Rau Bistro: Vietnamese Street Food — Restaurant in Calgary

Simply Blown Away!!! I was in town for business and wanted to find a nice Vietnamese spot on the way to the airport. Decided on Rau Bistro because of the 4.7 star Google reviews. Now I see why they received such great reviews and honestly, I am surprised they are not a perfect 5 stars. I am half Vietnamese, so I feel I may possibly hold this cuisine to a higher standard, as I've been eating it my entire life.

Service 10/10 - Greeted and found a table right away. Server was attentive and food arrived pretty quickly. No problems with some extra requests (Thai chili pepper, extra meat, banh mi (to go) with no mayo). I visited at 2:30 pm (downtime), so there were not many other patrons.

Atmosphere 10/10 - light and catchy music plays in background. Beautiful decor throughout. Cleanliness never before seen in an Asian restaurant. Maple seating and each table had variety of condiments to suit individual tastes and complement your meal. It's very rare to see an Asian restaurant that pays so much attention to all the little details.

Food 20/10 - very fresh and innovative dishes, while maintaining a high level of authenticity. I ordered:

1. Banh Tam bi: a thicker noodle dish combined with coconut milk and shredded pork skin and a generous portion of Vietnamese pickled veggies. Very nostalgic for me and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this dish any other Vietnamese restaurant. This dish also came with a side of broth with green onions and cilantro. It was a great addition to the dish.
2. Che Banh lot/Cendol: this was a delightful and refreshing mix of sweet pandan noodles, red pearls, coconut jello, and coconut syrup. The perfect dessert and exactly what I was looking for.

1000% can’t wait...

The vibe of this place is super cute, and the service was quick and friendly. I ordered Soup 1 Pho dac biet and Soup 7 Bun bo hue (The picture with a red circle of spice is the BBH). I was really excited to try it out since it had a 4.7 rating, but the Bun Bo Hue did not really hit the mark for me. It did not taste as authentic as others I have had. The broth was a bit bland, even though it had the usual Bun Bo Hue smell. It kind of tasted more like pho broth with some fermented paste added in.

The pork slices looked more like BBQ pork with that red pink edge, which surprised me since I was expecting the usual white pork belly. The beef slices were really overcooked and tough, but the ham and pork blood were so delicious! I think this dish would make more sense if it was advertised as a version of Bun Bo Hue rather than the traditional kind. It was not bad tasting, just not what I expected. I did not love it, but I am sure other people might.

The pho broth was really tasty, but the noodles were a bit overcooked and some of the beef shank tasted as it had gone bad, so I just picked those out. The beef slices were also pretty overdone. I probably would not get the noodle soups again, but I do want to try the rice dishes next time as they look amazing when I saw other people get it.

I did get the mascarpone Vietnamese iced coffee and it was amazing. Perfect flavor and a great portion for eight dollars!! I would definitely come back just...

After seeing all the great reviews about Rau Bistro, my girlfriend and I were excited to check out this Vietnamese place on Monday night. The vibes and atmosphere were pretty awesome; the decor was on point, and the seating was quite pleasant and comfortable. I ordered a pork rice dish and my girlfriend ordered a vermicelli dish with chicken. The flavours of my dish were downright amazing, and I was eager to finish what I had ordered. This is where all the positives of our experience end.

My girlfriend was highly unsatisfied by the taste of her vermicelli. At first, I thought that perhaps it was the authentic flavour that we might not have been accustomed to. However, in hindsight, she deduced that the food must have gone bad, as explained by the horrific bout of food poisoning that plagued the both of us the next couple of days later (I attempted to help my girl finish her plate after she dismissed the dish completely). Looking back, the noodles were soggy and had a rank aftertaste that makes me shudder just thinking about it. It must have been a prepped batch left to sit out somewhere in the kitchen all day. The symptoms of our food poisoning can be described by frequent diarrhea with a severe amount of fluid loss; it got bad to the point where we were on the verge of seeking medical attention.

I really wanted to like this place; but after our first visit, it will, undoubtedly...