| Overall (based on 4 ratings) |  |
| Broth (flavor, fragrance, clarity) | |
| Noodles (texture, clumpiness) | |
| Meat (tenderness, quality) | |
| Vegetables (variety, freshness) | |
anonymous
after my phenomenal experience at the pho bar, a vietnamese noodle bar which recently opened on euclid ave, near the uc berkeley campus, i decided this one was worth writing about...
first of all, the place is gorgeous -- the kind of clean, warm and elegant space that makes you want to hang out for a long time. in the front of the restaurant, there's a long and spacious bar area, where you can order refreshing and unusual drinks like mint tamarinade, salted plum spritzer, or an assortment of mostly local brews, including a not-so-local japanese ale. before getting seated, i tried the mint tamarinade with basil seeds. it was like having a fancy minty, not-too-sweet alcoholic beverage without the alcohol. the seeds added a unique slippery texture which seemed to create an even more pleasurable culinary experience, though the enhancement in terms of flavor was subtle. a friend ordered the japanese wheat beer, so i got to try that as well --- i'm typically agnostic about wheat beers, but this one was quite bright and delicious. very special.
in the back and larger section of the restaurant are several tables, some that are long and share-able, and others are more intimate. the open space arrangement allows the buzz and hum of happy eating sounds and conversations to flow throughout but not make you feel crowded while eating.
now onto the food... the menu is both simple and complex, offering both traditional and less conventional items, including vegan and gluten-free, to keep things interesting. given that the pho bar is a noodle bar, i ordered the "house" pho along with the spring rolls (deep fried) appetizer to start. the rolls were served with mint sprigs and lettuce and fish sauce for dipping. even though they were of the fried sort (rather than the fresh rolls), the filling -- pork and shrimp, i think -- somehow maintained a mild and almost delicate texture and taste. as for the pho, the msg-free broth presented a startling perfect meld of all the flavors that make pho such an incredible meal. i have no idea how the pho bar does it, but the authentic and rich flavors make apparent how much care is put into its making. the noodles themselves had clearly been prepared with comparable precision. before we left, we tried a couple of the desserts -- banana tapioca pudding and the sweet corn rice pudding. they are both winners and impossible to do justice in trying to describe here. oh, i almost forgot to mention - the prices at the pho bar for the quality of the meal and overall food experience is more than reasonable.
i swear i still dream about this place and plan to go back again and again!
Anh N.
I told myself I would write a review of this restaurant after I tried out the Sunday brunch today. So here it goes:
I don't understand what all of the 1, 2, 3 stars ratings are about. I like the Pho here, and guess what, I'm a Vietnamese who was raised in Vietnam for 18 years.
And I can tell you with confidence, this place has good Pho and good Vietnamese food.
If you're ranting about "authenticity" guess what, there's no "authentic" Pho in LA or in Berkeley. There are just variants, just like California Roll is an American variant of Japanese sushi. Even in Vietnam, there are different variations of Pho: there are Northern styles and there are Southern styles. And Pho has its own evolution in California.
(The only authentic Vietnamese restaurant that I know so far locates in San Gabriel, but that one doesn't serve Pho)
I've been in LA and Berkeley, there are only 3 restaurants that serve Pho of which I approve: the Pho Bar, the Pinto, and the Blue Fin restaurant (in Westwood, LA).
Other Pho restaurants in San Gabriel regions are way too "MSG" and "Chinese" for me to take. I certainly prefer Pho of the Pho Bar over Pho of Pinto for the taste here more closely resembles to the taste that I knew in Vietnam.
Pho:
They serve the Southern style here, as most restaurants in Cali; you can tell because the rice noodle is small in width, this is the type of Pho that is served in Nha Trang. The Northen style Pho that I ate has rice noodle big width, much like that of the Pad Kee Mao dish. When I first ate here, I got really excited when I saw the "saw herb"!!! In Vietnam, we say "It's not Pho without the saw herb." But after a while, they stop putting the saw herb in the herb plate, and I learned that saw herb is very expensive. What a shame.
The broth is good. Certainly if you are already addicted to that nasty taste of MSG in San Gabriel, you would not approve of the taste here. But I like it; it's more "Vietnamese" and tasteful than most of the Pho that I have had so far.
I do agree that the portion is small. I wish that they would put more rare sirloin and more tripe in my bowl though.
Banh Mi:
It is "BANH", not "BAHN"! Vietnamese don't have silent "H" so the word "...AHN" doesn't make sense to us! And the "NH" is actually a legit consonant sound in Vietnamese.
The Banh Mi here again is a nice variant of authentic Banh Mi. But I'm fine with it, since they do have authentic ingredient. My most favorite is the Ham and Pate Banh Mi. I never had that combo of Vietnamese Ham and Pate in Vietnam, so I never knew how much pleasant a taste they would create, until now. And yes, that Ham and Pate is authentically Vietnamese. I certainly add it to my brunch menu.
Bun:
The Bun dish has never been my favorite Vietnamese dish. But I tried it out anyway to see if this place has a real deal. And yes, it does.
I ordered the Pork Bun. When I saw them bringing out a side dish with Pork cake in sweet fish sauce, I knew right away they served Pork Bun in a true style. The Pork is good, but I'm more into the spring roll in the dish. It's truly the taste of Vietnamese spring roll, with cat-ear mushroom and shrimp pieces inside.
Banh Cuon:
Banh Cuon is in the Sunday Brunch Menu, and boy, it's good. They have the shrimp-and-yam tempura, which is rather novel, but again I don't mind, since it tastes good with sweet fish sauce. But boy, do I love the Cha Lua and the rolled cake with cat-ear mushroom and pork pieces! They put a lot of fried red onion in the dish, which gives a pleasant salty-sweet taste to the fish sauce.
But again, I wish they put more rolls in the dish. They only served me 3 rolls.
I have not had the Broken Rice Plate in the Sunday Brunch Menu so I can't really give a review of it.
Service:
They do have a very good service here. I'm the type of customer that still have her dignity intact so I'm not a sucker for restaurants that have good food but terrible service that treat customers as beggars - aka, "Soup Nazi" restaurants (stare at Great China). Today they served me a Boba for free; I was the last customer and they still had some Boba left.
So yes, overall, I like the place. Good "phood" and good service.
I don't rate 5 stars for I rarely do.
And it's true that sometimes the taste is not consistent - that happened 2 or 3 weeks ago to me, when I received a Pho bowl with bland taste, and I was wondering if they had a fresh and naive chef that day or not. However, this week, when I went here 4 times, the taste is consistently good.
Yen N
Came in after a long drive from Southern California and stopped The Pho Bar. The first thing I noticed was the ambiance. It is nice and cozy with such a nice Vietnamese feel. The lanterns were meticulously done and the wall was decorative. More Vietnamese restaurants need to learn from this. The place is extremely clean and very well established. The decor really was spot on. I felt very comfortable and I was really able to unwind, relax and focus on the food.
We started off with the French fries and basil with aioli sauce. It was addictive and had a fresh taste to the appetizer. It was not greasy and I could tell the oil was not old and reused.
Goi Cuon: The sauce was excellent!! The vegetables were fresh, the meat was plentiful and the wrapping was not dry. The noodles inside were al dente. This is very good and refreshing. Healthy and very ver delicious.
Pho and Banh Mi: Now here is a match made in heaven. Being Vietnamese, I never thought this would work, but oh my... what a happy marriage. The broth was aromatic, noodles cooked to perfection and nothing over powered the others. The vegetables were perfect and tasted so healthy. This hit the spot. The Banh Mi had the thinnest sliced garnish. I LOVED IT. The taste is perfect and everything matched very well. I absolutely loved it.
Sriracha Wings: Now I had never had this before. Get the sauce because it made it spicier and tasted very fresh. I would love to have this over Buffalo Wings any day. This is soooo good.
NOWWWWWWW DESSSERRRRTTT!!!
Banana Tapioca: OHHHHH WOOOOOWWWWWWWWW with banana chips. YUMMMO
Sweet Corn: My favorite!!! I can have this anyway and I love love love it. Never had anything this good and I could eat this every day.
Yogurt: Healthy and really really better than any other chain location. I love this yogurt.
Beignets: As good as it gets. If you have had Cafe du Monde, come here, you will be happy and get the Vietnamese coffee to go with it. The best night cap to the meal. One of the best meals I have ever had.
I know there are some negative reviews, but one I tried it. The food is really good. If you need something, they will accomodate. I wanted extra mint in my mint tamarind drink- VOILA, done.
The place is great!!
Val H
The Pho has gotten better here! I convinced my friends to come and they love it too. Very cool place to go with group and I really think the food is quality.
