Kau Ba

The restaurant has colorful and tropical decors. The ambiance is fun and lighthearted. The food was fresh and delicious. Needed to park on the street The flavor is refreshing. The FOB is crunchy and fun to eat. The sauce was great. The Kaubaccionis is very good. It has good flavor, good crunch from the peanut and the shallot, basil and mint balance of the flavor. The pork belly dish was delicious. Highly recommend. The eggs soak up the juice from the dish and it complements the dish. The grumpy lady was a bit sweeter than expected. It was not as filling. The rice pudding was okay.

Wow, I can't say enough good things about this place. This is a quaint, cutely-decorated low-key spot that I enjoy for lunch. Unique art decorates the walls and soft dreamy music plays overhead. Their lunch specials are fire. Lunch specials are a meat dish that come with a salad and steamed rice. I started off with some pork spring rolls. I also ordered the shaken beef lunch special. The salad was refreshing and had a tasty Nuoc Mam dressing. The beef was tender and well-seasoned. They have a spacious covered patio. Bonus to this place for the patio being dog-friendly.

Its sad to have to leave a bad review, because the food was delicious. The service, unfortunately, not so much. Walked in the restaurant at about 2 pm, to grab lunch. Wasn't greeted by non of the employees that were present -.- Even though the restaurant was empty. Didn't fee welcomed at first, so i sat on the waiting chairs to wait for somebody to notice me, even though they all looked at me. Eventually, after i was seated, the waitress was very polite. As i was eating people started to arrived and they were greeted and seated right away, which made me feel even worse. Like i said the food was great. Service was horrible. Restaurant was clean, and very nicely decorated.

This place looked great but ended up being really disappointing. I did not enjoy anything here besides the tamarind lemonade. Everything was salty as hell. The king crab and shrimp banh mi was like 80% shrimp. And isn't chunks of king crab like it makes it sound. Looks like the imitation crab meat you find in a California roll... both types of egg rolls at different price points tasted the same and bland. The wings were not crispy, they were like marinaded and felt like I was eating boiled wings bc the skin was just soggy and hard to bite thru. Kaubaccio was like eating tablespoons of oil. The viet pizza was ok but I thought it was gonna be different and not completely fried so a lot of oil. Overall, major disappointment.

I had been looking forward to dining here ever since I saw the Houston Restaurant Week menu but missed the chance to dine here. I was particularly drawn to certain "luxury" items on the regular menu that contained wagyu, truffle, king crab, etc. This is now the second time I feel like I've fallen prey to gimmicky twists on Vietnamese food (Le Colonial was the first), so shame on me. The food is overpriced but potentially par for the course given the location.Unfortunately, the food quality wasn't worth even half the price. As I ate my soggy king crab banh mi, I kept thinking about how many high-quality, authentic banh mi sandwiches I could have gotten for $22 in Bellaire. I should also know better than to order wagyu if it's ground up, but the truffle in the banh cuon really tempted me, and I was disappointed with this as well. It was so dry and the nuoc mam lacked the advertised truffle flavor but was also very salty. The shaking beef was just marinated tenderloin but was actually better meat quality than the wagyu. You could easily order a similar version of this at another Vietnamese or even Chinese restaurant for half the price.

Sooo good! I got the tofu ponzu and it did not disappoint- huge portion of tofu and delicious sauce that had the perfect amount of spice. My other friends ordered meat and rice dishes and the portion sizes were MASSIVE! Great spot and vibes - and they also have overhead heaters for cold days FYI

Great cocktails, en pointe food, best dumplings I have had in Houston. Quite a great little place with nice decor. We tried 5 different cocktails. Liked all but one. Couldn't decide which of the four we liked best.

Another updated review. Kau Ba, in my opinion, is a staple of Houston at this point. Brought to you by the creative genius that is Chef Nikki Tran, a native of Saigon, this establishment has been around since 2018. And if one lives in Houston and has not been here since she opened, just get there because you're missing out!People consistently ask where to go eat when they're visiting inner Houston from elsewhere, this is one of the top choices in my humble opinion.The food is heavily inspired by fusing Cajun and Vietnamese flavors. The cocktails bring their own creative genius and you can't go wrong in choice. The decor throws you back into time in the days of Saigon and the influences of french colonial architecture from the days of French Indochina.Food & DrinkOver the course of the years we've tried the entire menu. If you're bringing a crowd, go family style. Get the crudo and kaubaccio, chef's rolls, street egg rolls, shrimp & mussels, the F.O.B., vietnamese pizza, smoked brisket pho, chef's fried rice or Grandma's Lemongrass chicken rice, southern Bun Bo Xao, shaking beef Bo Luc Lac, and pho sizzle to name some. If you're looking for drinks, the Pho Loma is fantastic and one of our personal faves.ServiceTypically on point, but if it's busy, expect it to run a little slower. There's only been one instance where the service was pretty abysmal, but they made up for it by giving us a free dessert. It took a couple of hours to get in and out that particular night. I suspect they were short on staff as it was a weekday, the restaraunt was completely slammed with no tables inside or out and there was clearly not enough servers or bartenders.CostObviously don't expect vietnamese street prices, but for the quantity, quality, and creativity - the value is there from my perspective. OverallAnyone who's a native of this city understands the cultural significance and influence of our Vietnamese community and the food that follows. It is everywhere, and frankly, most of it is delicious. However, this one cuts above many. As a Montrose staple that brings the heart of Saigon with Viet-cajun flavors this one is well worth visiting.

Kau Ba, the restaurant of celebrity chef Nikki Tran, offers a unique blend of Vietnamese-Cajun fusion dishes in a casual-chic setting. My friends and I visited for a quick lunch and walked in and was quickly seated.The standout dish for me was the Truffle Wagyu Banh Cuon, it was both unique and delicious. Alongside this, the dragonfruit lychee cocktail proved exceptionally refreshing. Kau Ba boasts a beautiful bar area that adds to the overall ambiance, making it an ideal spot for drinks and innovative cuisine. However, my high expectations might have been influenced by the hype. While Kau Ba impressed, I personally lean towards more authentic and more affordable Vietnamese options in Bellaire. But I'm glad I visited this spot and would still recommend trying it out if you're looking for a good Vietnamese restaurant in Montrose. On the plus side, the staff at Kau Ba is friendly and efficient, ensuring a pleasant dining experience. It's worth noting that parking can be a bit tricky as there's no dedicated lot, so you might have to search for street parking nearby.

Nice modern twist for Vietnamese food! I appreciate the private parking lot especially in the busy area that the restaurant is on. The service was good but I'd say they need more waiters. It's a quaint little place but enough space to enjoy with medium/loud ambience depending on the time of the day. I went during restaurant weeks and enjoyed my food! The Pho was by far one of the best I've had in HTX!