Obao

Obao is an excellent Vietnamese and Thai restaurant, if you're near Midtown Manhattan. They do take walk-ins, but due to space, I'd suggest making reservations (especially on a Friday night). Wonderful food served quickly. They put their own twist on the dishes. Favorites starters were the crispy spring rolls and the dumplings. Favorite main dishes include the crab fried rice and the shrimp fried rice. I ate at the 9th avenue location. Had several wheelchair guests in attendance. Space was tight toward the entrance, but the staff was accommodating and moved furniture to serve everyone nicely.

I'm a bit puzzled by all the glowing reviews--maybe the quality has declined? I stopped by for a quick bite before a nearby Broadway show and decided to give this place a try.The interior was well-decorated, with two floors of seating. We ordered the Vietnamese Chicken Wings, Pad See Eew, and Vietnamese Pork Chop. The chicken wings had a nice crispy exterior, but the meat inside was overcooked. The Pad See Eew was overly salty, with an overpowering soy sauce flavor, and the beef slices were quite dry. The Vietnamese pork chops were decent, but I couldn't detect any lemongrass flavor.Overall the food wasn't bad but could be better.

Food was great! Nice Ambiance!Diner with friends who I haven't seen in a while so the downside was we felt rushed!

I just wanna start off this review by firstly, appreciating the beautiful decor of this restaurant. The soft, warm glow of the overhead lanterns add to the ambiance in such a comforting way. And it's so unique. I went to Obao about five years ago, and I didn't remember much about this trip to New York, but as soon as I stepped into this restaurant, I remembered the decor because it's just so distinctive and striking.Now onto the food! And drinks!! I got the pad thai, which is a safe option, of course. I just came back from a trip to Thailand (which raised my standards), and yet, I would still say that the pad thai here was pretty good (if only it was Thailand prices!!). I don't love the thin noodle type that was used, but the sauce was the right amount of "wet" that I prefer. Also, the soft egg was beautifully cooked. I also got a Lod Chong drink, which had notes of pineapple, pandan, and coconut. But all I could taste was alcohol, and it was really strong! (But I'm a light drinker, so that could just be me.)Overall, I enjoyed my time at Obao, which was perfect and comforting for a rainy day.

I went here with my family of 6 people and the service was terrible. Our server had attitude and when we all ordered he repeated our orders back super fast. It was pretty busy I will admit and our food took awhile to come out. Then when it came out just my order was completely wrong and I told server this was not what I ordered he proceeded to gaslight me and tell me that this was what I ordered. If he was not in such a rush he could have taken the time to get my order correct. Everything would have been fine if the server just accepted that he made a mistake and apologized but he wanted to argue with me. I honestly can barely remember what the food tasted like because of how bad the experience was. This was the last restaurant during my family's first stay in New York and it was just really disappointing. Manager came out and apologized he was kind but we removed the tip from the check.

Great pho! They cook their pho a little longer than typical pho places in my opinion, so it's a little softer. I got the pho Bo and it was a great meal. I really loved the broth. We arrived around 2pm on a Sunday and there was no line at all! Lovely restaurant, I would recommend

We have tickets to Broadway show and wanted to go somewhere nearby for a luncheon bite. At first, we thought the prices would be outrageously high but after seeing the menu, it actually was decent. My son ordered a pad see eew which comes with beef for $20. The presentation looks exquisite and his only complaints were the beef was a bit overcooked and the rice noodle was chopped bit too much and not enough long shreds. My wife got the pho ga for $18 which is rice noodle soup with bones in chicken confit. She liked the taste a lot. I got the chicken leg khao soi for $20 which is an egg noodle soup with curry flavor and pickled vegetables with boned in chicken. I wasn't feeling this dish and felt the egg noodle could have been softer. Based on today's experience, will give it high 3 stars.

This place is located in Hells Kitchen. It is an interestingly decorated Vietnamese restaurant. It had a ton of balloon shaped lights hanging from the roof. It gave very romantic vibes. We immediately got seated. We started with the short rib massaman curry. I really didn't think the sauce was as great as I wanted it to be. The short rib was on a bone and tasted great; however, the sauce didn't add to the dish. The only saving grace on this dish was how there was a lump of roasted mash sweet potato. It really added a nice sweet to the dish.We also shared some shrimp dumplings. These dumplings are worth getting. They were so juicy and delicious. The dumplings were served with chili soy sauce.For our main dish, we got Obao Bun Platter. We were expecting it to be bao bun type of dish. Instead it was lettuce on a plate that had a variety of ingredients to put in it. I guess we both should have more carefully read the menu.

My friend and I decided to get dinner at Obao before our Thursday evening show, and were relieved to get seats at the bar despite not having reservations. This restaurant is beautiful!Service was very fast and friendly, and the Thai tea was DELICIOUS. The pho hit the spot, but it wasn't particularly special. I would definitely come back to get drinks!

Came by for lunch on the weekend. They had happy hour cocktails which was a nice plus. We started off with papaya salad, fried shrimp appetizers and ribs which was actually thinly rolled meat on a sugar cane stick. All were great. For entrees we tried the beef pho, pad kee mao and kha soi. Pho broth was flavorful. The pad kee mao had a nice spice level. Pretty classic Thai and viet dishes that were well made.