Bambuza Vietnamese Bistro, Seattle, Washington Restaurant Details

Food:

We arrived at 5:30 on a wednesday to insure we would make a 7:30 show time at the Paramount theatre.

The service was brisk, the food was very tasty, and portions were large. The vietnamese beer was surprisingly good and went well with the meal. The cost including appetizer and dessert was very reasonable. At around 6:15 the place started to fill up and the service slowed, so show goers who arrived for dinner at 6:30 might have been pressed to make the 7:30 show time.

Food:

Service was slow; restaurant seemed understaffed at the time. We waited 15 minutes before someone would come to take our order and there were only a few tables seated with patrons at the time. Fair enough, sometimes people just get busy. But then as more patrons arrived, this same thing happened with quite a few parties. We noticed a couple of people come up to the counter and asked if they could take their order. I'm surprised to see this happen in a bistro style restaurant located in this area. We received our food fairly quickly. I had the wonton noodle soup, which was decent and flavorful. That was probably the only reason for the one-star rating. My boyfriend ordered the coconut shrimp curry, which turned out to be something of poor quality. The curry sauce was watery and seemed diluted and so tasted bland. The shrimp tasted as if were just boiled in water and placed into the sauce after the fact and not cooked together. I would not go back to this restaurant again, given that there are plenty of other Vietnamese restaurants nearby that have quick/reasonable service and the food is made with care.

Food:

Let's get the negative out of the way first. The service was a little slow but I'm willing to attribute that to being understaffed and a bit busier than they probably expected on a Monday night.

Now for the good stuff! Start with the lobster wontons. I was expecting decent lobster given this is Seattle but overloaded with cream cheese as is common in wontons and rangoons. We were delighted by juicy lobster encased in fried wontons with flavorful veggies, no cream cheese to be found anywhere! The cocktails were top notch and potent too! If you're a mint fan like me, go for their version of a mojito, it'll knock your socks off!

Dinner was brought out and my partner had the ginger pork over jasmine rice. While he raved about it I indulged in their Saigon Combination bowl over perfectly cooked vermicelli noodles. I'm no pasta expert, but these were done well and carried the flavors and spices of the various meats, veggies and special house fish sauce surprisingly well. The spices were mild but blended for a unique flavor. Now I'm a guy who likes really spicy food and I certainly wouldn't rank this particular entree with even one star but I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was the perfect balance.

I wish we had had the room for desert. Next time we'll be trying the coconut ginger flan!

Food:

Not good. Tried the place twice to give it a fair shake. Didn't get better second time around. The pho meat is dry; the broth is thin and tasteless. Go somewhere else.

Food:

Moderately good Vietnamese place. The salads are the best, as they are in many Vietnamese restaurants. Green papaya with chiles and lime juice. It is just a great dish almost anywhere. The main dishes are somewhat mixed. The satays are a good bet.