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Blue Bamboo
Rating Details »
Categories: Vietnamese, Thai [Edit]
12918 Shop PkwyGalleria Shopping Center
Bee Cave, TX 78738
(512) 263-8889
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
18 reviews for Blue Bamboo
True story: I was at an Asian restaurant and I STILL was the token Asian. Being from Southern California, Blue Bamboo Grill was like a different dimension of reality. A reality similar to when you're on a flight and instead of an attendant asking an Asian person if they wanted "Asian Chicken Salad" if they wanted just, "chicken salad." Only, Asian chicken salad isn't really Asian. Anyway, my point is is that it was an interesting experience being served non-fusion Vietnamese food by white people. Not that this matters, I'm just sayin.'
Being the food snob accustomed to Little Saigon cuisine for basically my whole life, I have to say that the folks of Bee Cave need not worry about authenticity. The pho (Vietnamese rice noodles), Vietnamese style egg rolls (egg rolls with pork, shrimp, carrots and glass noodles), and the Vietnamese iced coffee (SUPER STRONG, super sweet, slow-drip French coffee) are the real deal. The pho was basically made the way I like it, with a clean not-too-oily broth. The 'small' size is really a large, but I guess there is truth in what people say about Texas. The pricing of everything is competitive in this area AND where I live. (Thisclose to Little Saigon, Cali.)
Service was great!
Okay, I'm done with this place. We've tried to give this place a chance several times. (disclosure... this is the Circle C Ranch location on Slaughter Lane.)
I love Thai food, and rarely find a Thai restaurant I won't return to. The Blue Bamboo will now be a permanent exception.
We showed up on a Tuesday evening at traditional dinner time to find a near-deserted joint. (That should have been our first clue) Inexplicably, instead of being seated in the main dining area, we were escorted back to the ambience-free bar area... Okay, I guess I can eat under cafeteria-level bright lights.
I decided to order the "Dancing Seafood", which, although being by far the most expensive item on the menu (at a whopping $16), got my attention with the list of seafood items, which included crab.
In short order, my dish did arrive, but instead of crab, the concoction was liberally sprinkled with nothing more thanCostco "faux" crab... i.e., Mrs. Paul's fish sticks without the crust and with some red food coloring around the edge.
I asked to speak to the manager and requested that she point out the CRAB in my dish. She, of course, pointed to the Mrs. Paul's, at which point I just looked her in the eye and responded "Really?"... In short order she was spluttering about well, it's not really crab it's, it's.... "It's
just NOT Crab is it?" "Oh, so sorry, we should change the menu", and she rushed off.
I picked out a few shrimp, and left the remainder of the dish untouched and unwanted.
I then mentioned to the waiter that I had complained to the manager about ordering crab and receiving Mrs. Paul's. He also apologized, then brought out the full bill, no discount or compensation...
Oh... I did get a little smiley face on the bill, with a short note: "Sorry about the Crab!"
I don't necessarily complain about food or service with the expectation of an adjustment in the bill, but I do find that well-run and well-managed establishments are savvy enough to realize that a small dispensation here and there go a long way toward insuring repeat visits. Such was not the case this time, and a repeat visit will not be in the cards.
Looking back at the 4-5 times we've been here (mostly due to proximity), I've never had a meal that I was particularly thrilled about. Perhaps this particular incident was a blessing in the form of a wake up call so I won't have to settle for mediocre Thai food here ever again.
Twice we've been here - once for takeout and once to dine in (today).
I got the Egg noodles with mixed meats and vegetables. It was OK. too many noodles and not enough other stuff. Kinda like 1 or 2 pieces of each thing.
My wife got the pad thai. It tasted like (not exaggerating) scrambled eggs mixed with ketchup. It had a red hue to it. I've never, ever had a pad thai that had tomatoes in it, but when we asked he said there was 'a little tomato sauce' in it. It was ketchup. It was gross.
We won't be back. Overpriced and terrible.
If I could give no stars, I would!
Went to ask if the kids menu items have MSG. Sorry they saw the chicken has MSG. Shocking to think that a restaurant would have no qualms about feeding a child MSG
Finally when the food came after several rounds of requests that there be no MSG included, it was just awful.
The Pad Thai was an overcooked mush of noodles with a few peanut chunks, but a terrible insult to anything close to resembling Pad Thai. The other noodle dish was equally horrific.
Cannot even imagine anyone recommending this restaurant, they must have never had any real asian food in their life.
After the meal we both felt uncomfortable, itchy eyes and ears, and just unwell, they might have left the MSG in anyway?!
Service was slow and ambivalent at best, which was probably the best part of the whole meal.
Went here based on the Yelp reviews and sorry, it was not that great. I will temper my review by saying that we only ordered appetizers.
1. "Crab Cakes". I put the words in parenthesis because if you are expecting to taste or see crab, you won't. They looked an tasted like they were right out of a foodservice bag. They were perfectly round and uniform, like made by a machine, not hand. They were rubbery, hard and nasty.
2. Spring Rolls. We ordered the chicken and shrimp. These were a joke too. When we commented on how fast she brought them out, the server said that they pre-make them and after "about 6 hours" they throw them out and make more. Ours should have been thrown out. The rice skins were tough and torn. The filling was bland, kind of like eating a un-dressed salad in a rice skin.
3. Chicken Satay. Nasty. The meat was hard as a rock and semi-cold. Again, nothing better than what you can buy in a box and make at home.
Maybe the entrées are better, but what we had was not good. Avoid.
This place is a total oasis in Bee Caves. I can count the number of decent Asian restaurants in the area on one hand, and Blue Bamboo is my favorite of those few. I recommend the "pork and rolls", and skipping the appetizers. I'm not sure if "pork and rolls" is on the menu, but just ask for it, they will know what you're talking about. The dish has noodles, crispy (not fried) pork, a lovely sauce and egg rolls cut up around it. It's sort of an entree and an appetizer rolled into one. If you're looking for vegetarian fare, the basil tofu is very good. They have many vegetarian dishes to choose from, and I look forward to trying them all at some point. If you're in the area, give it a try- you won't be disappointed.
We've been here twice before and I will say that the food was pretty good, far from great, and service was slooooooow. Dinner with an appetizer and an entree each took two hours. But the location is convenient.
However, I have been on a cleanse the past three days and have had no solid food, so I thought they would have some good, healthy food to reintroduce myself to eating solids. When we arrived we were seated in the back room and noticed three other tables were seated about five minutes after we sat down. All were promptly brought water and greeted by a waiter, including the couple which was seated NEXT to us. The waiter even looked right at us, then proceeded to greet the table next to us, took their appetizer and drink orders then LEFT.
I may be really harsh with this review as I am pretty damn hungry and have low blood sugar, but that made me so mad I just left. And no one even noticed. We are well groomed and dressed BTW, so I guess we have an invisible shield or something cloaking us. It must have been that pesky alien that abducted me last night.
I sure won't be back. Three strikes and they're out. Thai Spice next time for sure.
I'll just find something to make at home- it's usually better than the subpar food in my neighborhood anyway...
A friend of mine offices in BFE - ahem - Lakeway, and we were looking for someplace interesting in his neck of the woods where we could grab some lunch. He suggested Blue Bamboo, so we headed over to check it out.
I'm generally suspicious of restaurants that offer more than one genre of food; at least in the context of eateries, it always seems like the old adage, "jack of all trades, master of none" has a way of holding true. As far as I can tell, Blue Bamboo, which offers both Vietnamese and Thai fare, is no exception. We started with some spring rolls, which were too loosely wrapped, making them difficult to manage. The peanut sauce that came with them was too runny. For my lunch, I had the chicken larb. For $8.50, the portion was ginormous, but the dominant flavor was basically lime, and it was completely overloaded with both green and white onions - I like onions, but this was WAY too much and I had to pick some out to keep them from overwhelming the dish.
Service was weirdly off. We each ordered spring rolls - tofu for my friend, regular for me - and a plate with two rolls arrived and was set right in front of my friend. We waited and waited for the other order to arrive. Then the waiter came back and set my friend's food in front of him (a tofu noodle dish) along with a giant plate of steamed rice. My friend said, "I think you forgot her spring rolls," and only then did the waiter explain that both of our rolls were on the plate in front of my friend. Then my food arrived, at which point we realized that the rice that had been placed in front of my friend was also mine. No big deal, but the whole thing just felt a little strange.
Not horrible, and I might give it another chance if I were in the neighborhood again, but I certainly wouldn't drive way out here just for this.
Pad Kee Mao rocks, chicken fried rice is good, fried tofu appetizer is decent. I always order take out for my boyfriend and I, we live in apartments close by. Overall, Blue Bamboo is convenient and pretty good.
Friendly staff and fresh food make this one of my favorite Viet-Thai establishments in Austin. I worked down the street and would take clients there, who have all since become regular customers. The lunch menu is diverse, and affordable. I've only been there for dinner once.
The owner is the nicest guy ever. I can't ever understand what he's saying to me, so I smile and nod and he smiles and nods.
Try the Twin Sensation-- grilled pork and shrimp on a bed of rice. Mmmm hmmm!
Stopped in here with my sister to refuel while doing some shopping at the Galleria.
The service was fast and friendly and the ambiance a lot better than the Vietnamese restaurants in my neighborhood.
Everything we had was very good.
Spring rolls were served with an amazing peanut dipping sauce.
Lemongrass Tofu was VERY spicy just the way I like it.
Tom Yum w/ Shrimp was very tasty and the best I recall here in Austin.
And the Iced Vietnamese Coffee w/ sweet condensed milk was the perfect way to end the meal - dessert and coffee in one.
I highly recommend this place to anyone shopping at the Galleria or anyone who lives near 71/620.
The first time I checked out this place was shortly after it opened and it was quite chaotic. It was as if they had no idea people were going to show up, and thus they were completely unprepared and disorganized.
But enough about that, because I decided to give them another shot and this time it was a completely different experience! We walked in and were greeted and seated right away, and the service throughout was excellent, fast and attentive. They have expanded their space and number of tables, and now even have a separate room and small bar area (in addition to the bigger bar in the main room) that you can use for special parties. Plus, they definitely spruced up their decor, which is surprisingly nice considering the strip mall location.
The food was exactly what I would expect from a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant. The dishes were nicely seasoned, tasty, and cooked perfectly. The Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls were fresh and delicate. The Tom Kha soup was excellent. For my main entree, I had the spicy vermicelli noodles with vegetables (onions, carrots, bell peppers & mushrooms) and chicken, and the chicken was a good quality white meat. The Thai iced tea was a good compliment to my spicy dish. Everything on the menu is very reasonably priced.
Blue Bamboo's environment stretched a little beyond what I expected from a strip mall restaurant, but I was not impressed with the service. I waited for almost ten minutes before I could place an order or even get water. I actually was about to gather up my items to leave when someone finally approached me. However, when I did get my food, the meal was fresh, tasty and delivered quickly (although it took another five minutes to get chopsticks so that I could indulge in the yumminess). I had the Pad Krapao (chicken stir fried with fresh basil, mushrooms, garlic, bell peppers and Thai chili).
I recommend Blue Bamboo, but don't be too hungry when you go.
Great service. Good crab muffin (aka "crab cake"). Good location. Very nice wait staff. 2 Stars for food, 4 stars for service = 3 stars.
OK. I just went back here for lunch today and I made an amazing discovery. They have something called a CHEESE egg roll! It's filled with cream cheese like a rangoon but in egg roll form so you get way more cheesy goodness! SO GOOD!! And that's worth the extra star.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/14/2008
This is a really good lunch place. I don't remember the name of the bowl I got, only the number… Read more »
I was excited to get a Tai place in Bee Cave, but was disappointed at the service and the food. It's not much to look at inside. Kind of like school cafeteria tables & chairs. The menu is lacking. No Larb Gai and they do not do a Panang Curry. The fried rice is OK, but better at local Chinese places. The basil Chicken was lacking and again no Panang.
Disappointing but at least convenient on this end of town. If you have been Satay on Anderson, you won't be impressed here.
I've been to Blue Bamboo SEVERAL times for take out and eating in. The food has always been very good. I recommend the chicken vermicelli bowl - really good. The spring rolls are also quite good. The service has been hit or miss when I've eaten in, but I think it's because they were so busy. I would definitely recommend Blue Bamboo.
Yeah! i love blue bamboo - for sure the best little restaurant in bee caves which doesnt say much, but really it is an awesome thai place and the tom kha soup is the best i have had.
