Bambu

I have been here many times to get my fix for Viet cuisine. I usually order the Phở dac biet or the wonton noodle soup or the Bun bo hue. I have never had a bad bowl of Phở from Bambu you can tell that the broth has been slow cooked for hours. It has that silky mouthfeel you cant replicate from a powdered mix. I also recommend the Thit nuong BBQ pork dish if you are not feeling like soup. The fresh spring rolls and the fried rolls are also excellent.

every dish tastes sweet, i don’t like it. i prefer a bright dining room, but this is not. i don’t think i will come again.

I went to Bambu for the first time for my birthday this weekend with my boyfriend. He had been in before so I trusted his judgment that it would be good, and it was! Everything we ordered was delicious, and didn’t bother my stomach later (that’s always nice, considering what some of the other Asian restaurants in Springfield will do to your digestive tract) I had a lemongrass noodle bowl that was delicious, however, it was my second choice. I tried to order the chicken curry, but they were out of it. Our waiter was very friendly and accommodating, and overall we really enjoyed it!

Let me start with — the food was tasty. That’s what earned the 1 star. But — I am worried for my health. Read more. See why. We went on a cold rainy day and hot bowls of steamy noodles sounded awesome. I had the wonton soup it was tasty and hit the spot on a cold rainy day. My fellow diner had a phó dish and had no complaints. Carry out would be the way to go here. And this is why — the second I stepped in it. smelled like cigarette smoke when I came through the door and it went downhill from there. I am not sure but this place also operate as a dive bar after hours? The giant bar oddly placed in the middle of the space seemed off putting to me.
Initially –Service was attentive. A smart fast young woman took care of us with aplomb. That was until what seemed like the manager hit the floor. Then he seemed to take over the room and we didn’t get our check until we went to the counter and he had the tickets in his pocket. No one came to check on us after the young woman disappeared. Neither apologetic or particularly concerned — I was glad to be leaving. I hope the young woman actually got the tip I left. Is this a restaurant or a counter joint? Can’t tell. Please wait to be seated seemed to indicate a sit down place.
The smell of cigarette smoke makes the place abysmal. But — try not to look around too hard. The ceiling tiles are water stained, the silk plants dusty messes, a weird display of two plastic fruit filled baskets wrapped in Saran Wrap with a board between the and a kitchen towel in the middle made me think I was in some sort of party room fronting as a restaurant. There lights out, mismatched décor, dirty floors and the condiment tray was filthy. Really bad. The bottles hadn’t been wiped, the containers of spicy sauce were just gross and the spoons in them had sauce crusted all the way up the spoon handle. The tray itself was just a mucky mess.
I say all this cause I don’t fly on planes who’s bathrooms don’t work. I won’t eat in a place who can’t be bothered to keep the condiments clean and the ceiling tiles from showing leakage signs. I was afraid to think of what the kitchen looks like although the cutlery was clean.
The soup also came out slowly. Which was sad. It’s soup. A working persons lunch isn’t this spot for me. The man and woman sitting behind me tried to order and 2 things they wanted they were out of. I was going to take a picture. But I was trying to enjoy lunch once it finally arrived. And I really had to force myself to suppress my gross out trigger.
The prices were good. But honestly — take carry out. Or don’t. I get the impression this place wouldn’t care.

Although the food here is good they could really lay off the MSG. The phở is great tasting and the Boba tea is really good, but there is one other issue with this place… the service. I love leaving a tip for a good waiter or waitress but I have a very hard time even leaving a dime at this place. You can be waiting for someone to seat you for 10 to 15 minutes and then nobody will even take your drink order for another 10. They really need to get it together if they don’t want to lose business because I know for a fact I’m not the only one who stopped going to this place for that reason.
Update on my review. I moved away and came back to springfield and decided to get food from here. Terrible service and the quality has gone from okay to bad. Also, a few of the staff seem to be in a drunken stupor literally every time I’ve given this place another try.

We eat here all the time. Every time the food is amazing. The waiter knows what we normally order and takes care of us. The chicken phó is amazing. They have the best egg rolls in springfield. The wrapper is light and flakey. The only down side is sometimes the service is a little slow. However, it is worth the wait every time.

So I went here to eat again a couple weeks ago and the food was a lot better and so was the service. Egg rolls were hot and fresh with tons of flavor. I ordered the phở dac biet with no tripe and it was amazing. Big portion and loads of flavor as well. My boyfriend got the bun thit nuong cha gio and he liked it a lot. Now I am craving a big bowl of hot phở for this chilly day! It’s calling my name here soon!

I wasn’t impressed considering some of the reviews that I read. I started out with the fresh spring rolls which were your typical rolls with veggies and shrimp. For my main dish I had the spicy noodle soup. It was not bad, but I’ve had better. Just felt like it was missing another flavor to really take it over the top. I didn’t like the fact that they served me iceberg lettuce that was brown and wilted rather than the triditional fresh bean sprouts. The Vietnamese ice black coffee is premade and not served the traditional way over a glass of ice. For those reasons I give it a 3 star. Service was good and the place was clean.

We came in for 5 minutes, but the whole place smelled of cigarette smoke. It wasn’t worth staying, so we left before placing an order.
Update — The smoke comes from Just for Him next door. Unfortunately that really ruins the dining experience.

Went back again because I was very impressed with my first visit. I have to say this time was not as good. They seem to ALWAYS have the sandwiches out of stock. If you’re not serving the sandwiches anymore just take it off the damn menu! Always a disappointment. The server this time was not awesome. They forgot about us. There was only 2 tables in there at the time. My fresh spring rolls were MOST def not fresh. But the phở was excellent! So far the phở is the only thing that has not failed me when going there. I don’t think I’ll be going back to this place.

I had a relaxing lunch at Bambu and their banh mi was among the very best I’ve had anywhere. My taro boba tea was good, too. The atmosphere is pretty nice but I did notice a LOT of splatters of sauce and whatever else all over the wall, floor, etc. So they definitely lose a star for that. Great friendly service.

We are venturing out and trying new foods. Tonight we tried Vietnamese at Bambus. It was tasty! We had the shrimp appetizer which was scrumptious. The appetizer was delivered quickly to the table but we waited awhile for our dinner. It was very much worth the wait tho. I had Lemongrass Beef and it was absolutely delicious. Full of flavor! My husband had Beef and Vegetables and it liked it just as well.
I would recommend this restaurant to others. Great food!

The spring rolls were amazing… very fresh and the peanut sauce was delicious. I also had the lemon grass chicken and could not put my chop sticks down… so yummy!

Vietnamese and Thai restaurants have grown exponentially in the last few years in Springfield has been fast and Bambu has done fairly well. While there is still room for improvement, Bambu does have some positive traits.
Dinner is the best time to eat here since they don’t have the best service for a quick lunch. While the service might be lagging somewhat, the food definitely makes up for this shortfall. The varieties of fried rice, phở noodles, soups, and pad thai are good and the different types of pork, shrimp, and beef dishes go well with all. I’d highly recommend getting the spring and rice noodle rolls to start. I had bubble tea for the first time here and I have to admit it was actually a good drink.,
Bambu does well with its food quality and variety, but they could work on their customer service and response time.

Miss this place and their good vibes so much! Hey henry! Mike! Im in little siagon eating some viet.
Not as good as your guys bun bon hue or how ever you say it.

Here is my review
Food quality and taste. 4 out of 5 stars
Service and attentiveness of the staff 1.5 out of 5
Best food worst service in Springfield. It took 10 minutes to be seated and there were only 6 patrons in at the time my wife and I arrived. Once we were seated it took a bit to be serviced. Now. At this point I won’t pick on the the service anymore. Because oh my G. The food is just incredible. I could eat Bambu every day. So yeah. Do not go here if you are picky about be waited on hand and foot because it isn’t going to happen. But if you can look past the service. The food is amazing.

My favorite Vietnamese place in Springfield. The staff knows the menu really well and the prices are amazing. My go to is the chicken cabbage salad or any kind of Phở. You can’t go wrong at this place for lunch or dinner, any season.

5 start food. 5 start service. The ambiance is lacking. Be a little adventurous and go with the Vietnamese style of soup. My only complaint would be the amount of screaming kids running around and acting like it’s a play ground. I would normally nit blame this on a restaurant but after watching it seemed that this was family of owners or workers there. I was annoyed and it was very unacceptable.
Food was very very good and my server was just awesome. Also $ 1 beer night on Tuesday is a plus.

I had never tried Vietnamese food prior to Bambu. I’m absolutely in love with it now. Their Phở soups are fresh and delicious. The noodle dishes and spring rolls are delightful.
There are many items on the menu I haven’t tried, but the staff is great at explaining everything.

I have Bambu to thank for my boyfriend and I’s new addiction to phở.
How we found ourselves here: we read about a band we love being obsessed with phở, asked «But what is phở like?», threw a dart via good ol’ Google, and came to Bambu for dinner. The second we sat down and looked at the menu, we knew we had come to the right place.
That being said, we knew we wanted phở, so that’s what we ordered. For anyone not familiar, phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup dish that typically comes in a hearty broth and is buffered with things like scallions, sprouts, meats, and more. My choice from their selection was phở tai bo vien, which came with thin rare beef and meatballs, which was about $ 8. It took me a second to get used to it, but I loved it instantly. The broth was complex and rich, the noodles were perfect and clear, and the meatballs and beef were mouth wateringly good. I added a few splashes of Sriracha and a handful of sprouts to mine and was good to go. My boyfriend dumped a bucket of Sriracha to his and struggled a little, so a few squirts will probably do you over.
Our waitress was great, the food was fast, the aesthetic was dim and intimate, and the other tables were clearly regulars, American/​Vietnamese/​Vietnamese-​American alike. I say that a lot about the places I review, but sometimes you can just tell it’s got a consistent customer base, and I trust that.
The only real reason I gave Bambu four stars is because it was my first time experiencing Vietnamese food — but it really was fantastic. I definitely plan to come back and try more items so I can turn around and give it five.