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Ha Long Bay Vietnamese & Thai Bistro
Categories: Restaurants Vietnamese Restaurants Thai Vietnamese, Thai [Edit]
1353 Williamson StMadison, WI 53703
(608) 255-2868
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 11 am - 9:30 pm
Sun 11 am - 9 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
66 reviews for Ha Long Bay Vietnamese & Thai Bistro
Review Highlights
"This is absolutely the best Pho I've ever eaten."
(in 28 reviews)
"Anything with sticky rice rocks."
(in 3 reviews)
"The Chicken dumplings were excellent and delicious."
(in 9 reviews)
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66 reviews in English
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Review from Esther Y.
Chicago, IL
2/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
Oh my gosh, the curries here are AMAZING.
I have tried the mango, squash, and yellow curry.
And I definitely recommend the mango and the squash curry.
I have only been here for lunch, so I cannot speak for those who had bad experiences during their dinner time.
I do have to agree that their service is slow, but most of the staff is quite nice. -
Review from Julia G.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
Until last night, I thought I didn't know the difference between good pho and bad pho. Last night I ate at Ha Long Bay and discovered that actually, I DO know the difference, but I'd never had terrible pho before.
We stopped in for a "quick" bowl of pho after skiing (so, we were cold and hungry. our standards were low.) We ordered pho, because at every authentic pho restaurant I've ever eaten at (maybe a dozen?) it takes about 90 seconds for the soup to come out after ordering. Not so at Ha Long Bay. It took about 20 minutes for us to get our food. How is that even possible? You dump some broth over the noodles, throw some beef on top, and its done! There's no cooking involved! When our pho finally appeared, it was pathetic. The broth was one-dimensional and the meat was severely lacking. I ordered #7, which is supposed to have rare beef, beef flank, and beef balls. It had ZERO rare beef (maybe because it just sat there, waiting for our waitress to decide to do her job and cooking away in the broth?), about 4 little shreds of tough overdone beef, and one beef ball cut into 3 pieces. My husband got the delux pho, which had roughly the same amount of meat, but featured the biggest, most inedible piece of tripe I've ever seen. Think ping-pong ball sized. Gross. If we hadn't been starving and already waiting for our dinner for so long, we probably would have sent the food back it was so obviously lacking.
Between the bad service and the worse food, I'll never eat here again. I would rather not eat pho in Madison ever again than pay another $8 for this junk. -
Review from Nev D.
Madison, WI
1/16/2012
The menu is extensive and overwhelming and the food is bland. Tofu soup was chunks floating a spicy broth, nothing else, and papaya salad wasn't well seasoned and looked like it had been sitting in the fridge for a couple days. Drunken noodles are pretty good, but it's kind of hard to make fried noodles taste bad.
It's cheaper than other places, but you're missing out on quality. Service was alright, a little slow but nothing to freak out about. -
Review from Lisa S.
Madison, WI
12/17/2011
I tried the beef pad thai and a vegetarian spring roll appetizer for take-out. Both were okay, but I am still on the search for good (ie that i would order again) pad thai in Madison. This place is just not it - sauce was too sweet-and-sour sauce with not enough peanut, lime, or savory flavors. spring roll was bland and too much lettuce.
the ambiance of the place looked fun, but all in all I'm still searching for my go-to Thai restaurant. -
Review from Midwest G.
Madison, WI
1/31/2012
Ha Long Bay is a restaurant with heart and good intentions, and a Herculean menu which faithfully attempts to cover many major cuisine regions of Asia's Pacific rim. On a previous winter visit, I enjoyed a bowl of pho which kept ice from accumulating on me for the remainder of my outdoor exploits. I should have stayed with my original choice, because the alternatives were not a route I would choose again. The meal began with a "thai-style" spring roll. Though it's mass certainly made it seem like a good value, it was the base ingredients which disappointed. While the "roll" exterior was (though generic), within expectations, the cloying sweet sauce which infused itself to the bean sprouts, artificial crab and tofu left me with a homogenous taste from which there was no recovery. Nixing the artificial crab in favor of some other ingredient with more depth, or even adding lemongrass would have helped. I also ordered a bowl of hot and sour soup, which was served at the correct temperature and had the expected vegetable ingredients. In this instance, it was the soup's sweet/spicy broth base which stole focus. Finally, the Pad Phet made it's appearance, and suffered from a similar set of issues. While the temperature was "oven hot", the combination of thick squash curry, bean sprouts and a half cup of chicken left me feeling that I had been the victim of a meal where each course told the same bad joke. In this case, the entree had a glutenous quality which made me wonder if some or all of the dish had been prepared in advance and reheated, allowing some of the liquid to evaporate. I hope to visit here again, but will likely bring along a "native" who can navigate me through the other unpredictable traps which likely occupy this menu.
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Review from To and Jo S.
Madison, WI
11/27/2011
We were really happy with this restaurant. The menu is huge making it difficult to decide on which dish to go with. But with all the selections one is sure to find something they can enjoy.
The Chicken dumplings were excellent and delicious. The Thai Tea was very good too.
I chose the Laan Chicken which was beautiful and well made. But I personally found the dish had a very different flavor from what I enjoy. I also ordered medium spice and I detected no spice in the dish.
We really enjoyed ourselves because we did not feel rushed at all and had a very relaxing time talking and dining. The service was friendly and very helpful too. Other dishes that were very good were Pad Thai and Curry Chicken. -
Review from Tawnie R.
Madison, WI
Updated - 12/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
Third visit, and outstanding as usual! The Tom Yum is insanely good!!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/18/2011
My husband and I went here for dinner last night.
Appetizers:
Spicy Chicken Wings - Excellent
Tom… Read more »
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Review from Guam D.
Houston, TX
10/18/2011
I was disappointed with the great reviews from other people.
I ordered Pho, Vietnamese Springrolls and Eggrolls. The broth for the Pho was very salty, the eggrolls were burnt and looked old (as if been previously refrigerated), and the springrolls had way too much vegetables and very little noodles and a small hint of meat and shrimp.
I was clearly disappointed. I will not go back here.
Two stars for friendly service and clean restaurant. -
Review from Katie M.
Madison, WI
12/14/2011
Great food and lunch is generous! Wait is an issue when it's busy - but it's busy because it's really good. Go for lunch when it's a little quieter and enjoy the tom yum that comes with lunch specials (last page of the menu - and only one page, making it a little easier to decide than the vast dinner menu).
Enjoy. -
Review from Jimmy J.
Madison, WI
11/13/2011
Service is SLOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I understand new restaurants usually are when they first open but this place has made ZERO improvement in terms of speed. Expect to weight a long time for your food.
The food... it's a hit or miss. You have to find the items they make well. Pho is okay. The vietnamese dishes in general are decent. The Thai dishes are laughable though. Don't order the Thai food! -
Review from Ariel W.
Beaver Dam, WI
10/25/2011 14 photos
I have been looking were Jean opened her restaurant and I finally found it. Ha Long Bay is phenomenal. Had dinner last Saturday and at 5:30 the place was starting to get busy. I thought the atmosphere was very pleasant and service was exceptional.
Geca (Angelica) was very attentive and we never had to look for her. She was spot on with her service. I quite frankly could see any lack of service Saturday evening.
I asked for a recommendation on the appetizer and was not disappointed. We had the Spring Roll Wrap over Vietnamese Egg Roll (AP10). I had never seen the presentation before and it was very light with a surprise in the middle.
We ordered all our dishes with medium heat and was done perfect. Next time you go you must try the Papaya Salad (SL1) Shredded green papaya, Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes (VS1) which are available only on the weekend. The Triple Delight Curry (TC8) was very flavorful and almost didn't have any for take home. The glazed pottery bowl it was served in was a nice touch. I had the Stir Fried Curry (VE8) with beef and had the right amount of curry, lemongrass, and vegetables.
Ha Long Bay is going to be a regular destination for us and should be for you.
My Father wrote this on Urbanspoon. I just had to post it here. He reviewed it perfectly. -
Review from Jamie A.
Bronx, NY
5/15/2011 2 Check-ins Here
My boyfriend and I were driving through Madison and we we're die hard pho fans so we stopped by and was so amazed at this place. Chris got Pho Tai and I got Pho with meatballs. They were crazy large portions, the soup was amazing, and the noodles were perfect. We also got Thai iced tea with cream and it was so good that Chris actually got another one to go. After 2 bowls of Pho, Spring rolls, and 3 Thai iced tea, the check only came up to $25.00!
If you don't like Vietnamese food they had a large menu range for Thai food also. The service was amazing and the place was great. Most definitely going to go back! -
Review from Andrew J.
Madison, WI
4/20/2011
Madison has a lot of Lao/Viet/Thai places, but lets face it they mostly suck. At least that's what I realized once I tried out Ha Long Bay.
They have an intimidatingly long menu that I have not begun to sample in my several trips but The Pad Thai and Sesame Chicken dishes I have had were both good if a little sweet. The Vietnamese soup was pretty good.
The best part for me has been the appetizers. Every cheap Chinese place has a crab rangoon or fried pot stickers on the menu but I have never had better rangoon-like fried items than at Ha Long Bay. The Dumplings were also quite tasty though recently they have been more greasy and poorly formed than they were when the place opened. The spring rolls were also excellent.
Also though it should not be a factor I have to give them props for replacing the 'Cajun' place that preceded it, that was one of the worst restaurants I have been to in Madison and the current occupants of the location do it much more honor.
btw, on one trip we were there a little late but our young waiter very obviously got baked in between bringing us courses. It did not improve his waiting skills and our order immediately got messed up but it was hilarious so I suppose he get a pass. -
Review from Therese S.
Edgerton, WI
10/23/2011
LARGE portions of very yummy food! We (party of 3) ordered a soup, the mango curry dish (to DIE for), and several appetizers. The crab ragoon appetizer was fantastic, chicken satay appetizer is HUGE and could work as an entree, third wasn't great or memorable. The soup was hot, spiced/seasoned just right, and HUGE. This is definitely a place to split an entree or plan for left overs. Service wasn't as slow as some mentioned here but we had an early Friday night dinner. Parking is kind of a bummer though.
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Review from D M.
Madison, WI
10/21/2011
Good food & a nice choice of Vietnamese dishes it's nice to see a place in Madison with something other than Pho and a few stir fry dishes. The service can be a bit slow which is annoying but the food is worth the wait. If everyone stays away from here it will make my wait shorter - yea!
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Review from Melissa T.
Iowa City, IA
3/27/2011
The food here is awesome and it is so reasonably priced! The portions are huge. I've never eaten here and not had left overs. My fiance and I usually get the mango curry with tofu and the pad thai with chicken and split them. The pad thai isn't like typical pad thai in that it's not heavy on the peanuts, but I like it. Last time we went, it was just the two of us and we didn't get anything to drink (just water) and the bill was about $18. Seriously, the prices are amazing. They have a HUGE menu -- it's actually a bit overwhelming, but should suit everyone's taste. Definitely try the appetizers. I've had all the various rolls, and they'll all good and of course, large portions.
The service is a bit slow, especially during peak dinner time. But, when the food comes out, it's always so hot and fresh so I never feel bad about waiting because I know the food quality is great. -
Review from Ka L.
Madison, WI
1/15/2011 8 Check-ins Here
I just simply ADORE the food here. I come here EVERY week :):)
Faves and MUST-haves:
Vietnamese Crepe (only on weekends): The cripsy outside is filled to the brim with loads of bean sprouts and loads of meat and shrimps. The fish sauce just finishes it so well!!!! Love it!
Vietnamese Iced Tea: Might be a little sweet at times, depends on who makes it. If it is too sweet, let the ice melt for a while, will be perfect in a few minutes!
Anything with sticky rice rocks!
Laab: Huge plate of minced meat with awesome flavor! Delish!
Bun (with all the meats): AWESOME! love dried vermicelli with fish sauce. The grilled meats are done JUST RIGHT!
It is rather busy anytime after 7pm, so you might have to wait 15 to 20 minutes.. and yes, since they are so popular, the service is a little slow. But they give such tasty soursop candy as your "farewell gift". Love it!
If you're into spice and southeast asian food, one of the MUST GO-es in Mad-town :):):) (Btw, they are really nice about no spice and no onions/cilantro etc, just tell the server!) -
Review from Doug H.
Portland, OR
11/9/2010
Fried chicken dumplings, fresh spring rolls with shrimp. probably best thai/lao appetizer selection in madison by far. apps get 5 stars
entrees get 3-4 depending on what you order, ive had hits and misses. Noodle dishes are always fantastic -
Review from Lacey P.
Saint Paul, MN
7/14/2011
Not really impressed, sorry! The wait was long, so we decided to get take out. It was really confsuing to order, and it took over half an hour to get some noodles. The guy was pretty rude when I asked how long it was going to take. We should have just gotten food from the coop, because for $9 I got some noodles with a few pieces of shrimp and some iceburg lettuce.
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Review from Angela H.
Madison, WI
This is absolutely the best Pho I've ever eaten. Would go back simply for that, but the sesame chicken my husband ordered along with the Tom Yum soup were stellar as well. We also got the chicken egg rolls, and were not disappointed. Overall, has replaced my previous go-to pho place, hands down. And I'm looking forward to trying the Pad Thai next time we go, which will be sooner rather than later.
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Review from Jo C.
Madison, WI
11/16/2011
I live just a few blocks from Ha Long Bay, and have been there several times. I was there about a week ago with my boyfriend on a Sunday at 1:45pm, and the place was packed. I thought our lunch might take a while, but it actually came super fast. I can say with confidence that they serve the best pho in the willy street/downtown area by far. The broth is savory, flavorful, and delicious. The noodles are done well, and the meat is tender. The service is always friendly and quick, and the prices are really affordable. I love that my boyfriend and I can go for lunch, get 2 glasses of wine, two appetizers, and two entrees all for less than $35 dollars. My only criticisms are that the pork and shrimp spring rolls are not the best I've had, and I don't understand the nuts? in them. Also, they don't put chopsticks or fish sauce on the table unless you ask. It's no problem asking for these items, but personally, I think they should be put on the table as staple items. Aside from the tiny things I find wrong with Ha Long Bay, I think it's an awesome restaurant, and will dine there many more times in the future!
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Review from Tom G.
Madison, WI
10/21/2011
Better than others around. Extensive menu, fast service, and thank God, clean. Try the Pho, good stuff.
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Review from Logan C.
Madison, WI
11/2/2010
This is an amazing restaurant, not only is the food pretty good, but the atmosphere sets a cozy, relaxed tone to the restaurant. Very spacious and can accommodate quite a few people. I ordered the Pho which was as good as I've ever had...and I've had some all over the world. All in all, it was a good experience, my review may change the more I eat there. Hopefully not negatively though, as I'm pretty impressed with it so far.
My rating 1-10 (10 being the best)
Atmosphere: 8
Food: 9
Cleanliness: 9
Noise: 8
Service: 9
Overall: 9 -
Review from Erin M.
Madison, WI
6/7/2011
I ate lunch at Ha Long Bay yesterday. I was craving Vietnamese spring rolls and bun.
I've had much better spring rolles (Saigon Noodle), and the bun was mediocre. My son had the Pad Thai and it was good, although the sweetness overpowered any of the other flavors. Very little peanut, chili, or lime flavor.
The vegetable dumplings were fabulous. By far my favorite part of the meal.
Service was okay. Our waitress got part of our order wrong, didn't bring us napkins, and didn't check up on us. We ended up flagging down another server to get our to-go boxes and then went up front to request our check. The other waiter in the place seemed much more efficient. -
Review from Merdy T.
Madison, WI
3/26/2011
I came to Ha Long Bay 4-5 times over the past 3 months after a recommendation from a classmate. My relationship with this restaurant is a perfect example of a roller coaster ride. I actually want to give it 3.5 instead of 3 because I still have hope that our relationship is gonna get better.
I first came here and tried the fried rice, while hubby got the chicken steamed in banana leaves (listed under Hmong dishes). My fried rice was good (not special), while the chicken in banana leaves were horrible and tasteless.
The second time we were here was on a Saturday because we wanted to try the Vietnamese crepe (served only on weekends). Being a huge Bourdain and Zimmern's fans, I always want to try this dish (probably the best one can only be obtained in Vietnam). I was dissapointed with this dish, but I am not an expert so I won't say anything else except that I won't order it or recommend anyone to order this.
My third time: I got the pho, and hubby got the green curry noodle with chicken. Both were surprisingly delicious, and made me come back for the forth time. The pho was fresh, brothy, and the green curry noodle soup was warm and comforting, and a little spicy. But you can just adjust the spiciness as you like it.
My forth time: I got the red curry noodle, and a friend of mine ordered the vietnamese beef stew with rice. Both were great, but I still like my hubby's green curry noodle soup better. My red curry soup were a bit too sweet for me.
Another fave from this place is the fried egg roll. It's crispy and I like the sweet/spicy/salty sauce. The thai iced tea is good, but I haven't had thai iced tea in Madison that aren't good.
The service, however, was not the best. It's a little slow even when the place's not busy. I personally don't like the setting because the waiter is actually on the other side of the restaurant and not facing you. They only occasionally check on the customers and it can be a while before they notice that you need something from them (ready to order, get the check, etc).
So, Ha Long Bay.. i am looking forward to try more dishes that you offer! -
Review from Alison Y.
Madison, WI
9/27/2009
Based on the glowing reviews on yelp, I was kind of expecting this place to be great, so I went here last night.
What I was not expecting was a 2 hour meal due to the fact that the servers were totally incompetent. There were actually open tables, yet no one was being seated. There didn't seem to be a host/hostess and people were walking in and staring around like they didn't know what to do, and weren't being greeted. There really wasn't any reason I should have waited for an hour and a half for a table when the place wasn't all that busy, there were only 3 people ahead of me, and there were actually empty tables in the restaurant.
I think there was just a total lack of communication in the kitchen. My water glass was empty and a waitress walked by with a pitcher of water, yet she only poured water for the tables she served.
The food was okay. It was certainly better than other restaurants in this town doing the same thing. I think if I ever went back, I'd order take-out. -
Review from Mio S.
Madison, WI
7/16/2010
Clarification: "I'm a fan" is a bit of over statement. But I'm willing to give it a second try. Why? Because their papaya salad - a must order item on my southeastern restaurant outing - was pretty good.
The interior of the restaurant is nice. Like, I'd feel good about taking a date out to a dinner here. However, I echo on other reviewer's take on the service. Slo~oow. So you might want to make sure that there are plenty of conversation topics between you and your friend(s).
Despite of the slowness, my waiter was incredibly polite and pleasant. I appreciated the cordial smile and friendliness. The order of Tofu in pineapple-ginger sauce and squash curry were pretty good / decent. My squash curry obsessed friend thinks that LaoLao Xiang does the better job on the item than Ha Long Bay. And as I mentioned in the beginning, papaya salad was good, so I was in a good mood at the end of the meal. -
Review from April P.
4/21/2011
Ha Long Bay is a really cute restaurant with interesting decor. Yes service is slow but they are usually friendly for the most part. I'm not sure why so many restaurants in Madison try to combine Thai and Vietnamese food, just pick one! They do both and they do it pretty well, again this is for Madison standards. I've had their Thai curry here and they do it pretty well, spicy when you ask for it and a good amount. Pho here is great, comes with the usual herbs and bean sprouts. The only thing disappointing I've had is the seafood noodle stir fry but seafood in Madison is usually disappointing so I'm not expecting much. They have a large menu and yes the food is great for Madison standards, food overall is 3 stars but I think the place has a charm to it (as most places do on Willy st) so that pushes it to 4 stars for me.
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Review from Steve L.
Madison, WI
8/10/2009 4 photos
Like Greg, I was apprehensive to try Ha Long Bay, especially after my disastrous lunch experience at Sa-Bai Thong. As mentioned before, I'm not a Thai snob (or a snarky food snob in general) by any means - I'm just desperate for some decent/tolerable Thai food. And with that in mind, I can enthusiastically and without hesitation, recommend Ha Long Bay. It's great!
We stopped in on a Saturday afternoon, just after the lunch rush. We were quickly seated and spent a few minutes browsing the vast menu. My eye spotted at least a dozen potential "must try" dishes, but we settled on our "old faithful" entrees.
First up were the egg rolls. Perfectly fried, packed with flavor, and complimented by the dipping sauce. I believe they were called the Ha Long Bay Special rolls (A3). Give 'em a try; they're wonderful.
Then came the steamed dumplings (chicken). Very mild flavor, as you'd expect from a dumpling; perfectly steamed. The dipping sauce was a bit light on flavor; the chili sauce helped liven things up a bit.
And just as we were wrapping up the appetizers, our main dish arrived - chicken pad thai, medium spice. The Pad Thai had a slightly sweet flavor, but it was really delicious. And, there wasn't a hint of grease anywhere. In fact, the serving platter was completely dry when we were finished with it. Now, that's a welcome sign! Not like the greasy mess that we had over at Sa-Bai Thong.
I'd probably go with more spice next time, but for a first experience, this one was wonderful. Great service, excellent food, reasonable prices, good portions, and a wonderful ambiance. It all adds up to a Thai restaurant that we'll definitely visit again. Ha Long Bay = WIN.
Summary:
Service: 4 stars
Food: 4 stars (a bit mild, but we can adjust that. Big bonus = NO grease)
Value: 4 stars (our lunch was about $20 with drinks and 2 appetizers) -
Review from Erin L.
Madison, WI
6/12/2011
I went here last Friday with my family and everything was amazing! I had the squash curry and even though it wasn't as spicy as I would've liked (I ordered hot and could barely taste anything spicy at all), the flavors were outstanding. The atmosphere and service was great, and I always respect a place that carries New Glarus brews.
Overall I loved it, and I'll definitely be eating there again soon! -
Review from Miranda C.
Madison, WI
10/9/2010
Ha Long Bay has quickly become my favorite restaurant in Madison. I always order from the Vietnamese menu and love the shrimp bun and sometimes daydream about their egg rolls. The fresh lemonade is divine and I really like the atmosphere.
This restaurant makes me want to do a culinary tour of Vietnam! -
Review from Stina H.
Seattle, WA
Updated - 10/8/2009
Ha Long Bay, you're breaking my heart!
My first HLB visit was all pho, and it was cozy and succulent (if soup can be succulent). Last night, we decided to branch out: I ordered the "bun" with grilled pork and vermicelli, topped with cucumbers, basil, and mint. And Mr. G mixed it up with a Vietnamese version of phad see ew (egg noodles with beef and broccoli).
I was mildly disappointed because my dinner, a classic Vietnamese dish, wasn't warm at all! I can understand if the vermicelli noodles were cool or room temp--I think this is normal. But the noodles were all clumped together in a sad, chilly mess. And the grilled pork had clearly just been pulled from a tub in the walk-in cooler, already pre-sliced, because it was completely cold and dry. To top it all off, or not to top it off, there wasn't any mint.
To be fair, we were one of the last tables of the night, and I could hear the kitchen cleaning up immediately after our entrees were served. But I don't pay any less than the person who ate during the dinner rush of 6:30pm, who most likely had a better "bun" with warm/hot grilled pork. Therefore, I deserve the same quality food. My advice? Just stick to the pho.
P.S. It's pronounced "fuh" as in rhyming with "duh", not "dough".1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/21/2009
When a top-notch bowl of pho is in front of you, there should be no talking. Don't talk to me about… Read more »
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Review from Lisa M.
Madison, WI
9/10/2009
Enjoyed dinner here last night with a friend. Walking into the place I thought it was really nicely decorated. Not over done, but very welcoming. We were seated at one of the tables overlooking Willy St. I am not a Thai food aficionado. I don't know what's authentic and I don't really care. I more judge the food on whether or not I like how it tastes. I liked how everything I tried here tasted.
The menu was huge, so having an idea what you are hungry for helps narrow down the search. Dinner started with some of the chicken egg rolls. They were crisp on the outside and yummy on the inside, served quickly and very hot. I opted for the Mango Chicken Curry (2 star spiciness cause I'm a wimp). It was lovely. Chunks of squash, potato, mango, and pineapple in a tasty sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend had the Peanut Stir-Fry with Shrimp. The bit I tasted was pretty spicy but still had a nice flavor. The service was prompt, friendly, and our waiter was kinda cute, which is always a nice perk. -
Review from Andrew P.
Madison, WI
11/11/2009
Visiting from OC and the land of accessible and pretty good Vietnamese food, I had pretty high standards for this place. With an extensive menu that had both Thai and Vietnamese dishes I started to get a bit worried. I agreed with Jason O. that they probably had thai dishes on their menu to appeal to the general midwestern populace that wasn't so interested in Vietnamese food.
We had the tom rang muoi (shrimp with salt/black pepper) and the pork com tam. Perhaps we didn't choose the best dishes, but the tom rang muoi tasted quite bland with the salt/pepper mixture being nonexistent. There was also very little heat with the jalepenos provided. Also, in my experience, tom rang muoi is traditionally prepared with the shells still being on the shrimp in order to keep more seasoning on and in the shrimp as it's being fried. This shrimp was peeled...ultimately leading to its strange texture and blandness.
The pork com tam we had was just a generic pork chop flavored with lemongrass and grilled. The pork was flavored nicely, but was quite overdone and ended up being a bit dry. The dish came with most of the traditional garnishes for com tam, but was missing the traditional egg/pork "meatloaf" that disappointed me.
All in all, Ha Long Bay was a bit of a flop. I won't be coming back here on my visits to Madison. Don't let this place ruin Vietnamese food for you. I'm giving this place 2 stars, one for their attempt to create a good Vietnamese restaurant in Madison, and the other for having such a wide variety of choices...albeit the choices that we had were greatly disappointing. -
Review from Alicia M.
Madison, WI
2/23/2011
Absolutely my favorite restaurant in Madison!!! I have tried multiple dishes and have loved every single one of them! My favorite is TE1 with 4 stars. Always made to perfection!!! I also highly recommend their plum wine, a bit sweeter than usual, but it is fantastic. I only live a half block away so we go here often or get take out. I have never been disappointed!!!
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Review from Isabella L.
Madison, WI
5/29/2011
This is possibly one of my favorite restaurants. The menu is extensive so I admittedly have not tried the majority of the food, but I always find myself craving for their amazing pho and vermicelli noodle dish. They also had kickass pork egg rolls, but unfortunately, they have since changed the size of the egg rolls and thereby changing its texture. The insides are still delicious, but it isn't as crispy as I like.
The price is right, too! It can get busy at rush times and being a fairly large restaurant, the service might be slower. That being said, I've never had complaints about the service. -
Review from Sarah M.
Madison, WI
2/7/2010
Remember that Seinfeld episode where they talk about a restaurant that has every sort of international cuisine? Sometimes it seems like Ha Long Bay is trying to be that for Asian food. The menu is absurdly long, and has Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian Food. Ordering can be a little overwhelming.
In my experience, they don't do Thai food as well as the dedicated Thai restaurants in town, and same with Laotian, but every dish is a very solid attempt, and the portions are huge. If you want Pad Thai and your friend wants Pho, this is the place. I would generally say that seafood is not the best bet here. It must be coming out of a bag frozen -- the mussels were particularly tough and fishy.
There are a ton of Vietnamese specialties that I've never had, and we are having a good time working our way around the huge menu. I dubbed V6 today "general Tso's Eggplant." Yum.
The staff is friendly, and refills on rice are free. I've had very slow service when it's been busy sometimes. -
Review from Jason O.
Madison, WI
9/24/2009
Summary: (+) Great, well prepared and seasoned food (-) A little too much on the menu, pare down (+) However, impressive authentic dishes like Banh Cuon. (+) Tastefully decorated (-) Paper place mats make me feel cheap (+) Good price. In all, Great Place!
I've been here a couple times and I have to say that Ha Long Bay is an excellent addition to the Madison area. Having been in areas with much more substantial vietnamese, thai and south-east asian populations, I thought that the food was great for Wisconsin, far superior to anything else that I've had in Madison.
Before I comment on specific dishes, I have to make a general comment: their tofu is just fantastic. I might even claim that if you know someone that doesn't like tofu, this might convince them. Everything that I've had there with tofu in it has just been great.
Food: Ha Long Bay has an impressive menu, although perhaps TOO impressive (i.e it is far too large) I think that they should scale back and find a central vision for their menu. All of their food is fantastic though, so if they stuck with what works or split off some of their items (like lunch specials) for a separate side menu, then it might make the menu more manageable.
I've had several different dishes there and they have all been good. The pho is a welcome addition to Madison. I planned to be camped outside of this place all winter in order to fill myself with the delicious broth that is pho. Having been to more traditional pho places though, I would prefer if they're waiters understood that I might want to get more than one type of meat in a dish. For instance, I tend to get Pho Tai Bo Vien. When I ordered this the first time I was there, I did get this confused look. It might have just been that waiter though.
Last night, I took a very large party there and we all had a variety of dishes and no one had anything negative to say about their dishes. As a side note, they worked really well with us and had the table set up when we arrived and were very nice about splitting checks. A+ Back to business, we had crispy fried noodle, several types of curry (The mango curry and the roast duck curry were just so fantastic!), dumplings, pad thai, some pan fried noodles and several tofu dishes. It was all great and recommended.
One last note about food, although I haven't had it yet, I am very impressed by several of the more authentic dishes on the menu. They have Tom Rang Muoi, Banh Xeo, and (most impressive of all) Banh Cuon. I will certainly go back to try these.
Decor: The place is pretty well decorated, nothing too fancy but just enough to make you feel like the place is nice and taken care of. I appreciate their cute little window seat by the door. It gives it the kind of vibe that I expect from a Willy St. location.
The tables: Considering the amount of condiments that they could have, I like that they have out just the necessities: hoisin sauce, sriracha, and soy sauce. This is perhaps the area that needs the most improvements: they need to get rid of the paper place-mats. It ruins the otherwise classy feel of the joint. And, I know that it's Wisconsin, but I would appreciate receiving chopsticks with my silverware. Similarly, I think that most dishes should receive a separate plate to eat from. I don't know anyone for example that would (or could) eat an entire crispy fried noodle dish to themselves.
In all a great place to have here in Madison, and I think that we should support it to keep it here for a long while! -
Review from Laura F.
2/22/2010
We live four blocks from Ha Long Bay so we have gotten take-out from them many times in the last year. Oddly, we have never dined in, so I can't comment on the service. I'm not sure precisely when they opened, but I know in the fall of 2009 when we first started picking up food there were a few problems with mixed up orders and longish waits. However, those issues seem to have long cleared up. They have hired some good employees and generally seem well-organized and attentive. I haven't had to wait for my call-in order to be ready in a long time.
They do have a ridiculously large menu, which is fun for us since we can leisurely look it over in the comfort of our home, but I can see how it's a little much for one restaurant. At the same time, I have liked most of the dishes we have gotten. Some of their Thai dishes do not meet the standard of my favorite divey Thai place in Milwaukee, but I think others are really good.
I especially like the squash curry, the pad thai, and the spring rolls that have an egg roll inside them (sounds so ridiculous but it's actually good!) I am realizing that in order to get the food spicy enough for my husband and I that we have to order 4/4 stars, which seems a little strange, but whatever. I'm looking forward to trying the pho whenever we decide to dine in.
Overall, I think this is very good Asian food for Madison, and I'm happy they are in the neighborhood! -
Review from Renee F.
Madison, WI
1/23/2011
The curries are outstanding, as is the Drunken Noodle. As a vegetarian, I am really impressed with the distinct flavors of each of their tofu options. On a recent visit, the place was packed half an hour 'til close and our waitress was sincerely sweet and very knowledgeable. My only complaint is the estimated time for pick-up. If they say 30-40 minutes, they actually mean 20-25 minutes. Also, the 'mints' in the bowl on the counter are not very good. Aside from that, food, staff, and atmosphere are great.
