Kau Ba - Houston, Texas

Stefan Risko

Kau Ba is a must if you’re in town. The service is great, staff is very friendly and they get your food and drinks out quickly. The mood inside fun, they play great dance and tech house tracks and a volume that’s just right. Every bite I ate and sip I drank was perfect. They’re more than generous portions, the VeiJun Pho had plenty of King Crab and Shrimp to enjoy. 10/10 will come back and try more of their menu next time I’m in town, and I would recommend you come eat here too!

Michael Benissan

I appreciated the friendliness of the staff and the cute cozy appeal of this restaurant. The street egg rolls appetizer was flavorful, and I would recommend it. I ordered the shaking beef with fried rice substitute and noticed that the house hot sauce elevated the flavor. Just something to have in mind if you’re okay with the extra spice.
If you’re looking for a sweet and strong cocktail, the lychee gang would be an excellent choice. There’s a parking lot although spaces are limited. Street parking or rideshare services would be the alternatives.

Hoivien nguyen

I've only been to KauBa 2 times and cannot go to another Vietnamese restaurant from now on. We ordered the shaken beef, egg rolls, scallops, noodles and an appetizer. All were absolutely DELICIOUS! Cute atmosphere and staff was attentive. Highly recommended!! And will be back soon.

Enjolee Greer

Very disappointed.
On 9/28 I order Chicken Fried rice to go. I called the restaurant and placed my ordered over the phone. When the gentleman was repeating my order he said “shrimp fried rice” my mother and I corrected him and said, “no chicken fried rice please I have a shrimp allergy.” The gentleman replied, “bet”.
I picked up my order got all the way back to my hotel and I open a box to shrimp fried rice. I called the restaurant back and told them my order was wrong. The lady on the phone said she would text the owner to see if she can refund me. She said I will call you back when I get a response. There was no response. I called the next day on Sunday, no response. I stop by the restaurant to speak with someone and the restaurant was closed, with no notice or sign.
I called again Monday no response. I go in on Tuesday to talk with someone, this time there is no manager and no one is able to help me.
On Thursday I call one last time the lady over the phone took my name and number down and said the owners would reach out to me. Still no response.
All in all very disappointed and frustrated that the service was bad and unprofessional. I received food that I didn’t order but also am allergic to even though I corrected the waiter and notified him of my allergy. And the cherry on top is that I wasted my money and didn’t get to eat that night.
After this experience I will not be returning it is very clear that the owners and the staff are not able to keep their word, be professional, follow up, communicate, keep their customers safe, or rectify the situation.

Christi Pham

Oh how the food went downhill from my visit 3 years ago.

The food quality used to good and worth the extra money but now t's just an expensive mediocre Vietnamese restaurant inside the loop.

Here are the issues I encountered during my visit:
- Service: I get it, it's hard to find good help. It seems like they are training new staff.
- Dishes I ordered:
- Vietnamese Pizza: Super greasy. Before, the pizza was crispy and didn't leave my fingers full of oil. $12
- Bun Cha Hanoi - Very sad version for this dish. Lack of nuoc mam sauce, meat was not charred as it should, did not include the variety of fresh veggies. For $25, the meat should've been marinated correctly and charred at least.
- VietJun w/shrimp - Sauce is closed to what I remembered but the potatoes were still raw when they initially served it. I had to send it back. They basically picked out the potatoes and reboiled. Pictured is what the VietJun w/shrimp looked when they gave it back to me. Also, they used to serve it with a nicer bread. $28 for this dish.

From what kind of food I received, the cooks seem to be new to Vietnamese and cooking all together. The food was eatable enough not to throw away. When you are paying $40 for a meal you can't let it go to waste.

I don't plan on going back. Not one dish is worth coming back to. I asked others and they also said the food is not as good as it used to be.

Zeyda Pitchford

My 1st time was lunch on a Saturday. A tall Asian lady was our waitress, and her seevice was top notch, and the food was A1. Tonight, dinner, our entire visit was subpar at best. Confused wait staff, please train the young fellas, nice guys but need service training, bland tofu spring rolls, had to ask for napkins, anything to eat with would have been great, but had to ask. Fried rice tasted burned. Needed an iced tea refill and she picked up glasses and ran off instead of bringing a service pitcher of tea. Food greasy, chicke. Horrible over all. We left all the food on the table. Refused to take any of it.

Christina Stritzinger

Love the atmosphere here, staff is friendly, and food was decent, but unfortunately quite a bit overpriced. Nearly $80 with tax and tip for two people — each had one drink, split an app, and split a single entree. Really nice patio to sit outside and the inside is cute as well.

Brandon Wallace

I ordered the smoked chicken pho, which had a quarter of chicken in it. The broth was smoky, the noodles were fresh and delicious, the chicken was plentiful. It came with skin, whichbis a nice touch. I didn’t eat it, but I can appreciate it. One of the better bowls I have eaten in the city of Houston.