O Lien Kitchen — Restaurant in Denver

Editing my review because the owner straight up came in and lied in response: we were there the night of Oct. 21. If that’s how they treat their customers again after treating them like garbage then I would avoid this place like the plague.

Was pretty excited to check this place out after seeing a good amount of glowing posts about it on Facebook. The pics of the food looked great. Also, there are very few, if any options for Hue cuisine in Denver. Got a group of friends together to go on a Saturday.

The restaurant was half full, so we got sat right away right to the left of the entranceway, which was a very nice surprise given we were a party of six on a Saturday in Denver. That’s when things went down hill. Didn’t get our water or menus for 20 minutes. When they did drop off the water they only dropped off four glasses for a party of six. Maybe we were supposed to share? Anyway, I asked one of the other waiters when he brought water to the table right behind us if he could grab us two more glasses, he smiled and said, “I don’t work here.” Cool!

After 30 minutes we were finally able to order food in a half full restaurant. We also asked for those elusive glasses of water. The waiter said, “I’ll bring them right out.” Twenty minutes later he brought out the water, but no appetizers. At one point I saw Mr. “I Don’t Work Here” bring out food for a table of five that came in after us who were sitting against the far wall near the kitchen. After waiting another 30 minutes for food we asked our waiter, who apparently did work there, how much longer it was going to take. He replied “45 minutes.”

Now, at this point we should have left, but the food coming out looked great, and we wanted support a small business. Around 30 minutes Mr. “I Don’t Work Here” brought out food for a table of four women seated by the front window and then sat and flirted with them. I pulled aside our waiter. We had at that point no water refills and no appetizers. I asked how long it was going to be. He said, “let me check with the kitchen.” Came back and said another hour. We got up and walked out. From the looks of the Google reviews of the food it looks like we made the right choice.

Walked down the street to Pho Duy and got served drinks and a smorgasbord of food in 20 minutes by people who actually wanted our business and “worked there.” Was a very...

One year update: Still very good! But they recently changed their banh loc la to having dried shrimp with shell + big pork chunks & changed their filling recipe. So sad 😢. They used to have the BEST BBL in & out of the state, & we would keep it in the freezer to eat. Our friends from Cali would take some home too! Now it's like any other banh loc

Old review: My family is from Hue! We love this place!! There aren't many Vietnamese restaurants offering non-pho options & that have such a wide variety of homey classics.

Their banh xeo (also known as banh khoai) is SO good. It's done Hue style- so it's smaller than what you might know. Theirs is crispy, and filled to the brim. Char siu pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, Vietnamese ham and eggs adorn the inside of this lettuce wrap driven dish.

Their bun bo hue is rich in savoriness, beefy depth, and is the perfect beef noodle soup.

Banh it is perfectly sticky, stuffed with pork. It's glossy, bouncy and delicious!

Banh bot loc is THE dumpling of Vietnam, and they do a great one! The tapioca exterior is stretchy, soft, and smooth. A perfectly sweet and savory filling of shrimp/pork.

They can be a bit haphazard in service because they get pretty busy, but nothing that overlooks how good everything is. They checked on us many times, and food came out within 20 mins. Give them some grace, as this is a new space for them! They're beloved in the...

They moved from the little spot inside Viet Hoa supermarket to this place, which is great for them. However, I can tell the learning curve as they transitioned from a small space to a larger one and probably short-staffed. When I walked in, it took them 10mins to acknowledge me and seat me. As there was no empty clean table, the waiter quickly cleaned up a table for me but he didn’t clean the table thoroughly. Food is awesome as usual. Wait time for food is long though; I waited 40-45mins for my bbh noodle. The soup wasn’t hot enough but still tasted great. The spoon wasn’t soup spoon, which is another minus for me. There’s no napkin readily available at the table and I hope they can improve on this. I will still come back since the food is so good and will update my review then. If you come here for the food, you get your craving fixed. If you come here looking for great service and atmosphere, you should go elsewhere. I really hope things improve as they settle in the new location and get better staffing.

Updated as of 8/1/2024* Service has been improved since grand opening. They remodeled the interior to create more space and also moved the restroom to the other side of the restaurant - restrooms are cleaner as well. They added more items to the menu. Bun bo Hue is still my favorite - they don't skim down on side vegetables. I increased my rating with the...