Song Huong Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

MISTAKES WERE MADE - I left without ordering the Goi Cuon Bi , which is the shredded pork skin salad rolls. Decided to skip the appetizers on the account of not being very hungry, but now I regret not ordering extra food or at least ordering it to go.

We ordered the Bun Nem Nuong Cha Gio (BBQ minced pork and spring rolls) and the Combo 3: Chao Tom, Cha Gio, Thit Nuong & Nem Nuong (minced pork shrimp ball, spring roll, charbroiled pork and BBQ minced pork on vermicelli noodle). They were both great, wound up with leftovers because combo 3 was a lot more food than I was expecting (see first photo).

This place has a lot of potential and I can see it doing well going forward, a few changes I would make might include: adding cucumbers, something pickled like carrots, radishes or even turnips, to the dish. Even adding bean sprouts can help elevate the presentation. I did find red cabbage buried under the top layer of the vermicelli bowl but it was minimal and largely went unnoticed until I opened up the leftovers. Adding the red cabbage to the top can add additional balance to the lettuce.

Although the above ingredients were missing and the dishes differed from the typical Vermicelli bowl I’m used to, it was not the end of the world. Presentation and flavour of the bowls could definitely be improved by adding a few more ingredients and balancing out the lettuce to noodle ratio, but the sauce that came with the bowl, which the restaurant was happy to provide extra of, and the spring rolls and meat found in the dish were made to perfection. Extra sauce is needed because combo 3 had a lot of noodles which one bowl of sauce could not cover but servers were more than accommodating - just gotta ask.

Total for both bowls $35.90 before taxes and tip. No complaints on the atmosphere, however I did find the television and music being on at the same time a bit disorienting. One of the servers was also emptying the forks and knives very loudly into the dustpan which was a bit disruptive but again, these aren’t issues that can’t be addressed and improved upon.

I also appreciated the fact that the minimum default tip option was 12% . This is rare to see. It’s becoming standard for the minimum option to be 18% so thank you for not automatically offering 18% as the minimum standard.

Will definitely be back next time I’m in the province, just so I can try the Goi Cuon Bi! I have now added Song Huong on my list of places to visit...

If you would’ve asked me years ago, I would have said that Song Huong was the best in Calgary especially for their Bun Bo Hue. However, I found this time around it was just mediocre. I’ve been a huge fan of Song Huong for many years. I wrote a review a few years back indicating it was my favourite places to grab a Bun Bo Hue in Calgary. I recently ate here and I had to update my review.

The Bun Bo Hue has been something I’ve been getting here for many years. It has been a while since I have eaten here and I do have to say that this time around it wasn’t anything to rave about. I found the meat portions have decreased significantly which was disappointing.

Authentically, they do offer the blood pudding still inside the Bun Bo Hue which is tasty. However, I thought the broth had too much MSG and it just almost tasted like the whole soup was made with fish sauce.

There was only another table the server waited on when I ate here recently and the service was quite terrible. Despite there being only 2 tables which were side by side, the server did not check up on us after serving the food. Not even once!

Another huge turn off was the condition of their bathroom. There was urine all over the toilet seat and toilet paper all over the floor. It just looked very filthy. The condition of the bathrooms are a big indicator for me which is correlated with the overall cleanliness of the restaurant. I was not impressed with the state of it at all.

It’s a far drive from where I am in city to get to this restaurant in the first place. Now with mediocre service and very average tasting food I’m pretty sure I won’t be driving the long way to dine here. There are restaurants in par or maybe even better as they are cleaner than Song Huong at least. It’s a shame as I remember back in the day when I would buy huge pots of Bun bo hue from Song Huong in the old location. It is a shame the quality has dropped to...

First of all as a vietnamese person who is in this industry i wish nothing but success for everyone in this industry but I must be fair when it comes to food review. We ordered Bo Tai Chanh, combo vermicelli noodles, seafood hu tieu, and ice coffee. Bo tai chanh was brought out as frozen meat with sauce on it. It pains me to see when it was presented as before anything, i am a chef. This is a lazy way of cooking which shows the person cooking has no passion for food. Yes this dish is raw thinly sliced beef with lime squeezed on it to semi cook it, not frozen food taken out a freezer and put it onto a plate. The combination vermicelli dish is subpar at best with the only standout was the eggroll even though it felt like vegetarian eggroll due to no meat can seen in the filling. The hu tieu broth was pho broth and the shrimp and squid was way overcooked so both shrank to tiny size. Overall, this industry should focus of the love of serving good food in my opinion and this place is not it. Please improve your quality, food should be always be cooked with passion and...