Customer service is the best i've ever had for a vietnamese restaurant. i definitely recommend the crab curry bc you don't get that just anywhere. The bun bo hue is not exactly authentic- very americanized (I am vietnamese so i have higher expectations for this food) but when I told them that disappoints me, they made it just the way i like it! exceeded my expectations. read more

Good lamb curry. bread is good too. Lots of flavor but not too spicy. As a side note. Not sure why yelp is making it hard for me to submit this review. read more

Two Words----- CRAB CURRY, off the charts Onoliciousness over Rice omg ! I get it to go ! To Savor at Home ! Nice Family running the Place, humble and good service ! They do NOT Skimp on the Crab it's packed with Crab, hence the Name ! Get you some ! read more

Great Small family run restaurant, exellent food and great value. I like the cold vermicellii with bbq pork and the beef soup with thin noodles. read more

Best pho on the island! That's what I tell all my friends. I heard their other dishes are good too but I don't go there that often because it's out of the way so why pass up the best pho on the island? :) read more

I just came here for the first time last night and tried their Crab Chowder and Chicken Curry. OMG They were delicious!!! I've tried many Vietnamese restaurants in anywhere from San Francisco to NYC and this place beat all of them! They were busy the whole time I was there and I know exactly why now :) The service was great, too. I always loved Vietnamese food, but I love it even more now. Thank you, Bac Nam :) read more

Great food. Great value. Very clean. Super friendly. Very nice family run business. We love it!

I had the Bung Bo Hue.. I was a little disappointed. Made with pho noodles and pho meat. Pretty much pho with with some bung bo hue spices. Major shortcuts taken. Not bad place just not great. read more

The food is so tasty and fresh!! the price is good. My favorite is #78 with rice,while typing my comment. I saw someone order the crab curry it looked so good, i ended up ordering one. read more

Terrific Vietnamese food. Very authentic. Large portions. Lack of parking is the only reason I don't give it 5 stars.

Great place. Broth is consistently the same. The spring rolls are ok. Iced coffee with condensed milk is strong and tasty! Decent size thin sliced meat on the outside. Overall very good. I try to go there at least once or twice a month. Kinda out of the way for me. read more

AMAZINGLY delicious! I had the beef soup and it was so flavorful. The meat and carrots were tender and juicy, the portion size was great. They welcomed me in, sat me down and knocked it out of the park. I cannot wait to try something else on the menu. Go there and thank me later LOL. read more

This place has to be one of our very FAVORITES!!! WE order the shaken beef, beef short ribs, prawn curry, lemon grass chicken And the crab curry All AMAZING!!! Highly recommend! read more

This is my favorite place for pho. They also have good curry, including crab curry that they are known for. The owner is friendly and the food is prepared quickly. The prices are reasonable as well. The only down side is the parking lot can be difficult to maneuver but there is ample street parking around dinner time. Sometimes they can run out of space so it never hurts to make a reservation especially if you're planning to come in a group. It's also BYOB read more

We come here, weirdly, for their oxtail soup. Not for their pho or curries, though they are great. Assets: The soup is served hot; temperature hot, as it should be Their mixture of assorted veggies provide the illusion that this dish is good for you. Perhaps it is. Broth is outstanding. Served with broken rice topped with green onions and bacon bits, and a small dish of grated ginger that provides an extra kick when added to the soup. A generous amount of oxtail segments swim in the soup. Initially, you have to fish them out and set aside while they cool down, else you'll incinerate your palate. Service is quick, friendly and attentive. Burdens: Like so many other restaurants, parking requires luck and superior driving skills. Their parking lot, behind the restaurant, is tight and fills up quickly. Bring your Civic or Mini to avoid frustrating maneuvering. Street parking OK after 6:30. Try the oxtail here. One of their seldom mentioned jewels. read more

We had dinner @ pho Bac Nam last night , it on King st. Right after McKinley High School. It 's a nice cozy restaurant, the food was good, my husband had Pho?( as always)my friend enjoy the spring roll & grilled pork rice noodle & I had seafood noodle, yeah and the garlic shrimp is tasty. The soup taste good , the flavor don' t have too much MSG like other VN restaurant. We really enjoy the diner, the owner was very nice and friendly, can bring your own wine. Parking is easy in the front , or in the back of restaurant read more

Looking at the good reviews and compliments over the crab curry, we decided to have a dinner at this restaurant. As many people have mentioned, the parking is very limited, but we luckily found a street parking right in front of the restaurant. Once we entered the restaurant, the waiter immediately brought the bilingual menu mainly in Japanese with small English descriptions. While me and my parents are Japanese, my husband and his family are not. My husband side was pretty confused, I could see there are some descriptions lacking in details in English and I translated it for them. The waiter seemed like they don't care, and very unfriendly when I asked some questions about menu or asked for extra bowls to share the dishes. The pho was ok, and the crab curry was ok. Crab curry was very mild flavor, no spiciness, lots of crabmeat (tasted like canned crabmeat tho), I could feel small pieces of shell in the curry.. With the price, food was ok, and the service was not comfortable, it was rather disappointing experience. read more

I really, really love this restaurant. So, we decided to eat there again since their service was great and the food reminds me of home. But with this visit, I must say....extremely disappointed!!! Ordered Crab Curry, prawns Braised in clay pot, and banh hue(hue cakes), plus bread since everything was sold separately... the food taste and look awesome. Issues: Crab Curry $20 - had a hair... ask the employee there to exchange it. She puts her fingers inside, removes the hair, and walks off. No one came back to check on us... the while time we sat there, we can hear them in the back speaking in Vietnamese. My friend and I just sat there not knowing if we should eat the curry since she dunk her fingers in there. Didn't want to be mean so ask them again, this time I asked them to exchange it completely because it's so unsanitary. Ask them for more bread, they said we had to purchase the bread. We had the Prawns braised in clay pot- ONLY 3 PRAWNS which cost $25~30. I asked the owner, he looked at me like I'm crazy... he said "these are prawns, not shrimps... that's why it's big" then he mumbled walked away. Bread- for the curry... $2/loaf. Not the kind of French bread you get at the stores. Same kind of bread they use for banh mi. Banh hue- $10~15. Was delicious. No hair or fingers was involved. Didn't have to purchase more fish dipping sauce. I've never went back since this experience... spent a lot of money and frustration just to enjoy this meal. Maybe it was just us or the night was bad. Hopefully everyone else's experience will be better than ours. read more

Triedthe no 66 o themenu with a summer roll. The soup was just right formy taste with the tang .There was also pig feet and a lot of beef tripe included. The summer roll was tender with the shrimp tender and the veggiesnot dry. read more

Clean place with good clean food. Everyone has their favorite places for pho and this is one of mine. The owner / manager / waiter is always polite and friendly makes you feel welcome. Pho isn't the only thing that's good. They have lots of other goodies on the menu also. read more

Little family style restaurant with very tasty dishes. We used to go there on a regular basis when we lived in Honolulu. Came back after 4 years and the waiter still remembered us AND what we used to order! The best Vietnamese restaurant in Honolulu IMHO! read more

We were vacationing in Honolulu and looking for a decent wine shop. "So where do you eat around here that you like?" asked my partner in crime. The owner, somewhat taken aback by this unusual query (S. King is not anywhere near the trendy foody sites most vacationers haunt), paused in thought and then pointed across the street to Bac Nam. We went there several evenings later and were pleased by the down home atmosphere and friendly service. A group of Japanese ladies, with reservations, arrived shortly afterwords, bringing with them a nice California red that they had purchased across the street at the Peoples Wine Shop. Since Bac Nam doesn't have a license, the owner plopped down the cork screw and invited the ladies to open and sample their own wine. Disconcerted and confused by this challenge, the hostess of the party lifted the corkscrew and looked pleadingly at our table. I sprung to my feet and did my best rendition of a French waiter, presented the wine, opened the bottle, and everyone was happy. We started with the spring rolls, which were big and soft, the skins still slightly moist and translucent. I had the cold rice noodle dish with nicely sliced cucumbers, shredded carrots, chopped greens, shredded pork, a sprinkle of cilantro, topped with a subtle sweet rice vinaigrette. yummy read more

This place is great for homemade Vietnamese meals. There are lots of options to choose from and although I typically would choose the combination pho, I also recently tried the house curry with beef. The curry was the bomb. I had it with side rice, and some ginger, salt, and oil as garnish I believe. The beef's texture seemed strange though, like rubber. Still good though, and had plenty of leftovers for lunch. I'm going to have to try the curry with french bread as the side next. The service here is really good too and the prices are very reasonable. We will be back! read more

I've been looking for a good pho place for the past 2 years that I have been here on the island. I've tried many bowls of Pho Tai on the island and have been very disappointed by the bland soup base that is used. I've been so disappointed that I stopped ordering Pho when I go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Recently, some friends recommended Bac Nam and had really good things to say about it. Thus, my boyfriend and I decided to give it a try. I ordered their Pho Tai and was blown away by the soup. IT HAD FLAVOR, y'all!!! I was wondering if it was just a fluke, so we went back a second time to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Guess what? It wasn't a fluke!!! This place makes a wonderful soup for their Pho. It is fragrant, tasty, and flavorful. I LOVE IT! You do not need to add any sauce to it! I can't wait to go back again :). By far, it is the best mom and pop place for Pho. We also tried the "spring rolls" and they were also very yummy. They are crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. Some places over cook them and it gets too hard and dry inside and out, but not Bac Nam. When it comes to pho and spring rolls, Bac Nam does it right! read more

This is our go to place almost every two weeks. A small family-run Vietnamese restaurant, Bac Nam is not fancy, does not have glass dishes but offers delicious, authentic, Vietnamese food in a non-pretentious friendly atmosphere. Bac Nam is, at first, tricky to get to. Once you realize that you need to be in the second to the left lane on Pensacola before turning left on King and going immediately far right on King, you'll be okay! Getting to the food, Bac Nam's spring rolls are undoubtedly the best around. They are served super hot, so beware of getting your mouth burned. We usually let them cool and then, drizzle the sauce right down the center of the rolls to further cool them. The short ribs are to die for--I rarely order short ribs because they tend to be messy, but I order them here! The crab curry is so comforting, I want to eat it now! I also love the stuffed pork chops and eggplant tofu in black bean sauce. Even the side of rice has special flavors, and I never leave without packing the leftovers. Bring your favorite wine, and the Staff are happy to provide wine glasses. read more

The best Vietnamese food in Honolulu. My favorite restaurant -- I go at least once every time I'm in town. Love the owners. Love the cuisine -- fresh; subtle flavors when appropriate; energetic flavors when appropriate; always varied and delicious. Some of my favorite dishes are the oxtail soup, buttered chicken wings, lamb curry (even though I never eat lamb!), grilled pork chop, and any fresh vegetable of the day. The menu offers tastes for every palate. You can't go wrong here. read more

We came across this place I think on Zagat with many good reviews for it. I called earlier in the day, around 5pm to see if I needed to place reservations. The man on the phone told me to for parties larger than 4. We were a party of 5, didn't make reservations and when we came in for dinner around 7:30pm, it wasn't that busy, maybe 2-3 tables with people. We wanted some beer, they don't serve it and were told to walk down to the nearest gas station to buy it. We literally did to get a little beer in our system. We speak Vietnamese and asked the owner what he considered were his best dishes in the place. He couldn't really give an answer, basically telling us it depends on what we liked. Well DUH! But come on, aren't there dishes that are more popular than others? The fact that he really couldn't recommend anything spoke volumes to me. We had a sweet and sour soup with fish, "shaken" beef, a lotus salad and the ong choi. It was all edible, but nothing really stood out. We weren't too impressed. I mean if you own the place and can't enthusiastically sell your own product, how can he expect me to? Zagat, color me unimpressed! read more

i'd give five stars if they could just hold the MSG. they tell me they only use a small amount, and that seems to be true.

Service was awesome, went during peak lunch time so there was somewhat of a wait. We had lemon beef salad and Ban Cuon (rice rolls w/ ground meat), a dish I grew up with. Wasnt like moms, but sure was close. If you crave it, this place will satisfy. dont know of any other vietnamese restaurant that serves this, along w/ other dishes on their menu. The price was also good, vietnamese food should not be overpriced, like Hale Vietnam, which isnt that good. read more

ordered the beef brisket pho. now, i know brisket is a fatty cut of meat, but YIKES!!! actually, at first i thought they made a mistake and gave me beef balls (that they cut up). uh, nope! that was the fat half of the brisket floating to the top! there was definitely a pretty thick layer of fat floating on the soup. seriously, half of the meat was fat that i cut off. i LOVE thai basil. they're basil was big, but i ended up cutting a lot of it off because it was bug eaten. not just nibbled on the edges, but tons of holes. went there because its really close to my office. i think its worth the walk or drive to pho saigon just so i don't feel my arteries clogging all afternoon. read more

Was craving lemongrass chicken on cold noodle. I really like their lemongrass chicken although a bit on the spicy side. Always lots of food, only this time had less chicken and more onions...and I did take out. Owner guy was nice and pleasant. Good service too. read more

I used to come to Bac Nam for lunch every now and then since my workplace is just two blocks away. Whenever I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I would order the combination beef pho 80% of the time. The last two visits to Bac Nam were huge disappointments. The mistake that they made twice in a row is considered unforgivable in my book. When you order pho, you'd expect the broth to be steaming hot.....especially when a good amount of people like to have the rare meat on the side. Not only was the soup not hot, it was lukewarm at best. After I put my rare meat in the broth, all it did was wash off the blood from the meat. So I was literally left with a bowl of pho that contained bloody pink broth and uncooked meat. When this happened to me the first time, I just brushed it off thinking I came at the wrong time (although it was prime time lunch hour.) I was with my coworker and even he gave me that "eww" face. The second time it happened was when I came during dinner time with my family. From that second incident on, I have not been back to Bac Nam and have recommended my friends & coworkers not to go......unless they wanted bloody soup. read more

Right across the street from my work is this decent sized Vietnamese restaurant that is the perfect cure for a spring rolls with vermicelli noodles craving! Spring rolls, noodles, and occasionally bbq pork is my norm when it comes to viet fare, so it's no surprise that I ordered this during my first trip to Bac Nam. However, there was a lone dish that sparked interest and almost caused me to sway from my norm... lo-and-behold.... Chicken wings with... BUTTER!! Did, I just read that right? With butter? Who doesn't love butter drenched on anything? But, alas... my norm won the battle for my attention this time around... but, my mind stayed with the thought of buttered wings quite constantly that after a week, I was forced to return to Bac Nam to satisfy my curiosity. Boy, was I ever satisfied!! Crunchy, lightly battered chicken wings were swimming in a garlicky butter sauce that was reminiscent of Giovanni's scampi sauce... so, so, so good! Now, I usually love eating my wings with rice (what can I say, I love my carbs!), but there was no time to eat rice with these wings... instead they just got gobbled one by one, way too fast... read more

I was able to enjoy Bac Nam more often when I worked in the area, but I believe they had the tastiest pho I've had in Honolulu. I compare all other pho to Bac Nam now and so far I have not found a tastier bowl of goodness! read more

My favorite Vietnamese restaurant of all time. The Lemon Grass Chicken is out of this world and the Ox Tail Soup is phenomenal! I highly recommend this restaurant. The food is always great and the place is very clean. read more

Bac Nam has the best broth for pho. My go to dish is the Number 61 combination special. You can tell it's really good here because half of the customers are Japanese nationals. The service is really good and the owner is really friendly. It's a great deal for the price. read more

crab curry pretty good. they were out of french bread.

With so many great reviews, I decided to visit Bac Nam with my wife. Service was slow and the server didn't speak much English, not atypical of many good Asian restaurants. What is atypical was we ordered 3 things - the curry crab that everyone raved about, the ong choi, and we picked a curry prawn dish for $14.95. I was surprised when the prawn dish came that there were only 3 medium sized shrimps in the dish with lots of curry sauce. When I asked the waitress to confirm, she did not understand so she got the male manager. He came to our table, visibly annoyed and asked if he could help us. Trying to be polite, I first complimented him that we enjoyed the food but wanted to know if we only get 3 shrimps with the dish. He was in my face and said yes, only 3 shrimps; with the unspoken implication that how dare you ask such a stupid question! Then he turned around and left. Well of course, it was strange and unexpected - we are paying $5 per shrimp for 3 very salty shrimps. And we really did not appreciate the manager's rude and arrogant attitude to talk down to us. We will not be back :-( For a total bill of $60 for 2, we could have plenty of alternatives in town. read more

A very friendly Vietnamese restaurant with great food. I had Pho Tai for lunch then took my bride back for dinner and had vermicelli noodles with spring rolls/chicken.... GREAT!!! The Pho broth is perfect. This place is worth any wait there may be. Highly recommend. We'll be back. read more

This is our favorite vietnamese place. It's clean and they have good service. I always enjoyed what I ordered exept for the shortribs. I rated this place because of the variety of different things they offer other than Pho. read more