Kim An Vietnamese Restaurant

Truthfully, I didn’t enjoy my dining experience here.
Stopped by here for lunch with friends, since another friend wanted to try here instead.
I’d rather go to the Vietnamese restaurant next door.
I wanted to back out when I heard that they were going to Kim An.
I figured, I can’t back out at the last minute just because of the restaurant and I wanted to eat bung rieu badly! Let’s give it a try!
The restaurant’s seating feels a little cramped. The table feels like it is too close together.
Service was excellent. Everything came out quick after ordering. Tea water filled often.
Waiter/​owner came by to check on us. No complaints on the service!
I ordered the Bung Rieu, Crab noodle soup and I did not enjoy it !! (I heard from a friend, that this restaurant is under new ownership again!?) Maybe its a new cook, new owner. I’m not thrilled with the changes too. (per Daniel C.‘s review) This was my 2^nd visit and I remember my first visit, I didn’t enjoy my bung rieu as well.
My bung rieu came with crab loaf, pig’s feet, 3 pieces of steamed pork, & one tofu. It did come with pig’s blood but I request to sub for something else. It was missing shrimp, there wasn’t a single shrimp. The noodles was over-​cooked. (I can’t stand over-​cooked noodles) the soup was not flavorful, a little bland) The pigs feet had a funny smell, the steam pork tasted like it was about to spoil. I only enjoyed the crab loaf & the veggies. I didn’t have a great bung rieu experience!
The bung rieu cost 10.00, head next door.
You will get better quality and quantity for the same price.
Over-​all, Service was great, spending time with my friends was great, tea water was great, and at least I gave this place a try.
2016 #44/​100 Unilocal Challenge

Consistently delicious! The owners are super friendly and very accommodating; food is fresh and AWESOME. Great ingredients make for great-​tasting dishes! I like their Phở No. 8 (with thinly sliced raw beef and brisket). I highly recommend it. Their ice tea is bomb too, Oolong with Pandanus leaves; is very aromatic, one of the main reasons why my bf and I go there a lot. Check it out, it’s a good place to eat.

Good hot bowl of phở here. Adequate meat and banh phở, the broth was a little bit on cinnamon side but not over powering. Good flavor broth.

We’ve been here for 4 days, and tried a different Vietnamese restaurant each day in search for the most authentic Vietnamese dishes on the island. Mission succeeded. Kim An will be our go-​to spot each time we visit Honolulu.
I ordered the bun bo hue (extra spicy), and it was perfect. The noodles were cooked nicely, and the broth was light and yet incredibly favorable. The meat was tender and I would assume the pork bones cooked for several hours. The vegetables offered to compliment the noodle soup was generous.
Our little guy ordered the rice plate combo, and gave our server a thumbs up after he finished eating. The «com tam» was a nice portion and the pork ribs were seasoned with tons of flavor. They even added an over easy egg right on top the combo.
The gem is located in the outskirts of Chinatown, so it’s a great location near local shops and markets.
I have family that lives on Honolulu, so I will definitely tell them about my new discovery.
If you’re looking for a good variety of phở, rice plates, bun bo hue, or crab noodle soup — this is your spot!
Kim An, we will be back!

Been here for lunch twice and I can’t wait to go back again! The first time I had the bun bo hue– all the textures and flavors in this soup blew my mind! So good. Today I tried the bun rieu which was also very good. I can’t get enough of all the garnishes that come with the soups, especially the shredded banana blossom– which you can’t get in many phở places. Will have to work my way through their entire menu. Service is very friendly :-)

Chinatown is my fave place to eat because of shops like this. I love ethnic cuisines. Had the Bun Bo Hue today. The broth was magical with layers of flavor. There was spicy beef, tendon, blood cake, fishcake, and a pig’s knuckle. It came with a plate of garnishes including lime, chilies, sprouts, mint, basil, & banana blossom. Very fresh.
Ran into a few friends who were just leaving. Open early in the morning. This is the place for a hot bowl of goodness…

Chinatown is my fave place to eat because of shops like this. I love ethnic cuisines. Had the Bun Bo Hue today. The broth was magical with layers of flavor. There was spicy beef, tendon, blood cake, fishcake, and a pig’s knuckle. It came with a plate of garnishes including lime, chilies, sprouts, mint, basil, morning glory, & banana blossom. Very fresh.
Ran into a few friends who were just leaving. Open early in the morning. This is the place for a hot bowl of goodness…

This is a past due review. A month ago vacationing in hawaii I was sold by Unilocal reviewer Elvis N. to stop in Phở Kim An for another type of noodle soup that tastes like your mommas kitchen and because I love spicy noodle soup… especially Bun Bo Hue I decided to stop on in.
It was a bit cramp but most authentic places I’ve been to are often not super decorative or spacious so I got the this must be the real deal feeling. Sat down, server came over right away, ordered in 2 min, got our food in 5 min… And B0y was it good! Brothy, Spicy and I sure did feel like I was in my mommas kitchen all over again except I was sweating quite a bit from the spice. I came back 3 times more only because it was soo delicious and a great hang over cure =P
If you are a Bun Bo Hue fan this should be on the must try list!

Tired of eating Vietnamese PHO? Want to try some other type of vietnamese noodle soup? Come to Kim An and I promise you will not regret it.
Food:
Very Authentic and packed with Vietnamese flavor from every region of Vietnam. They surprise me each time I come. How do i know its Authentic? When I get that déjà vu feeling of being around my family eating a bowl of noodle soup we waited all day for to be ready.
Service:
They are kind and passionate about their food. You are like neighbors stopping by.
Atmosphere:
Minus one star for cramped seating. I know, it cannot be helped. But eating a bowl of hot or spicy noodle soup will cause sweat to trickle for the inexperienced.

Kim An has been in Chinatown for over ten years… they have actually turned Vietnamese ownership over to different people, with the food slightly changing — some better than others. The house specialty however has always been Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodle soup).
With the latest owners, the décor of the restaurant has been freshened, to less of a generic Viet lunch shop with Boba tea drinks to more of a quaint, and comfortable café style eatery. The walls adorned with sweet, and colorful oil painting art showcasing traditional Vietnamese women and culture. I would say the ambiance is a slight upgrade from previous owners.
Now, the Bun Bo Hue is as good as any of the previous owners with slight differences. The soup itself is milder and less salty and not oily which is good, so depending on your tastes you may need more or less of something — I always add two teaspoons of shrimp paste to give it deeper savoriness. It is hearty enough to be more than filling, but light enough to finish the whole bowl… Otherwise, the beef portions are tender and generous, and lots of choice pork tendons as well. Fishcake, some shrimp balls, blood cubes, and a plate of fresh accompaniment veggies piled high and deep.
I suggest you try it… quickly becoming the standard for great Bun Bo Hue.

It’s a tiny restaurant in Chinatown. They have TV playing a Vietnamese show. Ordered phở, spring rolls, and bun rieu. It had so much flavor. Veggies were so fresh, loved the side of chilis. Everything was awesome. Service was great, she offered us some coconut dessert but we were just to full! Love this place!

Their Bun Bo Hue are
! Love their sugar cane and green soy been drink also. Super refreshing. The staff are very nice to me. I wish there’s a place like this back in San Francisco. I would go there every week if I could. Parking is fairly easy. I’ll come again before I fly back.

A refreshing change of scenery among the ubiquitous phở shops of Chinatown. Clean and nicely decorated. The hostess was friendly and very helpful. We ordered the crab soup. What a different taste from the standard phở offering. There was a large ball of crabmeat floating smack dab in the middle of the bowl, nestled in the usual phở ingredients. The standard condiments came on a plate. It was great! Very crabby! In the good way!

I like this place bun Bo hue especially comes with the vegetable. Hard to find these ong choi and banana blossom from other place. My fist time try this place with my bf. We both like the bun Bo hue. Yummy. If you want to eat an authentic bun Bo hue, come here try it.

The service here is friendly and fast. The food is excellent, especially the phở, which has a clearer broth than in other restaurants, and somehow more flavorful. Also excellent is the spicy beef soup (Bun Bo Hue). You get banana blossoms as a garnish for the soups, which is uncommon and another highlight.
I love the atmosphere of this place. It’s cozy, and nicely decorated, with high ceilings and tall windows that look out onto the street, giving it an open feel.

This is the second time we came to eat lunch here. The best Phở I ever had. I tried the chicken and beef Phở. They are both amazing. The chicken with rice is great too. The rice is very flavorful and the chicken is steamed daily. Very fresh ingredients. Highly recommend it.

New owners? New cook? Not thrilled with the changes!
This was one of my favorite Bun Bo Hue restaurants but the last couple of times we came here, the flavors definitely changed along with how they serve their veggie sides. Personally, I don’t think that the soup broth is as flavorful or as spicy. Also, I don’t care for how they mix all the veggies together versus getting everything separate so you can add what you want. Prices also went up about $ 0.50 per bowl of Bun Bo Hue. Sorry to say that they changed for the worse. Some people might like the change but for me, they lost a star and will be a restaurant I’ll visit less frequently. It’s still good but don’t expect 5 star Bun Bo Hue.

Spicy beef soup, crab soup, & Vietnamese Sandwich! (the few things I tried) good food but the service is so & so. Don’t expect the best service.

I finally tried their Bun Bo Hue and I LOVE IT!
I always order Phở, Summer Rolls and Spring Rolls at Vietnamese restaurants but not anymore! My new love is Bun Bo Hue! Thanks to my friends June and Devin for recommending this restaurant to us! I’m addicted to it here because they make it the best! Very high quality ingredients in making their delicious soup broth with fresh veggies. They accommodate to my special request of substituting the original noodles with clear noodles here! If I could give their Bun Bo Hue 6 stars, I would! It’s that good! You HAVE to try it here!
The service here is okay but every time I come, it’s been getting better. Some of the waitresses don’t speak much English and they don’t come around refilling our drinks often. After a few trips here, one of the waitresses remembers me now and gets me the Bun Bo Hue with clear noodles without asking. Talk about great memory and service! I’m very lucky my bb pays when we go out but bring cash! This restaurant is cash only!
This restaurant is located in Chinatown on King St. near River St. and you can find parking all around. It’s a nice hole in the wall type restaurant that is very bright (mainly yellow walls). For what it is, you’re getting great food at a very reasonable price from real Vietnamese people. If you haven’t tried this restaurant, add it to your bookmarks and try it! You will not be disappointed :)

There are places better than this in Chinatown. This place was slightly more expensive too.
The food didn’t taste fresh at all and seemed to be lacking flavor of some sort. Not worth the 9 dollars but I’ve eaten worse…

This is a small place that was packed the whole time we were eating. I came here for a weekend lunch with the husband and we were lucky to nab a table. A few minutes later, there were three different parties waiting outside the door. I ordered the bun rieu, and the hubby had the pork chop combo. The bun rieu was good, but pretty similar to other bun rieu that I’ve had in Chinatown. Though I will note that almost every table had at least one or two people eating this. We also ordered the summer rolls. I wasn’t a huge fan of the summer rolls here. They put in way too many herbs that were quite overpowering. Random… but they serve iced jasmine tea instead of water. It was actually really good jasmine tea and very refreshing.
Tip: The bun rieu comes with pigs blood and pigs feet. Tell them to omit it if it’s not your thing!

Met some friends Lori i & Theresa at Kim An (Vietnamese) today for a light lunch, yeah right! Theresa handled the ordering and next thing I knew the table was covered in delicious mounds of food. Primarily #9 & #23 with some Spring Rolls to nibble on.
Everyone enjoyed the food and the little red chile’s which will set you free, very hot!
Ice tea is served in lieu of the normal Hot tea in Chinese Restaurants.
Service was decent and the place is pretty crowded so hopefully your not in too much of a rush.
Extra special note: Lori dashed off to the new Bread Shop for their soft opening and returned with 4 different cake pieces. Nice ending to a yummy lunch with fun people.

***Update: It was brought to my attention from other Unilocalers that my 12÷6÷12 ROTD star for Kim An disappeared (from my orig 5÷6÷12 review).
— This occurred right after I posted an updated review. A glitch in the system perhaps?
— The ROTD is still visible in the ROTD archives when you scroll down to 12÷6÷12 though. You can click here to see the ROTD stamp
.
After some grocery shopping in Chinatown, my mom and I decided to stop by Kim An for lunch.
I’ve been craving their Com Gà Hai Nam/​Hainanese Chicken Rice ($ 9) for quite a while now, so I was stoked about being back at this popular restaurant.
As usual, their chicken dish did not disappoint. I only wished that there was more meat on my plate to go with that flavorful rice. My mom explained that a lot Vietnamese cooks likes to use the thinner stewed chicken versus the meatier roasters, «more flavor!» she says.
I still love their pungent crack sauce made from a combination of fish sauce, ginger, lemongrass, sugar and chilies. It’s meant to be a dipping sauce for the chicken, but I love to throw it onto my rice for even more flavor.
Bún Bò Hue (Spicy Vermicelli Beef Noodles, $ 9):
As mentioned in my previous review (5÷6÷12), Kim An is known for their spicy Vietnamese beef noodles.
My mom even said that Kim An’s one reminds her of the bun bo hue she used to eat growing up in Vietnam. That says a lot.
Unlike phở’s delicate star anise-​flavored broth, Bún Bò Hue’s broth is more intense and stronger in flavor. If you don’t like the flavors of lemon grass, this dish isn’t for you.
Beef bones and a lot of lemon grass is simmered for hours, then more flavor is added with the addition of sugar, fermented shrimp paste and spicy chili oils. What you end up with is the perfect balance of salty, spicy & sourness.
Thicker round noodles are used to hold up to the broth’s intense flavors. The addition of pig trotters, congealed pig’s blood, beef tongue and tofu makes this bowl of goodness even better!
***If you want more flavor, you can add more fermented shrimp paste and fish sauce at the table.
Thin slices of banana blossoms are included in the plate of garnishes, a must when eating bun bo hue. It helps to cut down on the intense earthy flavors of the shrimp paste.
Most restaurants will substitute purple cabbage since banana blossoms can be quite expensive (same consistency and texture, but lacking in flavor when used instead of banana blossoms).
Another great meal at Kim An!

Thanks to all the Unilocal reviews, I came to a Vietnamese restaurant and ate something other than phở or lemongrass chicken. Yes, I tried Bun Bo Hue, a spicy beef noodle soup. It was fantastic! The broth has a lemongrass flavored to it, which I totally enjoyed. They used the round white noodles, which I don’t particularly cared for, so the next time I went, which was a week later, I asked for the phở noodles. Perfect combination for me! Also, they have beef blood blocks in it, so if you don’t like it, you can tell them to exclude it and they will give you more beef balls. Great place!

This is one of the few places that serves Vietnamese chicken rice plate and amazing Bun Bo Hue noodle soup. And for that, they are high on my list of places to eat decent Vietnamese food.
The owners, servers, pretty much everyone here seriously only probably understands a total of five words in English. So, be sure to come with someone that can speak and understand Vietnamese. Otherwise, point and nod. Point at the menu and nod when they write down your item. Also, make sure to calculate your own bill because they cannot translate the bill into English for you. ;)