Old Port Noodle House — Restaurant in Portland

Update Highly disappointed with the owners response. Wasn’t expecting special treatment or any response at all, but to be accused with lying by the staff/owners is incredibly distasteful. I understand that bad reviews aren’t good for the business, but after experiencing what I did I felt my review wasn’t out of line. Not looking for an argument. Hopefully, they’ll do better towards other customers in the future. No bad feelings. ✌️

Unfortunately, my experience at the Old Port Noodle House was not positive. I hate that I'm having to write this bad review in the first place :(

I've been here once on my own and the food wasn't the best but today I decided to give it another chance and bring my younger brother with me. He has never tried Vietnamese food before and I was excited to come here with him. When we walked in, we were told that we could sit anywhere that we'd like, so we chose to sit by the window. That is when things began to go downhill. A couple came in after and the waitress immediately began to cater to them. I wasn't going to make a big deal out of that because she is simply doing her job, but I was a bit confused when she immediately went to serve them water and utensils before us and their food came out before ours (despite us being there first and waiting longer). After waiting for a while, our food arrived and we were so excited to eat. I got the Dac Biet and my brother got the appetizer for one. My pho broth was completely flavorless and there was very little meat. I had to use a large amount of hoison sauce to taste anything. I apologize if this is rude but for the pho to be more on the pricier side, I was expecting at least a little bit of seasoning lol.

After we were done eating, we paid and then we went to the bathroom before leaving. With my payment, I left a small tip. As we were walking out of the bathroom, we were stopped by one of the waitresses. The other waitresses and the rest of the staff were looking at us like we committed a crime. She yelled "HEY" (in front of the rest of the restaurant and other customers) and motioned for us to come into the previous seating area we were in. We walked over and she asked us why we didn't tip and told us that "we should know better" and "that we can't just leave here without tipping because she lives off of this".

My food alone came to around 40 ish dollars. How we were being treated while waiting for our food, combined with the quality of our food did not feel deserving of an extra tip, when I already tipped. I understand her being upset and I also think it's unfair that waitresses don't get paid more. But I don't think borderline harassing your customers for a tip is the way to go about it. As you do at any restaurant, you tip based off the quality of the food and the service. To stop us in our tracks, yell at us, talk down to us, guilt trip us and then ask for an extra tip afterwards was extremely unprofessional in my opinion. I'd understand if I did something drastic like cause a scene or refuse to pay for the food at all due to the quality but I did none of that.

I ended up giving an extra tip anyways because of the harassment and if the waitress was willing to go that far then she must've really needed it. I have had better service and better food at Vietnamese places in Boston for much cheaper. It is hard to find good quality, authentic Asian food in Maine. It is such a bummer to think you've found a good place, just to be greeted with a negative experience. I genuinely tried to give this place a chance. Hopefully in the future, they will do better.

side note: I did take notice of how me and my brother were treated compared to the other customers in the establishment. We were the only black people in the restaurant. I did not want to mention that initially because I don't want people to think i'm "pulling the race card" and minorities usually get gaslit when talking about their experiences with racism. It's unfortunate that I had to go through this at old port...

Good food, but beware if you have Celiac disease or a gluten intolerance.

Usually, Thai food is naturally gluten free, but, prior to ordering I called and asked if certain curry dishes were gluten free. I was told by the woman on the phone that EVERYTHING is gluten free. I asked if she was sure, and she said yes. So everyone in my office relayed our orders to our dept admin assistant, and she called it in for the lunch meeting. She was then told that all their curry dishes have gluten in them because of their use of soy sauce, whose main ingredient is wheat flour, in their curries. In the end, I ate food elsewhere that day.

I gave it a second round, against my better judgment, and was told that the pho noodle soups were the only gluten free option, and that they were all gluten free. I then questioned whether the pho containing meatballs was really gluten free (usually meatballs are made with flour to hold them together). She said she was sure they were but would check with the kitchen. She then came back and said that the meat balls were in fact NOT gluten free, so I ordered a dish with beef instead.

My advice: do not eat here if you have Celiac disease and be very aware if you have a gluten intolerance. Veranda, please inform your staff on what TRULY is gluten free, learn about the basics of cross contamination so your staff can answer simple questions regarding it, and do not oversell yourselves as having gluten free. I will not be...

Veranda Noodle House is a not-so-hidden gem right on Commercial Street. The interior is very cool with dark floors and moody lighting. There are plenty of tables so no need to worry. From the outside, looks can be deceiving but once inside, you realize that there are two huge rooms with tables plus a bar with stools that takes up one whole wall.

The food is wonderful. I particularly like their lunch specials which are reasonably priced for the amount of food you get and include an appetizer of the day and a bowl of soup. The portions are giant. If you're like me and eat the whole thing, you can take a break from eating for the rest of the day. My most recent visit included an order the pork lo mein and it was probably the best lo mein I've ever had. I expected to have small chunks of pork mixed in with noodles and a few veggies, but that isn't what I got. I ended up with huge pieces of delicious pork and a ton of veggies including baby bok choy. I want to go back and get more of that very soon.

The only downside is that if the restaurant is busy, you may have to wait a bit to get served. It seems as though they only have two employees who aren't cooking and those two are doing everything. Prepare to be patient and give this...