Pho Huong Lan

I really don’t like Phở. But this place made me change. The soup base is really good!

My local watering hole! Best Phở in Hawaii IMO! Very clean tasting broth, vegetables properly cleaned and always fresh (Not dry or wilted like some other places). Spring rolls are really good here too!
Customer service friendly and fast! Guy in the front knows me by name which is always a nice touch! Only negative is when they go on their annual trip to the mainland and on Wednesdays because they sabbath…

This is seriously the BEST phở place on the island!!! My aunt eats here all the time & occasionally I join her! It never disappoints & the family that runs this restaurant is awesome! I used to always order the #1, but have since changed to the phở with brisket, broccoli, and tofu!!! I always get their spring rolls and coffee too! My aunt always gets the papaya salad which is super good too! Located in Maunakea Marketplace in Chinatown — I can’t say enough how AMAZING this place is!!!

Forgive me for not posting a picture! I had the medium bowl with tendon, beef balls and meat on the side. Sooooo delicious! My husband got the size XL! That was quite big! Love the flavor here and the meat is tender! Highly recommend this place

They give a lot for a small, place has ants on table and wall. Pretty pricey for phở although they give a lot of basil and bean sprouts!

To me Phở tastes like Phở anywhere else BUT the Beef broth here is so different and tasty. I’m a Green Papaya & Phở Tri fan but this place is great. They have limited seating during peak times, but take is super and the service is awesome! Nicely priced items too which makes this better than other Phở places out there… Sure there’s River St and others but location and service beat them out! Grind on! Pau!

Came here with my girlfriend because it had many good reviews. I was not disappointed. I love how large their portions are. I got the x-​large combo and it was delicious (about maybe $ 11). The only thing that was missing for me was how much meat came in the bowl. If you’re a meat lover, you just might have to order extra meat like I did. Other than that, Phở Huong Lan is a really good phở restaurant.

I’ve tried many phở places, and I must say Phở Huong Lan has to be on top for a reason haha. I was actually introduced to this phở place by some friends only within the past couple of years, but it is pretty much one of the only ones I go to now. Located in the Cultural Plaza in Chinatown, and easily accessible if you decide to street park outside the structure.
I usually come here with friends or my boyfriend on Sunday. It is always on a Sunday, and I give you one reason why… haha. We always come between noon and maybe 4 pm. I guess depending what time we wake up, but the restaurant usually has seats ready for us. Some days, when we have a big party, the have to wait outside, but the wait is usually less than 10 mins, which is great. The service is fast, which is a plus and the food is good. My boyfriend always says that along with their phở, their spring rolls are the best he’s ever had.
I think you know a restaurant is good when you see someone you know almost every time you go. I also hear from many different groups of friends saying that Huong Lan is their favorite phở place, no matter how far away they live haha.
I used to order the medium phở with beef balls, but started getting the large because the broth is so good. It’s not too sweet, or salty, or bland, but just right haha. I think my boyfriend would get the large with beef ball and rare steak. We always order the 4-​piece spring rolls when we are hungry. Their Thai tea is good too, I just wish that it came in a bigger cup.
For all you phở lovers that have not tried Huong Lan, I guess it’s time that you check it out and see for yourself.

MY THOUGHTS:
I’ve been here many times,
& I must admit, the phở here is da bomb!
Its PHO-​licious, PHO-​sure!
SERVICE:
The owners & workers are friendly,
they do work fast on taking your order & bringing you your orders.
They have to, so others waiting for a table, don’t have to wait too long.
This place gets very busy during lunch, esp. on weekends.
LOCATION:
This place is located on the side of Chinese Cultural Plaza,
This place can easily be missed, it is tucked away & the front of the shop is all tinted.
if you see the OPEN sign, you are at the right place.
Enter thru the glass door & follow the aroma of the phở broth.
FOOD:
All my visits, we only order PHO, Spring rolls or Summer Rolls.
— there are rice & vermicelli dishes,
we just get PHO, but next time I’ll try other dishes.
The prices for phở are reasonable & the portion size do come out as you order: M, L, or XL.
The XL is Huge, Price: 11.50.
The broth is very refreshing, The reason I love the broth & that PHL is different from other restaurants
they add parsley & another type of cilantro, makes it very refreshing.
I just love that!
You can taste the freshness of the broth!
The Phở comes out HOT, which is how it should be.
The Summer Rolls & spring rolls are really tasty!
Don’t forget to order them with your phở.
TIPS:
On Sunday, free meter parking. (if you are lucky to snatch a spot)
Plenty meter parking along Maunakea & N. Kukui street.
Dine before/​after lunch rush hour if you don’t want to wait.
Ask for tea water instead, goes great with PHO.
They are closed on Wednesdays.
Go for the bigger size, as it is 1.00 more.
CONCLUSION:
My family really enjoys our visits here,
we can’t wait! & will be back for our PHO fix.!!
2016 #2/​Yelp 100 Challenge

Compared to Hale Vietnam in Kaimuki, they are both top notch; you can’t go wrong with either places.
Quality-​9 out of 10. Phở has a clean broth. Friend spring rolls are also good side order to have. The phở is usually filling enough.
Service-​10 out of 10-​The waiters/​waitress have their system in order. Great timely service, and refill water often. My brother and I go often enough that the staff knows our order.
Negative-It’s a decent size place but because it’s a popular place, customers would sometimes have to wait. Try to go before the rush or after. If you get there by 11:50, you should have a table, but at 12, you risk possibly waiting a while.

My love for phở, actually started at Phở Huong Lan. And let me tell you I frickn love phở.
If I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be phở.
My first phở experience was here at Phở Huong Lan. Can you imagine me as a little girl slurping phở noodles? Well here I was.
My dad would always bring my brother and I here for phở. When we were younger, phở was always asked for whenever my dad asked what we wanted to eat. I guess this place really was that good
Many (many, many!) years later, this place still holds a special place in my heart. Not only does it hold some of my fondest little girl memories of eating lunch with my dad, but their phở is still on point. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t a good judge of flavors back then, but I’m way more particular now that I’m older about the broth flavor, the noodle texture, and the way the beef brisket is prepared.
The broth here at Phở Huong Lan is damn flavorful, and the noodles are perfect. They actually don’t do the brisket the way I like it most, but I’m not complaining! My dad and I occasionally still come here, and I just reminisce about the good ol’ times.
Good phở for 20 years? This place sure is consistent!

Out of all the phở places I’ve been to, this one is the best and my favorite one hands down. Its located in cultural plaza and it’s so close to my house I can walk here so when I need a pick me up the next day after a night of drinking or whenever I’m just craving, I always have this place in mind.
The phở is amazing. The broth is one of the best I’ve had. I come here so often, everyone already knows my order lol: medium phở w/​beef balls & tripe and an iced coffee. I’ve tried the spring/​summer rolls and papaya salad here before too and that’s something I recommend as well.
Service is always consistently great, fast, and friendly. They close at 5pm and also on Wednesdays which I don’t mind because I usually like to come for lunch and on the weekend anyways.

My top 3 phở spot on Hawaii.
— best broth. Clean, not oily.
— clean. Hot sauce always full and clean.
— spring rolls. Thin crispy and choke filling.
— water. Fastest water fill service on the island.
— smiles. Best Vietnamese service staff. Always nice polite.
— candy. The candy by the register is not old.

I’ve been coming to this place since I was a kid! The broth itself is SO good, definitely one of the best! Sometimes I get the rare beef phở (outside, duh), sometimes the rare beef with brisket, I’ve even gotten the veggie phở (wth rare beef on the side hehe).
Their spring rolls are also damn good. Get them if you have space in your belly!
The employees have always been sweet. The prices are very decent, and to be honest I don’t care, I’d pay more.
Parking is easy. Park at the municipal lot RIGHT there for the Chinese Cultural Plaza. Bring your ticket to get validated. It’s not free but it’s wicked cheap, less than $ 2 for 2 hours. Phok yeah!

One of my favorite phở places in Chinatown.
Atmosphere: Consistently busy so you know they’re doing something right. It’s hidden inside the shopping complex but accessible streetside. Tight table seating arrangement so be friendly.
Service: Very organized and quick turn around. Prompt and no frills service from waiter.
Food: Clean and good phở and bun. The summer rolls are also very tasty here.
Intangibles: One of the best vietnamese restaurants on the island. Come here for dependable and consistently good vietnamese cuisine.

Mmm.
Long, slender, fair. Perfumed with a fresh, herbal scent. Just enough to entice. Flowing hair. A warm, soft kiss on the lips. A sweet taste lingers on the tongue. Bright red petals of a rose betoken fire and passion. You want her…
Scrrrrratch. [from stylus being jerked across vinyl record]
It! I mean IT. IT!
I didn’t think a bowl of phở could be sexy, but this place has got one.
I’m a sucker for the perfume of white and green onions, Thai basil, and cilantro in a beef stock. Firm noodles, and thin slices of beef with a squirt of Sriracha sauce and I’m in love. Increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating. Or is that just from the Sriracha?
Alas. Every beauty has her/​its imperfections. The unearthly red color of the meat served «outside» is off-​putting. Enhanced artificially I think. So small and thin are the pieces they resemble rose petals.
And I actually don’t care for that sweet taste to the soup. The soup — the heart and soul of phở — was on the whole rather weak for my taste.
So, like a pretty girl with no personality, this comely bowl of phở was just «OK».

You can’t mess up phở. So for me, phở is phở yet this place has something about the broth that makes it better on the taste buds that the rest I’ve had. The quality of the broth is good which makes the experience of the eating the phở worthwhile.
I don’t really like coming to downtown so I wouldn’t have known about this place until my friend introduced it this place to me as she is a regular here. I’ve gone here probably a few times now and haven’t been disappointed of this place. They give an ample amount of fresh vegetables and are pretty prompt with the food when you don’t come here during peak times.
The servers are pretty attentive and friendly. The ambiance inside looks way cleaner and presentable than it looks outside. Prices are fairly decent and parking is $ 1 when validated for cultural plaza. I always get the smallest bowl of chicken phở and Vietnamese ice coffee as my usual.

Arriving in Honolulu at 7am (having been awake since 4am), I was pretty hungry. Not having many phở options where I live, I had wanted a good bowl of phở for breakfast.
Being so early in the morning, it was a bit of a challenge to find somewhere open that early. Kinda odd, since phở is traditionally eaten for breakfast in Vietnam, not dinner as a lot of people do here.
This place wasn’t far away (nothing is in Honolulu), so off I went. I didn’t know the parking situation in the Chinatown area, so as soon as I got close to the address, I found a metered spot on the street. (1.50 an hour, maximum time being one hour). Thank god the meter took credit cards as I do not carry change in my pockets. Do people still carry change?
After feeding the machine, we went to look for the restaurant, which the maps app said was «200 feet away».
The entire block and cultural center share the same address, so I had no idea where to find this place. I asked 2 different people in stores, a parking attendant and a security guard, and not one of them knew the place I was looking for. Wtf!!!
Finally, the 4^th person I asked knew, and said he show me the way «no charge». :)
Finally, entering the Chinatown cultural center shopping mall, there it was, tucked away in a tiny corner. You would never know it was there– unless you knew it was there.
Walking in and sitting down, we ordered right away. By this point, 15 minutes of my hour have melted off my meter outside.
The wife ordered phở tai (rare beef), and while I was supposed to get phở as well, opted for vermicelli at the last second. It had been a long while since I had a bowl of vermicelli noodles with my favorite combination of grilled pork and fried spring rolls– so I gave in.
I must admit, the vermicelli was only so-​so. Next time I will opt for the phở.
The phở was pretty good. The broth decent. The veggies had seen fresher days.
I don’t know that I would seek this place out again, as I have had better phở in Honolulu. However, if i were to land early in the morning again and this was the closest and open, I wouldn’t hesitate.
After eating, I take the closest exit– which ended up being right next to the parking garage (which the restaurant validates; so park here and not on the street) where the tenant told me he had no idea about that restaurant! Haha
Anyways, made it back to the car with 10 minutes to burn, but I ended up rescanning my credit card to top off my hour, so I could walk back to the donut shop I had spotted while on my recent quest for phở. Which leads me to my next review aka my new favorite donut shop– Regal Bakery!

I have eaten here almost every week for over 10 years. What differentiates Phở Huong Lan from other phở restaurants is that they pay special attention to the quality of their soup broth and the sliced beef. You will find that both are different (and better) than the other guys in town.
When I patronize other phở establishments I feel like I am cheating on Phở Huong Lan. I try but have yet to find anyone who can make the Vietnamese coffee (hot or cold) as well so now I have issues.
Personally, I am long past looking at the menu and have gone years without ordering anything beyond the phở and spring rolls. But when I am not in a noodles and soup mood, the other menu items at Phở Huong Lan are very good too. Most recently I had the Bun (Vermicelli) with spring rolls and chicken. There are also a selection of hand-​made beverages.
For those of you who think that a phở restaurant needs to have a line of customers outside to be considered good, Phở Huong Lan often has one, just like the place on River Street but without the stink of Chinatown. And yes — phở is great when you are hung over.

DELICIOUS — Phở, Summer Rolls, Iced Coffee! One of the best Vietnamese restaurants on the island. My Shrimp Phở with a side of Tofu was cooked to perfection, the broth was just right, the medium sized portion satisfied my appetite. This is the place to come if you’re craving phở… Believe me! The Shrimp Summer Rolls were yummy too. So refreshing!
Located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza, we went on a Sunday at noon and was surprised there was no line. When we left, though, the line was about 10 deep. Service was excellent, restaurant was clean and air conditioned, parking was ample at the Plaza.
Definitely on my top five fave restaurants for Phở in Hawaii…