Great restaurant, very unique style of food. Nice people. I had the curry shrimp, and it was delicious. We also had the BBQ ground shrimp and the shrimp wontons to start. Both were delicious. My husband and brother in law loved their entrees too. read more

On the recommendation of a neighbor, we went to Le Bambou, as we were told it was a great little place, and my wife wanted to experience some of the local Vietnamese. Given that I've had gastric bypass, I have to be able to find something that has enough protein, as that makes up most of what I eat now. Fortunately, Le Bamboo came through for both of us. We ordered no appetizers, but I had the Charbroiled Pork. This is four skewers of pork covered in something very much like a mild barbecue sauce with Asian overtones, and also had chopped celery and onions sprinkled on top. A baseball-sized globe of steamed rice and side of vegetables completed the plate. Fair warning: the vegetables include pickled daikon (which was very tasty) and a bunch of cilantro sprigs (which I avoided like the plague). The pork was *spectacular*. It was broiled perfectly, and slid off the skewers easily. Very tender, and very good. The sauce was amazing, and I managed to spread it out enough to get some with the rice, allowing that portion of the meal to get jazzed up a bit. My wife ordered Chicken and Stir-fried Vegetables (#62, btw), which also came with a healthy pile of cilantro. I don't have as many details, but she said the dish was excellent. The restaurant itself is small, but we're rapidly getting used to that in San Diego, where many of the good places are small, family-run-type operations. The place has perhaps 18 tables, all sized for at least 4, and half of those are booths. A wall of glass blocks separates the space, and the top blocks are open, allowing many of them to act as vases for the numerous bundles of live bamboo that is the principle decor. The tables all were covered in white cloth, and the dish ware and table linens were also white. Soft piano music played though out our meal. The service was prompt and very professional. The waiter got a good tip from me. The place is closed on Mondays, and it's worth noting that like many such restaurants, they close after lunch, and reopen in the evening -- 5:30p in this case. We got there right as it opened, and the place filled up over the next 25 minutes. We will definitely be going back! read more

Okay my vitnamese friend isn't a big fan and says it isn't authentic but hey it's Del Mar. I have enjoyed almost everything weave had here from the various soups (pho and vegetable/tofu) to their clay pot dishes and rice paper wraps. read more

I have eaten most things on the menu and have no complaints. My favorite is the #6 which is is basically an assortment of a bunch of their best choices. Ordering for take-out also works out well. The food travels well and is packed nicely. The location is low key ( hidden away in a corner near Vons ), yet I enjoy the break from the typical touristy feeling of many of the places I eat at in Del Mar. read more

Tucked away into a little corner of the Del Mar Heights Village Shopping Center lies this FANTASTIC mom-and-pop restaurant. Their food tastes like it's right out of grandma's kitchen. I had the sautéed beef lunch special. It comes with fried or white rice, soup, potsticker type dumplings, and salad for only $8 total! Holy moly. The "soup" is more of an Asian chicken porridge with shredded chicken and cilantro in it -- it's DIVINE. The beef is so soft and tasty! I also liked having the salad and potsticker things to eat in between bites of the beef and rice. My friends ordered the tomato beef dish and the clay pot dish. Their sauces are so good and really make each dish so tasty. When it came time to leave a tip, I literally added a couple extra dollars, because the food was THAT good. True story. read more

I've been eating here since the 1990's and still LOVE it! More upscale Vietnamese cuisine than standard pho style places. Really delicate family creations with pure heart in each dish. My faves: crab soup (OMG!) imperial rolls, crab omelette, shrimp salad, golden coins, veggie ambrosia, and the shrimp you cook at the table and roll with rice paper. Thank you, Le Bambou, for all the years of excellent eating! read more

Pricey but the best and healthiest Pho Gao in town. White meat chicken and excellent noodles!

Took a desperately needed freeway break and stumbled in. I argued for tacos but lost. Had the Fish soup and the pork salad. Excellent flavors, delicious fish, crisp vegas. Dressing perfect. Nice clean atmosphere, white everywhere. Nice built in flower vases in the table partitions. Filled with fresh bamboo. Hope I'm hungry again next time I'm in the neighborhood. read more

Le Bambou - Vietnamese Near Me - Del Mar, California

Excellent Vietnamese food! Great service. My favorite is the vegetarian Ambrosia. I'm a regular customer and I'm never disappointed. I highly recommend it. read more

I love Vietnamese ingredients: lemongrass, cilantro, limes, lemons, purple onion, carrots. YUM! Definitely a hole in the wall but the food is great and the prices are reasonable. This is a great restaurant for groups because you can family-style and try multiple dishes! Favorite Items: *Hot and Spicy Chicken Rice Noodles Soup; *Green Garden Salad; *Salmon in a Clay Pot *Scallop Curry I don't like red meat or chicken but my dad loves: *Pineapple Beef *Shaking Beef *Lemongrass Chicken read more

Love this place! It is "old school" which makes it special! It is tucked away in the corner of a small shopping center. We have only been there for the dinner menu, but I am sure the lunch service is just as good. The food and service is always consistent. I usually order the spring rolls, the spicy chicken soup and/or the clay pot. Never disappointed at this place. read more

Easy, convenient and well priced! Le Bambou is that perfect outing when your craving something more unique than American food, without getting fancied up. It's your typical basic restaurant with dated decor, a basic room of of tables and booths, but it's perfect in its own way. You can enjoy some delicious Vietnamese food without feeling like you had to get dressed up for the occasion. Our server was super nice, he was so kind to give our toddler some cookies and rice to keep her busy while we ordered. The restaurant wasn't too busy, and we got our food super fast. I got the "Clay Pot" special for $16 which is actually a hefty amount of food. Along with wine and appetizers, our bill was very reasonable. I highly recommend the Sugar Cane BBQ Shrimp Wraps! You make them yourself and you get a legit amount of rice paper for wrapping, veggies, and a dozen shrimp strips. For $13 to share, it exceeded my expectations! Found my easy go to spot! read more

My co workers and I love coming here to eat after work. We always request for Nghia to be our waiter when we come to eat. The shaking beef and egg rolls are amazing! Love this family owned Resturant!!! read more

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the food here is great. i go here with my parents a lot and we always enjoy it. very calm atmosphere. nice quiet place to talk. must get the vegetable ambrosia! it's super yummy and fun to eat since you roll the spring rolls yourself! love it here. staff is really nice ! read more

This is a little hidden Vietnamese restaurant will tasty food, especially during dinner. The inside is nice, pleasant and simple. The food is very authentic and the spring rolls are great. The owners take pride in their work. The prices are reasonable as well for what you get and the Del Mar location. read more

Le Bambou - Vietnamese Near Me - Del Mar, California

Food- beautiful, fresh and flavorful...whether it's the vegetable curry, shrimp curry or shrimp and noodle stir fry...it's all very good. You can't go wrong on this menu Service- it's adequate, they aren't going to make table side balloon animals or blow your socks off in anyway. They do what is supposed to be done and they are pleasant, can't ask for more Decor- if the kids from St. Elmo's Fire opened a restaurant it would look like this. No big deal, after all it looks and feels clean so you can overlook the pink walls... One last thing- the prices are fair. I look forward to coming back and strongly recommend! read more

The issue that I have with this place is they are very hit and miss, especially with their curry dishes. Sometimes it's a 10 and other times it's a 5. You run a 50/50 chance of this. read more

How nice it is to find a clean, sophisticated Vietnamese restaurant that doesn't smell entirely of pho! Okay, so we couldn't help but order a bowl of pho. Hell it wasn't anything like the pho you see in pho restaurants. And it was in a tiny bowl, not the heaping serving you get at hole in the wall pho places. It didn't even taste like pho. It was more like a beef soup with noodles, minus the MSG. Fancy pho. Let's call it that. The shrimp with tamarind sauce wasn't that good, so whatever they call it on the menu, if you see shrimp and tamarind in the same description, don't get it. But, you MUST try the Golden Coin appetizer (barbequed shrimp and pork patties). It comes with a heap of lettuce, fresh mint and cilantro, and veggies (bean sprouts, grated carrot) delicious hoisin sauce ot dip it in, and rice paper wraps. Fun! It was boring going back to an entree that requires a fork! read more

One of our friends (who travels the world) considers this place to have some of the best food in San Diego. I brought my young son in with me for lunch there today. What a delicious find. The place was clean. I ordered one of their lunch specials (curried chicken with fresh veggies, steamed rice and tasty fried potato type rolls). They offered us white rice, brown or fried. I opted for brown. The chicken in this tasty lunch was all skinless white meat. Believe it or not, this lunch special included some of the best chicken rice soup I've ever had. The price for this generous and fresh meal? About $8. The owner was working the front door, answering phones, making change and seating people. My son, who can be one of the pickiest eaters you will ever know, insisted on bringing in his own dish of golden spoon frozen yogurt covered by Oreos. Nevertheless, their owner graciously seated us. Their food was so tasty that even this problem child of mine asked to share my plateful. read more

Fresh, perfectly cooked. delicious! They have a yummy little lunch special. I've been there for dinner too.. it was great! read more

Le Bambou - Vietnamese Near Me - Del Mar, California

I can't believe I've lived 2 miles from this place for almost 6 years and never eaten here before tonight. The outside is so unassuming you could miss it ...but the food and service is outstanding! We started with the vegetarian "ambrosia" which are basically make your own fresh spring rolls.(soooo good) We also had the tofu curry, steamed ginger sole and my personal favorite the lemon grass tofu. All dishes were not greasy and bursting with fresh flavors (mint! Lemongrass! Ginger!) All this and very affordable to boot. This will be a regular family spot for sure. read more

Over priced generic Asian-ish food. I thought it might be Authentic Vietnamese, but it's not. I ordered their beef vermicelli plate, and it was $16 for some chopped up vermicelli and beef. I don't know why they chopped up the vermicelli....might as well have been rice and beef instead. What's the point of a noodle dish if they aren't noodley? Maybe this appeals to the oddballs in Del Mar, but I'd stay away. I've had much better food for 1/2 the price in Mira Mesa at Pho Ca Dao and Pho Cow Cali. read more

Quaint restaurant with Very attentive service of delicious Vietnamese food. Try the spring rolls and Clay rice pot - yummy! I will definitely return here. read more

The best Vietnamese restaurant in San Diego!! Good service, good food, and reasonable price.. read more

Seriously the best service. Neil was very helpful, very happy even though we went past closing time. Seriously the best salmon I've had. And the atmosphere is up to par with a 5 star expensive restaurant with out actually breaking the bank!! But it sure does taste like you are!!! read more

Small portions. They try to be a high end cuisine for Vietnamese yet they don't carry PHO. My rice was clumpy, the chicken had a lot of bones. And the soup was rather small for $10. The stir fry meals looked good coming out. So if anything try that. Didn't like the soup or BBq chicken we had. The noodles looked similar to top ramen. It was crab and shrimp soup; yet I didn't see much crab. So essentially shrimp in chicken broth. No herbs on the side; just a handful of sprouts. Service was slow. I didn't order wine, tea or coffee because I had enough already that weekend. You know some times you just need water. !! Well the waiter sort of ignored us because we didn't order a bunch of upgrades. Lol. We just really wanted a decent soup; most Vietnamese places do a great soup. The brown rice came out when we were done with our meal and so did the extra sauce. We did get a water refill once. You be the judge. Sometimes you go out for cuisine and it doesn't turn out to be a cuisine experience. read more

I tend to not pull any punches with negative reviews so it's really nice to write a totally positive review for a change. I've been visiting Le Bambou for years and the food, service, and atmosphere are all consistently excellent. Their ingredients always taste fresh and flavors are both wonderfully subtle and rich in the dishes I've tried. Salmon curry is a favorite and the shrimp wantons with fresh lettuce and cilantro to wrap and dip are amazing. For atmosphere, it's a relief to enjoy a quiet dinner without blaring autotune pop music and the glass block dividers with bamboo are cool. You can't go wrong here if you appreciate delicious quality food in a very relaxing atmosphere. read more

It's nice to read others reviews before I lay down the final word... As I read Miss. "L's" comment, (I choked laughing) I guess she doesn't realize the compliment of nice Vietnamese restaurants with white linen cloths and the history of Vietnamese Fusion for the Caucasian diners. I personally adore Le Bambou's consistency due to the matter that they don't use MSG and have shouting Vietnamese waiters yelling at each other from across the room. Le Bambou has made it clear that their menu is more upscale and sophisticated fillets (no eye balls staring at you eat). Many people have the tendency to say all Vietnamese restaurants MUST sell Pho but that is a negative. I had such a horrendous experience at Pho Hoa Cali once I found a roach in my friends bowl. Scarred me terribly. But I must admit Pho is Delicious after a late night in downtown. *Note for all critics, normally Pho is served at specialized Pho restaurants. I guess Le Bambou's prices reflect on the area per say their rent compared to the ghetto-fab streets .... no comment :) My girlfriend is Vietnamese and she has taught me to appreciate the blend of Vietnamese ingredients served in a healthier alternative. I have to admit that I get carry out every week for the past 8 years at Le Bambou. The decor and ambiance is more for the Del Mar locals. I can't believe it's been in that shopping center for 23 years! Yet they kept all the same seats and decor. I am a huge fan of their imperial rolls..(egg rolls), the Cornish game hen, house fried rice and their beef with tamarind sauce. My girlfriend likes the vegetarian menu they offer. read more

I'm a basic Pho 79 type place kind of guy so I was pretty iffy with this "Del Mar" vietnamese place. I was pleasantly surprised. I would describe it as more upscale and while the food does cater more to "americanized" tastes, there are still some good authentic dishes to be had. Not surprisingly the price is quite high. Good food but the prices prevent me from going back. read more

When people think vietnamese food, first thing that comes to their mind is PHO. So if you're looking for pho, look elsewhere! This place is more of a French-Vietnamese fusion restaurant which is coo cause there aren't many places like this around. I would of never found this place if my friend hadn't taken me here. Good thing too! In summary: The food was great, atmosphere clean, service excellent, prices a little up there for my broke ass (it's del mar, what you expect?!) haha. Would I come back? Yes, after my next allowance. read more

A charming place, tucked into a little corner of a strip mall, Le Bambou offers a lovely selection of Vietnamese cuisine, especially if you seek variety beyond Pho. The imperial (veg) rolls were very tasty and the Shaking Beef delectable. I'd recommend that combination. I topped it off with Vietnamese Iced Coffee. read more

Over the past few years, I have had a couple of very nice lunches at Le Bambou. The food was nice - somewhat elegant even - and the prices were not bad. I've always enjoyed the restaurant's understated charm and lack of pretention. So the lunches were all around pleasant. But this review is not about those good lunches. This review is about my lunch today. I went to Le Bambou with three co-workers. The ordering was a bit delayed, but went fine. Our appetizers arrived and they were ok. But then came the wait. The long wait. The restaurant was full and the waiter took probably about 45 minutes to get back to us after delivering our appetizer. In fact, he didn't get back to us; we had to wave him down. The poor waiter. While he toiled and toiled, rushing from table to table, the hostess stood by and did nothing. We had much time to contemplate her inactivity. The time was also amply provided for us to become experts at Le Bambou's menu's abstruse system for numbering its different meals. We found it highly amusing, which says something about the monotony of waiting. Sometime between sunrise and sunset, the food arrived. The waiter said it had been ready for some time, but he didn't realize we finished our appetizers (about a half hour ago). Everyone agreed the meal was mediocre. One co-worker had an eggplant dish, which we agreed was probably the best because eggplant is always pretty good. The only real highlight of the meal was that our waiter was very nice, and he was honest about the delay: he had forgotten us. So we were forgettable. And so was this lunch. One side note: the co-worker who ordered the eggplant did have one regret. He went to use Le Bambou's restroom. It turns out that hygiene has met its match in this bathroom. The Seventies-era bathroom needs Le Renovation. And, reports are, Le Toilet Paper was missing. read more

I love this place. It's small and cozy, the staff are all friendly and helpful. They all wore masks and gloves and made sure to space out seating as much as possible. Their pho is amazing!! I got the pho special this time around and the broth was incredibly flavorful and the meat tender and great. The "shaking beef" is also great! Overall this place is amazing and they are family owned and have been serving great food to San Diego for years. They have delivery, pickup, and dine-in so it's easy to support this underrated restaurant read more

We visited Le Bambou for the first time on the recommendation of a friend. Overall, I can't say I was impressed but neither was I put off by it. Keep in mind that this was our first visit to a Vietnamese restaurant so our expectations may have been off. We started with the Imperial rolls. I thought they were good, my wife rated them as ok. Next time we'll try a different appetizer. We then shared the Game Hen and an order of the Beef with Lemon Grass. The game hen was properly done but was not as flavorful as we were hoping. The sauce it came in was really good. So good, in fact, that we drained the platter into the rice and had that separately.q We both like spicy food and the menu says the beef dish can be ordered spicy. So we asked for really spicy. The server gave us some chili paste in case it wasn't spicy enough. Well, it wasn't nearly spicy enough. My opinion is that if you order a spicy dish, it should come spicy. This came mostly bland. Not enough spicy base to even warrant using the hot chili paste to fix it. The beef was tender and the onions were plentiful. Dessert for me was a pretty generic flan. My wife had the Pineapple Flambe. Her opinion was to skip it in the future. Like I said, we were not impressed but do intend to give it one more try to sample the soup and one of the clay pot dishes. After that, we'll see. read more

Just looked at the menu before sitting down and there lunch specials are a deal. Highly recommend the Chicken Curry. Very authentic and flavor-Full! Small place but everything is white and clean. Fast service and plenty of parking. read more

I ;ove Vietnamese food and have traveled to Vietnam. What I like: -- Upscale menu with some very sophisticated dishes. -- Very good service -- Food can be fantastic (but not always) Why I would not give more than 3 stars: -- Inconsistent quality of dishes -- varies a lot everytime I go -- Expensive for what they provide -- No atmosphere read more

Amazing service, heaters outside, attentive staff, great food, great prices.

This has to be my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in San Diego! The egg rolls & pho are to die for. All the dishes are made from scratch & the ingredients are super fresh. The portions are generous. It's been family owned since they opened about 30 years ago. If you like pho & Vietnamese dishes, this place is a must try! read more

Hot and Spicy Chicken Soup is wonderful!!! Honestly this is now my favorite soup. I ordered a large soup to go. It came with 2 large containers of soup with broth and chicken, then on the side you get bamboo shouts and cilantro, and then the rice noodles in another container. My only small complaints are.. They don't give you much cilantro or spicy sauce (which I did ask for) and the price is pretty steep. $15 for soup is pretty high. However, the chicken is high quality white meat. Still, this is only a place I would go once in a while because of the price. read more

Poor and slow service. The 3 staff members were all running around seething with stress. Watery bland sauces. Overcooked chicken. Small portions. Unimaginative "cafeteria" presentation on old scratched white plates. High prices. Loud darkly lit interior. The reviews with high ratings are clearly bogus (perhaps friends or family of the owners). Run away! read more