Lua Kitchen — Restaurant in Garland

I found this place on facebook and decided to try out since the online pictures look amazing. It was Saturday lunch so the restaurant was full & wait was ~15-20 mins. No staff came to greet me when I walked in. They only came and walked me to my table after 15 mins. They were busy so the table I was seated at was not wiped down completely. It was sticky and there were food/sauce residue from previous party. Water came quickly and I was able to place my order. I then went to the restroom & person before me told me the toilet was clogged so she was not able to use it. I went in and saw that toilet was not able to flushed. I immediately felt grossed out and lost my appetite. When I returned to my table the fresh spring roll wraps I ordered came out but it was way below my expectation. The rolls were wet & soggy. The proportion of vermicelli, veggies, and protein were off. There were way too much vermicelli in the roll, making in bland and tasteless. The peanut sauce weren’t bad but they were nowhere near good. If the kitchen add crushed peanuts to the sauce, I think the texture would be better. Then came the main dish, the special combo broken rice. I appreciate that this restaurant actually uses broken rice and the rice were good quality. The grilled pork were tender, soft, and quite flavorful. However, it lacks the smokiness of charcoal grilled pork chop. I asked the server and she said she thinks it’s charcoal grilled but I was not able to determine if it was charcoal grilled or not. The egg was cooked nicely with runny yolk, however the rim could have been crispier. The pickled cabbage were nice addition to the dish as it helps degrease the palate from meat fat. However the pickled daikon and carrot were way too sour. The egg cake (chả trứng) and the pork skin (bì) tasted weird and outright bad, I had 1 bite of both and stopped. The shrimp paste wrapped in tofu skin (chạo tôm) was okay but it does not fit in this dish. The fish sauce (nước mắm) was bland and water down. This dipping sauce would be more suitable for a vermicelli bowl rather than a rice dish. Overall my experience were not great. After seeing the clogged toilet I just want to run out of there but had to sit and finish my meal. I tried to finish my meal as quickly and possible and ran...

First impression of this place was the beautiful interior of the restaurant. The vibes were very nice and inviting even if there were only two taken tables in the entire restaurant. The waitress was very polite and our drinks arrived swiftly. I got the Pandan milk and it was just as its name described. Pandan syrup and milk 4/5. We ordered the Bò nướng Lá Nho for appetizer and it was pretty good. Portion size could’ve been better since they were only two for $6. Everything was looking up until our main dishes arrived. My friend had ordered one of the clay pot glass noodle dishes with crab and that was ok a bit lacking in flavor. The chicken salad was also dry and usually in Vietnamese food there’s a lot of herbs and greens in the dishes. There was just a hint of herbs in the chicken salad. And lastly, the main motivator for this review is the chicken congee/rice porridge. Both of those names you’d expect to see a thick porridge or a classic rice soup with rice soup consistency. I did not get that. It was more broth than soup. I also couldn’t really understand why there were large squares of red onion in the rice soup. There were even celery pieces… I had to order a side of rice to add in my bowl and then finally the soup looked like rice porridge. The flavor of the broth was odd and probably soup stock for other dishes but it wasn’t bad. Just not what I expected. I really think the place is clean, has a great vibe, but the food can be upgraded for sure. If you want some good Vietnamese food go to Carrollton or Saigon mall. (Also to the restaurant: please let the daikon and carrot pickles be...

UPDATE: 10/18/2025

I complained about the service in my previous review, but today, I noticed that the waitress/waiter have been very attentive. I now change my review to 5☆.

It was our first time here, and I really enjoyed the food. I ordered the Fish Sauce Chicken Wings. The wings were perfectly cooker, juicy, and moist. The flavor lacked a bit. For my entrée, I ordered the Vietnamese Spicy Beef (Bún bò Huế), and it was good. I tried the broth by itself, and it had a nice kick to it. I did ask for an extra side of shrimp paste & chili oil. I LOVED that they served a side with soy sauce & chili for the pork hock. It made me decide to rate this place a 5☆, but unfortunately, due to the slow service for our refills (had to flag someone a few times), it lowered my rating to a 4☆. My wife ordered the Special Sizzling Beef Steak w/ Baguettes (Bò Né Ðặc Biệt). She said it was everything she wanted and more. She thought there were two meatballs, but one is a homemade meatball paté (absolutely delicious) while the other is a pork meatball. The beef steak was tender and flavorful. The salad that came with it was great since it'll cut through the richness of the sizzling foods. It comes with a baguette, so my wife made a Banh Mi with the food. It turned out to be delightful. Overall...