Hong Thanh

After a long day, my family and I decided it would be nice to give this place a try. After it taking us 5 minutes to get our drinks, we were asked what we wanted for our main meal. We all ordered and were expecting good food. But, we never got any. After waiting 2 and a half hours for our food, we left the place. People that we were here before we’re getting their food and leaving besides us. Terrible place! Don’t go!

Very please, had the chicken and broccoli lunch special and the phở. Both portions were quiet large and tasted great. The interior was nice and open. Definitely recommend!

The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. My only complaint is about our one take out order. Feeling sick my boyfriend when to get a large soup and we paid for a large soup… We got home to find it was only half full. We recently attempted a second take out order and the bill was a few dollars higher than expected but the sweet and sour chicken was so good I didn’t even care to make the phone call. Definitely good quality food

So far all the dishes we ordered were excellent but definitely recommend their phở and other noodle dishes. Glad to have a great Vietnamese meal in Reading!

The food and service has taken a turn for the worse since moving out of the big bad city of Reading. Their redeeming quality used to be their authenticity, which is now more Americanized. Insert sad face. If it’s not that they’re ‘out’ of an ingredient which is a major component in a dish… the waiter is saying he’ll be back in about 20 minutes because he has to take someone home. Say what? Oh, Ok… we’ll just be hanging out under these LED lights that are hot as hell, waiting for you to return. Hope we don’t need anything… Went there at 8pm last week after a local HS basketball game. Several employees talking in the middle of the restaurant and begin to disperse when we walked in. The hostess says, «oh we’re sorry, we’re closed! It was slow so we decided to close». I drove all the way over here because you’re open until 9, when I should have trusted my original judgement.

Beautiful interior. Friendly, fast and attentive service. Delicious, fresh food. One of my favorite restaurants in the area.

The atmosphere was nice but the service was sooooooo slow! I waited for a bubble tea for at least 15 minutes and 6 of our party of 8 got their food but the other two waited for 10 more minutes and finally had to ask about it. I wish they would have offered to lower their bill.

New Years Eve DISASTER!
Don’t waist your time or money ! A BIG disappointment with everything. The portions,
the flavor, the waiter, the Price! It’s VERY EXPENSIVE for what you get.
Needless to say I do not recommend this restaurant. There are too many better
restaurants in the area. Will never visit here again.
The only nice comment is the Buda in the Foyer was good for a Selfie…

I’ve eaten here when they were only a few table corner restaurant in Reading. While the egg roll was good, my duck, shrimp stir-​fry was bland. The shrimp while impressive were overcooked and flavorless. It isn’t the outstanding place it once was.

Ordered 2 large won ton soups to go. Received what amounted to one large soup in two containers. Disappointed since I love the soup and live 3.5 hours away. Need to find a place closer that doesn’t rip off their customers.

I was so disappointed at my visit to Hong Thanh. I discovered my love of Vietnamese food at Hong Thanh’s original location in the late 80’s, on 6^th Street in Reading. Don’t know what happened in the decades between then and now, but the owners have clearly lost their way. The menu is comprised mostly of very generic pseudo Chinese dishes (beef with broccoli, chicken with broccoli) and the Vietnamese dishes were very few, and even most of those weren’t authentic. All of the dishes I had were severely lacking in flavor. I can handle a messy dining room or a long wait, as long as the food is spectacular! But it was just such a let down. I hope the owners take a look at all of these reviews and make some much needed changes!

Terrific service, terrific food. Ordered a vegetable appetizer and entrée. The rest of my table ordered meat options. I was asked if i wanted fish sauce or the veggie sauce… THANK YOU! Didn’t have to. Want rejecting any special dishes made for me. That type of customer service, those little details like noticing I’m ordering all vegan foods, is awesome. I didn’t mention anything about being vegan or ask about the sauces or any questions really…
Exceeded my expectations.
Will definitely return when I can and recommend to my friends in the area =)

Stopped for a quart of their excellent wonton soup before I started my second job… How long can soup take? Decided to check my bag as I headed to my car. The soup looked all wrong. Went back to resturant. Asked for the right soup… Reorder soup. Hostess did not know how to make change on the order !!! Now waited another 15 minutes or so. No hostess visible, no soup, and they still had my money. Left for my second job. Someone made out on this but it was not me. Service was much better in the city when the blinds on the windows were bent and none of the tables and chairs matched !

3 stars because they are at a somewhat convenient location with mediocre vietnamese food. And service was friendly but slow. Personally, I would say this isnt authentic vietnamese cuisine. The night we went we ordered two different vermicelli bowls and a fried rice for the kiddo. The noodle bowls were mediocre and fried rice was burnt. You could smell the charred rice. Why they still served it, beats me.

Inexpensive, the atmosphere is lovely, the food is DELICIOUS!
I ordered the shrimp toast as an appetizer. For those who have never had it before, shrimp toast is very very OILY. Theirs is no exception, but it had really good flavor. And they have Ph! Wonderful, wonderful ph! And it’s so good. Flavorful, brothy, awesome.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for a change of pace from the normal!

Absolutely horrible, service was slow and there was a waiter per table (there were only 3 at the time). Drinks never got refilled and to top everything off they were out of a staple Vietnamese dish. The lo mein is over cooked, dry and salty. I also had to ask the front for my check because the waiter was nowhere to be found. I wouldn’t recommend this place to someone who hasn’t eaten in 5 days. This is a sorry excuse for Asian cuisine. 1 out of 5 stars is 1 too many.

I first ordered the shredded pork rolls. The menu said the pork was marinated so I was excited to try it. Although summer rolls aren’t typically flavor bombs, these lacked any flavor whatsoever. I went to look at the ingredients in the roll and had to use my phone flashlight even though it was sunny outside. It is REALLY dark, especially at certain tables.
I ordered the phở and that too was very very under-​seasoned. A little nit picking but they used sweet basil rather than Thai basil. I would have just chalked the experience to another Asian restaurant trying too hard to cater to American tastes and skipped the negative review but then came the fortune cookie with my bill and I felt like I had been fooled. This is not a Vietnamese restaurant.

Nice modern atmosphere, but located in a plaza with a parking lot that routinely raises my blood pressure… but on to the important stuff… the food: Roast pork and wonton egg noodle soup never disappoints. Can’t go wrong with the phở either. This place does some fusion-​style entrees too, but I generally stick with the basics. Soup portion sizes are reasonable… not too big, not too small. It’s a good feeling to know they won’t have to roll me out of the restaurant, as is the case with many Vietnamese places and their vats of soup that they serve. It’s always nice to be able to save room for fro-​yo next door.

Fairly cosmopolitan for this area. Simple and elegant décor. I ordered beef lo mein. The vegetables were done to perfection– crisp and hot, but I gave it 3 out of five stars for slower service and oily food.

My fiancé and I decided to try this place earlier this evening. I really wanted Phở and my fiancé isn’t always the most adventurous so, due to a broader menu, we chose Hong Thanh instead of Van’s Café on Penn Ave.
The restaurant does have a great atmosphere and is comfortable to dine as everything is new and modern. The hostess was very polite and our server seemed nice as well. Everything started off just fine; we ordered the cold shrimp rolls, phở, house stir fry noodles, and honeydew bubble tea.
The shrimp rolls came out rather quickly and were very good; I would easily order them again if I chose to come back. When I received my bubble tea, it was definitely lacking for almost $ 5. The bubble tea at Van’s or even at the Lehigh valley mall is, hands down, a better value. After several sips, I found a small piece of hair hanging out in my drink. I didn’t bother to complain because, while it was gross, I don’t like to complain and decided to just stop drinking it and stuck with my water.
The entrees arrived probably 20 – 25 minutes after ordering via someone who was not our server. The phở was okay. The broth was decent but the meat was really flavorless and even with added sauces, so sipped my broth and ate my noodles and bean sprouts– it was still edible. My fiancé’s food, however, was barely edible. The slop of food was very bland and every piece of food in the stir fry tasted the exact same. The variations of meat also had a very mushy consistency that was less than appetizing.
We ate our meals for about 20 minutes and our server never stopped by to ask if we needed anything for how our food was. I would have loved some chop sticks. We spent another 15 minutes sitting at the table waiting for someone to come to our table. Our server approached a neighboring table a total of 4 times during the timeframe that we waited. And she brought them their requested chop sticks. I genuinely cannot stand slow or inattentive service.
Overall, the food was just okay and the service, while polite, leaves something to be desired. I don’t think I’ll be back because there are just better options out there. I felt disappointed when I left with my purse $ 45.00 lighter and my craving not satisfied. I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon.

I’ve been a customer since Hong Thanh opened up 27 years ago. I’ve dined there (at the three locations) hundreds of times. I’ve watched the kids grow up. I’ve seen the business grow and prosper. All along, the dishes have remained wonderful… fresh, flavorful, and easy on the stomach. Particularly delightful are the shrimp and sweet potato toast and the shrimp muffin. The restaurant interior is simple and attractive. At times, it can be a bit dark and, often, it does get a bit loud. The service is excellent… attentive, fast, accurate and polite. I can understand the objection that it’s «not authentic.» Where does it claim to be 100% authentic? If you want a cultural experience, catch a plane and fly to Vietnam. The food is delicious… lovingly prepared… and that’s what matters.
I’m not sure what’s not to like here, but apparently there are plenty of cow-​tongued Berks County diners who love hunkering down over giant buffets with slop dished out in cattle troughs more than Hong Thanh, The Peanut Bar, Say Cheese, etc. Pay them no mind. Hong Thanh is fantastic… better than just about anything you’ll find in any major American city… truly, one of the best Viet experiences you could have.

I’ve wanted to visit Hong Thanh since reading the great reviews several years ago at their old location. Maybe that’s why I was so disappointed.
On the plus side, décor was nice, minimalist, a little dark but I liked it. Our server was excellent, well informed, and attentive. We really enjoyed our bottle of Two Vines Riesling.
The food, however, was not so great. The cold shredded pork rolls with crushed peanuts were very bland, paired with an okay oil based sauce. Fried sweet potatoes with shrimp, again bland. My husband had marinated duck, which I actually liked but he said that the garlic sauce totally overwhelmed it so you didn’t really taste the duck. I ordered the twice cooked Cornish hen with house special rice. The hen had virtually all moisture sucked out of it so that I couldn’t eat it at all. I tried. I did love the rice, though — it had a smokey quality to it, very unexpected and delicious.
Not sure if we will give it a second shot.

«Plain old Jane“opened a nice clean Chinese restaurant and called it a vitnamese restaurant and it worked for them and the community. This area does not expect much and are duped regularly.
Look at it this way if Panera can be a local bakery for this area who’s says this can’t be a vitnamese restaurant.
Just for the record I had «Vitnamese sweet & sour chicken»
Average food, small portions (half the readers just lost intrest), priced a bit high for this generic food.
Don’t go out of your way but if your here its a safe lunch.

My fiancé and I tried Hong Thanh last Sunday when we had a craving for phở (our usual location for phở is closed on Sundays).
When we arrived we were told that it would be a 5 minute wait but it turned out to be more like 10 minutes. A little bit of a turn off, but we really wanted phở, and it wasn’t a crazy long wait, so we stayed. Service was decent, and the Vietnamese spring rolls were very good. Then came the phở. It had a really good flavor however, the bowl was small, and literally was half full. The cost was $ 7.50 I believe for literally half of a small bowl of soup. My fiancé and I left there hungry.
While the flavor of the phở was really nice, we will most definitely be sticking to our home territory, Van’s Café in West Reading, where we are served flavorful and FULL bowls of phở! :)

If it weren’t for the mediocre service, this would be one of Berks County’s best.
The food gets an A+ all around. Each dish includes fresh ingredients and is beaming with flavor, They take lo mein to a completely new level — it’s so far above and beyond what you’d get at any other Asian restaurant in this county and beyond. Also, any fans of hot and sour soup will be smitten by Hong Thanh’s unique take on the classic starter.
Strip mall restaurants can be iffy in both quality and atmosphere, but the dining room is surprisingly spacious once you walk in. It’s actually quite a massive, open room, but herein lies the problem: every last inch is packed with tables.
Yes, they want to serve as many customers as possible, but they should focus on turning FEWER tables more efficiently than trying to serve as many tables as possible with inadequate staff. On Friday and Saturday nights, this restaurant is horribly understaffed. Wait times are so atrocious that sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it to eat there on the weekends. Dirty plates won’t be cleared, water glasses won’t be refilled, and servers may take 10 to 15 minutes just to initially GREET a table. If you hate finishing your meal then having to wait ten minutes for the check, then an additional ten minutes for them to come back and take your credit card, BEWARE! This is a common occurrence here.
Also, although they take reservations, don’t be surprised on busy nights to have to wait to be seated (and not just «Give me one moment and let me clear the table for you», but «We took your reservation on the phone but made no effort to make sure a table was open for you when you said you’d come in»). To me that’s really unacceptable.
My advice — eat here on a weekday night. Avoid the weekends at all costs.

This family could write a best seller on customer service. They are always so accommodating. We’ve shown up right before closing time more than once and not only do they Not turn us away, they make us feel as welcome as the first customers of the day.
The food is the best Vietnamese we’ve had. The Phở is always very flavorful and the produce feels and tastes like it was cut fresh that day.
The chicken Lo mien is awesome and truly Vietnamese style with very thin pasta.
They had a salmon entrée special that was tremendous. Fresh taste. Not overcooked. Garnished with delicious trumpet shaped mushrooms and embellished with a delicious sauce.
The bubble teas are a must (try the coconut version) and the homemade mango sorbet is worth getting again.