Vietnam Cafe Pho Saigon

The food here is so delicious! We tried a new salad that has lemon shrimp, white onions, long leaves, peanut mixed together so amazing I would have it again. I always like to try different Vietnamese cuisine their Phở and this one here is so delicious it’s just the broth I think and my boyfriend had their oxtail soup and he loved it. Waitress was very nice and helpful on which dish to try and best yet their menu has pictures!!! Great place for Vietnamese food!

Evidently now called Tram Le’s Restaurant. Perfectly acceptable, if unremarkable, Vietnamese standard fare.

Ran into this place randomly one night when our Lucky Belly wait was 2 hours and we wanted a quick hunger-​curber.
What my friends and I didn’t know was that we were about to taste the best phở on the island. Our favorite was Phở Kapahulu (and I still find them delicious and conveniently in Kapahulu) but when we are around Chinatown we always HAVE to swing by here.
Yeah sure, the service isn’t the best here. But I’m here for the great food. It’s a hole in the wall with seats.
If I want amazeballs service I’ll go Ruth’s Chris or Roy’s.

Located right on the corner this place is easy to find. Came here on a Wednesday night and it was completely empty…
It seems like the owners have limited English, but that’s not really an issue if you know what you want to order. Food came out reasonably fast. I got the phở and the soup broth was tasty without being too salty.

The best price for the food. The amounts are generous and food is tasty. They serve a seafood noodle dish that I must do again. The egg noodles are fried first before they top them with lots of well seasoned, crispy seafood, mushrooms and veggies and a great garlicky light brown gravy. Not too much garlic but just enough. It was a very delicious dish.
I’m not sure why they need so many condiments (about 7 or 8) on the table though. Their food is plenty flavorful. Full menu, great variety and wonderful drink/​dessert type refreshment. Too much sugar for me, though.
We had the grilled pork chop too. Meh. Surprisingly disappointing. Surprising because the fish sauce grilled pork chops are usually an iconic dish in Vietnamese joints. You’ll see it on all Viet menus. This versions however, was tough, leathery, chewy and burnt. Not the best grilled pork chop, not even close. The best Viet grilled pork chop is from Saigon Cuisine on Liliha. Suh-​weet. But that’s another review.
Good portion of jasmine rice. Perfectly cooked, nice aroma.
Fresh, fresh veggies. Lots enough to take home. Basil and mint are expensive, I’m not ashamed to brown paper bag it back to my place. There is enough for a sandwich or salad after the fact.
Parking is on the street or muni, foot traffic is thick even on a Sunday but the nearby shopping is great and as always, the bargains make it doubly worth a visit to this little joint.
Cool, air con, great, fast service, mostly families, lots and lots of kids, loud ambiance if you can take that sort of thing.
Above all, the price is, as one might have imagined (Hotel St,) very reasonable. And I would do it again if I were in the middle of down town but would opt for Saigon Cuisine where parking is limited but free. Still, not having tried the phở, I’d have to go back at least to see if I could bump this review up, one star.

Loved this little dive, my daughters like the different taste of the PhO we are accustom to eat in the San Fernando valley and Alhambra dives…
The owners themselves serve you and what I loved the most is that the served the Phở with a full plate of Veggies!!! At all the Phở restaurants here in La, I have to ask waiters some times twice for veggies and lemons… here one plate feeds four!!!
Defenetely going there next visit to Honolulu

Decent place. Great service, owners were very personable and friendly. Wasn’t my favourite phở place in comparison to the dozens we have here on Toronto — I might not be used to the different broths?

After meeting up with some friends at Murphy’s for a few Guinness, I found myself a little buzzed and very hungry! Was really in the mood for some soup and noodles and had never tried the Vietnam Café but it was close by, so why not?
Really glad I did! Place is totally unassuming but you had to figure it served good food since the place was ¾ full for 9 p.m. (too late for the dinner crowd and and too early for the drunk crowd!). Was not disappointed; really flavorful broth with a good amount of noodles and all the fixings. Portion sized were great as well; the regular size was more than enough for me and the large size could either feed one really hungry guy or a couple quite adequately. Prices were good as well (about $ 8 for the regular size). Try the Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk; super tasty and strong enough to jump start an SUV!
When in Chinatown and looking for noodles, this will be my go to place!

Super slow, only 1 table… I order to go. No onions…
He put onions.
Case close. Ain’t coming back…

I don’t really eat too much phở, but when I do I come here. Tucked away in Chinatwon, this place is a gem. I usually go during lunch. Depending on the downtown lunch rush, this place can be a bit busy. However, I’ve never had to wait longer than a few minutes to sit.
The staff is nice and attentive. This place isn’t cash only, but you need to spend a minimum of $ 10 to charge anything. So if you use your card a lot, you’ll either have to order some extra food or lunch is on you.
I’ve only ordered the Combination Phở here, but it sure is amazing. The broth is quite delicious along with everything else. Great place to eat on a rainy day, or any other day. I’ve been here, on average, about once a week to once every other week for the last couple of months.

This restaurant was one of my favorites when I lived on Oahu. I often see my FB friends’ postings about this restaurant. That brought back some great memories.
I knew the owner and I’ve seen what he did to survive during many ups and downs in the islands, including 9 – 11 and SARS that slowed down in tourism. For a restaurant being in business this long, it got to be the best.
I ate lunch or dinner almost weekly. I learned a trick about the phở broth. If I wanted strong and flavorful, I go late at night. Otherwise, summer rolls and beef salad were the best during the day.

Finally! A positive phở experience!!! After looking around Unilocal!and passing by this place day after day on the bus to campus, I finally asked a friend Charles for a lunch get together.
We arrived here a bit after 11 and were the first customers for the day… or at least it was empty until we showed up. The worker with the mustache had us seated at one of the tables and quickly got us our waters. Still uncertain with what to order I stuck with the phở part and ordered the number three, Beef Ribeye Steak Phở. (
)
Of course, like I said, we were the only one there so after we ordered our food, we quickly got them brought to us. It’s a good thing cause I was really hungry.
After added veggies and plum sauce (a whole lot) we both started eating. Ate as much as my chopsticks could find under the broth and sipped some broth too. I think this is one place I will come back for more phở or try the other items on the menu!
Other than the food, there’s music that played in the background… not too loud. The workers were nice and attended to those that came in. There was one incident that when the older lady worker talked story with the table in front of us and one of the customers were a bit rude to her. :(
As we were finishing up our meal… I wasn’t sure how payment was made. Every time the guy passed by, I thought he’d drop our checks but didn’t. I asked Charles, and he knew to pay at the register. Now I know.
I am wondering, do they serve ice cream? Cause it looks like soft serve ice cream in the back, but I’m not sure… I’ll look at the menu next time. Ha-​ha.

I’ve eaten phở at literally dozens of places on Oahu and this is my favorite.
The soup broths are amazing. And for someone like me who gets a vegetarian soup, it’s the clear winner. Most phở places can make a soup taste rich and meaty, but veggie soups take talent. Phở Saigon has got it!
I love you, Café Phở Saigon.

I think the main thing this place has going for it is that it’s the closest sit-​down phở place to downtown. I had the regular tendon and brisket phở ($ 7.25) which was so-​so; the broth tasted like they added soy sauce to it. One thing is certain, there’s a ton of MSG in the broth, judging by the copious amounts of water I needed to drink and MSG headache afterwards.
If you’re looking for something more decent, walk a little farther into Chinatown.

I’m not much one for soups, but this was where I ate my very first phở, about 5 years ago. It was great, but I’ve only had it a couple times. Its a big seller here, and I know its good, even tho I haven’t tried anyone else’s!
I do, however come here often… the owners are so sweet, older Vietnamese couple… They already know my order when I walk in. I seat myself, and they wave and say «Same thing?» «Of course»
#6 on the vermicelli page… Refreshing awesomeness! Especially as a pick me up after a hangover kinda night :)
Great place, good food, family style atmosphere…

STILL my FAVORITE PHO spot on the island. HANDS DOWN. I’ve tried the usual suspects and no broth compares to this place (for me). The value is way better also.
Ohhhh how I la la looooove Vietnam Café Phở Saigon. Absolutely LOVE it. The weather in paradise has been rainy over the last few weeks. I’m FINALLY getting over bronchitis but my poor BF has been sick off and on lately (thanks to me I assume)… so I figured with the rain, wind, and sick hunny… phở would be a good dinner for us!
He drove all the way to Chinatown on Superbowl Sunday (yes, Superbowl Sunday) to pick up phở for me here because I was über sick. How freakin sweet is he?! So I drove him to have dinner as well (he refused take out and wanted to eat in).
Parking can be tight… it’s Chinatown! You can either find street parking, or park in the Chinatown Municipal lot ($ 3 flat rate) or pay anywhere from $ 5-​$ 10 for other self pay lots.
So now we’ve been coming here for over 3 years. We’ve tried many other phở places, but I swear, none can compare! It’s a decent sized restaurant on the corner of North Hotel and Smith St in Chinatown. The dining area is well lit, nicely decorated, and decently ventilated. There is a flat screen TV on one side of the dining area bolted to the wall.
The bathroom isn’t the greatest… but again, we’re in Chinatown, and it gets the job done. So long as the door locks, there is toilet paper, the toilet flushes, the sink has clean water, and there is soap to wash my hands, I’m all good!
The owners (older gentleman runs the front usually and wifey cooks in the back) are great. Super friendly and pleasant… and they know our orders already! No need for menus for us. we get the same thing each time. We’ve never had bad service here, even before we were «regulars». We’re greeted when we walk in, our orders are put in quickly, food is served quickly, and waters are refilled when they need to be.
We LOVE their spring rolls. Filled with pork, long rice, carrots, and cabbage… they’re delish! The nuac mam they serve has shredded carrots in it and it has just the right amount of tartness to it. We always add sriracha to the nuac mam to give it a hot kick! Spring rolls are served with noodles, lettuce, and basil. YUMMY!
Onto the phở… I LOVE my meatball phở with EXTRA meatballs. The large portion is HUGE and the amount of meatballs you get is REDONKULOUS. Seriously if you ordered this many meatballs anywhere else they’d seriously charge you like $ 6 for it! The portion of noodles is more than enough, there are TONS of meatballs (yay!), and the broth is DARK, BEEFY, and FULL OF FLAVOR. I add the usual suspects to my phở: a tiny bit of hoisin sauce, and a LOAD of sriracha and the chili pepper in oil (hey, I AM Thai, I can handle!)… plus of course lemon and bean sprouts (I’m Thai but I don’t care for basil… story for another day!). At almost $ 10 for a large bowl with extra meatballs, I find it considerably reasonable. (you HAVE to see how much freakin food they give!)
I know everyone has their own opinion and some may love this place like me, and some may hate it, but for ME, I would definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for an awesome bowl of phở! I’ve brought friends here, my BF’s brother’s, and even my Mom (who is ever so hard to please), and they’ve ALL agreed that it’s some pretty damn good broth. FYI: My Mommy doesn’t eat beef so she opted for the seafood phở in a vegetarian broth and she liked it!
Give it a try!

I have, for the longest time, snubbed Phở restaurants in the downtown and China town district for the longest time — since I always operated under the assumption that restaurants there are just dirty — especially since there’s one restaurant — that shall be nameless on River Street — that was severely attrocious, but still continue to operate with long lines of daily regulars. I’m surprised that the health department hasn’t caught on, but whatever, I suppose. I decided to overlook that assumption and see if this Phở restaurant was up to par and I am sad to say, it did not.
This restaurant is on North Hotel Street, directly on the bus routes, so I see it almost every single day while commuting from Kalihi to Kamuki on the #2 bus route. Parking is grossly scarce, unless you park in the surrounding parking garages for a nominal fee. I made up my mind by coming here, after a crazy work day and filling myself up with Phở. After walking up to this place, it seemed like a typical restaurant I was used to, but there was no diners here. I thought that was a bit odd, but it was in China town. Not a big fan of China town apparently. I just bit my lip and entered anyway and sat down. The experience was not really something you’d write home about, but I am writing here just to gripe anyway.
The service was less than adequate and the Phở was not decent, to say the least. I waited probably ½ and hour for my Phở to arrive — which is definitely slower than the usual 10 minutes that I am currently used to. This place does suck on that. They need to improve on this. Other than that, the Phở tasted bland and lacked alot of flavor. I felt like it was a dilluted Phở stock and just felt too watery. What tasted like shoyu was probably that. I had to put hot sauce on it to make it taste better, when it wasn’t. The taste clearly wasn’t there and I just didn’t leave any tip thereafter. I had to lie to my teeth to the server to say everything was «alright» — just so I don’t have ill will to anyone — especially when they think they take pride in what they do.
So I am griping on Unilocal.Do not go here for the Phở. Their summer rolls are somewhat decent, so I still come here.
F

I love my steak and tendon phos. Phở Saigon serves the crunchier bits of tendon and rare steak with their phos. Broth had a very homemade tasting, not super clear but not a lot of msg.
Extra large was around $ 7.80 but super filling, I could barely finish it! Seemed like the combos were very popular at lunch. Service was pleasant and efficient. Takes card for charges over $ 10!

I’ve been to Vietnam Café Phở Saigon several times. It’s in the heart of Chinatown. Next to Mini Garden. The place is always packed during lunch with the usual downtown workers.
For me, I’m not a fan of this place. I don’t mind the wait for the food if it’s delicious. For this place, I dont want to wait. The wait for the food is about 20 minutes and the service is bad. You ask for napkins, you dont get them until the end of your meal. They dont bring plates for your spring rolls, you just need to eat them with your chopsticks and napkins, if you have some. If you’re not good with chopsticks, then it’s falling on your lap or on the table. The other day, I had to go up to the cashier and get my plates.
The broth for the phở is not anything special. It’s like something from package saimin. It’s okay. «Meh, I’ve experienced better.»

Not very good phở… the broth is not slow-​simmered like it should be, but is instead flavored with soy sauce. No beefy flavor in the broth.
Good service though.
If you want really good phở, go to To Chau or Ha Long.