Vietnam Georgetown Restaurant

One of the clearest trends that has been the growing as of late is fusion food. This will not be that type of experience. If your familiar with Vietnamese food then the flavors will truly be reminiscent of authentic traditional culinary Vietnam cuisine. Being that its so hard to find true vietnamese cuisine I wouldn’t completely discredit this establishment but I must say, It felt good to be teased.

Haven’t been here in a while and it’s changed its décor and name to Little Viet. The food was just as good as before, the new décor (big mirror on wall) makes it look much bigger. The service was better but maybe because we were there early at 6pm on Saturday) to get nearby street parking (hooray!). I had Hanoi Pork and hubster had beef noodle soup (Phở). Both were delicious, aromatic and filling. We also had drinks (Heineken and a plain martini – well made!), one delicious custard dessert that we shared and a super Vietnamese coffee (strong and with condensed milk – yummy!). Our bill was $ 60 which is about the going rate for a small decent dinner for two in Wash DC.

What was once Vietnam Georgetown is now Little Viet Garden and while it looks a LOT nicer after an entire redecoration the food was not as great as I remember it being before, although still very good.
We liked everything we ordered and I got my usual seafood in a bird’s nest (noodles) but there wasn’t enough sauce so maybe that was it… Before I would do whatever I could to get to Georgetown Vietnamese each year I was in DC for our meetings. Now I can really take it or leave it. However, if you are looking for a nice place to go in Georgetown and get Vietnamese food I would recommend it, I just liked it a bit better before…
Service was good too.

I am actually impressed. Honestly if only Georgetown wasn’t so crowded and if parking wasn’t so dreadful, I might just be a regular here.
Appetizers: For once, the crispy spring rolls were actually extremely delightful, though the portion was pitiful. With those, I was pleasantly surprised. The garden roll never really gets me (reminds me of rabbit food), so I’ll won’t speak too much on those.
Entres: Curry lovers, or even if you’re not, the Chicken Curry I would definitely DEFINITELY recommend. Loved it! The dish came out and there were small chunks of chicken, small blocks of potatoes, and jalapeño peppers in the dish. This dish alone was redeeming and was the determining factor for my return (if i ever make it to georgetown again).
The Saigon Combo was… meh. Don’t get it, it’s nothing spectacular. Just meat and vegetables on a stick with rice.

I had walked by Vietnam Georgetown numerous times, the food always looked good and this establishment was on my list of places to try while living in DC. Too bad I didn’t lose that list!
In a nut shell, this is a great place to go if you don’t know what good Vietnamese food can taste like and don’t care to learn. Also, its helpful if you don’t mind being implicitly treated like your some idiot tourist who can be served pretty much anything at any price and just say, «meh, ok I’ll eat this…»
What I mean by this is, please don’t serve me appetizers that look like they came from the frozen food isle and heated up in the microwave. While this is perfectly acceptable drunk food that comes free with a pitcher of Bud at TGI Fridays, please do not try to pass it off as authentic Vietnamese and charge around $ 10. Also, lemonade for $ 4 (with no free refills)… you better have been back in the kitchen squeezing lemons and stirring in the sugar, not dispensing it from a soda fountain which is how it tasted. All I know is that nobody enjoys finding $ 12 on their bill for lemonade.
We ordered 3 entrées:
1. The Golden Crêpe — avoid at all costs. This is a huge bean sprout pie with a few shrimp mixed in. The quantity does not compensate for the lack of quality and absence of flavor.
2. The lemon grass chicken served in a clay pot: This was decent, not what I have come to expect when ordering Vietnamese… the flavors were one dimensional and the lemongrass overpowered any other spices… but it was edible.
3. The seafood curry: Very delicious. If I ever return to this restaurant (which I doubt I will since there are so many better options in DC) I would probably order this again. Again, the flavors were not nuanced, it was pretty much just spicy, but at least it was flavorful and not offensive. This dish alone allowed Vietnam Georgetown to avoid a 1 start rating.
One final tip to management, clean this place up, fruit flies have set up shot in your dining room!

ehh.
Decent food, nothing special, not terrible. Other person agreed.

We went on a Sunday afternoon with a group of folks attending a conference. Unlike La Madeline next door, this restaurant was not crowded.
Tips for the restaurant:
a) Do not present the menu with weekday lunch specials if you do not serve them on Sundays.
b) Sunday lunch is a lean time and it felt like there was less supervision in the restaurant leading to a bit of slow service
Food was great and for food this restaurant should get ³¹⁄₂ stars. I would go back again and live with slow service. It was very friendly and neverthless enjoyed the meal very much.

I liked this place (random find on Unilocal), but I know my fellow dining companions just thought it was okay. Guess it depends on what you order!
My friend & I split the Tom Yum soup with tofu (REALLY good) & the vermicelli with pork & egg roll (good, but not spectacular). Based on our food choices, I thought this place was pretty good (albeit a little pricey). Some other people got phở (they only have one option of phở on the menu… weird for a place that calls itself Vietnamese cuisine) and they thought it was okay. A few other friends got the Pad Thai, which they said was NOT good.
Overall, I think this is a decent place to come to if you know what to order (or happen to stumble upon something that’s good).

— Busy
— Big portions
— Decent food (vegetarian)

I took my aunt out here for dinner last week, and while I’ve eaten here before, I thought it would be a good time to start Unilocaling again.
The food was pretty good (even better than I remember it being). We got the crispy rolls and fried wonton for appetizers, and they were both nice and tasty. The crispy rolls were especially… crispy… and had a hint of some nice spices in them — they were delicious!
My entrée was the spicy fish (salmon) which was served with steamed white rice. I really liked the flavor of the spices that they used in the spicy curry sauce. They aren’t anything that I normally use to cook with, so they added a nice flavor that you don’t get from other popular asian foods (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.). My aunt got some grilled pork that was served on skewers, and let me tell you, they were absolutely delicious! The meat was so tender and perfectly cooked throughout. Combine that with the spices they were cooked with, and it was so good! I will definitely get that the next time I come back here (and trust me, I WILL be back!).
As far as the portions/​price and service are concerned, I have no major complaints. The price is a little bit pricier for the portion size, but the restaurant is in the Georgetown area, so what do you expect? The service was fine — no complaints.
Just a note, if you have to use the restroom, it’s in the basement of the restaurant. When you open the door for the stairs, the stairs are literally RIGHT THERE, so watch your step. The stairway is pretty narrow too (with the door opening towards the stairs), so it’s kind of an awkward process going to the bathroom — this is just a product of the colonial buildings found in Georgetown though.
In short, I really enjoy going to Vietnam Georgetown for a different dining experience. And while some people say that the food isn’t authentic Vietnamese food, I am no expert, so I can’t make that assessment. My aunt, on the other hand, spent 3 years in Vietnam as the US Consul General to the country, and she said that the food is pretty darn authentic, so I’ll take her word on that!
Come to Vietnam Georgetown and enjoy!

This is not a phở house. I know phở. This is not phở.
We ordered 2 non phở plates. Ok I should preface by saying besides phở, I know vietnamese food from places like Le Cheval in Oakland, CA
and Le Colonial
.
So when we order a grilled chicken with vegetables. We certainly didn’t expect our vegetables to include, cooked english cucumbers, pineapples, celery and stewed-​like tomato. People keep saying «Solid and authentic» in their reviews about this place and it totally throws me for a loop.
Maybe I don’t know vietnamese? Hence the 2 star and not the 1 I really think it deserves. But cooked cucumbers? really?
I agree with most it’s a dive. Regardless of the picture of Harrison Ford dining here. And yup the service is poor. Have to ask for things a few times before you get what you asked for. If you’re wondering why the service is slow then look in the corner of the restaurant, the host/​server person is totally engrossed on his laptop. Yup. I wish I could I IM that I’m ready for my check! Check please!

This little dive restaurant located in Georgetown (who would think it) serves up some solid AUTHENTIC Vietnamese food unlike their competitor Miss Saigon. The Phở here was solid, the crispy spring rolls are amazing and the lemongrass chicken is ok.
As with other reviews I will have to agree that their service can be horrendous, especially if you go during peak hours. To alliviate this go when its not busy, duh. Thats what I do and I have no problem with the service.

Food/​Cost: (⁴⁄₅) I came here for an early dinner around 5pm today (a Sunday). The place was pretty much empty except for one other table. We started with the Fried Wonton appetizer ($ 4.95). I ordered the Grilled Chicken with Noodles ($ 12.95), and my dining companions ordered the Chicken Curry (approx. $ 13), which was served with rice and broccoli, and Grilled Pork (approx. $ 13), served with veggies and rice. The wontons were average at best. They were freshly fried and hot, but the wontons were pretty small and didn’t leave me any lasting impressions. My friends really loved the red dipping sauce it came with though. As for the entrees, all were enjoyable. I particularly liked the grilled chicken on skewers; the flavored really marinated well into the chicken and the meat was moist and succulent. However, I wish that they slid the meat off the skewers before serving as that would make the dining experience easier. I also wanted more crushed peanuts; it felt like they only gave me a teaspoon. Still, it was fun eating my Grilled Chicken with Noodles as the veggies, meat, sauce, and noodles come in distinct piles for you to cut and mix together. The flavors were well-​blanced (sweet and salty), there were a variety of textures (soft noodles, tender chicken, and crunchy veggies and peanut bits), the colors were vibrant, and the meal left me feeling full in a healthy, energized way. As for the other dishes, my friend raved about the Curry Chicken (I’ll withhold judgement as I’m a Japanese Curry type of girl) and I also like the Grilled Pork (like my chicken, it was also grilled and flavored perfectly) despite not being a pork fan. From my one meal here, I would venture a guess that there grilled meat dishes are all good if not great — they really seem to know how to tenderize, marinate, and cook the meat.
Ambiance: (¹⁄₅) This place needs a facelift, inside and out. The paint on the outside was chipping and looked a bit dilapidated. Inside, there is no semblance of décor or theme. Also, I have to say, the chairs here are super uncomfortable. They don’t move well on the carpeted floors and you can feel the reeds that you sit on. For the price tag of the food, customers really expect more in terms of ambiance — especially in the beautiful Georgetown area.
Location: (3.5÷5) The Georgetown area is lovely — it’s bustling and trendy — but Vietnam Georgetown is located at the very edge of it. Further, the Georgetown area is not exactly accessible by Metro, which is my preferred method of public transport here in DC. So while this restaurant is in a nice, relatively safe area of DC (which boosts its location rating), it still only fares slightly better than average.
Service: (⁴⁄₅) As the restaurant was primarily empty when we ate here, we got pretty good service. We were greeted by a nice Vietnamese (?) lady upon entering, orders were taken quickly and our appetizer came out right away. After we finished our starter, our entrees arrived shortly after and the staff checked on us a couple times throughout the meal.
Overall: (³⁄₅) Despite the great flavors of the dishes here — particularly of the great sauces and meats — I would expect a bit more ambiance and class for the price paid. I would consider eating here if I was in the Georgetown area, but I wouldn’t make a special trek out here for Vietnam Georgetown.

Went to this restaurant with some friends last weekend, and I must say, this place was DELICIOUS. The menu had a lot of delicious choices, but I ended up getting the crêpe with beansprouts, mushrooms, shrimp and chicken. It was so good, I only wish the portion size had been bigger! The crêpe melts in your mouth. I have actually been thinking about that crêpe ever since and am dying to go back. Friends seemed to really like their dishes too.
The décor of the place seemed a little run down but I don’t really care about that. The waiter was a little hard to understand but he did a fine job.
I highly recommend this place because it is delicious food, the restaurant is not incredibly crowded and its reasonably priced, as well as smack-​dab in the center of Georgetown. Get the beansproat crêpe!

My boyfriend and I went to this place on a whim late on a Sunday night, and I must say we were VERY pleasantly surprised by everything.
The service: Impeccable, I never had to get anyone’s attention, and the food came out so quickly I felt like I had just sat down. The staff was polite and friendly, I just felt so welcome there.
The food: Fantastic. Maybe we just got lucky with the right wait staff and the right cooks this night, but every dish we got was fantastic, and for the price it was a reasonable amount (especially in the downtown area).
Overall my experience was superb, and I will definitely be going back. And if you go, try the Vietnamese coffee; it’s sweetened with condensed milk and it’s such a different kind of delicious I’ve never had before.

Why all the bad reviews?
After a weekend of gorging ourselves with alcohol and less than healthy American food, our final food stop was Asian and we decided to go with Viet. nomnommmm.
Even dining with a Vietnamese, she said this shit was up to par!
Service was just as good — definitely no gripes there though the man other than our waiter seemed to be working harder than our actual waiter.
For a Viet joint, the prices were a bit higher vs portion but I’m not complaining.

How is this place still in business? The restaurant looks really outdated and very old. I would think that if you have a restaurant on Georgetown and on M street, that you would invest a little more in decorating the restaurant and making it feel welcoming in the hopes of attracting more customers. Now, the food is just plain terrible! I thought this place would be good for dinner because whenever I pass by it, it’s usually crowded for dinner and someone from the Four Season mentioned it to me (perhaps I got the wrong name?). So of course I thought it would be good. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
The waiter wasn’t rude, however, he wasn’t engaging or friendly. He barely spoke English and was very inattentive. I waited FOREVER for him to come and take my order even though the restaurant at this time was empty. You can tell by the way he took my order that this is probably his first time working as waiter or just really didn’t care. He was nice, but it looked like he was taking at order at a fast food restaurant. I asked him for recommendations and he couldn’t even answer that and just gave me an odd look. I ended up ordering the spring rolls as an appetizer. They were just plain oily and not great at all. The panang curry was semi decent, but not enticing enough for me to want to return. I had the fried banana for dessert and it was just average.
I was a bit annoyed because they sat me on a table next to the window facing the street –which had a plant by the window. Guess what? They were bugs flying around the plant and going around me. I guess I should’ve said something, but at this point I just wanted to leave.
I came alone for dinner and watched the waiter with the other tables. I could tell the other patrons were completely unhappy and also regretted having dinner there.
I spent an overall $ 36 for dinner (tip included) and I really wish I would’ve gone somewhere else.
Overall, save your money and go somewhere else.

I met a friend for dinner visiting from Rome who remembered a great Vietnamese place in Georgetown. Unfortunately it was the place next door.
Nevertheless, we went in to find a few tables occupied and were quickly sat by the window. The weather was frigid and I wanted nothing more than a hot steaming bowl of phở to soothe the soul.
Unfortunately, they only had a few phở varieties, beef, chicken and fish, as well as lemongrass soups on the menu. Tsk tsk. I asked if they had anything more hearty like mi kho or anything else with egg noodles to which they replied: oh, that’s authentic Vietnamese food. Our clientele is different.
Ok. ‘Nuff said.
With that, I walked away from the soups and ordered deep fried soft shell crab with ginger sauce. My dinner mate ordered chicken lemongrass soup and the seafood crêpe. We started with Crispy Rolls.
The rolls were decent, but too much of everything — I think they used rice paper as the wrapping but it was too much, maybe layered a few times. Huge chunks of onion that made a messy operation of eating. We didn’t finish them.
The Lemongrass soup came out next to share. Good flavor and tender slices of chicken. Overall a good soup dish although it did need more of a kick.
On to the mains. My fried soft shell crab was above average, although I have a sneaking suspicion that the «ginger sauce» came out of a plastic pouch in the back. Not very good — I mixed my own sauce with fish sauce and sriracha. His crêpe looked decent and had no complaints.
Overall, it was a good meal. However, don’t go if you’re expecting authentic Vietnamese cuisine. It felt more like dining at a Chinese dive restaurant — with very friendly service.

The water comments below made me laugh – we received two glasses of water each, within 2 minutes.
A foggy, wintry Sunday night at 10:15 pm is no time to be choosy about restaurant options, at least in this town. Thank you, Vietnam G’town, for being open. Food was pretty good – beef vermicelli and spring rolls. Caramel chicken tasted a bit… old, like the chicken had been cooked long before.
Apparently, the patio is a really nice spot.

I had the shrimp toast, goi ga, phở ga and the hu tieu thit tom. The shrimp toast was basically a shrimp paste on top of toast and it’s all deep fried. It was ok, but nothing I would order again. The shape of the shrimp toast was odd and I’m curious what they do to get their bread to look like that. The goi ga was great. They put enough fish sauce in where so you don’t need to put your own in but I would prefer the fish sauce on the side so I can customize to my own taste. The cabbage and veggies were finely shredded and easy to eat while the white meat chicken was tender and shredded consistently.
The phở ga had a great broth. They served us the bowls of soup and I waited for a bit for them to come around with some veggies and hoison and hot sauce. For some reason they forgot and I had to get the servers attention and remind him. There were 3 tables of customers and that’s it so it wasn’t because they were busy. The small bowl of Hu Tieu we ordered was too small. I recommend you to get the large regardless of size of appetite. The hu tieu also had slices of pork that were delicious with the broth, noodles and shrimp.