Dragon Palace

Walked in carrying an 18 & 7 month old in each arm tirelessly waiting for high chairs as we were seated. I asked for a menu as all I wanted was phở. This is the only place in five cities to get a bowl. As I ordered buffet for my 6 year old i was told I had to order an adult buffet in order for him to eat. Assuming this meant he ate free I complied and ordered my phở.
The entire time we ate, the staff hovered over us, making me feel as though they were a loss prevention team. The babies ate rice and jello, the kid picked through a few chicken tenders and I devoured the phở… it was delicious.
When I was given the check I was floored. $ 36.90??? For an afternoon lunch. When I complained no one knew enough English to assist. I paid the outrageous bill and left extremely disgruntled. My son was upset he had not gotten a fortune cookie so I sent him back in to ask for one. THEY REFUSED! stating, he only gets one. He never got one. They brought three cookies to the table and the babies and I ate them. And the buffet is awful. Only saving grace is the phở. But I will NEVER BE BACK

This place is turning from a mediocre Chinese restaurant to the Phở place in town!
Being from Hawaii where phở places are dime a dozen, I missed.
To my surprise, these guys decide it was a missed market.
I have to say, it is some of the best I have had.
When I order it, I ask for everything. I don’t use the sauces traditionally they way they should. But the veggies are always fresh and the flavor a are on point.
The phở put this place back on he map. Come by and grab a bowl

Love their phở. Right portion, taste, and price. Can’t believe that such a gem in central coast.

Let me start off by saying their phở dat biet is really really good!
Wife and i were super impressed and several times haven’t minded the drive from santa maria.
Tonight we had the kids w/​us so naturally my 9 year old wanted their buffet. Only management refused her buffet unless my wife or i ordered buffet. I even offered to pay adult price but they still refused. I ordered the phở i wanted (once again no spring rolls available) for my daughter and the buffet she wanted for me and just swapped.
No big deal except we kept having management and waiters buzzing around us like vultures to make sure we were’nt sharing plates.
The whole ordeal was awkward and off-​putting enough to keep us away. Shame because we really loved their phở.

For Phở in the Central Coast, this isn’t a bad place at all! I usually eat phở from SoCal and regularly eat homemade phở. The soup was pretty good and they got the meat correct. The noodles did taste a bit odd to me. If I want phở in the Central Coast, then I would go here! Bring a friend if you are craving phở!

I am only review the phở. This is our second time trying out the phở at this location. A little background that central coast practically has 0 locations that serve good or any phở.
This Chinese restaurant started serving phở here a while back and being from Denver we jumped at the chance. The phở is a little different and the first time was mixed reviews. I think we are spoiled from great Vietnamese restaurants where we are from.
We decided to give it a second chance. My son and I really like it now and we will be back. Few things to note. The soup is great taste (best part of the phở). It has a little extra oils but taste is there. The extra fixings are ok with traditional greens, onions, and meats. The noodles are rice noodles but for some reason this area all uses different type. Finally getting used to, but still like the less flat ones.
Either way for phở on central coast this is good choice. Not best in the world but can have everything. We have not tried to Chinese buffet and don’t plan on as not my type of food. What do you think about the phở here?

We went here for dinner. The selection was average and the place is clean.
The food is below average. The food isn’t replenished often and a lot of the food was dried out under the heat lamps.
The food is nothing special and it is just another Chinese buffet with low quality food.
For the price, it’s terrible.

I only come here for the phở. It satisfies the craving but their broth is very greasy. Given the limited phở available on the central coast this place does the trick, but not very authentic in my opinion.

We have been here twice with pretty much the same experience. Food wasn’t great, and the service was sooooooo bad. I wanted the spring rolls but they said they didn’t have any, so I ordered phở. I wanted it light on the noodles (I’m on a low carb diet) so I asked if I could get less noodles and substitute with some vegetables. The answer was no (except for more money). The phở broth wasn’t sweet and contained a lot of fat. I don’t know how this place stays in business except that its the only place that serves phở in the 5 cities.

Best phở in the central coast! This place exceeded my expectations with the yummy Thai iced tea, freshly fried egg rolls and delicious phở that was served.
My fiancé and I have tried phở all over the SLO county and have been disappointed repeatedly. But after giving this place a try, we were happy and satisfied and will be continuous customers to this business.
The serving size of the phở is a bit small– but for $ 1 more you can have double the noodles! A deal you can’t beat. Other than that, everything was exceptional. :)

FOOD NOT GOOD AT ALL!! IF YOU ARE READING THIS PLEASE DON’T EAT HERE. THIS PLACE IS NOT WORTH YOUR HARD EARN MONEY!!! SERVICE EXTREMELY RUDE! This is toward the owner. Little Asian lady. After a night and two days at the Dunes. The wifey and three kids wanted a phở fix. Kids decide to go with buffet and we stuck to our phở crave. Right away owner eye ball us as if we’re were there to steal something. As a small business owner I was kind of offended. Through out the whole time we were eating she was standing three table away from us watching us. When I got up to make a plate for my 3 years old son, she came to ask my wife «is he doing buffet too»
This after we had order our two phở bowl. After I sat down with my son’s plate, she stood next to our table for 6 minutes to make sure I don’t eat off my son’s plate. If I was a local I would be ashamed of this business in my community. What a disgrace to all Asian people. Phở broth was sour.

This is by far the worst buffet I have been to and it’s only gotten worst over time. I was tempted to walk into the Phở section and forget all about the buffet, but I figured I would cut my losses and run home to make me something to eat which you should never have to do after attending a buffet.

I came here looking for vietnamese phở. They cooking phở like (China phở) not 100% vietnamese phở. They cooking phở every nasty. Don’t come here for phở wasted your money. Go some where else. I never come back here again and ever

I love LOVE love this place. Best Chinese buffet on the central coast. I can eat and eat and eat when I come here. I have taken all my close family and friends and they all love it. Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful. I love the different flavors of chicken spicy, sweet, sour … You name it. The chicken on the stick is good, green beans, beef with broccoli, and I LOVE the chow mein. Prices are very affordable, I usually get a Thai tea to go with my meal and they put whipped cream on top. Hot tea is complimentary goes very well with the meal. I had a cold so I decided to try the phở it was so yummy and fresh. It was so good that it cured my cold. I highly recommend this place. The only thing is staff is a little weird but they’re nice :)

You get what you pay for when you come to the buffet. For $ 10.50, they have a variety of foods that are well seasoned. A little too seasoned. Salmon and soup was too salty. Many entrees were questionable. There’s poor quality meat that looked like it was spit out. However, the pre-​made food that they just fry up was fine such as the dumplings, onion rings, and fried banana. You can’t mess up with their dumplings that taste like Trader Joe’s LOL.
Come for the Phở if you want good food.

PHO PHANTATICA!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Central Coast ONLY full range authentic yummy Phở for literally hundreds of miles in any direction.
PHORGET the Buffet (which is good, but standard fair for the ethnic-​food ignorant crowd who likes buffet spaghetti)
BUT DON’T PHORGET THE PHO!
ON a GOOD DAY, with everything fresh & on point, it can match some of the best Phở’s anywhere… even Mecca’s like in San Jose, Garden Grove, & other Viet areas.
DO NOT even think of comparing prices… since you are NOT in San Jose anymore. Some ingredients have to be driven hundreds of miles to get here… because it is in the middle of «nowhere» & it is people, especially in SLO is White Bread City.
I not only gladly shelled out for the Phở & extra meat & tendon… I left a $ 20 bill for it & a great tip… for the great service. The owner came to me a few times &n even asked my opinion for a new name for the special order that I requested.
I think we agreed on Phở Saigon… I would rather it be PHO PHAUL… HA!
I astonished them by my extensive Phở-​knowledge.
Please ignore the negative reviews on their Phở or it’s cost… they are passing tourist who may not know better. Many of their vege ingredients are amazingly fresh, since there are tons of farms in the area. You can also get great tendon, beef, & other stuff from the many Mexican shops down in Santa Maria. All Asian grocery shops in the area get weekly deliveries from LA, like Debu in Pismo.
To get the full benefit:
1– Be knowledgable about the HOWS, THE WHYS, THE WHATS, THE WHOS of
Fine PHO Fixin. & talk to either the Vietnamese waiter or the Vietnamese owner, if you want special stuff, or what to do.
2– Must order rare steak on the side to cook in the broth after you add some of the not so cold fixin’s… but do not wait too long… nor put in the cold bean sprouts first, otherwise you will be eating raw beef.
3-​Request the stinkiest Fish Sauce, Hoisin (Plum) Sauce, & Sriracha sauce to ad lib to your soup.
4– Get extra tendon & fatty beef too. The best tendon is gelatinous & not stingy. The beef is best raw, sliced thin, tender, & on the side. You can test one slice to gauge the temperature of the broth. If you put them in all immediately, they will become well done, which is crappy technique. You may add them gradually, but if you had added the cold bean sprout again, you failed, because it may not cook at all. It is best to wait till the right temp is where all pieces get to medium rare, then cool the soup with the bean sprouts. I usually skip the sprouts, since they chill the soup to much & use them as a crunchy side dish.
5– Lemon, Basil, other leaves, & sauces go in first, before the raw side beef.
6– Depending on taste add anywhere from several drops to a tablespoon of Fish Sauce to your soup. This stuff is considered essential in many forms of both Vietnamese, Filipino, & Thai cooking. Most people are shy of this stuff… it is potent & stinks…
DO NOT SPILL IT ON YOU!
7– The Basil leaves need to be coarsely & finely shredded by hand into little bits too bring out their flavor. Be rough as you spread them so that you can crush them a bit. Keep a few for when you get to the last ¹⁄₃ of your soup to add some extra umph to your last several yummy spoonfuls.
8– Throw in the hot peppers to at least add flavor to the broth, you can take the put later if they are too hot for you. Watch the seeds.
9– Use the Asian spoon in your left hand as you also use the chopsticks in your right. It takes some skill to develop coordination of eating from both hands at the same time with the right ratio between left/​right & what stuff is in each & how much. Ideally you will have almost everything in each mouthful.
You are so out of luck to use a crappy American fork & spoon. Develop those skills. Asian spoons are idea for soups, especially as you get to the bottom that American ones fail at. Asian spoons are like mini-​angled scoops. They also hold more than a tablespoon & are far more ergonomic for this… just like chopsticks are.
10– Use both the utensils to press down on the concoction to mix the new broth flavors & avoid rotary mixing. This technique helps in getting varied to your taste mix in every bite. If it is all homogenized into one big mess, it is hard to customize each bite.
PHEEL PHREE to work on your own
PHO PHormulation skills !!!
since it can make a good soup magical…
so can a good broth & tender beef & tendons.
BTW– if all else fails… or you come with White Bread folks who are Chopstick illiterate, then you may go with the Buffet so as not to embarrass. If you go with Asians, you will impress both them & the staff, with your Phở skills.
The owner even asked me how I knew what to order & how to make it properly…
by both years of practice & also by observing how Vietnamese do theirs.
Too bad the reviews of the Phở get mixed with the Buffet Part, since they are really two separate species!
ENJOY!!!

3.5 stars– Would definitely agree with another reviewer that the phở should be be treated separately from the buffet. We tried the chicken phở and the rare beef phở. The portions were hearty, and the broth was very flavorful. When I also liked is that I did not get an MSG headache after eating it. I would say that Dragon Palace offers some pretty solid phở in the Central Coast. We will definitely be back for it. We don’t really have any interest in the buffet anyway. Nothing particular about the ambience or service. The food came out pretty fast though.

3^rd time for Vietnamese food at Dragon Palace in AG. I know your thinking its a Chinese buffet, but the owners are Vietnamese and they cook a few items that they eat themselves. Phô and Bún Tht Nng (grilled pork w vermicelli rice noodles were very good. Phở — served w/​thin slices meats and side of herbs, bean sprouts. Bún (noodles) served w/​cucumber, bean sprout and cilantro — EXCELLENT.,
Wish they made deep fried rice paper spring rolls w/​just ground pork — — a staple at most Vietnamese restaurants. Food is very authentic and made by Vietnamese owner. She’s ADORABLE and sweet to my kids :)

I just moved here from Seattle. Phở is a weekly must. So, after reading some reviews about the Phở here at Dragon Palace, I decided to give it a shot.
My verdict: It was OK. Not terrible, but not anything to brag about either. I had the Brisket Phở. The broth was just extremely lacking in flavor. I Had to load it with Sriracha and Hoisen sauce. If you’re completely desperate for some Phở, I guess this place may satisfy your craving. My search for great Phở on the Central coast will continue on.

While I have sampled some of the most acclaimed bowls of Phở Cali has to offer, it’s not always convenient to drive 2 hours + for a fix. As such, this led me to question… Is there a true and tasty bowl of Phở on the Central Coast?
As we prepared to travel down to meet family in Santa Barbara, my wife came up with a genius idea, «Why don’t we give those two Phở restaurants you’ve been talking about a back-​2-​back taste test on the same day?
Magnificent! I got ready in haste, put my «critic hat» on, and we got on the road.
Restaurant A: Dragon Palace of Grover Beach
For months, I had been hearing about a bowl of Phở on the coast. A bowl so under-​cover, it is hidden behind a 2.5-Star Unilocal restaurant rating.
The Dragon Palace Chinese Buffet [DP] has recently added a Phở operation to their restaurant. Despite being within the same space, the Phở at DP is wholly separate from the Chinese Buffet and, in my opinion, should have a separate Unilocal page.
Under what grounds, you ask? DP Phở shouldn’t carry the negative stigma that has befallen upon the buffet. This is a restaurant run by Vietnamese ex-​pats — it is clear that the Phở they produce will be better than the orange chicken and california rolls.
DP’s interior is very casual, clean and quiet. The staff are friendly and the Phở came out quick and hot.
I wanted so badly to love this place! To be able to support them with my positive review and returned business. And, love it, I did
While 805 is just as new on the scene as DP’s Phở, they have suffered little-​to-​no defamation in the review-​sphere. So that makes them better, right? Not necessarily.
Once upon a time, I use to relied on ratings alone in deciding whether or not a restaurant was worth trying out. As I’ve grown as a wanderer, I have adopted a more holistic approach which includes READING reviews, evaluating such reviews based on their context and seeking out trustworthy referrals.
Ny research indicated that, despite the disparity on Unilocal,DP seemed like less of a risk than 805. Why? Both places only have few reviews, but only DP was brought to me via word-​of-​mouth. So, was 805 worth the risk?
You bet your ass it was! This place embodied the concept of casual elegance. Dim lighting, white table cloths, crowded [yet not noisy] and amazingly good traditional Phở!
Which bowl Reigned Supreme!!!
Rating System: We chose to rate each restaurant on the following criteria: [a] best broth, [b] best overall Phở, [c] best egg rolls and [d] best vietnamese coffee.
The Vietnamese Iced Coffees: DP’s coffee was über sweet and petite — definitely more my wife’s style. 805’s coffee was large, strong and only lightly sweetened — my winner by a mile.
Pork Egg Rolls: DP’s order of egg rolls where somewhat small, came 4 to a serving, and had a very high meat to vegetable ratio. To me, they seemed less moist then the order of 3 egg rolls offered at 805. Nevertheless, my wife felt that the DP egg rolls tasted more «home made» and the 805 equivalent was more «gourmet». Continuing the trend from above, my wife sided with DP and, I, with 805.
The Broths: DP’s broth was full of fat, savory and mildly aromatic. It had ample flavor — no need to add Hoisin or Sriracha [despite the host’s near insistence]. For my wife, this broth was the winner. 805’s broth had an equal balance of fat, savory notes and sweet aromatics. In my opinion, this broth came out on top by a nose.
The Phở: DP coupled the fatty broth with fatty meat. It seemed to be a more indulgent and comforting bowl. As such, it receive the blue ribbon from my wife. 805 presented a balanced bowl which was satisfying, not coma-​inducing