Het Say Vietnamese Kitchen — Restaurant in Austin

Deep in my soul I want this to be at least a four-star review but I have to be honest right? If you can get past the very sketchy neighborhood and limited parking at peak times you've got it licked.

Met up with my fellow yelper who I haven't seen in years here because this place was suggested and it was not a bad choice the only thing I would say is do not order the fried crispy noodles. The owner or manager whoever he was did warn me to be fair but a simple fix would be not to add the straight beef powder which made it salty as he says but to make the slur with a little bit more of cornstarch or even water to blend it out a little bit come otherwise you're going to be sitting in the corner for salt syndrome. My friend had the vegetable pho which she said was very flavorful for all the vegetarian dishes that she usually eats and she was content. I also ordered the spicy edamame which was decent, not bad at all. And the only other thing amok is the water! It really tasted a lot like tin water or copper water I could not figure it out so instead ordered a very sugary Sprite to mask any other variable taste.

Because are the prices on the menus are on par for the times that we are in the supposedly this inflation recession Ukraine Russia War Chinese covid landing on Pluto whatever hurricane is in town. And a big plus is the owner or manager whoever the gentleman was was very very cordial and accommodating to his customers. Everybody's that came in seem to know him, it's kind of like you walked into a Vietnamese restaurant Cheers...

I really enjoy eating here. They have great custom service, a really lovely couple runs the place. It’s a mom and pop stop I guess you could say. (I only said that because it rhymes)Anyhow, I’ve tried multiple things, I’m vegan so it’s great to have multiple options and the security of knowing it’s actually vegan. They are quite knowledgeable and patient when asked questions and respond kindly with answers that give me peace of mind. They even have vegan egg rolls that are some of the best I’ve tried anywhere. Tonight I had the lemongrass vermicelli bowl with peanut sauce instead of fish sauce. This has been my favorite meal to this point. I added extra tofu for two dollars and got the egg rolls and I was thoroughly satisfied. I enjoyed every single bite. He was even kind enough to teach me how to properly say it. Which was really cool of him. I asked for extra peanut sauce but now know what they give you with the meal is plenty. In fact, I believe more than half of the menu items can be made vegan. If you ask them they will tell you. The food is always ready promptly and reasonably priced. The only thing I haven’t tried yet is the Vegan Pho, that’s right, Vegan Pho, which I am looking forward to having very soon as the winter months are coming. I hope this review is helpful. Thank you guys for showing us veggie heads some love and including us in your menu. And...

Ordered takeout from uber eats. Every single thing was in styrofoam, except the chopsticks. For the soup, it’s understandable, but using styrofoam for take out just turns me off. Too much plastic waste & pollution; it’s a huge problem and I love supporting businesses that care and know their impact. The food was eh. It wasn’t worth it. The noodles were undercooked and the veggies weren’t cooked at all, I wish they were in the plastic soup container instead and blanched, at least. Basically, now, I have all this plastic and I didn’t really enjoy the food.

The plastic thing is my fault too. I should’ve checked first or called to tell them, but still, sustainable packaging says a whole lot about a business.

EDIT: I’ve increased the stars from 1 to 3 due to the owner’s response that they have stopped using styrofoam (which cannot be recycled). Thank you for doing that! That’s awesome. I still feel like the pho toppings would be better off in a compostable container but I understand that plastic can be more cost effective for the bottom line. Oh, and since my review I’ve also tried the Vietnamese beef stew which I loved, still not a fan of the calamari - I thought I’d try it again but same result (there was too much breading and very little actual calamari for the price). Nevertheless, this place has great pho and really delicious...