Bodard Bistro — Restaurant in Houston

The food could get them 3stars, but customer service knocked off 2. I will never place my oder here ever again, nor recommend this place to anyone I know. I usually order a party tray of gỏi cuốn (spring roll) and nem nướng (grilled ground pork roll) mostly because I don’t know any place else, and the food quality is ok (3-3.5 stars imo). Last year, the crunchy thing inside nem nướng was hard. I guess they made them way in advanced so by the time I picked them up, and tried one right there, it was hard. I still paid and didn’t complain anything. Learning my lesson, this year when I called to place the order, I told them so and wanted to make sure they make it fresh, as close to the pickup time as possible so it’d be crunchy. When I came to pickup, there’s this lady who already looked grumpy said that and I quote, NO WAY SHE COULD GUARANTEE THE QUALITY OF HER FOOD. I was literally like “excuse me!?” And then she went on and on about how she could remember an order from last year (that wasn’t my ask at all). I could’ve left the damn tray there, but to my surprise, I still felt bad given restaurants have been suffering through the pandemic and all so I just paid. When I walked towards the door with the tray, she was still at it, trying to explain to a customer who was waiting there. Note worthy: price per roll when you order party tray is oddly a bit higher compared to small order on the menu. I paid $84 for 40 rolls after tax, while it’s like $1.75+tax based on their menu for a small...

I personally love this place for one thing and one thing only: nem nuong cuon (grilled pork spring rolls). Why? You ask? Well Duhhhhhhhh they have the best dipping sauce for spring rolls hands down in Houston! I love spring rolls in general but these are my favorite. It’s savory, crunchy and refreshing all at the same time. The sauce makes it. You cannot eat the nem nuong without it. Just wouldn’t be the same. They have since changed the recipe slightly, but not a big a difference. And the rolls seems slightly smaller and thinner too. Still good nonetheless.

They have since relocated to a new plaza but it’s okay. I’ll make the drive. It’s still in Bellaire, just further down towards 59. Never really dined in here b always ordered catering from them. I think that’s how they make majority of their business since almost every time I walk into pick up my orders, it’s always empty.

Ooh and pro tip: you can order their nem nuong sauce (orange sauce) in a plastic pho container container for $8! Not too shabby. I usually pick one up whenever we’re having spring...

Nem Nuong Cuon!!

This place. HANDS DOWN. The best Nem Nuong spring rolls in Houston.

Their (orange) sauce that goes with the rolls is what keeps me coming back. Even without the spring rolls, their sauce goes good on everything. EVERYTHING! Even on plain white rice.

The inside of the rolls have a crunchy fried egg roll shell and every bite, you get that crunch. Also one of the best parts of eating these rolls.

Any time there's a pot luck involved, this my go to place to order their nem nuong cuon. It's kinda sad unfortunately, cause anytime I call for just their rolls, the lady on the phone always asks "do you want to order anything else?" And when I say no, they always have this sad tone and say "okay."

I've noticed that their rolls are the only thing that keeps them thriving. Every time I come in to pick up my order, it's always dead. No one dining and so many pick up orders.

Now I've never dined in before so I can't really say much about the other items. But what I can say is that their nem nuong cuon is...