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Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro
Rating Details »
Category: Vietnamese [Edit]
Neighborhood: University City8080 Olive Blvd
University City, MO 63130
(314) 432-8388
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
11 reviews for Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro
First of all, I want to agree mightily with Brandon C that Kim Son is much better than Pho Grand - MUCH!
I love their egg rolls - the fried ones. I used to go to this little hole in the wall called Cordon Bleu on California Street at Polk Street in San Francisco and they made these luscious egg rolls, filled with meat, and deep fried, and they were so good. Well, the ones at Kim Son remind me of that place. Heavy sigh.
The other dish I like is the bowl of rice noodles topped with barbequed pork, and beef steak cubes, and another one of those amazing egg rolls, and bean sprouts, and cilantro, and they give you the beautiful sweet and vinegar and patis (fish sauce) sauce for pouring all over it. VERY VERY satisfying.
The lunch menu is a bunch of Chinese dishes, but always well done. And then I like to have a full order (4) of those wonderful fried egg rolls ... I'm telling you, those egg rolls are amazing.
For the portion size, the prices were very reasonable. My friend and I both got huge bowls of soup heaping with meat and noodles and paid only 7 bucks a piece.
I thought there would be more rice dishes but there were only 3, the menu was basically just soups.
The standard beef pho soup was delicious, the broth is so fragrant and with the bean sprouts, basil, and lime they bring with your meal to add in, it makes for a very refreshing, crunchy flavorful meal. The squid, bbq pork, egg etc. noodle soup with soup on the side was interesting. The bowl came with dry noodles and all the meat on top and the broth was in a dish that came on the side. All very flavorful though when added together. My only complaint was the pork was mostly liver which i ended up giving to my friend....
If your in the mood for really refreshing, wholesome soups then this place is a reasonable option!
I tried Mai Lee the day before I went to this place. I had pho both times (once I get on a pho kick, I can have it for days). I give the pho edge to Kim Son. The broth tasted slightly better and they have the option of having beef tendon and tripe in the pho along with the beef balls and rare beef (Mai Lee only has beef balls and rare beef). One thing Mai Lee has going for it is that they have the chili sauce I prefer. It's the sauce that actually has chili chunks and seeds in it. Kim Son only has the Sriracha sauce. It takes more Sriracha to spice up the soup.
A friend of mine and I used to come to Kim Son at least once a week to get our pho fix (to you food noobs, let it be known that its pronounced "fuh," not "fo," also, while we're at it, its "creps," not "crapes," sorry, its one of my pet peeves).
Anyway, Kim Son used to be AWESOME. I seriously do not know how they were never truly busy. And in the wintertime, I don't know how you could not want to eat pho everyday, but I digress. Now, Kim Son is just okay. For those familiar with the place, you'll notice they've changed everything. New signs, more tv's, updated menus, etc. I later learned that Kim Son was picked up by some new owners, but the cooks were the same. When I asked about all the "remodeling," the waiter literally said to me "the owner is trying to get more white people in here." W. T. F.
Now, I understand what he meant by the situation. Its hard to be an "ethnic" restaurant, especially an Asian one, if the word "buffet" isn't in your name, so by saying "white people," I'm sure he just meant the owners wanted people outside of the Asian culture to be introduced to the restaurant, but still, ya know?
Needless to say, the food has gone down hill a bit the last few times I've been here. They've added new "Americanized" items to the menu, and it seems like they're not putting as much care into the pho and other "Asian-friendly" food items as they've done in the past, but if the cooks are actually on the ball, they still churn out some delicious stuff. Oh, and lastly, this place--even now--beats the pants off of Pho Grand. I have nothing against the place, but I'll never understand why everyone thinks its the cat's pajamas. Its average food at a higher price (in relation to other Vietnamese restaurants). I would take Kim Son any day of the week over Pho Grand, and if you really want to stay in that neighborhood, Bahn Mi So is better too.
This place is really big and has some very fine eats. The service was great too.
The menu is huge, but I had something that would probably be considered quite standard; the orange chicken. It was the best I've ever had and not exactly what you think of when you recall the crappy orange chicken from Panda Express at your local mall. It was crispy and had a full orange flavor with a little spice. Very tasty.
I definitely recommend you give it a try.
They sure know how to grill their meat here:
Pretty much any of their grilled beef/pork dishes is a sure thing. The lemongrass beef is particularily good.
The seafood menu is extensive and fresh at variable market prices. I have a sneaking suspicion that they get first dibs on the seafood across the street at the Olive Farmer's Market. One time their blue crab special was 3 bucks... FOR THREE CRAB. Granted, they were small females, but that's still a buck a crab!
Service is only ok, though. One annoyance though is that we would smell cigarette smoke, but couldn't find who the heck was smoking. What gives?
Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro is a nice Vietnamese restaurant if you are looking to find a place where you can enjoy some tasty food. I always enjoy eating at a new restaurant and even more so when I am going to eat Vietnamese or something similar.
The service at Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro is wonderful. As soon as you walk into the door they are eager to serve you and make sure that your time spent in their restaurant is a good one. Kim Son has a nice variety of food and also the option to "build your own" which is always fascinating because of the different concoctions that can be created.
Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro stands out among the many restaurants on Olive Blvd and is a lovely place to go eat.
Everything about this place is just okay. Nothing fancy. I didn't like the selections on the menu and the food tasted mediocre. Most of the items on the menu just says 'mkt.' There's no price on it. The waiters were not flexible on the substitutions on the menu. I think I will drive elsewhere and a little further for good Vietnamese food. Plenty of parking outside the lot.
Tried the special beef noodle pho and a friend tried the bbq pork, hard pork, and crabmeat egg noodle. My beef looked like pork and taste somewhat like pork and somewhat like beef. My friend's hard pork tasted like liver. So be careful of what you ordered, even though our dishes were quite tame. The only reason for not a single star is because the service was at least decent. I had a question about an item, and they weren't able to answer me. But at least they were nice about it.
After grocery shopping at Olive Market for our asian foodstuff, my husband and I were starving, so we crossed the street to try out Kim Son. It's a pretty large restaurant, with a couple of flat screen TV's. They have a pretty extensive menu, so it was hard to make a decision on what to get. As an appetizer, we got the Lotus Delight Salad, which was good, but they could have cut down a little on the celery. My husband got the Com Tam Dac Biet (Combination Meat over Broken Rice) while I got the Bun Tom Nuong (Grilled Shrimp Vermicelli), both of which were good. Prices were pretty reasonable - the rice and noodle dishes we got were around $6-7 each. We wouldn't mind trying this place again, especially with so many other things on the menu to try. One thing to keep in mind - they are closed on Wednesdays.
Highly recommended. Especially the noodle dishes. I came here all the time. Some traditional and some chinese-influenced vietnamese cuisine. The menu has been edited (was scaled down), but it's still a great tasting place. Fancy decor (lots of flat screens) but reasonable prices.
