Ong Lam Bistro

Potentially my new favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the Seattle area!!!My friends and I came here on a weekday night and the service was amazing. It's super cute inside and the interior is super clean. Parking garage is a little small and the street parking can be limited but it's also conveniently right next to the Roosevelt link stop. For drinks we got the nuoc mia and kumquat lemonade. Both delicious and super fresh! For food we got the banh xeo, muscles, com tam, and duck stir fry. Overall, everything was absolutely delicious. The food was generous portions and authentic. I really liked the banh xeo (they use coconut milk in the batter!!) and would say that is a must try. Will definitely be back soon!

Really cute restaurant! Loved the inside decor of the restaurant with the feel of being in the streets of Vietnam. Ordered the Com Tam Saigon and Bo Ne (Vietnamese steak and eggs). The com tam was really good. Meat was flavorful and the dipping sauce was tasty. Lots of variety too with the shredded pork skin and piece of Vietnamese meatloaf. The Bo Ne was good but not our favorite place for Bo Ne. The skillet didn't have that crackling sizzle to it and I found it to be just a little lacking in flavor.Street parking right outside the restaurant and there's a parking garage for the retail stores in the area too.

We love Vietnamese food and found this place. We had these Vietnamese tacos and they were so good. I've never had anything like these particular tacos (I forget the exact name) but I was thinking about them after we left. The place is huge, which I like and decorated well (really got a Vietnam vibe for sure, lol). Service was good. Plenty of parking around the area.We'll be back.

I was excited to try this restaurant but left very disappointed!Street parking is easy to find around this area. The restaurant is big, and is great for big groups. The decoration is spot on, it makes you feel like you're eating on the street of Vietnam. The menu is not your typical Vietnamese restaurant menu, it has many Viet specialty dishes that you cannot find at other restaurants.Service: phenomenal, our server was very excited and explained the menu in details to us!Food:Bo ne: the meat was so chewy that we couldn't chew half of it, the rest of the meal was okayVit nuong chao: I like the fermented bean curd but my friend did not like it at all, so keep this in mind when you order this dish! The duck meat is quite bland and the dish is not remarkable. For both dishes, the presentation was good but the portion size was small for the price.

Came here for dinner and got the pho. Service was quick and good. The pho was alright but I don't think I really like the noodles that they have here compared to normal pho noodles. The broth was good and I didn't have to add any additional sauce to it. I also ordered the extra meat and it was a little smaller than I expected. Will probably come back to try their non-pho dishes.

If I could give this place 3.5 stars instead of 3, I would. Like most other reviews have mentioned already, the decor is spot on and will definitely remind you of Vietnam if you've been there before. However, I think that's kind of where the good stops for me though.We got the crispy fried oyster mushrooms and grilled mussels to start. My partner got the pho tai nam and I got the bun bo. The crispy fried oyster mushrooms were decent in a sense that the dough to mushroom ratio was good cause I didn't feel like I was just eating 90% batter, but they were tasteless without the sauce that it came with. I had hoped for some reason that they may have at least salted the mushrooms a bit or even did like a salt and pepper flavor, but that wasn't the case. The grilled mussels were good and reminded me of how my mom would make them so it was a pass. The only thing that made me want to get them again was the spicy sauce that it came with. It was a spicy and tangy lime based sauce that really elevated what would otherwise be an ordinary dish.The pho tai nam was just meh. I wouldn't pay $17 again for it. The bun bo was initially really disappointing and flavorless. Thank goodness I had asked for a soup spoon because I wouldn't have gotten all my garnishes and the typical spicy saute chili sauce that this dish would come with otherwise. The servers that brought out or food forgot all the beansprouts, basil, and other fixings for the pho and my dish so the owner had to bring it out for us. After adding the spicy saute chili sauce, the dish started tasting more like what it should be, but was still lacking a lot of flavor to be honest. The pork blood that I got in there was all in tiny pieces in the soup so that kind of tells me that they were cooking it for too long. The service on a Tuesday night was ok. I felt like the only time my water was filled was because we sat in the bar and the owner (I presume) saw our glasses near empty and came over when he had a free moment. Honestly the whole experience was rather disappointing for the soups, but I think I'd give it one more chance for the rice and vermicelli dishes. Word of warning as well, the prices reflect in the decor. It's not cheap.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this place...So will share some notes on the good and eh moments ~ The Good- Really friendly service! The staff here is nice and very welcoming - Interior: Homey but at the same time trendy. Makes a great IG spot - Homemade chrysanthemum tea: Very refreshing to drink if you're looking for something different -Best Dish I tried: Coconut Island ~ this dessert was quite a beauty to look at! Very yummy and I love how the splash of Vietnamese coffee balances out the sweetness. - Drinks Menu: Didn't get a chance to try the cocktails but the offerings here sounded really tasty! The Eh- Overall, I felt the food here (except dessert) was ok. All the dishes I tried with my friend had really nice presentation but lacks the yummy factor. - Appetizer: Green Mussels ~ Dig the concept but the dish itself was a wee bit cold and despite the seasonings, it didn't have any memorable or distinct taste -Entrees: Pho Supreme & Grilled ChickenPho Supreme: opted for this to try out the poached egg with the pho and couldn't really tell much difference. Broth was rather bland and even with adding some sauce, it didn't help much. The fresh noodles was great though Grilled Chicken: Not as spicy as I thought... the best thing I liked about this dish was the sweet sticky rice. The grilled chicken itself was a bit too dry and again, tasted a bit bland. - Prices: Definitely a lot higher than your average Viet restaurant but I guess you pay more for the service and ambience of the place Overall- I would suggest coming here if you fancy some yummy drinks... Food itself is a hit or miss.

Elevated viet food with great ambiance and interior. On the pricier side compared to other viet places, but the food is definitely more layered and have their own unique twist. Great for big groups!

Super cute and cozy vibe here. There were a lot of us who came in, and I called around 15mins before we were to arrive, and they were super accommodating of our larger party. Our table was pretty much ready by the time we arrived and we were able to be seated quickly. I ordered the Pho Tai Nam, which had steak and brisket, and I don't have too many harshly bad things to say about it, but there were just a bunch of little things that built up. I thought the broth was good and flavorful, and they were generous with the meat. When you get a pho here, you have the option of a 'fresh' noodle or a 'thin' noodle. I went with the fresh noodle since that seemed like it would be specific to this restaurant. Unfortunately the fresh noodles didn't hold together as well as I wish they did. They veered soft/borderline mushy. I'm not sure what the thin noodles taste like, but I'd recommend trying that over the fresh noodles. The soup also came out warm, but not hot like it usually is when it's fresh. It was just strange to me that I was able to start slurping up the soup so easily when I usually burn my tongue at least once. Also! There are not that many vegetarian options on the menu in case you or any friends are vegetarian-- maybe this isn't the best place.

Service was ExcellentThe decor inside was amazing with a motorcycle and all three nostalgia of living in Vietnam. The iron gates, the street food stall, and even the low tables. Love the plants and nice attention to details. We ordered squid and that was probably our favorite. The sauce made it less crunchy so I would recommend to consider sauce on the side and maybe a drizzles of it for aesthetic. We also got duck noodle with fermented tofu (chao) sauce and the plating was beautiful. I love that the okra was not slimy at all. Really nice addition to the dish. The duck texture was more on the chewy and crunchy crispy skin instead is tender meat and soft skin with soft oily skin that you find at the duck BBq places. Growing up eating meat with this texture completely reminded me of my childhood and I enjoyed the crispy skin. The lotus and shrimp salad was perfection. All the sweet and sour flavors of a Vietnamese salad with fresh herbs and a variety of textures to keep it interesting. It was missing the peanuts but I think they are conscientious of nut allergies. Parking was a bit of a challenge with this area but not too bad. Would definitely come back with a crowd.