Pho Yum

Absolutely horrible experience. This place is a poor excuse for a restaurant. My mom and I had gone there last night for dinner and we waited 15 minutes at the bar for somebody to clear one of the tables — mind you, there were a total of six tables in the restaurant and only one was taken. The rest of the tables had dirty dishes on them. It was a very quiet restaurant in the entire time, all we heard was the conversation of the girls next to us. We could get over that and try to have a decent meal, so we filled out or she and waited another 15 minutes for the woman to come and take it from us. It seems like only two people were working at the restaurant and they were spending most of the time in My Lihn (this is The restaurant in the back of the building. The building is split into front and back. The back is «fancier» into the front half is Phở Yum). After giving the women in our sheets the young man finally came and gave us our glasses of water. I had also ordered a bubble tea and asked if I could have it. My mom ordered a ginger tea which didn’t come until our meals came. We’re usually not the type of people to complain, but it seems like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The bubble tea was so sweet, I asked if I could have a regular tea instead because I could not drink it. My mom asked them if they could please just take her ginger tea off of the bill because it tasted like water (and pretty much looked like water). The meal was the most embarrassing part. Both of our dishes came to nine dollars, which seems fair, if we actually got a decent amount of food. I got the phở dish that was supposed to come on a bed of lettuce, and my mom got the phở dish that was supposed to come on a bed of rice. So upsetting. I barely got any lettuce, maybe a measly couple soggy leaves. My mom got a scoop of really overdone rice. The vegetables on our dishes looked like a few skimpy frozen veggies placed among the sad starches. The tofu was dry. We both asked for extra sauce and I felt as if we received a scowl at the request. I didn’t feel like finishing my dish because I was so dissatisfied. Needless to say, we won’t be going back there– which is a shame because I’ve always had a good experience at the Phở Yum on Central Avenue. The sad part about all of this is that the owners think they can get away with the poor meals and horrible service and still charge a hefty $ 30 for a measly meal. I don’t think so!!! Don’t go here unless you are willing to take the risk of ultimate disappointment!

I rarely ever write reviews but felt inclined to write one for Phở Yum (and not in a good way either). I’m from NYC which has an abundance of Vietnamese restaurants so when I moved to the Capitol Region for work, I was surprised at the lack of places that served Vietnamese food. It is located right next to the Spectrum 8 theater, which is very convenient if you wanted‘ to get dinner after a movie.
…that’s what I thought before I tried Phở Yum.
I came here with my boyfriend and we both got their Vietnamese Classic Ham Banh Mi sandwich ($ 7 each) and an Amber Jasmine-​Green Tea bubble tea ($ 3.50) to go.
Let’s start with the bubble tea. The tea was dark and murky even though green tea is supposed to be a light green color, and it tasted way too sweet. The tapioca pearls were way too soft and had a bitter aftertaste to it that both my boyfriend and I chose to only drink the tea (we had to put effort in not getting the tapioca pearls in each sip). I regret not getting a picture of the cup of tea as we were eager to throw it.
On to the Banh Mi sandwiches… words cannot describe the disappointment we felt when we opened the bag to find two sandwiches the size and length of a dollar bill. Our first thoughts were, «well…it could be worse.» And when we took a look to see the inside of the sandwiches, that quickly changed to, «no, it really cannot get any worse than this.» Besides the small size of the sandwich, the filling was basically nonexistent. There was literally one string of cilantro, a few slices of carrots and a paper thin slice of cucumber. But to be fair, the pâté was actually quite good as well as the pork, both of which were flavorful albeit incredibly lacking.
I also want to mention that it was pretty unprofessional of the server to swipe my card and have me choose the amount of tip even though it was a takeout order. I don’t feel like I should be needing to give a tip when it was not a sit down type of order, so I chose the «no tip» option. This was unnecessary as she could have done it herself without making me feel obligated to tip her.
Overall, would not recommend unless you are in desperate need of sub-​par Vietnamese food.

NOTE — not open Mon through Wed so, if you’re like me and are nursing a hangover, make sure it’s not Mon-​Wed! Just kidding about the hangover ;-)
But seriously if you are starting to feel a bit under the weather head right over to this place, order yourself some Phở (I always pick chicken) and when it comes, ask for extra limes and squeeze them all into your soup, along with some Sriracha and VOILA — the CURE for LIFE!

I absolutely love this place, it’s my new go to take-​out located. Their food is delicious and their Phở is the best I’ve encountered in the Capital Region. They offer take-​out too and we’ve certainly been taking advantage of that particular feature. All of the staff are friendly and helpful.
It’s conveniently located on Delaware Ave, right next to the Spectrum theater. They have their own private parking lot in the back with plenty of space. The restaurant is nicely decorated with a lovely fireplace. They offer a full bar and their bubble teas are absolutely delicious. I highly recommend this location.

Was so sad to see that My Linh had closed but am happy that the same owners re-​opened as Phở Yum; a more limited menu but the food is just as good.
I was craving Summer Rolls, so opted for take-​out from Phở Yum and they did not disappoint! One order of Shrimp Summer Rolls was very generous; there were two full-​sized rolls sliced in half and came with a huge container of tuong ngot (a sweet and savory peanut sauce) on the side — plenty for two people to share as a very filling appetizer.
My husband and I each ordered one of their famous Bánh mì sandwiches. I had the sliced beef and he got sliced pork. The pork was definitely the more flavorful of the two, but both were served on very fresh, delicious baguettes and came dressed with pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and finished with their delicious nuoc mam sauce. The meat-​to-​vegetable ratio was definitely more traditionally Vietnamese (I think in America we tend to expect a meat sandwich with some vegetable garnish; this was very well-​balanced with a few strips of flavorful meat, and a ton of veggies).
I would happily order from Phở Yum again and again. I’m hoping more people will discover this hidden gem in Albany. Support your local family-​run eateries!

If you’re lucky enough to find them open, enjoy a reliably good Vietnamese meal. I always get the same thing, my favorite off the My Lin menu. I can’t pronounce it, but it’s the curried beef & onions that you roll in rice papers with veggies.
They also make a great Mojito!

See my review of the other location. The menus are the same. I like this location better. It’s not as new but I find it more comfortable