1 Pho Noodle & Grill

WHAT THE HECK??? closed today? wanted to get some phở to go because I’m sick and I want something soupy yet I get there and it isn’t open, and there are no signs anywhere saying they’re closed??? ended up going to NASTY Ajisen to get some food…

This use to be my hangover, sickness, cold day cure – I really do like how the phở taste here, but sadly my «cure» is now another local Phở Spot. Which, let me explain… it might sound like I am promoting another local Phở chain, but I am not because they have their cons too.
#1 Noodle House Pros & Cons:
— Never a line
— Authentic tasteful phở
— Clean
— You get to choose the size of your phở _​to-​go and dine in
— Service is pretty decent for a Vietnamese restaurant
— Service is quick
-
–CONS ARE: compared to Phở Ha, which is like literally down the street gives you WAYY more meat, noodles and soup the taste of it is somewhat comparable.
The bad thing about Phở Ha (Yes, I am not making you Unilocal another restaurant *don’t want to waste your precious time) is that there’s almost always a line, takes forever to get the food, and it takes forever for the check. AND you can NEVER order regular size phở at Phở Ha, but #1 Noodle House does. WHAT RESTURANT FORCES YOU TO ORDER MORE THAN YOU WANT? I hate that about Phở Ha.
So. if you don’t want to wait in line, have faster service and have servers a bit more tentative I would say come here. If you and your buddy’s are planning to come in a group, I would probably say go to Phở Ha, just because it is bigger and they do show the game. OH ya, so does #1 Noodle House. pick and choose and let me know which one you chose. Heh

I’m sorry, you’re not #1, you’re just a Phở Noodle & Grill. You would be #1 had my sandwich not been drenched in mayonnaise or get stared down for asking for more water.
The broth was pretty tasty but everything else was just bland. As was the phoking servers.
I still prefer Saigon Noodles in Diamond Bar, their combo special is a great deal and includes refills on sodas. Sounds like #1!

The service here is better than most Vietnamese restaurants.
Phở Thai — the broth was kind of bland for phở soup. It didn’t really have a tasty flavor. And they are cheap with the meat, and give u mostly the lower quality beef meat portions.
Eggrolls — the eggrolls were kind of skinny. Taste was average.

This was the WORST phở experience I have EVER had!!! No joke.
I don’t even know where to begin.
The phở broth was oily to the point where it made my stomach hurt.
The noodles were completely raw and stuck together.
Everything lacked flavor.
Their egg rolls were lackluster and came with zero toppings.
They gave only 10 bean sprouts per person. Talk about stingy!
Their drinks were all pre-​made in the fridge.
The soda specifically still had holiday bears on them, even though it’s Spring.
The air freshener can almost fell on me when I walked into the bathroom!
Basically, a LOAD OF CRAP. Never, ever, ever go here. This place makes me appreciate my gem, Phở Vina, even more :)

Rude ass lady throwing cups on our table, giving us dead basil, and getting the phở sizes wrong. All while stuffing her face with crab and not washing her hands. Phở was really greasy and I felt gross while taking the 4 bites that I did. I am Disgusted and never eating here again. Ever.

Horrible horrible server!!! The lady practically threw our bowls on our table when we asked for two extra ones, she seemed she did not want to be at work giving that we were their only customers there and she was just sitting watching t. v and singing really loud to her Vietnamese story. Her loud singing and ridiculous angry attitude really made us feel uncomfortable!!! Not only that but as I’m sitting here writing y review for half an hour she has not once refilled our glasses with water or came by to see if we are ok or if we need anything!!! Horrible horrible service!!!

While the portions and prices arent the best i’ve seen for a phở place, the taste of the broth makes up for it. This place has the best tasting phở i’ve ever had in a restaurant so far! It’s a bit oily but it has a lot of flavor and i always finish my entire bowl.
My only dislikes would be that the servers didnt seem too friendly. One lady looked like she didnt want to serve me and my friends which made us feel a bit uncomfortable…
Not a single drop of soup is left behind! If you’re looking for some phở that tastes better than all those other phở places you see around the area then this is definitely a place you’d want to try out.

The wait for dim sum at New Capital Seafood was more insane than usual today, so we came here instead. They accommodated all 15 of us. The two ladies who served us were very nice. Food came out promptly, and water was refilled several times. They had signs up to promote their bun bo hue (spicy beef noodle soup), so I gave it a try. Pretty good! I posted a pic. The egg rolls were delicious; tasty filling and nice crunch on the outside. Spring rolls were also good. Go check it out for yourself.

I try it, I didn’t enjoy it.
The Phở wasn’t tasty enough, soup taste too plain.
Furthermore, the servers were having dinner in the table next to mine… bad!

I’m sorry to buck the trend with my Unilocal friends. I still really like this place for my Phở cravings in the Rowland Heights area.
I will have to agree, and hopefully, #1 Phở Noodle restaurant will get the hint… the soup needs to be much hotter (temperature level).
I think that next time I will ask them to steam up my soup to a higher temperature.

It wasn’t that bad. For under 7 bucks, I got a small bowl #4. With brisket, rare steak and tendon. For a small bowl, it was pretty filled with noodles, meat, onions, etc… The broth was pretty good to.
Mind you, this is after coming from Photastic which is Phonasty!
It didn’t stand out like Olivia’s Bistro in La Habra but it didn’t suck like Photastic. Hence the 3 stars.
Btw, service there sucked but hey, it’s a Vietnamese phở place.

I work just upstairs and one day I get super hungry and dig in our little drawer of menus to see what was good. I come across this Phở menu, I opened it and glanced at it racking my noggin’ as to what I should get. From the corners of my eyes I see this faded mark of a circle around the number 36 and it was like I was shown the light… I swear I heard echoing sounds of ‘Halleluiah!’ in the background! It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
But I honestly, after a few takeout orders from them I came to realize I really liked this place. Not sure if it’s because I go so often or is it because I get treated like family every time I go that really makes this place the only restaurant I order from when I decide to have takeout at work. I’ve only had their #36 which is the Charbroiled beef with rice dish. SUPER YUM!
95% of the time it’s what I get and the occasional meatball rice noodles with spring rolls (which are also UBER DELICIOUS! It has these crispy lettuces with rice noodles, shrimp, and some kind of sauce with peanuts in it– guarantee my life on it that it’ll make you go: «NOM NOM NOM!»)
The order comes with multiple items on the dish, some sort of meat pie (till this day I’m still not sure what it’s made out of… It’s like half vermicelli and half meat with mushrooms in it), cucumbers, sausages, the charbroiled beef, a generous wad of rice, lettuce, tomatoes, and a cup of sauce to dip the meat in. The meat always tastes delicious, and the sweet sauce it comes with works very well with it. Strangely enough even though the meat is salty and the sauce is sweet~ But the meat pies are also pretty decent, it has a strange texture to it and a unfamiliar flavor, but it’s new and it’s not like I don’t like it. But not exactly the best. The sausages too, it’s good, it’s spongy and instead of having that crispy skin and that melt-​in-​your-​mouth feel to it like most sweet Taiwanese sausages are… But still edible and good! To me it’s REALLY filling by the time I finish every thing on the plate and I always leave happy.
I’ve only sat down once to eat, but all the other times I do takeout orders. The person who rings me up is always a younger lady whom is the owner of the store and she’s always super friendly to me and makes small talk as I wait for my order. I’ve never had a bad experience here before. :O
Personal Tip: Yes, this place is located inside Diamond Plaza and I warn you that this place is freaking insane. You have people going the wrong direction even though there are signs that says ‘ONE WAY ONLY’ and people that don’t stop at stop signs. People here are all possibly the shittiest drivers/​parkers in the world. So if you attempt to find a parking spot, come towards the end where there are less cars to deal and there’s less of chance that your car gets dinged! I’m just sayin’!

–Phở Ha
–D’lite Phở Lee
–Phở Hoa
–Phở Rowland
Take your pick among those listed above, whichever one you choose will be exponentially better than the bowls of mediocrity they serve here.
To quote my Unilocal buddy, Jayne L.: «#1 NASTY Phở» hahaha
The staff is rude, they just talk/​gossip amongst themselves and not even acknowledge your presence. I had to yell «excuse me!!» across the room just to get a refill for my water… I didn’t mind though, considering we were the only ones dining there. Hmm… I can see why.
It’s crap like this that’s killing the back half of Diamond Plaza :/

9 pm on a Sunday night On my way home from LA and i get the most insatiable craving for PHO, most places close early on Sunday and I’m far from my usual spots. Fullerton Road is soon approaching and i rember passing the Big Yellow letters of the #1 Phở shop that i have never been to before.
Since i knew they where closing soon i looked at the Menu quicky and order a # 2, Basically your standard #1 bowl (house special) Dac Biet but in a small bowl and this version didn’t have any meatballs. To my suprize The bowl arrives shortly and is Steaming hot! The bean sprouts are clean, crisp, super white and fresh, the fresh basil was also very fresh and the extra lemons i requested (i prefer limes) where perfect size.
The first spoonful of virgin broth was not as flovorful as i expected it to be, kind of bland and had a watered down/​thinned out feel to it. I didn’t pick up any of the usual spices and flavors I would expect from a Phở broth: Star aneise, cardomon, coriander, fennel seeds and cloves. In an attempt to kick up the flavors i rip up all of the basil and toss it in with all the provided jalapenos and sprouts, as well as some Hosin, Siracha, and my personal favorite a genorous helping of Garlic Chili sauce (the one with the seeds). After the two large lemon slices have relinquished all their jucies the bowl is alot tastier, saddly because of all the extras an not because it was really that tasty to begin with.
I actually found that the bowl was ladden with a genorus amount of Beef tendon and tripe (which I would have preferred to be sliced thinner). The noodles weren’t over cooked and the serving was perfect for a late night dinner, but i found it to be over priced and under-​flavored. This Place is not making it into my Phở Shop rotation, but when you need a quick bowl of PHO in an emergency this place will do.

My wife loves this place, and prefers it over Saigon Noodle House in DB (that’s my personal favorite). My wife (Vietnamese) even agrees that their phở is one of the best in the area.
Super cheap and good service… they even take credit cards! Only downside is their bowls tend to run smaller than other places.
Off topic: as we know, parking @ Diamond Plaza sucks. It’s always crowded and people here do NOT know how to park properly, even those w/​nice cars. Case in point: last Saturday, saw a spanking new 2011 750Li (still had «New Century BMW» plates on) parked right on the line and about a foot away from a Camry… can you say door dings lol? If you’re ocd like me, circle endlessly for corner spots and hug the curb!

could a place have a smaller bowl for phở?
For an average taste and a slightly higher price, what’s with the portion size?
I was just satisfied. Not full though. I ordered a regular and it felt like a small in other places.

Late dinner after on the way home from photog night at long beach aquarium.
First thing I noticed was their A, yes A placard posted right up on their door. How many asian joints do you know have A’s? Ok so that was pretty impressive. Walking in, you notice the upbeat color on the walls and the overall cleanliness. Everything was kept and tidy.
Walked in about 5 mins before closing, and the ladies were baffled as to what they were going to do about serving us since kitchen was just about closed. It was a bit of a comedic spectacle but they sat us and took our orders anyway.
Got the number 1 and the 4 with meatballs. Their broth is clear and not grimey at all. Slight bit of msg, but still very clean tasting. Lots and lots of tripe –loved that. Good amount of meat as well. We ate as fast as possible so these ladies could get home to their fams.
Super cheap at under $ 6/​bowl. Decent service especially since they could have ushered us out the door and said the kitchen was closed.

Service was good, place looked clean & well kept. so now we talk about the phở. the cuts of meat were good and pleny, there was a lot! they dont skimp out for sure. the noodles werent really cooked, so i had to chew a bit more & couldnt slurp my noodles. the broth had an oily sheen on the surface, could be from grease, fat, msg, etc or a combination of all. check out my picture of the spoon, look at all the oil or wutever it is that collected on the spoon. a picture says a thousand words.

I’ve been coming to this location for almost 10 years. It seems they’ve recently had a change in owners, and they’ve cleaned the place up. Open late, and quick service. It must be the only Phở place in the SGV that takes credit cards!
So far under the new owners we’ve had the ubiquitous #1 (large combo phở) and #44 vermicelli, eggroll, and charbroiled pork. The #44 was very tasty and had great smoky BBQ flavor. We will continue to eat here as it is one of our local favorites.