Cuisine: Vietnamese
1270 Morse Road
614.825.0303
Open daily for lunch and dinner: hours vary (close early on Tuesday)
Website: http://huongvr.blogspot.com/
This winter we’ve tried a number of Vietnamese restaurants and Huong was definitely one of our favorites. We were instantly taken with the colorful dining room complete with plastic fruit trees, flowers and a large wall mural, as well as with the charming staff.
The menu is divided into appetizers, rice vermicelli, noodle soups, rice dishes and rice rolls. There is also an extensive selection of desserts, most of which are drinks and even include a durian smoothie. Banh mi sandwiches and congee (rice porridge), while not listed on the menu, are offered daily. They also have weekend specials that may include sticky rice, Vietnamese dumplings and Vietnamese baguettes. This is, so far, the only place in Columbus we have seen that serves congee.
To start we shared a Vietnamese crepe with shrimp, pork, mung beans and herbs. This was pretty similar to the Korean pancake we have had at Arirang. What was different was that this was served with a different dipping sauce (the same as served with bun cha) and a plate of lettuce leaves and fresh herbs. The crepe was crisp, the fillings generous and the dish met with universal approval.
We also sampled a pho, pho tai bo vien (noodle soup with rare steak and beef ball). The broth was good, if a little greasy, and had a fairly strong star anise note.
We ordered bun heo which was bun cha (rice vermicelli noodles on top of lettuce) with egg rolls and pork. This is a dish we order a lot and and serves as a useful comparison between restaurants. It was average, which is to say good, and the crinkle cut radish on top was a notable addition. As you can see, it also comes with a generous topping of peanuts.
We tried one of the desserts, fried banana wrapped in sweet rice with coconut milk and peanuts. It was good but perhaps not overly exciting.
Vietnamese coffee is available iced or hot. The hot coffee is served as shown below, brewed at the table with a Vietnamese-style ‘over the cup’ drip coffee maker which dispenses coffee into a dollop of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom of the mug below.
It felt like we barely scratched the surface and will definitely return to Huong to try some of their other menu items and weekend specials.
alt.eats.columbus 
Pochi Tea Salon has chicken congee too, it’s pretty good.
Jimmy, thanks for the tip!
I really like this place between here and Yogi’s hoagies I love the summertime I walk from my mother’s to Huong for lunch and then back to Yogi’s for dessert ice cream and now that Geno’s is open I can get italian too all in walking distance.
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Another good tip. The crepe was especially noteworthy as was the papaya and beef jerky salad.
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Congee can also now be found at Pho Saigon in Columbus Square.
The Banh Xeo (Viet crepe) is one of my favorite dishes. Traditionally made with mung bean, rice flour, turmeric, and coconut milk, it is a cousin of the Indian Dosa, but filled with meat. Not all Viet restaurants offer Banh Xeo, but when its done right, its addictive.