VU

5 ofek - 3 years ago

Awesome quiet location, a little garden which has a really nice atmosphere.
Service is kind and smiley.
The food was sooooo tasty! I ordered the ban with the pork belly twice.
Summer rolls were crunchy and fresh. You can't miss that!
And the soup (with chicken) was deep in flavours.
You can tell these guys know what they're doing.
I will definitely come back!

4 Marcus Ung - 4 years ago

Quintessence:

VU uses very fresh ingredients for their food and like other Vietnamese restaurants VU has to make compromises between serving authentic Vietnamese food and appealing to western taste. I like the fact that they strive to serve their food as authentic as possible. Their Nước Mắm Chấm (dipping fish sauce) is nowhere near watery and they use comparatively lots of herbs unlike other Vietnamese restaurants. Their prices are very reasonable. The restaurant itself has a clean, simple, and modern look and VU's staff is very friendly and polite!

In detail:

My friend and I went to VU on a Friday evening around 4:30 pm ish and had dinner there. When we arrived there was only one other customer who had already finished eating and was about to leave. So we could choose freely where to sit.

We ordered the banh bao xa xiu (steamed bun with grilled pork) and the goi cuon xa xiu (summer rolls with grilled pork) as an entree, and pho xa xiu (Vietnamese noodle soup with grilled pork) and pho thit nuong (Vietnamese noodle soup with roasted pork) as main dishes.

The banh bao xa xiu came as a steamed bun, cut into two halves, filled with grilled pork, Vietnamese pickles, coriander and was presented as a small burger.

The goi cuon xa xiu (summer rolls) were filled with rice vermicellis, grilled pork, Vietnamese pickles, scallions, coriander and mint. Unlike other Vietnamese restaurants who try to save money (or try to appeal more to a western taste) by stuffing their sommer rolls with heaps of lettuce instead of herbs like coriander, tía tô, mint, giấp cá, Thai basil, hẹ, there was no (disturbing) lettuce inside the summer rolls at all, but coriander, mint, scallions, and Vietnamese pickles. Their Nước Mắm Chấm (dipping fish sauce) actually tasted like real fish sauce unlike at other Vietnamese restaurants who make it very watery (to appeal more to a western taste). There was one ingredient in their dipping fish sauce that I personally would not have used and which is traditionally not used in Nước Mắm Chấm, but that's just a minor point. Since I don't know if it's a secret ingredient I won't name it.

Their pho (xa xiu and thit nuong) was served with bean sprouts, Thai basil, coriander, scallions, mint and sliced red onions in a beef broth. We did not get any lemon or lime wedges. I asked our waiter for lemon wedges, but literally a few seconds after our waiter told me he'd bring some, he forgot it.

I liked all dishes that we ordered and their approach to serve authentic Vietnamese food is a good one. There are a few points though they could work on. For example there were no sauces on our table to spice up our pho (e.g. hoisin sauce, chili sauce like sriracha). Traditionally bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime or lemon wedges and chili are served on a separate plate so the customers can decide what and how much to put into their pho. I don't like the fact that they put mint into their pho. It simply doesn't belong in there. If you have a look at their menu you will find a dish called pho ga (which is a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup). According VU's menu their pho ga is served with chicken in a beef broth instead of a chicken broth, which I find very odd.

Our waiter was very friendly, polite and since the restaurant wasn't very crowded he had some time to talk to us and explain VU's approach to authentic Vietnamese food.

The restaurant itself looks very clean, simple and modern.

4 Ana müller - 4 years ago

Delicious pho soup! Really nice flavour, meat, vegetables. Nice staff and place. Good prices.

5 David Aguirre - 5 years ago

Great food and the best Pho I had in Hamburg. Lovely owners, great location - highly recommended!

5 Bru - 6 months ago

Lovely atmosphere, excellent service and delicious food

5 Abi Golestanian - 4 years ago

So yummy!!!! We had the bahn bo as a starter (vegan version!) which was very good and then the tofu curry (vegan version again) and was so great. Coming back for sure!

5 Bass X - 5 years ago

A really great place.. love the food and atmosphere!