Fish Sauce

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Review

41 reviews

#342 of 3,361 Restaurants in Portland$$ - $$$, Seafood, Asian, Vietnamese

+1 503-227-8000+ Add website

Hours

Tue

4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Wed

4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Thu

4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Fri

4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Sat

4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

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Ratings and reviews

4.5

41 reviews

#342 of 3,361 Restaurants in Portland

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

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CUISINES

Seafood, Asian, Vietnamese

Special Diets

Vegetarian Friendly

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

features

Location and contact

407 NW 17th Ave, Portland, OR 97209-2247

Northwest District

+1 503-227-8000

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Is this a Vietnamese restaurant?

Yes

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CUISINES

Seafood, Asian, Vietnamese

Special Diets

Vegetarian Friendly

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Serves Alcohol, Table Service

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4.5

41 reviews

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Angela J

Portland5 contributions

You Need to Go Here

Sep 2023 • family

We were looking for some eats while waiting to go to a show at the Mission Theater. An awesome surprise to find this great foodie heaven. Fried mussels, grilled prawns, tofu, chicken, and house fish sauce all fantastic. The sweat potato fries are the the best we ever had. As Arnie would say "I'll be back" for sure. Loved it!

Written September 19, 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Fox M

Winchester108 contributions

A bit expensive

Nov 2020 • solo

I ended up getting Phó. It was good. It was expensive. I did get what I paid for though. Good if you're in the area

Written November 13, 2020

Hannah B

Socorro14 contributions

Good food but a bit pricy.

Aug 2019 • none

Came for a late dinner, staffing was a bit slow and the prices were higher then expected, but the food and drink were great and the waitress understood the menu and had good recommendations.

Written September 30, 2019

C5686CEbarbarab

72 contributions

Nice Vibe but Food Could Use more flavor

Dec 2018 • couples

Okay, full disclosure here. We did take out. That can have an impact on your food quality, I understand. Thai is flavorful, and this was kind of 'meh.' Our friends are big fans of spicey, and they did not get spicy-not even close. But then, when you order steamed Tofu and Vegetables, how spicey can that get? We decided to do take out since the restaurant is pretty small and fills up fast. And the restaurant has one big, long table that goes the length of the establishment. Not sure why this is a trend in the restaurant world right now, but am not into striking up a conversation with a complete stranger, when I'm trying to focus on my own party. Just saying. We were there in the Winter, and it looks like the outside seating would be lovely in the Summer. We will try again then.

Written December 29, 2018

AlexisRF

Chicago889 contributions

Food Good but with service flaws

Oct 2018 • couples

My review for this place was 4 stars until I came back for the second time and had a lesser experience. The food here is good and the value is even better but the service has some flaws that I am not a fan of 1. We ask the server to put the dressing on the side, when the order came, it was added to the salad 2. We asked if a certain dish has refined sugar, we were told no but we know what refined sugar tastes like esp if you havent had it for 15 years 3. We asked the server to wrap our left over dish, she took the plate, and stacked the other dirty plates on top of our left over food, which we just threw away. I was a fan at first but not anymore on the second visit.

Written November 9, 2018

JenniCrab

Berea116 contributions

Good food, busy place

Sep 2018 • couples

This restaurant is conveniently located. We arrived for happy hour and sat outside to enjoy the weather. The hostess and waiter were very friendly and explained the dishes and shared their recommendations. We tried the bap nurong (grilled corn), bo cuon (beef rolls) and banh mi pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. The food was very tasty. The pork in the sandwich was full of flavor and the fries were super tasty. During our visit, it got super busy and our waiter was doing his best to keep up with all of the tables.

Written September 11, 2018

Timothy C

Portland185 contributions

Need to give it another try.

Jan 2018 • couples

This a really nice Vietnamese-themed place in the Alphabet District in Portland. We stopped for lunch on a sunny afternoon. The compact place oozes hipness with the overwhelming back back groaning with every sort of booze to produce cocktail heaven. Collection of tables along the large plate glass windows with a long rustic, wood communal table dominating the space. Outdoor tables on a patio for when the weather permits. Service was spotty at first, but got into full gear later in the meal. Food was excellent; but wasn’t exactly everything we expected: need to return and study the menu and ask questions about it.

Written January 5, 2018

jmorgan2238

Salt Lake City49 contributions

Yum - Pho!

Dec 2017 • friends

I am always looking for the GF. My daughter and I were visiting Portland and our friend, a local, took us here. I guess a fire required a remodel - very nice feel - community style with a couple two person tables. The Pho looked amazing but don’t overlook the Curry - a day later, I want to go back!

Written December 9, 2017

Doug Mitchell

Portland3 contributions

A Taste of Vietnam in NW Portland

Oct 2017 • couples

I first experienced Vietnamese food in Los Angeles at a restaurant owned by a “boat person” who spoke perfect French. The year was 1977, and I was writing for a westside newspaper that covered the Orthodox Jewish section of L.A. There, nestled amid the Kosher salami and kreplach, was a tiny Fairfax Avenue eatery that specialized in the cuisine of Vietnam, a country we still didn’t fully understand, but one with which we had just fought a long, grueling war. The owner, a pleasant, mustachioed man in his late 40s, had only recently arrived in the United States, a refugee who was able to rescue what was left of his family from the devastation of his native Saigon. For whatever reason, he and I became fast friends, and slowly, he taught me some of the history of Vietnam and of its wonderful people and cuisine. Even though I had learned of the French colonization of Vietnam and Cambodia in school, it never really sank into my youthful brain. Strangely, it was through my friend’s explanation of the food that I began to realize the influence France had on the culture of the land and its people. That Banh Mi sandwich I came to love was served on what resembled a French baguette and smeared with a smooth and flavorful, (and very French,) pate, and the omelet I ate for lunch, crepe-like and filled with seafood, was almost the identical one Julia Child, The French Chef, was demonstrating to her TV audiences. To me, it seemed as if Chinese food was suddenly shifted to Paris, but this was years before Wolfgang Puck opened his famous Chinos on Main, in Santa Monica. This international mixing of traditional flavors and ingredients was what would become known in the 1990s as Fusion Cuisine, and it would revolutionize the restaurant world and the taste buds of American foodies from Lawrence, Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon. Among the dozens of Vietnamese restaurants that made it across the great divide to the City of Roses, is my personal favorite, Fish Sauce, in what is known as the Alphabet District of westside Portland. Named after the ubiquitous fermented anchovy condiment of South East Asia, the restaurant sports a long, common table down its middle, bordered by traditional tables and chairs. Its non-assuming style reminds me very much of my first Vietnamese haunt on Fairfax in L.A. The result is an inviting atmosphere that cries out home-style eating, and owner, Lauren Huynh, herself an immigrant from South Vietnam, and her family, serve up a menu of traditional and modern Vietnamese specialties to satisfy the most finicky palate. The highest on my list of menu favorites is a bowl of hog heaven called Thit Kho, an exquisite combination of pork belly slow braised in coconut water, green onions and nuoc mam (the untranslated “fish sauce”). The stew is slowly braised until the pork literally melts, filling the broth with a delicious unctuousness that calms the soul as well as the belly. Whole hard-cooked eggs are added and left until they adopt the luscious brown color of the liquid. The resulting dish is served in a clay pot, with a mound of white rice and a side of fermented vegetables (dua chua). According to Lauren, Thit Kho is generally a New Year’s (Tet) dish, but she makes sure it’s available through most of the year. I have never seen it on any other Vietnamese restaurant menu in town, and consider it one of the finest dishes in Portland. Worth calling for in advance. Another stand-out specialty is a dish Lauren calls Botta’s Favorite, though I don’t know why. It’s a combination of deliciously grilled lemongrass pork or chicken and grilled shrimp served over jasmine-flavored rice and topped with two fried eggs. Grilled meats are a Vietnamese staple and are common throughout the country. What separates this dish from the others is the addition of the eggs, fried, but still runny creating a sauce that, combined with the grilled meats and fragrant rice comes to the mouth in pure pleasure. Ga Hainan, (Hainanese chicken), presents a seemingly simple plate of poached Draper Valley chicken with a fine sauce of soy, ginger and garlic. This is a main staple of Southeast Asian cooking and the national dish of Singapore with its roots in the Hainan Provence of China. The chicken is slowly poached in its own broth at just below the boiling point until it is fork tender and juicy. It is served with a large portion of white rice, the garlic sauce, and fermented vegetables. The ideal dish for someone who loves chicken in its purest form. Naturally, Pho is on the menu, and is prepared with your choice of thinly sliced filet mignon and Vietnamese meatballs or chicken. Chao Tom, sugarcane sticks wrapped in minced shrimp meat and fried, Lettuce Wraps, Vietnamese salads and the popular Banh Mi, the aforementioned baguette sandwiches in several varieties are also included on the carte. Prices at Fish Sauce are more than fair, with dishes running in the $12 to $18 range, and the restaurant offers a Happy Hour menu before and after dinner hours that offers most of the menu items at reduced cost. There is a full bar featuring exotic drink concoctions as well as beer, wines, sake and specialty drinks. Ca Phe Su’a Da, another reminder of the French influence, is a rich dark coffee, brewed to order, sweetened with condensed milk and usually served cold. A perfect ending to a perfect visit to one of Portland’s finest Vietnamese restaurants. Fish Sauce is at 407 NW 17th Avenue in Portland. Phone 503-227-8000.

Written October 4, 2017

skluger

Keizer42 contributions

Quick stop for drinks.

Sep 2017 • couples

My wife and I stopped here to see what it was all about and have a drink before seeing a movie at The Mission Theater. The host and servers were friendly and prompt and made sure we were comfortable. We had two different cocktails and enjoyed them. The fact that we can sit outside with our dog and that the service was good means we will come back to eat there soon.

Written September 3, 2017

Fender1982

Miami46 contributions

Authentic Vietnamese cuisine

Mar 2017 • family

Great atmosphere. Authentic cuisine, friendly service with family styled dining. I like that the place isn't too large, allowing for an intimate feel. Good prices and enough options on the menu.

Written March 31, 2017

SaunteringGuy

76 contributions

Very Bad Service

Mar 2017 • none

Surprisingly there aren't that many Vietnamese restaurants in Portland. This place came highly recommended. However the menu is VERY limited. The service is absolutely terrible. To be honest, we were warned about the poor service before we went. We had to wait over an hour for a noodle bowl and when our food finally came it was COLD!!! If you read my other reviews you will see that I am a big fan of Vietnamese food. This is one of the worse Vietnamese restaurants I have ever visited.

Written March 24, 2017

Onedan

Gill37 contributions

Outstanding food

Nov 2016 • solo

I had wonton soup here and thought: "oh, this is how wonton soup is supposed to be." Great broth, great ingredients. Then followed with the best banh mi I've ever had. Highly recommended.

Written February 6, 2017

Karolpdx

Portland144 contributions

If you like curry, this is the place.

Sep 2016 • friends

I enjoyed a nice meal of shrimp curry with rice. The lace felt a little cramped but the serving staff were excellent. The menu was quite large and varied.They provide gluten free and dairy free dishes.

Written September 28, 2016

Zee H

99 contributions

Great Vietnamese Restaurant in Trendy NW Portland

Aug 2016 • family

Love the food here, especially the spring rolls, and the Bun noodle dish. The wait staff is friendly. I like to order off their happy hour menu when I go there before 6pm. Also, it's enjoyable to sit outside in the summer evenings.

Written August 16, 2016

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FISH SAUCE, Portland - Northwest District - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Order Online Food Delivery - Tripadvisor