Watercress Vietnamese Bistro

Really good, fresh food here. Prices are reasonable as a Bahn Mi was only $ 5. This is the best bahn mi I’ve ever had, great fresh bread and all ingredients super fresh and tasty. My wife had a papaya salad with tofu and it was excellent ad well. I am very impressed with the food here. I’ll make a point of eating here because it’s simply worth it.

Went here on a slow day as weekends could be really tough to find parking.
Canh chua — watered down with little flavor
Nuoc mam chicken wings — good but you only get like 4 wingettes
Watercress fried rice — best thing on the menu
Bo bia — pretty good but not my thing
Probably won’t be back unless I went with friends.

Upscale, pleasant interior, good service, vegetarian friendly (they have a vegetarian menu section). Most importantly it’s high quality Vietnamese food. Don’t think of this as a Phở place — though the phở is delicious, they don’t offer endless meat options but have streamlined their choices. Quality is high. Bonus: There’s easy parking in the lot and Full Tilt next door for desert and games. You know that feeling when you’re hungry in Columbia City but you fear you’ll never find parking or a good restaurant that isn’t crowded? This is where I go on those nights. I’m giving you my secret, at great personal risk, because this place is too nice, tasty, and pleasant to be a secret. Enjoy! And don’t take my parking spot.

Great food — Perhaps most surprisingly, their garlic chicken wings are awesome, but we also love their clay pot dishes, the stir fried eggplant and tofu and mango salad.

Would not recommend this place for the phở or veggie phở. $ 8 for a bowl with only 3 basic cuts (tai, chin and bo vien) and I wasn’t happy with the non-​piping hot broth, the quality of the meat, the broth or the portion size. It costed more ($ 10) for the veggie phở with tofu and again was underwhelming.
Would note that their other entrees and rolls are usually on point, which is why I gave this place 3 stars. Service is great, you get your food fast and the interior is pleasant. I’d come again for the other food and takeout.

We’ve been here a handful of times since it first opened, and it really hasn’t improved in any way since then. The owner is very nice and has always greeted us with a smile and friendly conversation, but overall table service is consistently sub-​par and ambience is severely lacking. Most often too quiet, and well there’s the smooth jazz…
The food is good, and ingredients seem fresh. I’m not blown away or anything, but it’s good and there’s a variety of options.
Columbia City residents tend to love their small businesses, and also overrate them. I love small businesses too and I’m happy that my neighborhood is made up of them, but we need to be realistic with our ratings and allow them to make improvements. The current 4-​star overall rating is quite frankly ridiculous and I’ve had much better experiences (service and ambience) at places with lower ratings.

Decided to give this place a try. When I went in on a Saturday around lunchtime we were one of only three tables in the restaurant. The waiter was polite and knowledgeable about the menu offerings and suggested we try one of the summer rolls with pork in it. The pork had a jerky taste to it but the presentation was nice.
We had the Bun, rice vermicelli with grilled pork and another with grilled chicken. It was okay but it was missing something so I asked for some mint or basil and this helped. I prefer a bit of green herbs in the salad of my Bun.
The young man who waited the table was very professional, polite and had a good sense of humor.

Awesome! Definitely try the jimica rolls, so great! Had phở, was one of the best I’ve tasted!

Bad on just so many levels.
There is the 3 of us. There are a few other tables of couples, but they are nearing the ends of their meals.
It takes a while to take our order…
The spring rolls that have the ingredients on the menu, don’t come out like described. It was missing items…
I asked for the meat on the side for the phở tai, and the broth wasn’t hot enough to cook the meat
I asked for extra noodles, and the bowl was too small with a serious deficiency of broth now. Probably should have some larger bowls eh?
There were a few other service level inconsistencies. We went there because the reviews seemed to positive. Well it’s a 2-​star «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» place for sure.

Caramelized catfish in stone pot is simply amazing. Sour soup, on point. Watercress is a perfect spot for home style Vietnamese cooking. The venue is surprisingly clean for its location and service good. Watercress is highly recommended on days you crave traditional Vietnamese dishes.

The restaurant has really gone down hill since it opened.
We were excited when we first went because the watercress environment was a little more upscale than the other establishments. The me u was varied and the food was fresh.
Sadly the last several visits we had we pretty bad. Our orders were prepared incorrectly and each chicken dish only featured dark meat unless we asked differently. The chicken tasted gamey so we stopped ordering the chicken altogether. The menu was also slimmed down substantially and is pretty generic. At this point we are better off heading over to Othello station for decent Vietnamese food.

This place is awesome. I live 5 blocks away so it’s convenient for a quick vietnamese sandwich when you’re on the go. Also a great spot for dinner with some authentic vietnamese food. Being full Viet I know what I’m talking about since I grew up on the stuff. Give it a try! You won’t be disappointed.

Variety of choices
Delicious food
Cozy atmosphere
Excellent service
I came here on Saturday evening. I dont know his name but he is very helpful and funny!!!
Love this place!

Hands down, the most fanciest and upscale Vietnamese restaurant in the southend! That’s for sure!!!
Their location use to be a ghetto Vietnamese pool hall. I was so fascinating on how the owners transformed the place. They turned the place into a very nicely, modern decorated place. Not only it looks nice, the food is fantastic. I ordered shaken beef (bo luc lac) and sweet n sour seafood soup (canh chua). The beef is so tender and flavorful, it literally melted in mouth. The combination of the stir fried bell pepper and onions compliments the beef very well. The canh chua tasted just like my mom (mom you know yours is the best still lol). The ingredients balanced each other so well. The soup wasn’t too sour or too tamarindy.
I would have to say the prices are a bit up there but so worth every dollar! Definitely an authentic Vietnamese restaurant that everyone should check out!

Stopped in randomly, hungry with 45 minutes to kill. I sat at the bar, and the service was very attentive and pleasant. The food came out quickly.
I must say, I liked it, but it didn’t blow me over. I suspect if I had more time to try some different dishes, I’d add a star. I’d like to go back and try it again.

Don’t let the exterior appearance fool you– for as long as I can remember, this location was a fairly sketchy pool hall. So, when I walked in I was taken aback! They must have completely removed the old walls and flooring and re-​made this place into a clean, efficient and visually appealing interior. (There appeared to be new drywall, counters, trim, lighting tables, etc.)
We initially came here for a quick bowl of phở before a movie at the Ark Lodge. However, the waiter was kind enough to point us to some more adventurous options.
— We started with the skewered pork rolls, which were fantastic.
They were actually much richer and tastier than the fresh rolls I have had in the past at other restaurants.
— I had the Bo Kho– Vietnamese Style Beef Stew with a French Baguette.
The waiter recommended that I try this with the Baguette rather than rice and I was very impressed. The baguette crinkled with crispiness on the outside and was soft, moist, and chewy on the inside. When dipped in the rich, gingery stew, I was able to reach the vortex of decadence.
— My wife had the Caramelized Prawns & Pork in a Clay Pot.
The meat was tender and the prawns were good. I was happy they served her brown rice. I will say that they seemed to utilize a fish sauce in this entrée which is a more acquired taste. But nevertheless, it was good– it just wasn’t that sort of saccharine «Sweet & Sour» sort of taste that we’ve become accustomed to.
— My son had the children’s meatball phở
The phở was good and the waiter was kind enough to offer scissors to cut the meatball and noodles. This is something I felt was quite thoughtful and kept the table and his shirt clean.
The portions were just moderately sized. I am used to leaving a Vietnamese place feeling stuffed to the gills, but this time I was just pleasantly satiated. I also felt that the pricing was commensurate with the quality of the food and the niceness of the interior. With that said, our bill amounted to about $ 45 and we added a $ 10 tip.
I’m happy that we came here and found that there is a nice place to take my family in the neighborhood. And needless to say, we will be back. This could be one of my new favorite restaurants.

Ever since Watercress opened, I was pretty excited to try it. Besides, it is a few doors down from Full Tilt, so it is extra convenient. :) When I perused their menu online, I was happy to see fish sauce wings! So I went for a late takeout lunch, ordered the fish sauce wings, shaking beef (bo luc lac), and stir-​fried eggplant with tofu. When I got home to dig in, I was a bit disappointed.
The fish sauce wings lacked that umami punch that I expected. I make these at home, so I don’t even know why I ordered them. Just curious, I guess. However, the wings were large and not greasy, even though they were fried.
The shaking beef also lacked flavor, though the beef itself was tender and well-​cooked. The beef wasn’t luc lac shaped though. It tasted like a regular Chinese style stir fry with bell peppers and onions. They also give you a Maggi-​type dipping sauce, which the beef desperately needed. (I prefer RBBQ’s version – they serve it with tomato rice.)
I don’t have much to say about the eggplant and tofu dish, except that they did give a large portion. Unfortunately, it was also bland.
It was by no means an offensive experience, and the staff were really nice, especially on the phone (a rare experience for me when ordering takeout from Asian restaurants). I had a chance to look around the restaurant, and it looks tidy and clean. I would like to dine in and try some different things…

The food is great, good location, management very friendly but was not too impressed with the service. Got the feeling the server was trying to rush us out of the place despite it being quite early on in the evening.
Despite that if you are looking for a great Vietnamese place near Columbia City, the food is delicious!

Watercress beef salad undoubtedly ranks high on my salad list, so much that I make my own at least once a month. Imagine my excitement when finally a restaurant is offering this option!
Dining room: From the outside, not much flair at all. The entrance faces a graffiti laced brick wall on a vacant building, easily seen looking out the window from our table. But, when you walk in, the interior’s unexpectedly fancy and a well dressed hostess greets you. If you ask me, I would recommend a window treatment that blocks out that view but still let in light.
Food: Legit Vietnamese.
*Tamarind grilled quail: All Viet locations in Seattle I have visited thus far make their quail overcooked and dry. Watercress Bistro, on the other hand, does a fine job keeping the juices IN. The sauce itself could use work with more sweet and tangy.
*Canh chua ca — Tamarind soup with fish — Sourness taste in the broth definitely present (I look for this), however it lacked okra and minty veggies but not a huge concern. The sauce dip for the fish (ask for it, she didn’t bring it out) stands out and to me, gives the right flavors for this soup with white rice.
*Watercress beef salad — matches what I expect. A fair amount of flavorful beef with a generous topping of fried, stringy onions — a good value at $ 10. The watercress needed to be cut into smaller pieces to help facilitate the eating process and also add crispy garlic; the bigger, long green strips are hard to eat and the sauce gets all over the place!
Food for thought: it costs the same for me to make it at home, why not come here instead?

New spot! And what a spot to be in, tucked next to Safari Njema, Full Tilt Ice Cream and Hummingbird Saloon. Sheesh! So much food, such a small complex.
You know what got me: I saw that they have a soupy Vietnamese curry served with a baguette. Which happens to be one of my favorite anytime foods.
We started with the Vietnamese chicken wings; crispy, middle-​of-​the-​road sweet (great!) served with a side of lime juice with some salt. And yup, I like them better than Pok Pok’s in Portland. They’re not as salty/​sweet here, which I like :)
The quail appetizer too was delicious, not dry, and flavorful throughout. Served with the same accoutrements as the wings: a light pickled veg over lettuce.
Then we had the grilled shrimp papaya salad. You have your choice of grilled whole shrimp, or the standard shrimpies. Unfortunately, the grilled shrimp suntanned on the grill for a little too long, but I’m sure it’s a one-​off. The green papaya underneath was delicious with its lightly sweet dressing.
He had the beef in wine sauce (a veritable Vietnamese Bourguignon). He liked it, but it seemed more watery than stew-​ish. Lots of onions. You must like onions if you order this.
Then that leaves me. I DID order the chicken curry with baguette… and plumb forgot to take a picture – I was too excited! So no pic, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I liked how soft the potatoes were, but it was more watery than I like. The flavors were milder (not as rich to me) but again, that’s my preference.
The décor is clean and simple, and the restaurant is connected to the pool hall via a door (a pool hall that I have yet to play a game of pool in). If I’m not mistaken, these two businesses were actually the pool hall.
The owner is very gracious; I will definitely come back to try more off of their chunky menu!