Kim Ba Vietnamese Cuisine - Aurora

AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE FOOD... I am Vietnamese and have been to majority of all the Vietnamese restaurants that are located on Federal which is the heart of Vietnamese restaurants. Kim Ba is one of my top 3 favorite Vietnamese Restaurants. Kim Ba is located on Peoria Mississippi. It is a bit of drive but when I am in the area I always come here! When you enter, you may seat yourself unless the waitress sees you before but usually the waitress will come over to give you menus There is always only one waitress on the floor so please be respectful not one of those rude customers for the waitress is trying her best to accommodate all guests. She is after all taking all the customers ' orders, running food, cleaning tables and checking people out. Though it can get busy, the service has never bothered my boyfriend and I because the food is amazing and the waitress still checks up on us. There are so many dishes to choose from. Variety is always good! I love the spring rolls and crab cheese wontons as appetizers. My favorite main dish is the #15 Bun Thit Nuong- 'Marinated pork with lemongrass, grilled to perfection, served on rice noodles with fresh bean sprouts, lettuce and peanuts '. The boyfriend and I always substitute beef instead. If you ask about substitutions they usually are able to do it! Also the portions are always huge here! I highly recommend ordering the Ca Phe Suá Da Hoc Nong- 'Vietnamese coffee with sweetened milk ', I like to drink mine over ice. By far the best coffee and if you like strong coffee! Overall, good food and service!

Full disclosure: I am (obviously) not Vietnamese, haven 't been to Vietnam and don 't know much about Vietnamese food. Their dishes definitely appear to be home-style, and the portions are large enough to be shared between two people, even during lunch. Menu descriptions are on point and easy to understand. Plenty of vegetarian options in the back. Don 't expect too many accommodations as it relates to dietary restrictions or preferences. I am sensitive to wheat and asked if I could replace rice noodles for the egg noodles in a stir fry dish I wanted. The answer was no to my surprise, with a bit of an attitude. Maybe it 's a Vietnamese no-no to stir fry rice noodles. Not my fault that I get wheat belly if I eat egg noodles. I ended up getting stir fried tofu with mixed veggies in a slightly sweet soy sauce. Fresh and yummy, but I prefer my tofu crispy and firm, Thai style. The tofu was too soft and very bland for my taste. Bae got the Tofu in coconut fermented bean sauce, non-spicy at his request. I loved the flavor of the sauce, but it was super rich, creamy and sweet, almost dessert like. I 'm pretty sure adding some heat to it would counter the sweetness. I couldn 't eat more than a few bites, and I love sugar! I wanted to try their coconut pudding, but they were out of it. The flan was a no-go since they use condensed milk in it and I am vegan. I think I will stick to my favorite Thai place, since they 're more vegan friendly.

Right after our grocery shopping next door away, Hubs wanted to have Dinner, hence to this establishment we went. I went to Kim Ba many moons ago way before my Yelping days and NOW they relocate and open the one here. This recent visit was on November 22nd 2014. Time was about 20:00hrs ish. When we entered we are the 3rd group having Dinner here. There are 2 other groups of patrons dining away..one being a big group and another just a couple. We are greeted by one of the staffs, and we choose to seat at one of the booths on the Left Wing of the establishment. YES they have plenty to eat or choose from their Extensive Menu. From what I could recall we ordered these : Green Lip Mussels $11.95) Beef Fried Rice $8.75) Shrimp Fried Rice $9.50) Bo Xao Xa Ot aka Sautéed Beef with Lemongrass and hot chili pepper $13.00) Hot Coffee with Condensed Milk $3.75) We waited for abit for our food to be ready. What I like, was the Shrimp Fried Rice. Who can screw up a Fried Rice?? THANK GOD for those Shrimp Fried Rice! Just salt and pepper kind of Fried Rice with scrambled eggs . What I don 't fancy was my order of Green Lip Mussels. There are TOO MUCH of lemongrass in the Green Lip Mussels, and broken Mussels shells.. SIGH In terms of flavor was just ok. This dish is listed in their KIM BA Special, but its NOT Special at all. SIGH and SAD FACE INDEED The Green Lip Mussels is sautéed with Lemongrass in a SPICY Coconut Curry Sauce. But where is the SPICYNESS Hence its so misleading and so disappointing about this Dish, that I ordered. Furthermore, the Lemongrass they used in this dish are those old ones.. aka not much of freshness at all. The Beef Fried Rice was OK too.. but once again what 's the deal with tonnes of Lemongrass from the Bo Xao Xa Ot, aka Sautéed Beef with Lemongrass and Hot Chili Pepper. The Sautéed Beef is NOT SPICY at all. Just ok, NOT mind blowing.. Hence the overall is 3 stars review for this establishment. To return definitely NOT IN A HURRY. Maybe we did order the wrong items from their menu. Nevertheless, we wish them well in their business undertakings in this part of Neighborhood and their new location. The service from our server is prompt. We left KIM BA at about 20:45hrs ish. KIM BA Vietnamese Cuisine 12303 E. Mississippi Ave, Suite #145 Aurora, CO 80012 Tel : 303) 745 1637 @227/2014

Had the lemongrass chicken noodle bowl with added shrimp, soft shell crab, and Vietnamese eggrolls. The lemongrass chicken was more of a 5-Spice chicken rather than lemongrass, completely different flavor from the 2 small shrimp that were added for the extra $2. The soft shell crab was good, a little pricey at $17 for an appetizer though. The eggrolls were very good, crispy, full and delicious. The nuoc mam was a little strange to me though like it was made with chili peppers for pizza. Husband however enjoyed everything. The service was really good, our waitress was very attentive and friendly. I'd would certainly eat here again.

Very good food, ambiance needs improvement, we will be back for sure. The noodle bowls are tops! Some of the waitstaff are not friendly and the decor needs work but all the food we tried was tops! UPDATE: Ba sold the place and it's now Saigon Bistro and the waitstaff are very good and the food is also very good. New menu but they accommodate MSG free and gluten free