Phong Lan Vietnamese Restaurant

Well, visited my go-​to Vietnamese spot in CR for lunch during workday. Not sure what has happened, but service and food just didn’t match up with my memory of this place. Ordered my regulars and while they were what in expected, they just didn’t seem as good. Also, I missed my smiley and energetic server who always seemed happy to see me. When I asked the server for some carrot and radish, he refused me. Then, when I asked for our check, I was instructed to just go to cashier. Didn’t like the new system. Oh well. I will go back, but I have taken away a star.

This place is everything you could want and need from a local phó spot. Food is always delicious. The staff is helpful and attentive. The two daughters that hang around after school are the sweetest kids imaginable. I always make it a point to talk to them when I drop in for carry out.

Stopped by for dinner with some friends on a Thursday night since we were in the area. Usually if we are in Cedar Rapids we go to Phở Mai because it’s closer for us driving from Iowa City, but I’m glad we tried Phong Lan.
It was pretty empty when we went but it took a while to get our orders taken. However, once we placed our orders the food was out in literally 5 minutes. Between our party of four we ordered spring rolls, banh xeo, phở dac biet, bun cha gio, hu tieu, and a rice dish. I really enjoyed the banh xeo! It is EASILY the best one I have had in Iowa. Good ratio of sprouts to meat unlike others I’ve had and the crêpe part was cooked perfectly. I only wish there was a little more lettuce served with it. I also like the broth of the phở here. I prefer a savory broth over a sweeter one, and the broth here was pretty on point. It’s a little fattier that what I would make myself, but I think it’s better than most of the other places that serve phở in the area. They also serve the phở with thai chilis instead of jalapenos which is nice. I think they could serve it with a few more vegetables, but it wasn’t a huge deal.
They have a big menu compared to some of the Vietnamese places in the area, and the nice thing is that it’s actually Vietnamese food and not the weird fusion of Vietnamese and American-​Chinese that you see at a lot of places.
The only real issue is I think the prices for the amount of food you get is a LITTLE high, but in a city with only 2 Vietnamese restaurants, I can’t really complain. The phở dac biet was about $ 9 for an okay size bowl and the bun cha gio was $ 8 and some change. The banh xeo was kind of small for $ 6.50, but like I said it was so good that I would get it again.
If I’m in the area again, I’ll definitely stop by and try something else (really want to try the bun bo hue and bo luc lac) on the menu. This is my new go-​to Vietnamese place in CR! !

Spectacular Phở and Vermicelli and even better service! Seriously come here every single time I’m back in town.

OK. A big slow & a bit bland. Have done just OK. It does get better. Phở not up to what we’ve had elsewhere.

Found this hidden gem the other day. Had the speciality phở and was amazing!

Amazing phở and chicken lemongrass. Food is always fast and fresh. Try the crab ragoons too.

Always great food and service here! The egg rolls and crab rangoons are the best in town. Try the Vietnamese coffee whle you are there too! Way better than those chain coffee places make!

Not as good as phở mai for phở noodle soup. Other items on menu are different than phở mai and seem to have a Chinese take on some of the Vietnamese items that could be on the menu. The noodle soup is watered down compared to phở mai but the mom and pop feel puts a level of authenticity there. Pricing is decent but the add ons for phở don’t seem fresh like the mint leaves and bean sprouts. Smaller portions but lower price.

i came in looking forward to the bowl of hot phở– with my favorite, tendon! except they don’t serve phở with «actual» tendon. instead they give you slices of beef shank or as the server said: «meat with tendon inside». i was so disappointed. there was no indication on the menu that they serve «meat with tendon inside». the sliced beef (without tendon) was dry. the soup itself was very tasty. perhaps if i ever come again, i will try a bun or a rice dish.

Absolutely the best spring rolls in town. The lemongrass chicken is amazing as is the Phở. My favorite Vietnamese restaurant by far. All the ingredients are consistently fresh, and the service is always professional and wonderful.

Egg rolls were very good. The Bun was exactly as described but I wish I had listened better. No fault of the restaurant but it was not something I’d do again. I’ll go back and try the phở next time.

Unassuming casual spot with wonderful Phở. I had the seafood phở, Mr had the beef. We both had the (and I’m spelling this wrong-​sorry) cui gon rolls. Food was served quickly. The bowls of Phở were large and the broth was full of rice noodles and meat (or seafood). I recommend it highly!

Had the phở with beef and meatballs.
Seriously some of the best I have had (and I have had it all over the US).
I didn’t try anything else, but if their phở is indicative of the rest of their menu items, it will rock.

Possibly the worst phở that I’ve had. It was way too greasy. Broth just tasted off. Had to add a lot of hoisin and siracha to mask the flavors that threw everything off. Not enough meat either.

I travel the country for work and have had phở in so many places, including both coasts and places with large vietnamese populations. This phở was surprisingly delicious.
I got the beef phở with shrimp spring rolls. For being in Eastern Iowa, I was pleasantly surprised. If I ever find myself back around these parts, I will return for sure.
Great service from the man owning the place as well.

For the price portion Are small! I got the phở is was ok broth was good but little meat and veggies condiments! This will b the last time come here unless changes are made. Don’t me wrong i want to help small businesses but food and service needs to b on par with the prices they’re charging!

This place was just ok for me. Saw some good reviews and it was only half a mile from my hotel. I decided to walk there. It was getting dark and at first I was a bit scared walking. However, there were no one outside at all. It was pretty much a dead city. The good guys and the bad guys apparently were all inside somewhere.
Phong Lan is far from trendy or fancy. It looked like a restaurant in Asia when people decided to open one up in their house or garage. It totally reminded me of those places I used to go to when I was young growing up. A family would run it. Mom and grandmother would be cooking, while the father would take order and man the cashier. The older kid would help serve and the younger kids would be around playing or watching TV. It brought me back to memory lane.
I was disappointed with the egg rolls. I was expecting Vietnamese egg rolls with savory ground pork mixed with carrots and little vegetables and served with the Vietnamese sweet and sour fish sauce. This egg rolls had some meat but there was cabbage. It was also served with those manufactured red sweet and sour sauce. It didn’t taste bad but it wasn’t what I wanted.
The phở had the most beautiful glistening effect on the broth. I took a slurp and it tasted ok. Just ok and they were pretty light with the meat. One thing I like however, they used slices of Thai Chili instead of Jalapeño. That rocked! I like my phở a bit spicy but Jalapeño didn’t do it for me. I added Sriracha at times and it kinda ruined the broth. However, with Thai Chili, it got pretty hot gradually. It was pretty fantastic.
I made it back safely to the hotel. I just got robbed my Vietnamese Egg Rolls but otherwise all is accounted for.

I love this restaurant. It is clearly a family owned restaurant, as we frequently go here, and the owners’ daughter is sometimes hanging around playing or watching cartoons. The same people are there to greet us every single time. The food is authentic and wonderful. The prices are good. They recently updated their menus, which they were due for. The service is friendly and the food always gets out to us SO fast!!! The chicken with lemongrass bun is my favorite. I always ask them to add in shrimp egg rolls to my bun dish. They are delicious!!! As for the review mentioning the portion sizes. The appetizers are small, but they’re priced accordingly. Paying 3 bucks for 2 spring rolls doesn’t equate to a rip off for me, especially when the main dish I order is huge.

Another good phở find. Loved the broth, nice flavor to it not much too fat had a great taste to it that went down easy. Noodles were good, could have used a few more though. The beef was cooked perfect and was of a good grade of beef. They do give smaller portions of basil and sprouts, which is alright for me since I don’t use them all. They had these small cut up peppers that from now on I want. They were way better than the jalapeño slices in my opinion.
Also had eggrolls as usual, pretty good with homemade sauce. Our drinks were the limeade drink, was good for the price, not overly sweet so you can adjust if needed and Denise got the passion fruit slushy which was really delicious.
I really liked this place and will have to drive here for my phở since Iowa City/​Coralville doesn’t have a place yet. Worth the short drive for any phở fan that is «phở’ening phor phonomal phở» :)