Vietnam Bistro by Mama Hanh — Restaurant in Kuta

I was shopping at Bintang and spotted this place by chance. I checked the reviews and it is 5star based on 130 reviews. We decided to try for lunch and they DO DESERVE 5 STAR ALL THE WAY. For starter we ordered the fresh spring roll and rice rolls. They kindly exclude pork from the pork-prawn spring rolls (while other Vietnamese restaurants were immediately says No when we asked this). This way we knew the fresh spring rolls are prepared by order. Not ready made! Both starters were fresh and delish! For main I ordered their best seller beef pho and Bo Bun (but vegetables version). The Vietnamese manager suggested one dish that I can't remember the name and she says it's cheaper than ordering Bo Bun without the beef. To hear this coming from the manager is surprising. Usually the opposite. The Pho I had was sooooo GOOD and authentic. The broth is boiling hot as it should be and I can tell that it is cooked for morethan 3 hours, plus with generous size of beef toppings! I am a huge fan of Pho and I know how it should taste! This pho ticks everything in my list! The flan cake came with coconut cream and a super short but strong shot of coffee. It was divine! The coffee was prepared like how it should be. It was short and super strong, as how Vietnamese coffee should be!

I also noticed the staff and the manager knows many of the guests. The waiter and manager were super friendly and really hospitable to each and every one of the guests. My pho was initially served before one starter dish served. The manager, very lovely lady, kindly brought back the pho and made me a new pho when we finished the starters.

What is more surprising to me, having dined in a lot of restaurants in Bali, the chef (mama hanh) came out and check with us (and other tables) if everything is okay. This is SUPER RARE in Bali. We chatted with her briefly and we knew that it wasn't pretentious.

Other Vietnamese restaurants in Bali now has a serious competent contender!

Vietnamese Bistro deserves morethan 5 stars! Highly...

Update June 26…. So new Vietnamese restaurant in town. Having lived more than 10 years in Atlanta I’ve become a rather pho expert as there are many super pho places. So having sampled Vietnamese food here in Bali I was disappointed to taste the pho soup and sensed that the soup wasn’t cooked no more than an hour or had any proper soup base.

I order the pho here and expected mediocre at best but was blown away and the richness of the broth and yet without the greasy aftertaste you normally find in ok pho places. The basil and bean sprout was fresh and the beef strip that cooked in the soup base was tender and blissful. To say I was happy would be an understatement.

I was so delighted with the pho I decided to taste the bang me samdwich. The bread was crispy and soft at the same time but I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t an explosion of Asian flavors. (Update… I can back and orders the crispy pork Bang me and whhhooo!!! It was amazing. Maybe my tastebuds were off that day or maybe they miss the seasoning but wow!!! It was aaaammazing. I added a picture after 2 bites ) I asked my dinner mate how the bang me was as he also order the same… he said it was excellent and raves about it and told me it’s not suppose to have an overpowering flavor…. So it’s clear that I am a pho expert and still need more experience with bang me to understand the intricacies of Vietnam sandwiches.

I tried my luck and order another dish and regret it is as I eat it all and soon was too full to be a pleasant dinner companion as my food coma fully kicked in.

Anyway… sorry for rambling but it was amazing. I highly recommend this place for the food experience. Finally, the prices was great… almost too good. Great food great price… great bargain…...

UPDATE: ANSWER TO OWNER REPLY (FIRST REVIEW IS AT THE BOTTOM)

Unfortunately no one of us did a picture of the Pho so sorry that you cannot see it, for whatever reason. Your answer on my previous review sounded as if you cannot accept criticism. That was just my experience and my honest opinion about the food. Sorry for any inconvenience. The Pho just didn't taste like we know it from our parents or in Vietnam, and we are also vietnamese. Maybe it was just that we caught a bad day or anything Idk.

But to answer on my review with " We believe we did it right" and "we don't know what taste you expect " is quite unprofessional. FYI, we were in your restaurant less than a month ago just a few weeks ago. I didn't know that a few weeks means "long gone". In your answer it sounds like if it has been months ago. But yes maybe I should have posted it directly but I didn't have the time for it. Idk what difference it would make because the food picture still looked good for me and the only thing I criticized was the Pho. And as I mentioned in the first review, the other food was okay I didn't write that it was bad. So I don't understand your reaction to it either. It's not all about 5 stars or good reviews. It's about the experience that the people made and their opinion. I am writing reviews a few years now and I just want to show others my experience, good and bad ones.

(FIRST REVIEW) The Pho didn't taste after pho at all so we were quite disappointed. But all in all the other food was...