Huong Binh

i guess i should write a review here, huh? whatever, you ain’t the boss of me! but here goes anyways…
most peeps rave about the grilled pork skewers here (and rightfully so). you can get it with rice, in a bowl with bun, on a tray to wrap with all kinds of veg… and i’m not hating if you’re stickin’ with what they do best. i’m just sayin’ if you’re tryna do other stuff, they got it.
i actually don’t never just get the grilled pork skewers here. my go-​to joint is the combo banh hoi (served in a bowl not a tray… ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!): fried shrimp (ball?) wrapped around sugarcane, grilled meatballs, grilled prawns, the ubiquitous pork skeweres all served over veg, herbs, and bahn hoi dusted in orange shrimp roe. drown it in some fish sauce and you’re in there!
we come here a few times a month so the staff basically knows what we want (though i mix it up sometimes and get their hu tieu or bbh too). everything i’ve tried here is pretty good, that’s prolly why this place stay popular throughout the day and been around for so long.
tired of phở or vermicelli bowls or pork chop rice? get your ass over here.

Don’t come in expecting just a generic phở place, this is a real Vietnamese restaurant.
Order something with the grilled pork — it’s amazing.
Skip the shrimp — it’s flash cooked with whatever you order, but not seasoned or tasty at all.
The noodle bowls are great, as are the rice plates. Haven’t tried the crepes yet, but they look good.
Parking is a little tight if you are driving. The garage seems like it will be no problem, but is REALLY small and tight corners and always full. Leave your car at home and take alternative transportation or park down the street and walk over.

LOVES THIS PLACE! I grew up eating here with my parents. It is my go to place for vietnamese food. I order the rice plate ask them to replace the shrimp on the stick for meatball or grilled pork because you only get 3 pieces of shrimp it is not worth it. The food is really good quality the only complaint I have, is that parking sucks!
The customer service is really good, food comes out fairly quickly.

I dread the parking here there’s barely any room upstairs. The parking in the basement is sketched, tight, and barely any parking. The moment you step foot towards the upstairs parking lot there’s always homeless people following you begging for money.
Customer is decent. The Bun Bo Hue wasn’t good, it was bland and the smell stench in fish sauce. The Banh Beo seem to have gotten smaller. The Bun Mang Vit broth was also bland and not enough bamboo shoots. However they did give a generous amount of duck.

Fast and friendly Vietnamese fare. We were amazed by the quantity of takeout flying out their door in just the short time we were there. My Bun Bo Hue soup (#39) became more complex and delicious the deeper I dug into it. My hubby liked his Bun Thit Nuong (#22) — which they serve in a bowl, upon request, so you can drizzle with fish sauce and let the layered flavors mingle. The fried pork appetizer (first on menu — Cha Hue) was our top pick for its interesting flavor and appealing (fried!) texture.

I specifically go there for any of the Banh Hoi… Grilled pork, shrimp, nam nung (sp?), everything! The food is so good. One dish is definitely not enough for me which makes it a little pricey.

Great Vietnamese food. Love the way they marinate the bbq. You must try the «banh hoi special» and the Vietnamese spicy noodle soup (bun bo hue) here. Service was bad but the food is delicious lol still worth it.

Went here kinda by accident. We were planning to go to its neighbor Hue Ky Mi Gia, but they were randomly closed on a weekend, and I remembered that Eater Seattle recommended this place for its noodles.
Glad we went! I ordered a bun bo hue and hubby got the weekend duck soup salad special. I also ordered a ban boc loc (clear shrimp dumplings in a glutinous shell) — amazing!
IMO, better soup and boc loc than Hoang Lan (which I reviewed earlier). Will be back for SURE to try their famous grilled meats and more.

I heard this place was good for banh hoi so we braved traffic and the crappy parking situation to dine here before closing. I had the banh hoi with everything and the BF had the banh uot (rice noodle sheets) with everything. The plates came with pork meatballs, lemongrass grilled pork, sugarcane shrimp, and grilled shrimp along with a side of lettuce, cilantro, and mint. It was a very satisfying meal. It looked like a lot of food and I thought I might not finish, but I devoured the whole thing. They don’t give enough lettuce so you’ll have to ask for more. The grilled shrimp was kinda weak — poor quality shrimp. Everything else was delicious! It was so good that we barely talked. The only downside that another reviewer also mentioned are the damn fruit flies! They’re so annoying.

After seeing Anthony Bourdain’s «Parts Unknown» show where he described how much better Bun Bo Hueng is compared to Phở, I asked for recommendations where I can get this spicy soup made of pork and beef in Seattle some Vietnamese friends pointed me here.
With 4 co-​workers we set out to get a delicious lunch and ordered #39 for everyone. The broth was clear with a nice spice level. The noodles are slightly thicker rice noodles, though not as thick as udon. There was a lot of different meat in the soup: Slices of beef, meatballs, pieces of pork with skin, and of course the pork blood cake. The less adventurous eaters traded the last two items away ;)
We also had a few appetizers, like the pork skewers and Cha Hue, which was fried ham and especially delicious. I’ll definitely be back :)

For the food alone I would have given this place a ⁴⁄₅.
But they really need to work on the bugs problem. I dont like eating with 4 – 5 fly and gnats flying around my food and sometime landing on my plates. One actually landed in my bowl of fish sauce and got trapped and died. I of course stopped eating out of it.
My second gripe is the service, it wasnt even busy and all the 3 waiters were doing was chilling up at the counter. I’ll probably be back eventually for the food. or maybe just order to-​go.
I ordered the Banh Hoi thap cam, which comes with shrimp paste wrapped in sugar cane, pork skewer, shrimp skewer and nem nuong with a side plate of fresh veggies and sweetend fish sauce. It was a big dish and very good.

I haven’t been to this place in a long, long time. I’ve only gone once with my folks, and I usually go eat Vietnamese food at other places in the area: P But I decided to come check out this place again and see what’s up. OMG, so glad I did! They have your regular Vietnamese dishes, like phở and com tam, but they have a lot of my favorite homemade food that you can’t find at any of the other restaurants. They have banh bot loc and banh beo, which are dishes from Hue, Vietnam, which is where I’m from: D They also have fresh squeezed nuoc mia, aka sugar cane juice, here! I ordered banh beo, banh xeo and nuoc mia I wanted banh bot loc, but they were out :(Banh beo is small, white, round rice cakes with grounded shrimp and chopped green onions on top. You put the nuoc mam (fish sauce) on it and enjoy! Banh xeo, which means «sizzling cake», has shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts inside. I usually wrap it in lettuce and dip it in nuoc mam. I would come here just to eat this stuff everyday if I could. I’m giving 5 stars on this place just because they have some my favorite homemade comfort foods that you can’t find at any other places.
Service was okay, the server was nice. Parking here at this plaza sucks. There’s a couple spaces in front, but there is underground parking. But usually I park at one of the other lots nearby and walk over. (Shhhh, don’t tell anyone k!!!)
*Note to self, need to make banh bot loc at home ASAP since I missed out! :P
**Another note to self, I need a nuoc mia machine phở reals! So I can have nuoc mia on standby ²⁴⁄₇!!! :D
***Just writing this review made me hungry for all of the above. Need to come back to Huong Binh ASAP for more food!

This is another place I usually eat at when I’m in the Seattle area.
I dont recall what I had last time I was out here but I ordered the ban hoi this time. This is alot of food for the typical person but I’m a big eater so it was just right for me. As with most vietnamese dishes, it comes with fresh leafy greens. Price was very cheap for all of their items. Nothing like Tamarind Tree. You just dont get the ambiance as its a fairly small place.

I wanted to have bun mang vit (duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots). My mother recommended this place. I have to admit… The soup is very good with the generous portion of the duck meat. The ginger fish sauce is a killer!!! The taste is very bold and tasty. I wanted to order banh bot loc (shrimp-​filled tapioca dumplings), but they were out… I decided to go with banh beo (water fern cake or steamed rice cake). Everything was delectable!
For the location, the prices are affordable.

I’m going to give this place 3 and a half stars.
I had Charbroiled Pork And Shrimp With Rice Vermicelli and while the flavors were pretty good there were a few things that got me wondering…
The pork seemed very well done. Not too well done but enough where it seemed kind of chewy. I am not sure if this is normal with this dish or not but I would have preferred if the pork was a bit more tender. The shrimp that also came with my bowl was good but the shrimp were pretty small in size. The vegetables that came with the food however were top notch and look and tasted fresh. The rice noodles also seemed to have been made with a competent mind.
The next issue was not so much the food but the silverware. I know it is pretty picky of me but the spoon that came with my meal was not cleaned very well. There were red flakes on the spoon. I scratched at it just a bit thinking that it could be a design of some sort on the spoon but the red came out from under my nail indicating that the utensil was not washed very thoroughly. Nothing brings up a red flag more in my mind than having dirty silverware. I let the issue slide and did not address it which maybe I should have but it did not stop me from eating my meal since I also had chopsticks and a fork at my disposal.
Other than that this experience was alright.

I don’t know why I came here. I had the opportunity to go wherever I wanted on this weekday I had off. Weekday lunches in Seattle are so hard to get by for me. I kinda wasted it. My family used to come here when I was young and I haven’t in so long, so thought I’d try it again. Sooo many of their menu items are only available on the weekends :/
Food: My friend got the Bun Bo hue (spicy noodle in soup). It was not bad, and actually wasn’t too spicy. She would’ve probably preferred it to be spicier. For a whimpy person like me, it was perfect. I got the vietnamese crêpe, Banh Xeo? It wasn’t all that. I’ve had better. I didn’t really know what else to order. I wanted the duck bamboo noodle thing, but it was a weekend item. Sigh.
Prices: Chinatown cheap? Lunch was like $ 8 per person. A lot less than I’ve been used to as of late.
Overall, probably won’t come again. I don’t know maybe, I just didn’t order the right stuff. I still like Tamarind Tree… although my Vietnamese friends tell me it is NOT the best.

Awesome place for lunch or dinner or whatever!
Their weekend specials are the reason I (we) go here. Any dishes with the restaurant’s name, Huong Binh, are worth trying.
Also their dessert station is amazing. The owner makes it right in front of you!!!

Outstanding, affordable Vietnamese food without the sandwiches. Friendly, family service and atmosphere.
I got their weeknight Vermicelli Special (#25) which was a huge delicious bowl of the roast pork and meat balls in fish sauce. Surrounded by a huge platter of greens and noodles I was a little bewildered about how to eat it and it must have shown. The sweet woman running the restaurant walked over and showed me how to eat it by making me 3 small bowls with the proper ratios of each ingredient. She was so nice and funny it really added a great family atmosphere to our meal! The food was all delicious and such a great value.
If you are craving Vietnamese food, but want to skip the baguette try Huong Binh!

This is my place for bargain Vietnamese food that isn’t phở! My usual order is the bun thit nuong (#18) and if I’m with somebody I love splitting the spring rolls, which have both shrimp and bbq pork in them.
The spring rolls are fairly standard, but I do enjoy having both the shrimp and the bbq pork. The best part about the spring rolls is the accompanying peanut sauce that is served hot. It’s a nice change of pace from it usually being served cold.
The pork is not only marinated and cooked perfectly, but also comes in abundance in the bun thit nuong. At other restuarants I find myself always wanting more — not here. The nuoc mam is hearty with pickled veggies and brings the whole bowl of goodness together. Love it!
Yes the parking situation is grim, but I have never NOT found a spot in the garage below, plus it’s FREE!
Also, I’m not sure when they made the change, but they do accept credit card now.
Friendly service and a quick, delicious, and inexpensive meal make this a must try in the ID.

Although I’m not a connoisseur, this is probably the best Vietnamese food I’ve had in Seattle. I don’t know how much that really means since I really haven’t had much of this cuisine, so you can take my recommendation with a grain of salt (or sriracha? lol)
We ordered the bun thit with grilled beef and it was SOOOO good. I’ve had this dish in Vietnam and it was the bomb! most memorable meal I had of Vietnam, so I’m really glad to have found such a comparable place that offers this dish.
Make sure to get the one that is cooked on a grill rather than the smaller thinner sliced oned. The grill cooked one had much more flavor (kind of a sweet smokey flavor that was through and through the meat — thorough yet NOT overcooked like some places). The noodles and lettuce were all fine, but really the meat was the deal clincher.
Definitely will be returning for the bun thit nuong!