mess up the Hue appetizers and are comparatively better than other Hue restaurants in San Jose, doesn’t mean it’s deserving of 4 Stars. Call me harsh but I’ve tried authentic Hue food before and this restaurant uses way too much oils, starch powders, etc. Decent mediocrity of Hue food at its best!