Pho Noodle Express

Decent phở, not the best, but great when you want some phở you can take back to the office. It’s smaller and pricier than what you would normally get but that’s the price you pay for convenience. I also tried the spring rolls and they were very authentic. They carry all the usual Vietnamese dishes and they all looked good. If it were closer to my building I’d eat here everyday.

I was a bit skeptical about a phở option at the Park Shops downtown. I work nearby but it took me a few months to try the phở here. I normally eat phở near Bellaire or in the suburbs where I live (which has gone through a whole vetting process lol).
This place surprised me. The phở is pretty tasty and the big plus for me, it’s piping hot. I don’t like phở cold or even warm. I’ve gotten the phở to-​go and walked two buildings over to my office and it’s still hot when I sit down to eat it. Yay!
They give you all the fixins (bean sprouts, jalapeño pepper, lime, mint leaves, sriracha, hoisin), and it comes with a plastic soup spoon in a foam bowl. They have chili oil available upon request. My only complaint is that they do not regularly provide cilantro, which is no big deal, considering I’m eating decent phở at work.
The employees are courteous and quick. Lunch here during the work week is a no-​brainer. You should try it.

It took me a long time to make the leap to try Phở Noodle Express. I thought for sure Food Court phở would be subpar.
But once I did, I was sold!
First of all, it’s location is super convenient to anyone working at or near the Houston Center buildings, as it is nestled in a corner of the Park Shops Mall, 3^rd floor.
Second, they package your phở so carefully and thoughtfully. Your meat, noodles, and broth come in a plastic bowl with a tight lid, so there will be no leaks if you decide to walk your phở back to your office. Then you get a little zipper baggie filled with sprouts, peppers and mint, and a little container of Sriracha and plum sauce. Plastic form, plastic phở spoon, and chopsticks, and a stack of napkins.
Third, the people taking your order are very traditional and polite. The first time I ordered phở, I was taken aback because when the gentleman took and returned my credit card, he did so with both hands as he bowed his head. I don’t know why, but that just made me smile.
I have only tried the phở, but the menu is complete with your favorite Vietnamese staples, including banh mi, vermicelli bowls and rice plates. I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of the menu soon!
My only [almost] complaint is that the phở broth is a bit fattier than I like, namely, there is some oil pooled along the top of the bowl. It’s delicious, but I wish it had a little bit less oil.

This is the second time I get lunch from here. The grilled pork Vietnamese sandwich was good. The meat was very tasty, only thing is the bread is so thick it gets very dry. Other than that the sandwich was very good.
Today no such luck. I got the phở ga, chicken noodle soup, and it was disappointing. The broth was bland, almost had a dish soap taste to it. The chicken was not actual chunks but very thinly sliced chicken that honestly tasted not so fresh. There wasn’t much flavor despite the hoisin and sriracha sauce I kept adding.
I’ll go back again and try something else and see if I get back on track with whatever their specialty is here. I am hopeful! The food always looks good just have to find that ‘one’ dish.

As noted by other Unilocalers, I am kind of surprised to find a phở restaurants.
I am not sure if i would go all the way from outside of the vicinity to come here. But if you are in the neighourhood it is a good choice for a quick lunch. I have only tried their Phở. It is not the best I ever had, but more than good enough to eat!

This lovely place is inside the Houston center. I was in town for a convention and wanted something different after too much bbq. The phở here was delicious! I also got the spring rolls were fresh and huge! The cashier was friendly. I would highly recommend this.

Phở in a food court? How could that possibly be tasty? I gave it a try and was pretty impressed!
Food: Thin beef slices noodle soup. My go to for phở and it didn’t disappoint the last 3 times I’ve visited
Service: Quick, easy, and if you’re taking the food to go they’re really good about providing you all the fixings in a little bag with all the sauces, chopsticks, fork, and spoon!
Cost: Bowl of phở is less than $ 8 not bad!
Overall: It’s a really convenient location if you live in downtown Houston, because it’s in the Houston center. And for a quick bite or a little something for home, whenever I have a craving for phở, I’ll be walking over!

I’m so thrilled that they added a phở place in the Houston Shops, and it’s pretty good.
Besides the standard beef, egg, and chicken noodle soup options, they also have vermicelli rice, rice plates, egg rolls and Vietnamese sandwiches, so basically whatever your fix is, they have. I’ve only tried the phở, and it was darn good. I ordered, and few minutes later my order was ready and I brought my lunch back to my office and appreciated they packed everything nicely from my soup spoon and chopsticks and the fixings such has the sprouts, lime, sriracha and hoisin sauces. When I took my first sip of the hot soup, I was definitely a fan of the taste. I look forward to trying other things on their menu since their phở was hit.
I went before the lunch rush (before 11:30 AM) so I didn’t have to wait in a line but if you’re looking to park near the place and eat, come early because seats go by fast. The customers in front of me were regulars from what I can gather because the person taking their order already knew their order, so it looks like it’s a hit with many folks in downtown. The price is slightly higher than most Vietnamese places, but it’s probably because of the downtown location.

Phở noodle express is a decent option at the Shops/​Houston Center if you’re close by.
The service is quick and they give you all the fixins to go with your phở. Their serving size is plenty. Tastes fresh and satisfies your phở craving on a cold day!

Food is great. But, the location shown on Unilocal is incorrect. It’s located at 1200 McKinney on the 3^rd floor (between Austin and Caroline), not in Discovery Green as shown on the map.

For the Houston Center, this place is decent. I’m always weary of Vietnamese places without any visible Vietnamese people working there. But the food here wasn’t awful and the prices were on par for the Houston Center.
Got the BBQ pork bahn mi and the bread was nice and soft. The meat was flavored well and it was a good portion for $ 4.75. I recommend the fried egg rolls.

Come before 12pm! It’s located in the Shops in downtown Houston.
If you’re looking for a quick phở fix. This is the place! It’s not the best phở I’ve ever had, but it definitely hits the spot. The phở prices are moderate, but the banh mi’s are a little over priced.

Wonderful place! Great Vietnamese food, prob best in downtown. Owner and manager is so lovely. My favorite dish is the grilled beef with rice and the beef phở. It’s great!!! I go here about ¾ times a week. so glad there’s finally real Vietnamese food in downtown for work traffic.

Good Vietnamese food is so hard to come by… More and more I’m seeing Chinese owned Vietnamese restaurants claiming to be «authentic.» Lucky for me, not only does this spot have authentic Vietnamese cuisine, but the owner is a sweet Vietnamese lady who works the counter with her employees and always has a nice word for her customers even if it’s during the busy lunch hour. Let’s be honest, we come to a lot of Asian eateries for the food, not the smiling service and courtesies… This place has both!
Now to the food. I ordered the #7 charcoal grilled beef and my friend got the #11 well done steak phở. The phở was delicious. Lots of fresh ingredients and generous portions. You can tell if the phở is good by tasting the broth prior to adding any hoisin sauce or sriracha in it. The flavor was rich and aromatic, signs of a good bowl of phở. The noodles weren’t overdone (you can tell if it’s stuck together in a clump that it was either a) overdone or b) sitting there all day, ewww). They didn’t skimp on the herbs and bean sprouts either which is good. The sriracha had the right viscosity too. Many Vietnamese restaurants dilute their sriracha into 1:1 ratio of sriracha to water… Thus prolonging the lifetime of the sauce but ruining the taste and resting a watery consistency… It saves them a buck but is cheap and obvious. I’m so glad this place doesn’t do that!
The sandwich was made of quality beef, no stringy tough parts, tendons or gristle… Which can really ruin a sandwich. The mayo-​like sauce was light and not overpowering. The cilantro, cucumber and jalapeños (I don’t like carrots) was crisp and freshly cut. I hate limp (and thus old) or dried out veggies… So veggies crispness and crunch is important.
All in all, I’ll definitely come here again. Maybe to try the spring rolls or fried eggrolls since I was eyeing those items sitting on the table next to ours. Yum!

So I just finished stuffing my face at this wonderful establishment and I had to write a review. This phở noodle express is located in the Houston shopping center and is on the 3^rd floor in the food court. While waiting in line I got to browse through the menu, they offer a variety of different Vietnamese dishes like phở, banh mi, vermicelli noodles, steamed rice dishes, and many other options. All the employees are very friendly and knowledgeable when not knowing what to pick so don’t hesitate to ask for a suggestion. I ordered the number 07 banh mi which is charcoal grilled beef, my brother got a number 14 eye round steak and meatball phở, my sister got a number 09 banh mi combination and we shared a few spring rolls. All in all everything tasted very good.
The banh mi had just the right amount of meat to bread ratio and wasn’t over salted or overpowered by mayo like other places.
The phở was so yummy and came out piping hot! The phở broth had so much flavor and left a clean after taste which means they don’t use MSG. The phở comes in these containers that you can remicrowave if you don’t finish the phở and want to save some for later so that was convenient. It also comes with a healthy helping of veggies in a ziploc bag that was very fresh.
The spring rolls are great and they didn’t skimp on the meat and veggies. It comes with this yummy peanut sauce that I would probably drench over everything if I had the recipe.
Will be returning to try other things!

This is based on the banh mi on their menu. I will have to try the phở and report back later.
I ordered two banh mi yesterday. One thing to point out is that they do not put jalapeño in them so you would need to ask, which is understandable since this is a Park Shops eatery and not everyone is familiar with what goes in a banh mi here.
Ordering was easy. I swear the menu I had when they first opened said $ 3.95 a banh mi. Now it is $ 4.75!!! They have not been open that long! Getting over the price difference I ordered a combination and a grilled beef banh mi to go.
The grilled beef was good, according to my husband who ate it when I brought it home. The combination just was not up to the usual combination style we are used to. It needed more of the different pork roll and head cheese type of meat fillers we usually get when we order a combination banh mi. But other than that, still a good banh mi.
Overall, fresh and good service. I will be back to try the phở.

I am so glad to have an easily accessible Vietnamese place close to my office!
I am a huge fan of Phở. It’s comfort food to me. The first day I decided to give this new place a try, as I was leaving the office I casually asked my boss if he’d like anything. I told him I was going to check out a new Phở place and he accepted and said to just get him what I get. We both loved every bite. The next day I took 2 co-​workers and tried the bahn mi (Vietnamese sandwich) and it was wonderful, though could maybe be a bit warmer. Since then I have been back quite a few times. The nice ladies at the counter now recognizes me. Today I tried the lemongrass beef vermicelli salad. It’s my new favorite menu item for sure! Looking forward to continuing to try out the menu.

I stopped in for lunch at about 11:15. There wasn’t much of a line, and the food came out in about 5 minutes. I had the chicken phở and a drink which came out to about $ 8. The phở was piping hot and they had extra sriracha and hoisin sauce at the counter. I had my doubts at the size of the bowl, but it turned out to be plenty for a quick lunch. It wasn’t the best phở I’ve ever had, but was better than the couple of other tunnel connected places I’d been to. I’d certainly try it again, if for no other reason than to try the banh mi, since they also looked good and at $ 4 they’re still a decent deal.
*Edit*
Since my initial review I also had the Bánh mi (both pork and beef) and the spring rolls. The sandwiches and rolls were pretty good and have since become a regular in my lunch rotation. The sandwiches could have a bit more meat in them, but they’re about the best I’ve had downtown. The spring rolls are quite large and a good deal for $ 3.25.

Were it not for the long lines, this place would be a very convenient place to grab Viet food close to work if you’re in downtown.
The food’s not bad either! I’m usually one to take appetizers for granted, when in fact one of their stronger menu items would be the fried eggrolls.
I do recommend you spring for an eggroll (Which, BTW, many dishes already include). I also tried their lemongrass beef with vermicelli dish. Although it was tasty, it was served in a Styrofoam to-​go box rather than a big bowl where you can toss all the ingredients together like a salad. (I suppose they wanted to save all the bowls for the phở orders). Pricing is extremely reasonable for phở, and about average for the banh mi sandwiches.
This place is still rather new, and the long lines are due to a combination of the novelty of being the first Viet restaurant in Houston Center plus obvious inefficiencies common to newly-​opened immigrant-​owned joints. These flaws are most apparent during the busy lunch hour.
Take, for example: once food’s ready in the kitchen, you can spot the kitchen workers waiting around and looking for the serving staff to pick up the food. Even with lines stacked, you can still see one of the teen employees standing doing nothing for a spell.
Table seating is within 10 feet of the counter. So as more customers stand in the ordering line (which juts deep into the seating area), in addition to even more post-​order customers hovering around for their ticket number to be called, all the other patrons sitting nearby are occasionally bothered by the congestion as well as the inescapable stares at what customers are eating.
This restaurant’s beverage service hasn’t been entirely worked-​out. Try to order coconut juice, and you get a frozen block of ice in a can. They should’ve defrosted a couple of hours prior to opening.
I expect to bump it up a star in a month once they get these kinks worked-​out.
p. s. They take CC’s, but I was a little bummed that they didn’t take Amex or Discover.
My message to the owner (s): C’mon, this ain’t Chinatown anymore! Get w/​the program since you’re serving business class customers!