Bui Natural Tofu

Got the Lemongrass tofu and it was actually incredible, surprisingly filling and has a strong but not overpowering flavor. Everything is really fairly priced, too, you can pretty much get a feast for under twenty bucks. I was intending to get a few more things, but they run out of stuff by the late afternoon, so try to arrive earlier than 5 PM!

Be prepared to buy more than you intended to come in here for. You just pick and choose whatever you want, everything is so cheap and delicious that it’s hard to resist. I remember when they were just a small operation.
They specialize in tofu. It’s part of their name! If you’re a vegetarian, they offer many great options from their plain soft tofu to the fried variety. The onion fried tofu and the lemongrass tofu are my favorite (both are also a vegetarian option)! They have a meatball tofu if you want an animal style protein. If you’ve never had tofu as a dessert, they offer a great bowl that’s perfect warm in the winter.
On to the other things they offer here. The egg rolls are great at a very very affordable price of 60 cents a roll. I can eat $ 6 worth. They have a bunch of sticky rice options with various beans (black bean, mung bean, I’m sure I’m missing some), with meats like Chinese sausage, and the plain red sticky rice. If you went to a Vietnamese Sunday School in Portland, you’re too familiar with the red sticky rice, but Bui did it better! Don’t be steered away from the mystery banana leaf packaged foods. Some of these are the best! For the banh beo, banh duc, and banh cuon. All I have to say is hallelujah that I found a place that can make these well! They also have Vietnamese ham from different venders for those who are particular (I am one of these people).
For the fridge section, you can grab some fresh delicious soy milk. I grew up drinking soy milk before it was a thing and this is the soy milk I’m accustomed to. It’s not like what my grandpa makes but it’s pretty darn close. I heard some people get a stomach ache from it, just boil it up when you get home and you’ll be fine (tips from my doctor). The coffee with pandan jello is my favorite. Who would have thought that this would make a good combination? The coconut jello is good, but it doesn’t deserve to be put on the same shelf.
The only thing I can say that is disappointing about this place is the flan. It always tasted overcooked/​bitter to me. My sister once mentioned that Vietnamese flan is more bitter. The texture is slightly grainy/​chunky. I’ve had better. But there’s so much more to this place that bad flan won’t drive me away. No sir! I know I’ll be back again some time this week.

The very best shrimp salad rolls in Portland! I have made these at home and I have total respect for the people who make these so much better than I ever could and these are so fresh! Peanut sauce is the best! I have heard the deep fried tofu with green onions is really good and will try them this week.

Excellent tofu here. I’ve been coming to bui tofu for all my tofu needs since I first came to the US. We buy their tofu weekly. They are well known in the Vietnamese community. The lemon grass and onion tofu are the best. Their fried tofu is also wonderful. My aunt drives from Seattle to portland just to buy their tofu and stock up. She says no tofu in seattle can compare to bui tofu.

Worth the drive into Portland. Onion, lemongrass and plain fried tofu is excellent. Freezes well too. Fast and friendly service.

Best! Great for a quick light lunch to go! Also use this place to cater my open houses!!! Healthy!

The best desserts and tofu in Portland .I love the salad rolls and the meatball tofu. Everything I try there was very good. The service is outstanding and everyone working there helpful and friendly.

Best salad rolls in all of ptown, always made fresh and very large. Fresh tofu can be bought at 60 cents per piece, flavored loafs are 10¢ more. People behind the counter are always patient and nice.
Cooking with the fresh tofu at home: never buying tofu from the grocery store again. It stays firm and holds shape in small ½″ pieces. Very flavorful and easy to cook with. I preserve the tofu I buy from here by wrapping it in a piece of damp paper towel or cheesecloth. It lasts in my fridge this way for three days without any change in texture, consistency, or taste, but it’s also usually gone within a few days.

Clearly the best fresh tofu spot in town… At least as far as I found! All the grab and go items are awesome, but the highlight is the fresh tofu made each day.

I’m not a huge tofu fan but I enjoy trying global cuisine. A confusing array of unfamiliar choices awaited– it was wonderful! The staff was helpful, friendly and patient. I ordered fried lemongrass tofu, fried plain tofu, a pie shaped dessert with layers of lime green gummy and creamy coconut (get this!) and an impulse buy of lumpia– so fresh and delicious smelling who could resist? Also had the Bahn Cuon Thit (rice pancakes filled with meat that look like thin salad rolls) just personal preference-​but didn’t care for the limp/​soft texture of these. Everything else was yummy! I’ll be back

Such nice staff! VERY well priced. I love the variety of selection and everything tastes great. I didn’t exactly know what I wanted and they helped answer all my questions.

I would be a genuis if I was able to remember how many time I come here.
This place and Vivi’s are the only two places I would take my non-​Vietnamese friends if they want to try Asian food. Bui’s is very famous in Viet’s community and the tofu you had been eating might (must) be from here.
Nice and friendly services here. They provide any information the customers need. I «DON’T LIKE» when they always ask me :” do you need anything else?” In a result, I always end up having a bunch of food even though I planned to come here just for a few things. I couldn’t resist how good the food are.
I wish I could have pictures about the Bánh bò to upload and make sure everyone gives it a shot.
They might have Bánh bò on Thurs and Fri so all you need to do is asking.
Keep it up!!!

This place is my family’s go-​to spot for tofu, soymilk and snacks such as salad rolls, eggrolls and their desserts. We’ve never encountered any issues with quality or service, the people there are very sweet and the food is always good.
The location is convenient but kinda tucked away, they have their own parking lot but it is a bit small and cramped, that’s something to keep in mind.
Overall though I would recommend Bui’s, a nice local place for good ol’ Vietnamese food.

I love how delicious and affordable the food is here. They have the best salad rolls I have ever eaten that come with lots of top notch peanut sauce. I could eat their salad rolls everyday!
Their deserts are equally scrumptious, I love the banh da lon — it’s a sweet steamed layer cake that tastes like coconut. Super yummy and fun to eat. The flan is also worth a try.
Everyone should come and support this local, authentic establishment.

Bui’s. had been taking me to salad roll heaven for over 8 years now! There prices and service are unmatched! Real family business.

A Portlandian gem! Bui Natural Tofu is the type of authentically Asian mom & pop shop that you rarely find in Oregon, and your one-​stop shop for all treats soybean or rice-​related. I loved the fried meat-​stuffed tofu, as well as the many steamed glutinous rice variations (green onion and fried shallots, mung bean, red bean, pork, coconut, and so on and so forth.) The lemongrass and chili tofu has a lingering umami taste, which makes it remarkably addictive. But by far, my favorite thing was the sweetened soymilk– my favorite childhood breakfast drink!– which was creamy and so fresh that I could taste the soybeans. Homemade soymilk tastes so different from grocery store soymilk, and has a rich mouthfeel that can’t be imitated by the seaweed thickeners you find in supermarket brands like Silk. And at $ 2.50 for a half gallon… :)
The staff are very friendly, and the prices are uh-​mahhhzing. There is a small three-​person table for nubs like myself and my friends, who arrived at Bui expecting it to be a restaurant. It’s not– it’s a takeout deli, but if you need a place to sit and snarf down some tofu, you’ll be kindly provided with disposable forks, knives, spoons and napkins, and not judged for your ignorance.

What the heck did I just eat? I’ve been going here for years and usually get their wonderful salad rolls with their great peanut sauce. I also like their deep fried tofu and green onion. On this day I decided to be a little bit more adventurous to my detriment. (I love finding places for those types of trite sentences but it fits here well).
Anyway… I got 2 other items that were piled up and heavy and were vegetarian. but they were for saltertarians as well. I almost had a stroke from all the salt I had taken a bite of. I mean it was like fried salt licks, seriously.
The salad rolls were still good, reasonable and a nice size. You can get salad rolls all over though. Also, the fried tofu seemed to be a little more greasy than usual. Maybe it was the time of day.
What do I know though? I was the only white person in there and it was loaded with folks that know all about this kind of food. That tells all so I have no place to talk.

This review is ONLY for the SALAD ROLLS and TOFU ONLY, which are the only items I have tried:
Salad rolls:
As with most legit Vietnamese food, few can dispute that the best {insert_​dish_​here} is made at home, and that adage definitely holds true with salad rolls since they HAVE to be fresh (the rice wrapper dries out so fast), and they HAVE to have good quality ingredients (junk iceburg lettuce and some noodles are really bland), so after trying the rolls at Hong Phat & Fubon, and even at some nicer restaurants like Phở Van, Phở Dalat and Phở Oregon, where all of them were just ok, I didn’t think Bui would be any better, but I’m glad I was wrong!
These BIG, mass-​produced rolls are about as fresh as you can get, because they sell so fast you can see them constantly making & wrapping new ones ready for you to buy. Not only that their vegetarian version ($ 3 for a pair) has a nice fried tofu with lemongrass flavor that really makes it stand out from an average roll, and their shrimp roll w/​plain tofu ($ 3.50/pair) is just as good.
Finally, the peanut sauce is FANTASTIC: not bland, nor overly sweet, not runny, and they give you a generous amount that is always enough for both rolls.
This is THE place for salad rolls if you don’t want to buy all the ingredients yourself and spend a good 30−60min preparing your own!
Tofu:
Ultra fresh! Made every day, delicious, and ridiculously cheap! If you live nearby, and need more than just 1 – 2 blocks, it’s definitely worth driving here than getting it from Hong Phat!
Pro tip: although you can definitely order in English, 99% of both the customers and staff I’ve seen there speak Vietnamese fluently. Take the opportunity to practice some basic phrases and build up your conversational Vietnamese skills!
Cam On!

Whenever I come to Portland, I stop by the holy trinity of Vietnamese food: Bui Natural Tofu, Ha & Vl, and their amazing soups and Bun Bo Hue, specialists of their namesake soup.
I’m not a huge tofu eater, but I love their addictive lemongrass tofu. The shrimp salad rolls are also an old standby. I added something new this trip, Banh Cuon Thit, based on a review from Don B.
Oh my gosh, I’m glad I let him be my guide. Bahn Cuon are rice pancakes filled with meat that look like thin salad rolls. They’re served with a container of nuoc cham, basil and bean sprouts. They’re really, really good.

In short, cheap and delicious. and I wasn’t the only one that thought so. At 3pm, there was a consistent line for their tofu and ready-​to-​go food.
Here’s is what I had (in one sitting):
Lemongrass tofu (20 count, $ 3)
Tofu pudding –DouHua in Mandarin (1 pint, $ 1.75)– I loved the sweet ginger sauce but it what really made it was the viet version with salty coconut milk sauce. Love me some sweet and savory.
Tofu fresh spring rolls — Gi cun (2 count, $ 3) — their brown sauce (tng xào) is über unique and tasty seems like a mix of peanut, hoisin, and fish sauce.
I also bought fresh soy milk at $ 2 for a half gallon ($ 2.50 for sweet), such a bargain!!!
Don’t expect to eat there – there is only one table and I think it was occupied by an employee.
Will be back over and over and over again.