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A plate of rice topped with fried egg, scallion, and meat
A broken rice dish at Vietnam House
Jay Friedman

15 Vibrant Vietnamese Restaurants in Seattle

There’s so much more to the cuisine than pho and banh mi

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A broken rice dish at Vietnam House
| Jay Friedman

The strong presence of Vietnamese food in Seattle is marked by the ubiquitous pho restaurants all around the city as well as too many banh mi joints to count. But Vietnamese cuisine includes so much more, like dry noodle dishes, plates of rice, and Vietnamese versions of fried chicken and steak and eggs. You can find all this delicious food in eateries that vary from delis to a billiard hall, and from a place that looks like a boat to a place accessible from Seattle by a boat. Here are 15 Seattle restaurants serving the most excellent and varied dishes of Vietnam, including one place beloved by the late Anthony Bourdain.

Know of a spot that should be on our radar? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.

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Rise and Shine Bakery

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Rise and Shine is Mai Tran’s unassuming bakery in Edmonds where virtually everything is made in house, including the bread for the banh mi. Soup options like bun bo hue and northern-style pho feature long-cooked broths. There’s woven vermicelli noodles with pork belly bearing the crispiest crackle, and banh mi chao with mackerel or sardine makes for home-style breakfast all day long. Even the sweet treats like fresh taro buns and cakes come straight from the Rise and Shine ovens. Tran delivers everything with her signature kind service.

A banh mi sandwich filled with meat, cilantro, and sliced cucumber.
The banh mi at Rise and Shine Bakery in Shoreline.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Lotus Pond Vietnamese Cuisine

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Lotus Pond has brought quality Vietnamese food to the under-the-radar Haller Lake neighborhood. Bo la lot (charbroiled beef wrapped in betel leaves) are an ideal starter, especially when dipped in the accompanying pineapple-anchovy sauce. The menu includes a wide variety of noodle soups, including Hai Phong crab red noodle soup with wide red rice noodles, and the woven vermicelli plates come with intricate bundles of thin noodles along with an array of protein options like lemongrass beef and shrimp cakes.

Ông Lắm Bistro

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Newly opened by the Roosevelt light rail station, Ong Lam Bistro transports diners to Vietnam with a street scene feel within an otherwise contemporary dining room. Here you’ll find the chef’s take on familiar Vietnamese dishes, all beautifully plated. The banh xeo is crisped up like a hard-shell taco, while pig ear slices and fried taro batons enhance the varied textures of the pickled lotus root salad. The bo ne’s tender beef proves that anytime is the right time for steak and eggs, while a sauce of fermented tofu spiked with chile makes duck breast with delicate egg noodles simply irresistible.

A plate of steak and eggs
Ong Lam Bistro’s bo ne (steak and eggs)
Jay Friedman

Ba Sa Restaurant

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Vietnamese siblings Trinh and Thai Nguyen— who came to the U.S. as refugees — explore the food of their childhood at this modern Bainbridge Island restaurant. Southeast Asian flavors meet locally farmed and foraged ingredients in dishes like pho, served with dry-aged ribeye or mushrooms, while small plates like the shrimp and pork wontons swimming in pools of chili and truffle oil and the chili-lime-butter calamari offer moments of decadence.

With multiple locations throughout the city, Ba Bar is the place to fork over a few extra dollars for one of the finest bowls of pho in town. But the menu goes well beyond beef noodle soup. Bun bowls with vermicelli noodles are popular, as are slow-roasted rotisserie meats such as chicken, duck, and pork belly. Ba Bar’s pastries include macarons and pandan cake — perfect with a cup of strong, sweet, Vietnamese coffee. (For Seattle’s original upscale Vietnamese experience, diners need look no further than Eric and Sophie Banh’s Monsoon, a sibling restaurant to Ba Bar, where drunken chicken, catfish clay pot, and banana cake for dessert are among the popular dishes.)

A bowl full of noodles and topped with whole grilled prawns, pieces of grilled beef, shredded carrots, lettuce, and herbs.
A vermicelli noodle bowl decked out with grilled beef, charred prawns, and crispy imperial rolls, from Ba Bar.
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Dong Thap Noodles

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Named for a Vietnamese province known for rice production, Dong Thap turns rice into fresh noodles that form the foundation of the menu, including soup noodles and dry bun bowls of vermicelli topped with meat, vegetables, and egg rolls. Diners can order pho with a choice of two noodles — one is a wide, flat version that is traditional in pho but hard to find locally. The noodles are soft and slippery, yet slightly chewy, and are also available to buy at the counter to cook at home. (Dong Thap will soon open a flagship location in Tukwila.)

A bowl of pho topped with rare beef slices and a generous amount of sliced green onion.
A bowl of beef pho at Dong Thap Noodles.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Saigon Vietnam Deli

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The barbecue pork banh mi at Saigon Vietnam Deli is a treat, but don’t overlook the “lunch box” of two or three entrees and a pile of rice for just a few bucks more. Beef stew, stuffed bitter melon, and coconut chicken are among the top picks. As with other nearby delis in the Chinatown-International District (a comparison with Saigon Deli a block away on Jackson can provoke endless debate), diners can also buy fresh spring rolls, banh cuon (rice crepes), and other Vietnamese bites, including neon-colored sweets.

A deli spread with fried items, steamed buns, stir fries,, soups, and more.
The deli spread at Saigon Vietnam Deli.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Vietnam House

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Vietnam House shares the same parking lot as Tamarind Tree near 12th and Jackson, though it attracts more of a Vietnamese clientele. This is a reliable spot for broken rice dishes, including one with a grilled pork chop, shrimp on sugar cane, deep-fried bean curd, and a fried egg. With more than 100 items, the menu may be a bit overwhelming. Note, though, that nearly every table orders bun mang vit (duck and bamboo vermicelli noodle soup). It’s available one hour after opening, and typically sells out before the end of the day.

A plate of broken rice topped with grilled meat, a fried egg, lettuce, and shredded carrot.
A broken rice meat plate at Vietnam House.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Pho Bac Sup Shop

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Pho Bac Sup Shop shares a Little Saigon parking lot with sibling restaurant The Boat, which has earned acclaim for its garlicky fried chicken and pandan waffles. The main restaurant is probably most famous for its various forms of pho, but the pho tron (“dry pho”) is truly the gem. There are tasty bites like pho fries and twice-fried chicken wings with tamarind fish sauce glaze on the menu as well.

A bowl of rice noodles topped with bean sprouts, sliced beef, and herbs, with a cup of broth on the side.
The dry pho at Pho Bac Sup Shop.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Huong Binh Vietnamese Cuisine

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Huong Binh is a standout among the many restaurants at 12th and Jackson, hitting the mark with its intersection of quality and value. The grilled pork, perfectly caramelized, is a specialty, particularly as part of banh hoi thit nuong, where pork skewers accompany intricate bundles of thin rice noodles garnished with ground shrimp and scallion. The menu expands on weekends, when specials include duck noodle soup as well as congee served with blood sausage, pork tongue, liver, and ear.

A platter with vermicelli noodles, cucumber matchsticks, shredded lettuce, grilled meat, and pickled sliced radish and carrots.
The bun cha at Huong Binh.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Billiard Hoang

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This Columbia City pool hall/divey sports bar is a popular hangout for some in the Vietnamese community, and the quality of its kitchen justifies a visit — either for takeout or for a fun dine-in experience. Noteworthy items include banh mi, bun (dry noodle bowls), and soups like bun bo hue, bun rieu (crabmeat with tofu and rice noodles), and bo kho (beef stew with noodles or bread). Bun mang vit (duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots) is especially popular here.

A bowl of pho with a banh mi and some sliced meat on a plate in the background on a wooden table.
The pho and banh mi at Billiard Hoang in South Seattle
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Tony's Bakery

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One of many good Vietnamese restaurants near Othello Station, Tony’s Bakery offers Vietnamese deli items, entree-and-rice boxes, and more. It even bakes its own bread for banh mi. While the dac biet (house special) banh mi is popular, insiders order banh mi ca xa ot, with battered and fried basa fish (a type of catfish) and a smear of garlic-chive aioli. Across the parking lot, Q Bakery also prepares delicious banh mi; its homemade bread is more crackly with a denser crumb.

A banh mi sandwich filled with fried fish, sliced jalapeños, sliced onion, shredded carrots, and cilantro.
The fried basa fish banh mi at Tony’s Bakery.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Rainier BBQ and Restaurant

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Ever since Anthony Bourdain made a stop here for an episode of The Layover, Rainier BBQ has been a popular destination for Vietnamese food in South Seattle. Recommendations include hu tieu nam vang (glass noodle soup packed with proteins and herbs) shaking cube beef, and ong choy beef salad with its curly wisps of water spinach. The Rainier catfish is the head-turner for newcomers, as the deep-fried fish averages close to eight pounds each and overhang the platters as they come out of the kitchen with a sizzle.

A bowl of large clams in a dark sauce with a plate of stir-fried greens in the background
The BBQ clams and ong choi at Rainier BBQ and Restaurant.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Hoang Lan

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At the south end of the Vietnamese “strip” along MLK, at the Othello Station light-rail stop, this humble hole-in-the-wall has a small number of tables waiting, a television typically blaring, and an owner likely whistling or singing. The sign outside says Bun Bo Hue, which is easily mistaken as the name of the restaurant — rather, it’s the signature dish and the one to order, with its gelatinous pork knuckle and earthy pork blood cakes.

Dalat Quan

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This White Center restaurant features Da Lat-style special noodle soups, including nam vang noodle soup and a Da Lat version of bun bo hue that contains beef brisket. There’s also a hearty bowl of mi quang, which contains turmeric noodles, pork spare ribs, prawns, quail eggs, and a sesame rice cracker. The banh xeo is an interactive experience: Diners put pieces of the Vietnamese pancake, herbs, and greens (including, in season, a mustard leaf called cai be xanh) inside rice paper to eat more neatly. The restaurant also offers live jazz most Saturday nights.

A bowl of of noodle soup with thick rice noodles, a cracker, and a plate with lime slices and herbs next to it.
A bowl of mi quang, with turmeric noodles, pork spare ribs, prawns, and quail eggs.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Rise and Shine Bakery

Rise and Shine is Mai Tran’s unassuming bakery in Edmonds where virtually everything is made in house, including the bread for the banh mi. Soup options like bun bo hue and northern-style pho feature long-cooked broths. There’s woven vermicelli noodles with pork belly bearing the crispiest crackle, and banh mi chao with mackerel or sardine makes for home-style breakfast all day long. Even the sweet treats like fresh taro buns and cakes come straight from the Rise and Shine ovens. Tran delivers everything with her signature kind service.

A banh mi sandwich filled with meat, cilantro, and sliced cucumber.
The banh mi at Rise and Shine Bakery in Shoreline.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Lotus Pond Vietnamese Cuisine

Lotus Pond has brought quality Vietnamese food to the under-the-radar Haller Lake neighborhood. Bo la lot (charbroiled beef wrapped in betel leaves) are an ideal starter, especially when dipped in the accompanying pineapple-anchovy sauce. The menu includes a wide variety of noodle soups, including Hai Phong crab red noodle soup with wide red rice noodles, and the woven vermicelli plates come with intricate bundles of thin noodles along with an array of protein options like lemongrass beef and shrimp cakes.

Ông Lắm Bistro

Newly opened by the Roosevelt light rail station, Ong Lam Bistro transports diners to Vietnam with a street scene feel within an otherwise contemporary dining room. Here you’ll find the chef’s take on familiar Vietnamese dishes, all beautifully plated. The banh xeo is crisped up like a hard-shell taco, while pig ear slices and fried taro batons enhance the varied textures of the pickled lotus root salad. The bo ne’s tender beef proves that anytime is the right time for steak and eggs, while a sauce of fermented tofu spiked with chile makes duck breast with delicate egg noodles simply irresistible.

A plate of steak and eggs
Ong Lam Bistro’s bo ne (steak and eggs)
Jay Friedman

Ba Sa Restaurant

Vietnamese siblings Trinh and Thai Nguyen— who came to the U.S. as refugees — explore the food of their childhood at this modern Bainbridge Island restaurant. Southeast Asian flavors meet locally farmed and foraged ingredients in dishes like pho, served with dry-aged ribeye or mushrooms, while small plates like the shrimp and pork wontons swimming in pools of chili and truffle oil and the chili-lime-butter calamari offer moments of decadence.

Ba Bar

With multiple locations throughout the city, Ba Bar is the place to fork over a few extra dollars for one of the finest bowls of pho in town. But the menu goes well beyond beef noodle soup. Bun bowls with vermicelli noodles are popular, as are slow-roasted rotisserie meats such as chicken, duck, and pork belly. Ba Bar’s pastries include macarons and pandan cake — perfect with a cup of strong, sweet, Vietnamese coffee. (For Seattle’s original upscale Vietnamese experience, diners need look no further than Eric and Sophie Banh’s Monsoon, a sibling restaurant to Ba Bar, where drunken chicken, catfish clay pot, and banana cake for dessert are among the popular dishes.)

A bowl full of noodles and topped with whole grilled prawns, pieces of grilled beef, shredded carrots, lettuce, and herbs.
A vermicelli noodle bowl decked out with grilled beef, charred prawns, and crispy imperial rolls, from Ba Bar.
Look at Lao Studios

Dong Thap Noodles

Named for a Vietnamese province known for rice production, Dong Thap turns rice into fresh noodles that form the foundation of the menu, including soup noodles and dry bun bowls of vermicelli topped with meat, vegetables, and egg rolls. Diners can order pho with a choice of two noodles — one is a wide, flat version that is traditional in pho but hard to find locally. The noodles are soft and slippery, yet slightly chewy, and are also available to buy at the counter to cook at home. (Dong Thap will soon open a flagship location in Tukwila.)

A bowl of pho topped with rare beef slices and a generous amount of sliced green onion.
A bowl of beef pho at Dong Thap Noodles.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Saigon Vietnam Deli

The barbecue pork banh mi at Saigon Vietnam Deli is a treat, but don’t overlook the “lunch box” of two or three entrees and a pile of rice for just a few bucks more. Beef stew, stuffed bitter melon, and coconut chicken are among the top picks. As with other nearby delis in the Chinatown-International District (a comparison with Saigon Deli a block away on Jackson can provoke endless debate), diners can also buy fresh spring rolls, banh cuon (rice crepes), and other Vietnamese bites, including neon-colored sweets.

A deli spread with fried items, steamed buns, stir fries,, soups, and more.
The deli spread at Saigon Vietnam Deli.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Vietnam House

Vietnam House shares the same parking lot as Tamarind Tree near 12th and Jackson, though it attracts more of a Vietnamese clientele. This is a reliable spot for broken rice dishes, including one with a grilled pork chop, shrimp on sugar cane, deep-fried bean curd, and a fried egg. With more than 100 items, the menu may be a bit overwhelming. Note, though, that nearly every table orders bun mang vit (duck and bamboo vermicelli noodle soup). It’s available one hour after opening, and typically sells out before the end of the day.

A plate of broken rice topped with grilled meat, a fried egg, lettuce, and shredded carrot.
A broken rice meat plate at Vietnam House.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Pho Bac Sup Shop

Pho Bac Sup Shop shares a Little Saigon parking lot with sibling restaurant The Boat, which has earned acclaim for its garlicky fried chicken and pandan waffles. The main restaurant is probably most famous for its various forms of pho, but the pho tron (“dry pho”) is truly the gem. There are tasty bites like pho fries and twice-fried chicken wings with tamarind fish sauce glaze on the menu as well.

A bowl of rice noodles topped with bean sprouts, sliced beef, and herbs, with a cup of broth on the side.
The dry pho at Pho Bac Sup Shop.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Huong Binh Vietnamese Cuisine

Huong Binh is a standout among the many restaurants at 12th and Jackson, hitting the mark with its intersection of quality and value. The grilled pork, perfectly caramelized, is a specialty, particularly as part of banh hoi thit nuong, where pork skewers accompany intricate bundles of thin rice noodles garnished with ground shrimp and scallion. The menu expands on weekends, when specials include duck noodle soup as well as congee served with blood sausage, pork tongue, liver, and ear.

A platter with vermicelli noodles, cucumber matchsticks, shredded lettuce, grilled meat, and pickled sliced radish and carrots.
The bun cha at Huong Binh.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Billiard Hoang

This Columbia City pool hall/divey sports bar is a popular hangout for some in the Vietnamese community, and the quality of its kitchen justifies a visit — either for takeout or for a fun dine-in experience. Noteworthy items include banh mi, bun (dry noodle bowls), and soups like bun bo hue, bun rieu (crabmeat with tofu and rice noodles), and bo kho (beef stew with noodles or bread). Bun mang vit (duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots) is especially popular here.

A bowl of pho with a banh mi and some sliced meat on a plate in the background on a wooden table.
The pho and banh mi at Billiard Hoang in South Seattle
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Tony's Bakery

One of many good Vietnamese restaurants near Othello Station, Tony’s Bakery offers Vietnamese deli items, entree-and-rice boxes, and more. It even bakes its own bread for banh mi. While the dac biet (house special) banh mi is popular, insiders order banh mi ca xa ot, with battered and fried basa fish (a type of catfish) and a smear of garlic-chive aioli. Across the parking lot, Q Bakery also prepares delicious banh mi; its homemade bread is more crackly with a denser crumb.

A banh mi sandwich filled with fried fish, sliced jalapeños, sliced onion, shredded carrots, and cilantro.
The fried basa fish banh mi at Tony’s Bakery.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Rainier BBQ and Restaurant

Ever since Anthony Bourdain made a stop here for an episode of The Layover, Rainier BBQ has been a popular destination for Vietnamese food in South Seattle. Recommendations include hu tieu nam vang (glass noodle soup packed with proteins and herbs) shaking cube beef, and ong choy beef salad with its curly wisps of water spinach. The Rainier catfish is the head-turner for newcomers, as the deep-fried fish averages close to eight pounds each and overhang the platters as they come out of the kitchen with a sizzle.

A bowl of large clams in a dark sauce with a plate of stir-fried greens in the background
The BBQ clams and ong choi at Rainier BBQ and Restaurant.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

Hoang Lan

At the south end of the Vietnamese “strip” along MLK, at the Othello Station light-rail stop, this humble hole-in-the-wall has a small number of tables waiting, a television typically blaring, and an owner likely whistling or singing. The sign outside says Bun Bo Hue, which is easily mistaken as the name of the restaurant — rather, it’s the signature dish and the one to order, with its gelatinous pork knuckle and earthy pork blood cakes.

Dalat Quan

This White Center restaurant features Da Lat-style special noodle soups, including nam vang noodle soup and a Da Lat version of bun bo hue that contains beef brisket. There’s also a hearty bowl of mi quang, which contains turmeric noodles, pork spare ribs, prawns, quail eggs, and a sesame rice cracker. The banh xeo is an interactive experience: Diners put pieces of the Vietnamese pancake, herbs, and greens (including, in season, a mustard leaf called cai be xanh) inside rice paper to eat more neatly. The restaurant also offers live jazz most Saturday nights.

A bowl of of noodle soup with thick rice noodles, a cracker, and a plate with lime slices and herbs next to it.
A bowl of mi quang, with turmeric noodles, pork spare ribs, prawns, and quail eggs.
Jay Friedman/Eater Seattle

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