Pho Basil Vietnamese Cuisine

Great phở. Good prices. Nice spring roles.

I just stopped by, only to discover that Than Brothers is the new owner. I’ll miss this place. The food was fantastic, it was clean, and the owner was really nice. I was really hoping that it could survive, but that location is going to be difficult for any business.

This place is now Phở Than Brothers and ever since the ownership passed, this place has gone downhill. The servers here are extremely rude and never seem to know what they’re doing. I had called in takeout and when I showed up 30 minutes later, the guy at the front didn’t know what I was talking about.
One good thing about this place is they have a veggie menu, but the downside is their dishes are bland.
Basically it’s a good place to get quick and cheap phở, but if you’re looking for quality and good service, go somewhere else.

The phở is okay but I’ve had much better. Sometimes they give you a lot of food and the broth is great and sometimes the broth is a bit greasy looking.

Under new ownership, not as good as previous owner. Phở broth wasn’t quite right, and had a lot of particulates. Not as much noodles and meat as before either. Egg rolls (Vietnamese spring rolls) were a little overcooked and greasy. Previous owner was an American who used his wife’s recipes for the food. Very nice guy and obviously spoke perfect English. New owner not very fluent and communication was a little difficult, my order was correct but a bit anti social while I waited for my to-​go order. To-​go orders also do not include the «yummy desert» crème puff.

Wish that there was tripe on the menu, but other wise great taste. Good price 6.50 for a small. Would def go back again.

Heck no — Unilocal fail. 4.5 stars, seriously? I guess it’s adequate if you want just Phở ga or like Phở tai (just beef). Not very traditional — Phở dac biet isn’t even an option. No tripe either which is ok but broth was unimpressive, a tad sweet and just plain tasted and looked empty.
Spring rolls had small pieces of pork that was dry, hard as a rock and sauce was more like fish sauce. It was sweet, light and watery, just weird.
Not familiar with the area but if you are a fan, you don’t know what you’re missing. Two great places in Woodinville, not too far off.

I never did return in November, but I did just try Phở Basil again in May 2011. It was definitely better and had a more fragrant broth. Wasn’t chock full of salt/​MSG. As far as phở goes, I think this place is so-​so.

Just stopped by Phở Basil with my husband and 8-​year old daughter. They are close to our house and we hadn’t yet managed to get by.
I give them 5 stars based on my «what do I expect for the type of restaurant and the cost» rating system, with the «what did my husband and daughter think of it» modifier, because their opinions matter too (just not as much as mine). This place is now our go-​to spot for phở and spring rolls on the Eastside.
Walking in through the door the first thing we noticed was how nicely the place was laid out and how clean everything was. I’ve eaten in many an Asian restaurant where I had to concentrate on ignoring the dirt/​odors in order to get dinner, so having a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere is a huge plus.
We ordered spring rolls, phở, mango smoothie (they added tapioca pearls at our daughter’s request, yum) and café sua da. I ordered phở nam gan and asked for an extra bowl for our daughter. The server (owner?) asked if we would like it split, so I said «sure!», only later thinking that I should have asked for hers to be «kid style» — i.e. without any fresh onion or cilantro added to the bowl. Well, Phở Basil knows kids, evidently, because that is exactly the way it came. Perfect! Extra points for anticipating the issue.
Everything was very fresh and high quality — the spring rolls were freshly made with a soft wrapper and full of fresh tasting lettuce and mint/​basil (and the warm peanut sauce that came alongside was delicious and generously portioned) the bean sprouts were crisp and tasted like sprouts rather than water, the basil was immaculate, jalapenos fresh and easy to shred up, the broth was light and clean tasting, the meats (rare beef, well done flank, tendon, and meatball) all tasted fresh and well-​prepared. Less star anise in the broth than some, but that is fine by me! The café sua da was good, but next time I think I will order the mango smoothie.
The three of us agreed that dinner was excellent. While it is more expensive than your average phở house, based on the quality of the ingredients and the immaculate restaurant I can say it is a good value. We stuffed ourselves for $ 35.
I can’t wait to go back and try their banh mi and bun. I will update once I have experienced those and can review them. They also had a really tempting looking fried rice on the menu with chinese sausage, shrimp, etc. but after a day of skiing I really wanted phở.

I live nearby, and have gone here twice. As a vegan, I’m used to limited options in many restaurants. The menu made it appear that I may only be able to get tea and tofu spring rolls. But… surprise! They were very nice and accommodating both times. I’ve had phở made with veggie broth (not authentic, I know, but yummy) and «beef & broccoli» made with (perfectly done, surprisingly!) tofu instead of beef. I have had delicious hot teas both times. Our waiter was so friendly and helpful! Unfortunately, the bubble tea mixes have dairy in them. Boo-​hoo. Good lunches overall, though. Oh, my 2 different lunchdates (1 veg, 1 not) have both enjoyed their phở, too.

I’ve been here twice in the last month (and am leaving the house once I’m done with this post to go for a third) and have been very impressed with everything from calling in my order to sipping up the last noodle in my bowl. Both times, they have been very quick, efficient, responsive and accommodating to my food-​pickiness, and greeted me with a warm smile. Most importantly, their Phở has been consistently wonderful! I haven’t tried any of their other dishes, but I presume they’re probably just as great.

Why can’t we do half stars still??? This is a solid 3.75 star establishment! I can’t give them 4 though… here’s my reasoning:
I just moved to the area and using my trusty Unilocal phone app I found this as noodle and broth goodness closest to us. This place is tucked away in a small strip mall. Very clean, fast and friendly service, I did both eat in and takeout already.
Overall a very pleasant experience. However, the phở broth lacked some aromatics, richness and that home made feel I get from Than Brothers.
I will continue my patronage here in a pinch and for a quick meal… but maybe another hidden gem awaits?

I frequently find myself in this part of town with some time to kill, and this time I decided to enjoy some bubble tea and a light meal. (Perhaps it was the FREEZING COLD air outside?)
Was there a super friendly employee (owner??) that was totally down for a chat about bubble tea and the preference of tapioca balls over jelly? Yep.
Did they make and serve delicious coconut bubble tea? Yep. Not sure what I was thinking ordering a cold one considering the parking lot was ICY outside, but it sure was good.
Did they have a veggie spring roll option? Indeed they did! They weren’t the best spring rolls I’ve ever had and I think I enjoyed them a bit more with the brown phở sauce (tuong: bean sauce/​hoisin sauce?) instead of the warm peanut sauce that it came with, but they did get me full and were enjoyable enough to finish.
Cool part: Phở Basil is right next to an ice rink! It seems to be popular with kids (and for ice hockey practice) so I’m not sure how much fun it would be for me, but grabbing a hot bowl of Phở after ice skating does sound fantastic.
Please (pretty please?) just add some veggie Phở (with veggie broth) to your menu and I’ll be one happy camper. Customer. Unilocaler. Whatever. I like Phở on cold days and I am trying to not eat too much meat, so a veggie Phở option would be super-​fantastic. (Thank you!)

Nice clean place, you can tell the owner cares about first impressions and understands people enjoy a great atmosphere. The food was excellent, very fresh. I also liked that you can peek into the kitchen and see how clean that was as well.
What can I say pride in ownership means something to the owner and employees.

We decided to try this place because it’s close to our place. Nice to see a phở & Vietnamese sandwich place nearby.
Mediocre. We made a take-​out order for pork sandwiches and spring rolls. The place was chillin’ cold (temperature). The friendliness they claim to have wasn’t there. I didn’t like how they don’t list prices for sandwiches and bubble tea. They could name any price or raise prices anytime for all I know.
As to the taste. Sandwiches were… okay… spring rolls were just ok, too. I expect more from a $ 4 Vietnamese sandwich, especially when you can get an EXCELLENT sandwiches for under $ 3 at Saigon Deli in Seattle. I wish we have more great Vietnamese sandwich place in Eastside. Oh I can’t forget what a surprise my husband got in his sandwich. A long black hair in his first bite. EW!
As to phở, we haven’t tried it this time, so we don’t know how good/​bad it is yet.

I’m from the SF bay area where phở joints go crazy with the MSG/​Fish sauce in their broth.
Quite the opposite here. You can tell the phở was cooked for hours on end and didn’t have to cheat to get it tasting this gooood. The phở here is quite a delight for all you healthy Seattlelites looking for all natural and fresh ingredients.
Dishes I enjoyed with my family while here were:
— The chicken phở– white meat heaven, hot broth, need I say more.
— Spring rolls– made to order, wow. Looks too nice to eat, but authentic as hell
— Vermicelli with BBQ pork– a classic Vietnamese dish done right.
The service was great and the place was spotless.
You can’t ask for more…

I’m giving 5 stars because this Phở restaurant is best in it’s class. Having gone through college in San Jose, CA where there were four or more genuine Vietnamese restaurants per city block, I’ve developed a taste for the nuances between such restaurants. I’ve been to this restaurant several times over the past weeks and have always been pleasantly impressed due to the following qualities: 1) it’s very clean, well ventillated and the décor is modern and more designed than the typical Phở restaurant. The friendliness of the staff who clearly take pride in their creations make it a friendly neighborhood place that I like to return to.
Yes, the Phở broth isn’t the usual salt and MSG type, I personally found it to be subtly rich and flavorful in ways that are genuine. I can tell that they put some time and energy into making it from scratch. Everything I’ve sampled here: Phở, Bun, Chicken Sandwiches, Bubble Tea, have all been best of class. I’m very excited that this Kingsgate neighborhood finally has somewhere I can get a quick healthy meal at a reasonable price which is of excellent quality. Let’s hope the market keeps them alive for years to come.

Just stopped here and pretty happy, especially for recently opening. The place is small and clean and all workers were really nice. I ordered the spring rolls and a mango smoothie, both were excellent. Will be going there again!

Phở Basil has closed, and re-​opened as Than Brothers.