Vientiane Noodle Shop

Loved my khao poun. Loved my lao sausage with sticky rice. Tell me why though… Why was tip added automatically even though it was just a group of 2 people? The bill was 28.00, but somehow ended up being 36 something. Our waitress gave herself her own tip. On top of that, it was more than 15%. Don’t get me wrong, we would have tipped her more than 15%. I mean I understand automatic gratuities on larger parties, but hello? It was just the two of us. That was not ok. Won’t be coming back.

Wish I could give this place 6 stars! So far this place serve the most authentic Thai-​Lao food in Milwaukee. We ordered Som-​Tum (papaya salad), chicken wing, tom yum chicken soup and Larb everything came out so delicious and they used fresh herb in all dish! Highly recommend and definitely going back again soon!

Perfect lunch spot, quick and tasty, cute pleasant customer service… Will be back :-)

Vientiane is like your regular neighborhood restaurant. The price is good and they have some pretty decent dishes. In my opinion, they have the best laab and pad see ew doodle. Vientiane is the only place my husband and I go to eat these two dishes. If you are new there and are trying laab for the first time, I recommend ordering it none bitter with a side order of sticky rice. On a side note, the level of spiciness here is «Southeast Asian spicy» which means that if you say «spicy or very spicy» you better be prepare to sweat. It is more spicier than the BW3 hot wing challenge.

Had the worst PHO ever. Larb was okay.
Too small inside. And the waitress she was
kind of rude.

Price and food quantity and quality is good. Can’t complain about anything but parking sucks.

Descriptive phrase: cheap and filling Phở.
Vientiane Noodle Shop, as others have noted, is pretty sparsely furnished and seems like a diner in a living room, but the service was quick and friendly and the food exactly as home-​style comforting as I wanted. Starting per a recommendation with the Spring Rolls was the right decision: fresh, large, delicious, with a well-​paired sauce.
We each got the small meatball Phở (for Phobruary, $ 5 special). Small size was more than enough for the meal plus a snack later. I added my own random mixture of spices and sauces from the table’s tray, and got it just right. When it comes out it’s like a solid blank canvas, ready for you to add what you want. Quality, comforting Phở for cheap was exactly what I wanted and expected from Vientiane, and it’s exactly what I got. Bam, that’s a win.

Went here for Phobruary on Saturday the 13^th, not realizing that that $ 5 Phở is only M-​F. Doh!
After looking at the menu for a few minutes, I couldn’t decide between a red curry dish and a larb dish. After much cajoling by my dining companions and believing that I would not be able to finish a full dish of food, I decided to go with the small basic (beef and meatball) phở. We had somewhere to be after eating, so in reality, soup was a smart choice.
Even a «small» bowl of Phở from here makes a full meal, particularly if you’re not a big eater. I first tasted the broth without adding anything to it and I thought it was just a tad salty; not horribly so, but enough that I wanted to try to enhance it a little. I added Hoisin, Sriracha and Fish Sauce. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time to tweak it to my exact liking, but it was good enough with what little I did to it. It came topped with onions, my kryptonite, but I just ate around them. There was cilantro as well, but I didn’t seem to get near as much as I’ve heard other people did, and I like cilantro.
As I said, the broth was a little salty, but it did have a nice beefy flavor to it. The beef pieces were very tender, not chewy (tendon-​y or stringy) in the least. The meatballs were very good too, but odd. They were spongy in consistency and full of pockets where air bubbles must have been. Also, they were cut into pieces and I was expecting full meatballs. The noodles were cooked perfectly and there were plenty of them. Accompanying the phở was a plate of add-​ins: a wedge of lettuce, a few sprigs of basil, a lime wedge and a large scoop of bean sprouts. Of these, the bean sprouts and lime wedge were the only things I added.
I haven’t had phở in a few years, so I can’t really compare Vientiane to anywhere else, but I don’t need to. The phở here stands on it’s own and, judging by the neon sign in the window, is this restaurant’s signature dish. I will be returning to try some of their other dishes, but the phở is a definite must try here!
²⁰⁄₂₀₁₆

I went back last year for PHObruary and again tonight. I thought the phở broth tonight tasted slightly better than the prior two years. I ended up not adding anything. Still not among the best I’ve had, but will do the job. The meatballs had a slightly odd flavor, but everything else in the bowl was good, although maybe too much cilantro.
This time I tried their egg rolls, which I still call fried spring rolls. I’ve read that egg rolls contain meat, while fried spring rolls do not not. I believe I’ve ordered fried spring rolls with pork and shrimp in them. For me the difference is that an egg roll has a thicker egg-​based wrapper and a fried spring roll has a thinner rice-​based wrapper. That’s what I’m sticking with, right or wrong.
Anyway, these fried spring rolls were a bit too greasy, but ok flavor wise. Definitely needed the sweet n sour sauce they were served with. I’d stick with the fresh spring rolls here, which BTW have pork and shrimp in them, so are those egg rolls too??? I’m ok now, letting go.

My sisters and I used to have lunch here often but lately their food has been just ok. We usually order the phở, larb beef and papaya salad. Everything is ok but their phở is not the best in town. Its more on the bland side.
Service has always been unpleasant. Personally I think a smile goes a long way **hint hint…

I came for the phobruary deal. This could just be because I’m not too into phở, but I felt the food was average, and I wasn’t a fan of the meat. The eggrolls were good though and the server was really great.

I went for a quick lunch break visit — got phở and spring rolls. The spring roll sauce was wonderful. Phở was decent.

SCORE!!!
I usual make my own phở, but I just didn’t feel like cooking the extremely long process, and this place got good reviews on Facebook by some of my friends. So off we went.
For 2 white people, we’re kinda sorta phở snobs. Just fyi. We’ve been to the place across the street, so we knew where we were going. We walked in, and were caught off guard by the quaintness and «diner like» atmosphere. It’s like an old greasy spoon, but remodeled slightly and throw in some glamour shots of the owners (???) And cute little decorations on the wall.
Menu is pretty self explanatory. Ordered the spring rolls to start. The sauce for dipping was PHENOMENAL. I put my roll in the sauce to soak. THEN DRANK THE SAUCE. GLUTTONOUS, I KNOW!
I ordered the regular sized phở. My other half ordered the large. The combo is seafood. Remember that. Because if you don’t like squid, that’ll be a problem. I do, but I prefer meat in my phở. Glad I asked, because most places the combo is meat, seafood, fowl. But not here.
Anywho. … the broth was nice. Luckily all the the good spices and sauces to jazz it up were on the table. So is kinda like «make your own». Which is good, because alot of places, their broth is super salty.
MY BOWL WAS HUGE. FOR A REGULAR SIZE! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LARGE.
It’s served with peppers, sprouts, basil, your standards.
Will I go back? HECK YEAH! For $ 20 I was super full, WITH LEFTOVERS! My other half was having a super «hangry» day, and smashed all of his. In record time.
GO THERE.

I stayed in downtown during my stay in Milwaukee and let’s just say the food was… lacking. I asked a friend who is from Milwaukee for a suggestion and this was the first and only place they recommended. I highly recommend the phở. The fried sausage was great, too. The fresh Thai pepper that came out first was definitely a win.

We go on Sundays and see Bae – she’s so sassy. We love it.
I’ve been here a lot of times but honestly have only tried the phở. It’s really good, in my opinion. Not too salty, solid flavor and a good portion for around $ 10 (large). It comes with a large plate of goodies; lime, basil, iceberg lettuce (which I never use), and bean sprouts.
My friend got the chicken phở once and I tried it. It was pretty good, but didn’t have that really seasoned and aromatic broth like the beef one did; kind of more like a really good chicken soup broth (makes sense and I didn’t know what to expect, but thought I’d throw it out there).
EDIT: Bae told us she’s not going to be working here much longer. Bummer, but still good phở!

The phở noodle was soggy and soup doesn’t taste like anything. The papaya salad was too salty.
It’s not Vietnamese food. It’s Laos or some other country. It’s not authentic Vietnamese food at all.
It’s like when a non Japanese Asian makes sushi or other Japanese dishes. I’m not coming back here again.

Tried this place for the first time during «Phở-​February» where participating restaurants in the area compete with the Phở soups for $ 5.
I must say that this place was a nice treat. The ambience there is a diner experience and I am guessing that it have been one back in the day. It’s smaller and not fancy, unassuming and that’s ok.
The Phở came out fast and was pretty good. They had a little more in terms of side seasoning options which is a common thing with phở.
I tried the beef and it was decent and fresh tasting.
Will definitely have to come by again to try out some of their other dishes.

Stopped in for the $ 5 phở special. Overall rating? An enthusiastic «decent enough.»
Barely noticeable storefront from the street, inside is divey, but clean enough. (But boy, was it FREEZING in there!) Staff was friendly enough. Phở came out fast enough. Nice huge portion, especially for the price. A large plate of fixins came with the phở, definitely found the wedge of iceberg lettuce rather useless, but the bean sprouts and fresh basil were good. The meat was good enough. The broth was also good enough.
Not much else to comment on. Worth a try!

I was in a phreaking phở mood and I have tried so many, that I decided to be phodventurous tonight and head down National to Vientiane Noodle Shop.
It was pharther (okay, I’m done) down than I realized initially, and when I finally found the unassuming storefront I was surprised that I had even seen it. I was quickly annoyed by the four street parking spots, and had to cross the bridge to circle back around… reminding myself how badly I wanted a steaming bowl of soup.
The inside is just as downplayed as the outside, a few tables and a 5 – 6 stool bar. She immediately knew I wanted takeout. I ordered just the boring chicken phở (gimme a break) and fresh spring rolls. It took under ten minutes before I was paid and out of here, which was really nice.
When I got home I was a little peeved that I didn’t have a bowl big enough to encompass what I was about to indulge in… but I figured two smaller servings was better anyways. The broth was in a big styrofoam container, and the fixins were separate. In the fixins container there were bean sprouts, one lime wedge, TONS of green onions, noodles and chicken. This was a big issue for me… the chicken. It was COLD. Like didn’t even nuke it cold. It was all nasty stringy dark meat that had skin chunks and fatty strings dangling off. I probably ate ¼ of it… and Porkchop got extra treats in her bowl that night. They included three small containers to mix in: flash fried garlic, beef paste and a pepper sauce. I used all of them. Also included was a packet of soy sauce, salt, and sugar? Odd…
The spring rolls were just not my thing. They were big and were rolled fresh, but the rice paper was very chewy and seemed older. The peanut dipping sauce was terrible, it was just red oil with a few crushed nuts on top — very sour. The ‘meat’ in the rolls was bight pink and irked me… I picked that out. Plus the cilantro was insanely overwhelming. I had one.
Overall with the two gross meats, the cilantro etc… I would call this an AOK experience, but I don’t see myself driving this far to return. The broth was good, but Phở King was just better.

Please keep in mind this is a Lao restaurant and not a Vietnamese one so if you are here for phở, I suggest going elsewhere.
With that said, I really wanted to like the phở but it lacked the aroma and flavor like authentic Vietnamese phở that I prefer. With that said, don’t get me wrong the phở here was ok. The broth tasted artificial like it wasn’t from boiling meat but came from a powder. The meatballs were too rubbery like it was freezer burnt. The meat were plentiful (we ordered the combo phở) but not sliced thinly :(You’re paying $ 10 a bowl here so I was expecting higher quality.
The laab was freaking delicious though. It doesn’t come with sticky rice. It’s $ 3 extra. They ask if you wanted cooked or raw, the spice level, plus if you wanted bitterness. Can’t get more legit than that.
Service was fast. They brought food to our table in less than 10 minutes. The waitress was really nice. The walls were décor of the family dressed in Lao or Thai outfits but at least it was clean. We parked on the street and afraid of drunks trying to open our car door so we were seated close to the window to keep an eye on it. Yes, our «we are from a small town» colors were present. Took stars off for location.