Ba Bar University Village — Restaurant in Seattle

I went here a few weeks ago. It had great reviews, and I love the u village because of free parking, Molly Moon's, and the atmosphere of the upscale outdoor mall with lovely walk ways, pretty fountains, and the kids play area for my sons. I walked in and I waited and waited...as I kept seeing employees walk by me, not asking me if I needed a table...until finally, someone helped me. Not even a "Hey have you been helped? ill be right with you..." I was with my toddler son. Again...much waiting after we were sat, our server kept passing us with nothing. even just a "I'll be right with you" goes a long way. I order the basic Pho and it was good..nothing special. Anyway, service, not great. Food--overpriced, but maybe that's expected for Seattle, in UW area. Also, portion wasn't great...I mean the amount of meat in my soup was very minimal.

So, then tonight I'm at the U village and I'm craving some Pho. I didn't have the best experience last time (actually my VERY first time I walked in and the hostess told me they already closed the kitchen even though it was 30 minutes before closing time..) but I was right there at the mall, so I walked in...Again, I find myself standing there at the "wait to be seated sign" waiting and waiting as I keep seeing people walk by me. Finally I sit down and my server comes and I ask him if I can get pho nam without noodles and veges instead. (I've done this MANY times at other restaurants, and certainly didn't think BABAR would have a problem with it), so my server immediately tries to sell me a different type of pho, which I don't mind recommendations, but he wasn't even listening to me. If he was, he was not understanding me. I said I'm not eating carbs so I'm wondering if you can just add some veges instead of the noodles. He wanted me to get pho with beets in it...like uh no, beets=Mega sugar (carbs), then he said I could add mushrooms. Hmmm, yeah that's nice but don't you have some broccoli or bok choy or something? He says they don't have any veges they can add and that he can't just change the menu. I saw a cabbage salad, and said, "well you must have cabbage, right?" He kept saying he doesn't have veges and so I said, "Okay, no problem, I'm just going to eat somewhere else!" He acted kinda surprised by that response, I wasn't upset that I "had" to go somewhere else. in fact, I was actually super happy, because I didn't have to buy over priced Pho again and sit thru mediocre service. It's still a little weird to me that this type of "trendy/overpriced" restaurant wouldn't have vegetables to add to a pho, when someone doesn't want noodles.

So, I decided to go to different restaurant called Pho Ha in Shoreline. WOW, what a difference! The server wasn't stuck-up, infact she was really sweet and bus boy very nice and humble, and the food was great, and like HALF the price of BABAR and way larger portion--way more meat. Oh, and they very simply switched out broccoli for the noodles, like NO big deal. Anyway, so I will be saving my money and going to my new favorite Pho place called Pho Ha. So, thank you BABAR for not having vegeyables so I couod,realize there's better pho at half the price, even closer to home.

One last note. I have lots of experience in professional kitchens. I might not look like it, but I will write reviews when people are good, and definitely when people are bad. Just saying to those who work in restaurants and might not be treating me the same or might think I'm a nobody---lesson: restaurant staff and cooks need to try their best and treat everyone as a VIP, they never know who who write a review and change...

Not sure if I would go back. If I was in the village area again and wanted something warm... maybe only because they have so many other restaurants at the mall.

Pet friendly: No Family friendly: Yes Parking: shared parking with the other shops at the village

FOOD: Crispy Imperial Rolls (pure country farms pork, white prawn, mushroom, fresh mint, nước chấm) $11.50: When these first arrived to the table, my first thought where they are so tiny. I think its hilarious they charge almost $12 for THREE eggrolls that they cut into 3rd. They were crispy but you didnt taste any of the stuff that they listed on the inside. The best thing on that plate was the nước chấm.

Spicy Pork Belly (Pure Country Pork, lemongrass, chili, shrimp sauce, served with nước chấm) $18.00: I wanted to like this dish but seriously... there was NO spice unless you actually bite into one of the little chili. The amount of pork and rice they give you is very minimal. The pork belly is a little salty but otherwise tasty.

Bún Bò Huế (Spicy central Vietnamese soup, beef brisket, pork belly, pork shank, pork sausage, banana blossom, shrimp sauce) $18: Once of the reason I've been wanting to go to Ba Bar was they had this noodle soup on the menu. I've been wanting to try it as most Vietnamese restaurants around me does not. I did not like this at all. One of our friends tried it since I wasnt sure if what I was tasting was traditional/authentic - she made the weird face and said something is wrong with the soup as its not supposed to taste like that.

Lemongrass Rockfish (seared Washington Coast rockfish, lemongrass, turmeric, cabbage salad, pandan rice, side of tomato tamarind soup) $19.50: This was probably one of the best thing out of everything we ordered. Surprisely, this was one of the largest dish and the best tasting. They did go SUPER HEAVY on the dill and towards the end of the dish, the fish was getting salty.

DRINKS: Old Phoshion (Pho broth fat washed Trail's End Bourbon, cardamom and Angostura Bitters, over ice) $15: I literally did not taste anything special/different with their old fashion compared to one I could get anywhere else. That being said, it was tasty but nothing spectacular.

RESTAURANT INTERIOR/MENU: Busy, clean, noisy. Pretty standard for a mall restaurant. When you walk in, you could definitely smell it was a Vietnamese restaurant which I think its amazing. Ba Bar is a very non-descript indicator of the type of cuisine so the "smell" definitely help the people in our group that werent aware.

The menu is clean, decent selection of traditional and vegetarian. Pricing is crazy but I do understand its "city" pricing. I just wish the food was worth the cost.

SERVICE: The service wasnt bad but it definitely falls short. The hostess was pleasant enough however the amount of time we had to wait to seat our large party to the number of tables that were turning over had us questioning if she understand that we were willing to do split tables if they were next to each other.

Honestly, I'm not sure if the waiter was on something or just that absent minded as we had a few communication issues. I was the first person to place my order and by the time he got around to the rest of the table, he came back to me asking if I could repeat what I ordered... He was nice enough to take a group photo but returned the cell phone to the wrong person... We had issues with the split check - he had to redo two of the...

As anticipated, not authentic as its name. Strolling through U Village, we walked pass the wooden sign of Vietnamese “Street Food” Ba Bar, with promo of happy hour 3-6pm. We have a hunch of over hyped “street food” and price, but decided to try out HH and experience for ourselves. Unfortunately, HH is only in the bar with a drink minimum. No matter, the menu descriptions look promising, with actual Vietnamese titles and the descriptions in English. The place has very nice ambience, the bar side is mostly filled with HH diners. It was an early dinner, and we still waited a bit to be seated – one waiter/host, not so friendly, perhaps over worked. On our table, a bottle of sriracha sauce (a plus), hoisin sauce, small bottle of water, and glasses with napkin and chopsticks in them. However, if they have a tray of spice, pickle condiments, this would bring you completely back to the “street food” memories.

The waiter barely knows how to pronounce the menu items, though he tried. Cơm tấm bì, or broken rice is dried, bì are slices of pig skin, not a complete bì ingredients, the grilled pork has nicely grill lines, salty but dried and a hint of sweetness, the only that was right is the small dipping bowl of nước mắm, fish sauce. Good thing we opted out the recommended extra egg ($2.50). Phở gà trộn (mix chicken Phở, dry noodle, not in a broth) was not as I imagined: the image of a bowl of Phở with steam chicken mix in veggie/cabbage, with dipping ginger nước mắm sauce. The bowl came out in a nice presentation, slight wide noodle quickly stir fried with its own flavoring, somewhat like phad thai, the chicken baked in its own spice, great individual preparation, but in the bowl combination, it over powering the palates with saltiness, especially not enough bean sprouts nor veggie to change your taste buds. Both dished came with a cup of Phở broth. The broth has Phở seasoning but a bit salty, and not hot enough to sip, to change your palates. We can’t imagine having Phở with this broth but most likely it is served. We had another dish but it’s pretty much the similar review, nice presentation but salty to taste. Perhaps these are catered for the bar diners, they will have drinks to compliment the flavorings. Well, our waiter walked passed us many time but failed to refill our small bottle of water. We have a nut allergy with us and requested to have peanuts on the side, but was not done as requested. Well, Ba Bar is not for us, not for those who seek authentic “street food”, perhaps for bar diners who don’t have the opportunity to authentic “street food”. A no return for us. There are other better Vietnamese or noodle options...