Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen - PDX Concourse C & E

Grabbed a chicken bahn mi and iced coffee for my flight and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Doesn’t compare to the San Gabriel Valley where I’m from, but for airport food, was much better than expected.

I don’t normally eat Vietnamese but this place was better than expected. I had the garlic glazed pork loin with noodles with a spring roll, tasty. There was more meat than I expected which was a bonus. I sat and ate at the bar, service was quick. There’s lots of seating here as well as you can see in the pics. Thanks Bambuza for a decent meal.

The banh mi chicken sandwich looked great but had bland flavor. They had just 3 beers on tap, two craft beers and one mas produced beer. The bake breaker IPA was very good.

Pleasantly surprised. The young man who took my order was tidy, friendly, and looked happy to do his job rather than the bored or disgruntled look you can often find at quick grab & go locations. My meal was tasty & simple. The employee offered me a bag to make it easier to transport and added couple of extra napkins. Bit spendy, maybe that’s what plant based costs. Great meal before my flight.

Very good! I had a connecting flight and I had the food while waiting for it. I think it’s a bit pricey but worth it cu of their tastiness! wanna go back again!

What a surprise! The food is good especially for an airport restaurant. We had potstickers, wonton soup and chicken pho. The bowls were piping hot, which is great. We had to let the soup cool a bit before eating. The wonton is tasty and full of vegetables and the noodles are eggy so more body and more filling than rice noodles. The chicken pho was also good - I recommend slicing the chicken into strips instead of planks for ease of eating. They have a small selection of on-tap beers. The Buoy Pilsner is a fine choice. Counter service was great. This is a great addition to PDX dining. As for noise - it’s an airport concourse! ‘Nuff said.

The rib-eye steak noodle soup is out of this world good. Supervisor, Matt, was training a new employee in old fashion excellent customer service. Can’t say enough good things. All the employees are very friendly and helpfully polite. Manager John even stopped for a chat and told me about the business’s beginning. Y’all need to come to Texas!!

Food is great. Containers are cheap. We ordered the noodle soup and it was very tasty; my wife loved it. But the problem is that they put the hot soup in a plastic container, although we dined in. They don’t have better containers for dine in. I spoke to the manager, and told her that these plastic containers can generate carcinogens if you put hot food in them, I would rather have my food in a regular container. Also, I advised her that they can get recyclable containers made of paper for very cheap price for customers who prefer that option like the containers I put in the picture below.

The E concourse at PDX has so many delicious options to choose from that it felt like I took forever to make a choice. I'm happy I picked Bambuza. The service was polite and fast. There is seating all over the place and not the type of seating you see at most airports. I found a nice cushy chair by the windows to enjoy my pho. I love that they gave me plenty pieces of chicken and so much noodles --It was filling! And the broth stood on its own very well. If you stop by be sure to order the mango juice to go with your meal. It has the perfect level of sweetness.

I am a sucker for Asian food so when I saw this joint was available at the Portland airport, I knew it had to get something. There's a variety of Vietnamese food here and I don't care if it's 6 in the morning. I want it all! We landed at PDX at 7:30. I totally thought that they'd be open. They offer breakfast banh mi sandwiches so 7:30 shouldn't be an issue. Ya, they didn't open till 8. I only had a limited amount of time to get something so I ended up getting food from another joint. After they opened, I went over to get something small. Something is better than nothing. Walked to the counter and the gal working just stared at me. She was finishing up chewing her food at the register and couldn't really talk. After she was done eating, she got my order in. There's a time and place for everything and eating at the register isn't one of them. I got my bbq boa bun! It was like a piece of san Francisco in that little brown box. I have fond memories of these buns. It brings back a piece of my childhood. The bun looked so cute in the little to go box. It was warm to touch. I ripped that baby in half and you can see the bbq pork in the middle. The bbq was savory and the bun was sweet. It's the perfect combination. I ate a much as the bun as I could. I'm sure they nuked it in the microwave cause parts of the bun was so hard. I couldn't eat the hard parts so I ended up throwing away part of it. Kinda sad when you want to enjoy the whole thing. Due to the late opening, I wish I could have tried more items on their menu. I won't be hitting PDX on the way home so that was my only shot to try it. I wish it was a better experience from the staff to the product. Maybe in the future I'll be able to give them another shot. And hopefully it will be better.

Grabbed a pork bánh mì at Bambuza while waiting for my flight at PDX. It hit the spot--crispy baguette, savory pork, and fresh pickled veggies. No complaints about the flavor, but $15 for a bánh mì still feels steep, even for airport food. I get that airport prices are always inflated, but I couldn't help thinking about the amazing $6 bánh mìs I've had around Portland. This one was tasty, just not mind-blowing. Service was quick and the space is clean, so it's a solid option if you're in a rush and want something fresher than the usual fast food. Decent food, airport pricing--manage your expectations and you'll be fine.

In a pinch, having take out salad rolls and rocket shrimp (shrimp wrapped in a spring roll wrapper and fried) is so good!

Grabbed a chicken bahn mi and iced coffee for my flight and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Doesn't compare to the San Gabriel Valley where I'm from, but for airport food, was much better than expected.

Been here 3 times now. They offer a decent 'fresh roll', with superb peanut sauce (you only get one, not two like you might expect for this price). I also really enjoyed the fried gyoza. The young front of house team were pleasant and proficient. Earth friendly packaging. Very high prices.

I don't know why this place has such low rating. Maybe my expectations for airport food are really low (okay, they are), but this is some food I'd buy even outside the airport! I got the vegan pho (how many airports serve pho to begin with!?) and the flavor was great! They didn't skimp on the vegetables and it was priced reasonably considering it's an airport ($17 without tip). I travel a lot, so I'll be back.

Gluten free options!! We had the rib eye pho and it was delicious! Hit the spot when craving a hot meal after an almost 6 hour flight from Kauai. GF bowl options too.

Grabbed a bite after I landed. Service was friendly, with an airport food court atmosphere. Banh Mi Sandwich with grilled pork, sweet & tangy pickled carrots, fresh cucumbers, cilantro, and a zesty garlic-sriracha spread on a delicious toasted baguette. I also had a bag of onion soup potato chips. The food was good and I would eat here again but the sandwich skimpy with the pork.

I touched down in PDX with an empty stomach and a sandwich-shaped void. After surveying the food court, I landed on Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen and ordered the chicken bánh mì. In under five minutes, it was in my hands--quick service is always a win. The real highlight, though, was the baguette: soft enough to be easy on the mouth but with enough structural integrity to hold everything together. A refreshing change from the jaw-shredding bread some SF sandwich spots seem to pride themselves on.

Context: Airport Fast food place The service is a bit nicer than a fast food experience and pretty fast. I had my sandwich in less than 10 minutes. The vibe is that of a typical airport. The bread was warm and flaky, there was pork, and it had pickled vegetables. You can also get jalapeños! The flavors were there, but being a fast food place wasn't a super flavorful banh mi. The pork was good, but it was not sliced and was in different shapes. I'd come here and get this again as it was pretty good for an airport and comforting. It was $14, but it was also filling.

This was a welcome meal during a quick layover. The meal was made quickly and was served hot, fresh, and tasty. We are wrapping up several months of travel and this is the best airport food we have found.

Service was excellent. Bistro style seating everywhere. For fast food in an airport. Not bad at all. Expensive, sure.....you are in an airport. Little salty for what I enjoy but not terrible. Got the crispy egg rolls and the sirloin steak phó. Eggrolls were as good if not better than most restaurants. Phó was decent. Plus they have a full bar, and four beers on tap. Not too shabby for a quick meal.

I tried the chicken bahn mi sandwich and it was pretty good for airport food. Ask for extra pickled veggies! Servers were very nice and helpful. It wonderful to see Vietnamese food available here.

Like its sister establishments in the city, the PDX outpost of this pho restaurant leaves much to be desired. It had been years since I last visited a Bambuza restaurant, as there are many great pho options in the area. I was hopeful that maybe my memory didn't recall the last underwhelming experience correctly, but (unfortunately) past and present matched up pretty well. The first red flag was the disinterested cashier who took my order and seemed bored and wanting to be anywhere other than work. Taking my order seemed to be a chore, which was quite a contrast to the change in his demeanor when some chatty (and loud) airport employees came to visit him. It became social hour by the front counter at that point. The second red flag was the food. While the meat quality was better than some places (the ribeye was definitely a better, more flavorful cut), the broth was clear with no bone broth or scent of aromatics. It was drowned with green onions instead, which masked the tasteless soup. The noodles were so clumped together that it was difficult to tease them apart. Unfortunately, the best part of the meal was the sriracha sauce provided with the typical pho accompaniments (bean sprouts, lime, hoisin). Overall verdict... Very uneventful and a less pleasurable dining experience. Next time I'm flying out of PDX, this will be a definite pass for mealtime.

This was in Portland airport. Breath of fresh air from the wokism prevalent Had the wonton pho which was surprisingly good except needs less salt. There was baby bok choy mushroom,carrots but I missed the bean sprouts and lemon.Overall I think its a gem

Service is super friendly. Ordered the crispy spring rolls and pork banh mi. If you travel a lot, it's very difficult to find a really good banh mi. This sandwich is infinitely better than the ones you get at SFO, and Denver Airport has a shop that should be ashamed. Here's the scoop on Bambuza: The crispy rolls are phenomenal and remind me of good lumpia. The veggies are fresh and piled on. There is a very good amount of pork on this sandwich and much more than SFO or Denver. The flavor is mild, bread is soft on the inside and crispy on the outside (but not super hard, you can still bite into it easily). You should definitely get a couple to go because these sandwiches are fabulous!

Food was great. Customer service was terrible. Zero acknowledgement when coming up. Not a single word to us when ordering. Not a peep after saying thank you. Didn't communicate anything to use about what our order number was. Please reach out to your staff about how to properly service customers. Had Thai Iced tea and Chicken Bahn Mi. Both were fairly good.

At PDX. 2 different photos show 3 pieces, but you get only 2. No apologies, no accommodation. Just advertising & paying for 3 pieces & you get 2 spring rolls.

The rib eye steak is cooked (no option for raw) so it's chewy, but the noodles and broth hit the spot when I was really craving pho (at an airport of all places lol).

When I'm at PDX airport with a decent layover, I like to stop by at this place. The Crispy Spring Rolls are always delicious! Easy finger food and I love the crunch and flavor! They are fried rolls with minced shrimp, pork, carrots & taro with fish sauce on the side. For those that don't care for meat they have the veggie version. Try the Vegetarian Crispy Spring Rolls filled with tofu, served with homemade vegetarian dipping sauce. I also particularly enjoy the Sautéed Lemongrass Tofu Bowl with tangy sauce and crispy tofu. Accompanied with rice noodles, greens, cucumbers, pickled carrots, fried onions, scallions, and shallots with house made nuoc mam fish sauce. ( with that entree you can add a spring roll for an extra fee) Delicious, filling, and flavorful!!

Flying out of PDX today and thought I'd check out this local PNW Chain. Enjoyed my Bahn Mi with Pork. Pork bun was good but not a lot of filling. Overall value at the airport was ok. Service was fast and friendly.

Airport food can be so blah, burgers and fries and all that usual fare. I had a flight to Honolulu with a layover in San Fran so I needed to eat something for my long flight back home. This place is located in the United terminal. I ordered the chicken bahn mi and shrimp summer rolls. The sandwich was pretty darn good, the bread was super crunchy and the chicken was cooked and seasoned well. It didn't come with the pickled radish you're used to in Hawaii. But it did have regular cucumbers and sliced carrots and cilantro. It was huge though. The summer rolls were basic but filling and the peanut sauce was on the thinner side (I prefer it super thick). Great spot though and nice addition to the typical terminal food.

Ordered from this location while we waited for our delayed flight. It was close to our gate so we could hear of any changes but it also offered comfort food which can be hard to fix. At airports. We ordered the banh mi and the vermicelli plate. Both were amazing! The bread on the banh mi was crispy, crunchy, and perfectly crunchy. The meat on the vermicelli was really really good. Prices were a little high for Vietnamese but not too high for airport food. Very filling and delicious!

Finding Vietnamese food at an airport is rare so I had to try Bambuza and it's good. I've been here twice, got it both times after I flew in on vacation. I've only tried the Phở Tái (Rib-eye Steak Phở) so it's the only thing I'm reviewing. I know what you're thinking, theres no way pho at $18 in an airport could be any good. Well hold up, dont judge a book by its cover. I'm surprised at how good the phở is. I am Vietnamese and from Orange County, California so I definitely know what is good. Of course, no place beats my mom's homemade phở, but the phở here is tasty! One of the reviewers said it's just as good as phở you can get at restaurants in California, well they're not wrong, it really is just as good. The bowl looks small at first but towards the end of it, I was actually really struggling to finish it! It's bigger than it looks, I was so full afterwards. The broth is just how I like it, not overly sweet and a bit more on the savory side and I am pretty picky with my phở. The meat is also tender. It comes with bean sprouts, that is all I need. If I'm at the airport in a different concourse, I would go out of my way to get this if I have the time. They are located at Portland Airport in Concourse C and E. The service is ok. The cashiers are not super friendly or welcoming, but they are cordial. It's a fast casual place, order and pick up your food. The decor is very cute, casual yet modern. They have a bar you can sit at and they also have tables. Some of the tables also have a charging station which I appreciate. I think we all know that airport food is bound to be pricey. I looked up why and it's because it costs more money to rent a space at the airport. So while this is pricey, I say that the price is worth it because it's good (referring to phở) and filling. Better to spend your money on this than some other not so great airport food.

I was really dissapointed with this place. I liked the blurb about local organic ingredients and a family startup so I figured I'd give it a try. It was the worse Bhan Mi I have ever had & one of the most expensive. Huge/thick cirlces of cucumber, no daikon or carrot- nothing had that spark of "pickled" or tasted fresh, just pork and mayo like dressing making the mediocre bread soggy. My friend got the chicken salad and said it was mostly just a lot of cabbage. I feel like maybe this place did a fushion of vietnameze with Midwest bar food (no hate to either genre) but this combo lost the best parts of each. I also disliked that they have a tv going with sound into what would otherwise be a nice dining room.

Got a Shrimp salad roll (or summer roll) for $9 and Chicken Banh Mi sandwich for ~$12. The salad roll was cut into 3 pieces - it was wrapped tightly, but neither ends were closed and the middle piece was wild and free. Might be a bit messy to eat! Chicken Banh Mi was delicious - chicken was tender and flavorful, with a little of bit of veggies + cilantro for some freshness.

Really good tofu banh mi!! Service was super nice and friendly. The Thai tea is good and even better with some alcohol in it!

A month ago I went to Bambuza at PDX in concourse C. I was waiting in line and when it was my turn the worker guy held up his finger gesturing like just a sec. I waited a good minute. He came back and just stared at me. No hi or greeting. I'm like hi! Are you ready? And he just rudely stared. So, I just gave him my order and paid. Still not a word. And usually I'm a good tipper but for this... No way! He picked up the receipt, looked at it, and then, gave it to me. So, my order was called I went up. The same worker guy just rudely stared at me again. He left the food on the countertop closer to him near the edge. I asked, is that my food? And he just still stared and looked at me then down at it. I'm thinking whatever, and reached out to grab my food and left. I've ate here a few times before and never had issues. The food and service was always fine. When I picked up my bun mi, it totally fell apart at the fold of the bread. I'm sure it was purposely torn at the bread fold. I've ordered bun mi's all the time and this was a first. Worst bun mi eating experience ever. I will never eat here again unfortunately. I feel nothing for the worker guy at all. No need to spread negativity. I feel the place would obviously know what's happening. Friendly warning. Stay away from this one and probably the other one at the other concourse.

Pho here was surprisingly solid for airport food! It tasted just as good as pho we've had at Vietnamese restaurants in California. While waiting for our flight, we both enjoyed restaurant-sized portions of pho, along with our choice of protein, and plenty of basil leaves and sriracha sauce. By the time we got on the plane, we felt full and satisfied and relaxed on our flight home.

Not a great experience at PDX Bambuza. The menu doesn't describe items accurately. The Nuoc Maam sauce bore no resemblance to what it's supposed to be-- it was pink and viscous and likely contains high fructose corn syrup and other undesirable ingredients. I asked to see the container, to know the ingredients, and staff said they didn't have it. The food came in a box-- no plates even with table service. Spring rolls were just ok. Advertised as containing vegetables (plural) but staff didn't know what vegetables were in it. All I could see is some carrot shreds and unknown white mush. I asked to see the box the rolls come in and once again staff said they didn't have it. Decent Vietnamese food at PDX would be terrific, but Bambuza is not.

Amazing food. There are not many places in the airport to eat well. This is one of them. Good food ans food staff! :)

I ordered their Cold noodle salad and it was hot. Gross. Not enough time to go back and get a new one.

I was not expecting this quality of food at the airport. The banh mi sandwich (I got pork) was very good, fresh crispy bread. Also coconut shrimp was amazing. I was able to chill and charge my phone while eating good food and drinking draft beer before the flight to go home.

PDX is one of the US's great dining airports. The selection is small, but interesting. Not a Sbarro or TGIFs to be found. Plus, Portland law forbids airport restaurants from charging more than their non-airport locations--so, no $18 McDonalds cheesbugeres here. Bambuza in Concourse C sells Vietnamese food. I ordered the chicken Bahn Mi at something like $13. While not the best Bahn Mi I've had (the baguette was soft and it had no Maggi Seasoning Sauce or cukes), it was more than sufficiently delicious and certainly better than any Turkey Club you'd be obliged to snarf down at any other airport. Tastier still that I can expense this meager charge. Beer and wine on tap, across from abundant food court seating, and well within earshot of the tinkling ivories of an airport pianist, it was a very good, cheap, happy meal while waiting for my flight to Austin.

Chicken Bahn Mi was legit. No issues with customer service as others have mentioned. Price was not even bad especially for being in the airport. Looking forward to coming back!

Bambusa is a walk up restaurant inside of PDX, which is Portland international airport. We had the spring rolls and the wonton dumpling soup, both of which were delicious and the rating would have been higher if it were not for the poor service of Dorice. The broth of the wonton dumpling soup came out hot and you can taste the ginger, lemon grass and all of the wonderful spice which you want from the wonton soup on a cold Washington day. The spring rolls were delicious and crisp which came with a chili sauce that was not too spicy. It had the perfect amount of heat. The only downfall from this restaurant was the customer service , and in my opinion if you can get the front of the house to mesh with the back of the house you would get this restaurant right on point.

I am usually hesitate when I got to Vietnamese places. And I decided a great lunch would be a banh mi. You get a choice of protein. I opted for the pork. I asked if it was BBQ pork and the gentleman let me know it was. I got a number and then it was called when ready. The sandwich was much larger than I expected just because normal banh mi places have a similar size. I had enough for dinner also! There was a ton of pork and the perfect amount of toppings. And there was no extra pizazz that trendy places nowadays try to do. I really enjoyed my sandwich and next time I'm flying through - I'll try something else.

It's too bad, because Bambuza used to be my go-to for a pre-flight meal. Now it's overpriced coupled with a lot smaller and with lesser quality. The bahn mi cost has gone up by at least $4 in the last two years and the baguette has gotten smaller and way chewier. Hope your teeth are strong...

They need to make their peanut sauce vegan/vegetarian. Why have so many veg options but stop short on the sauce.

Great little Vietnamese spot in the airport. I had the Pho with Ribeye meat and it was good. I had a cold beer to go a long with it. Great place in the airport to grab a good bite before boarding your plane.

First off, when you go up to a counter at a fast-food place in the airport, you probably don't have a lot of time to kill. It took over 20 minutes to get our food here and there was hardly anyone else waiting. The menu is nice--variety and fresh. There's beer, wine and cider. I want to say that I really like this salad. I will say that the produce is fresh and crunchy. The chicken is thigh meat, which is weird on a salad, imo. And I believe there's fish sauce in the salad dressing. Not my fave.

My friend had the chicken rice bowl. It came with a salad. Chicken was grilled, but dry and lacked flavor. The salad dressing was sweet, a sesame type, was very good.

Man oh man, I didn't have high expectations since it's in the airport but my partner and I ordered the chicken pho and it was fabulous. It came with honestly tooo much chicken in my opinion. The fixing all on the side but the broth. Yes yes yes it was full of flavor. If I come through the airport again, i would try other items on the menu. The servers were nice too. Everything looked stocked and clean.

I got the pork Banh Mi. I had high hopes for it because you don't see too many options for banh mi at most airports but it wasn't good at all! Sorry to say but everything was just so bland. I've had banh mi dozens of times before at various places so I was hoping this would be just as good but something was just off. I wouldn't recommend this place.

Surprisingly Bambuza had really tasty food. Even though it is located inside the PDX airport the food was good! Was our first meal of the day. We loaded up with Chicken and rice plates and Spring rolls (they called them salad rolls). Their service was good and the Chicken rice plate was huge. Never needed the spring rolls but I hate being hungry during flights Good job PDX!

6$ Prosecco, in the airport, that's all I'm saying!! Super friendly staff. Definitely will keep this on my list :)

Good service in a relaxed atmosphere. Way better than Hopworks. Staff is friendly and drinks reasonably priced. My new go to on the E concourse.

This place was always my go-to airport food for years. But man, they are getting so stingy with their portion sizes! Their salad rolls used to be 4 pieces (2 rolls cut in half) a couple of years ago. Then they made it 3 pieces (which is how they are pictured on their menu), and now they have gone to only 2 pieces (essentially 1roll cut in half). It's so sneaky as they still charge $12, for them...that's a complete rip off! Rather go elsewhere with this price.