Silk Noodle Bar

So disappointed by my dinner here. Unilocal,you’ve steered me wrong. Boyfriend and I ended up coming here on a whim for dinner since I’ve had this place bookmarked for so long.
We ended up ordering the following:
Pork Sliders: $ 5 this was my favorite dish of the night and the only thing I ended up eating. The baos were nice and soft, the meat flavorful, the the veggies complimented everything else really well. Each order comes with 2 bao.
Bo Luc Lac: $ 11 Vietnamese shaken beef served with rice and salad. My boyfriend said it was average. I took a bite and didn’t think it was bad. But can definitely find better on bolsa.
Phở Filet Mignon: $ 11 what was supposed to be the star of the show ended up being a total flop. The phở was the first to come out and I was instantly disappointed. The broth was bland, practically tasteless. Even after dumping a good amount of hoisin sauce into the bowl, I still couldn’t get myself to eat it. The noodles which are made fresh were just okay. Maybe because mine were overcooked and soft. At $ 11, this bowl of phở should’ve of wowed me.
Overall, I was really hoping this would become my new go to phở place since I live close by and who really wants to drive to Bolsa to eat. But after this experience, I guess I will just stick to Bolsa for phở.

When we first walked in, we were greeted right away. We had Steven as our waiter, he made us felt very comfortable and suggest many delicious dishes they had on the menu. He was honest, and told us what he preferred for us to order. Not only did he provide excellent customer service, he was absolutely patient! The reason I mentioned that is because we accidently went in during their last call. We will definitely come back for the food and it’s excellent costumer service.
The phở filet is very well made, and so was terrible Thai tea and peach fuzzy silky tea!

I’ve been here countless times with friends and family and I’ll keep coming back for more. Modern and clean décor unlike a typical phở noodle place, and they have a special proprietary machine that makes fresh rice noodles! I’ve eaten phở noodles, salads and sliders. My favorites are the filet mignon beef phở soup noodles which tasted fresh and clean (not too salty and no msg) the beef was melting tender and the noodles were soft, and shrimp sliders sandwiched in between soft steamed buns. I have not seen this place get too crowded or busy and I wonder why? Dare I say I rate this as one of the best phở noodle places!

I have heard about this place for some time from my cousin and I read some good reviews here so I decided to give it a try. I drove nearly an hour to this place to try. For your information, I lived in Vietnam for 18 years and our family has tradition in making noodles and my grandparents had several Phở business in Vietnam so I can tell which noodle is good or not. I’m not in the business to say bad things about Viet restaurants, and I just want to leave some personal objective opinions here.
Pros:
— Nice décor: I really like the design of this place which is nothing similar to Phở restaurants in Little Saigon. It is new and neat with a touch of Viet style.
— App to order: You can see some tablets when you enter the restaurants. I am a Software Engineer so I love technical stuffs.
— Phở machine: you can see the machine in the corner and it is making Phở there. Pretty cool machine!
Cons:
— Broth: very bland. I used half of the Soy sauce on the table but it was still meh.
— Noodle: ok, it is the thing that I am disappointed the most. I thought that it would be fresh but no, the noodle tastes like instant Phở noodle. It is thinner than fresh Phở noodle and tastes very bad after a few spoons. My family could not finish the whole bowl and some nearly threw up because of the chemicals in the noodle that you can find in some instant Ramen.
It would be nice if they have better noodle. I still think it is a good model for lots of Viet restaurants in little Saigon. I appreciate the owner to create such a nice machine and design pretty décor.

Good services and Good food. The interior design is nice and they have a really cool Phở Machine out in display near the kitchen. The menu is simple and straight to the point. You can either order phở, Egg rolls, spring rolls or vermicelli.
Ordered Items: Brisket Phở, Shrimp and avocado spring rolls, eggs rolls and shrimp vermicelli.
I highly recommend the Spring Rolls! It comes with a 4 piece combo which included the delicious peanut sauce! The shrimp and avocado make a great combo. The eggs rolls were nice and hot but disliked that the order only comes with 3. The phở satisfied my cravings. The Brisket came in large pieces and the broth was served hot. I was a bit disappointed with the vermicelli. The ingredients didn’t mix well together. I just had higher expectations for this!
Overall, another phở place in HB. I enjoy the PHO and Spring rolls so I will be back again.

Finally I have a chance to eat at a phở place with the highest Unilocal rating of any Phở restaurant in Orange County (4.5 stars with over 220 reviews). And here is what I see.
–Place: The décor is not like a normal Vietnamese Phở restaurant. It is bold, simple, and contemporary… maybe a little bit on the cold side. There are high counters, low tables, big tables, and bench seats. There are 3 huge tables in the dining room. I recognize one huge «Big Surf» table and bench from Crate&Barrel in the room. Why they put this big huge heavy duty conference table in the room? No idea… maybe they want to make a statement. Anyway, I like the street sign of SAIGON and TUDO hanging on the metal street light post. In one of a corner, there is a small compact machine producing fresh noodle at the time. The place is clean inside out even the restroom. (*)
–Service: Adequate and attentive. All servers are young and friendly. Look like they are from a local high school or a college near by. (*)
–Foods: As recommended from many Unilocalers, I ordered grilled pork slider, phở filet mignon, plus a Vietnamese iced coffee. My wife ordered chicken phở and hot tea. The pork slider is very juicy and tasty. Iced coffee is very smooth and really good… there is no sour taste of acidity in the coffee. Look like that the coffee was cold brewed. Now the phở… This place is unique. II never saw or heard of a phở house that they make phở and fresh noodle in the same place, right in front of you. They don’t even have this combination in Vietnam or anywhere in the world as I known.. Let me tell you this, the noodle is really really really good. It is silky, smooth, and taste good. You can feel and taste the soft tender of the rice flour in the noodle. It does not taste the same «fresh“noodle at other phở place. We get our bowl of phở in a nice rectangular bowl. The aroma of phở is unique and original. This is the fragrant of phở that I can remember from the childhood memory. It is not heavy of star anise flavor but a right combination of many spices and the beef fat. The broth is not sweet like many other phở places. It has deep and bold beef flavor… and really tasty. This broth is a «Northern» version of phở which I prefer. The «Southern» version is always too sweet for me. The filet mignon is very special. It is tasty, tender, and «melt in your mouth». I never had this kind of rare beef (phở tai) in phở before. It looks like the meat is marinated, cook, and grill. It has a flavor of grilled steak and smoky which I cannot describe. The combination of freshly made noodle, the broth, and this special filet mignon is perfect. I have to say that I am very satisfied after finish this bowl. I try the chicken phở from my wife and surprisingly find that the chicken white meat is so moist and tender. I normally don’t like the white meat chicken in phở because it is so dry and bland… but not this one. Anyway, during our stay, I flag down a middle-​age guy to let him know that the phở is good. And it turns out that he is the owner of this place and the inventor of this noodle making machine. We chit chat for awhile and found out that he spend more than 10 years to design and build that machine, and couple years to research and testing the type of rice to make noodle. But the hardest part for him is to get an approval to use his machine in his restaurant from many government food safety related agencies plus the OC health department. He also said that he is running this machine to make noodle all day long as needed, and the broth is simmered more than 10 hours (overnight) in a special cooking vessel. The meats, both fillet mignon and chicken breath, are cooked and controlled with a time/​temperature precised process in order to make them tender, moist, and juicy.
Freshly made noodle, handed cut meat right after you order, 10 hours simmer broth, and prepare your bowl of phở right in front of you… Try it and see if you agree with my take on this place. (***)

I must give this place a try since a friend had told me about it and looks like it has great reviews.
Literally, ONLY the noodle itself was great! fresh and cooked to its right density. We didn’t find anything special out of the ordinary. We had the mango salad, filet mignon phở, and the chicken phở. The meal was not satisfying. it was disappointing.
Maybe it was just a fluke???

Friendly service. Cute décor. Tons in parking. It’s in the same Plaza as Target.
Grilled shrimp sliders: good
Grilled pork sliders: good
Vermicelli w eggroll, pork, & shrimp: tasted alright.
Phở: was bland. No flavor.
Shaken beef: tender, a few pieces were chewy, but overall good.
Strawberry lemonade: tasted alright.
Seatings: a lot of big tables for group. They should do more for 4 people instead.

Ate today here for the first time and it’ll also be the last.
We ordered the pork sliders, mango tango salad, shrimp and avocado roll, tofu phở, and grilled pork and shrimp vermicelli.
Good: sliders, salad,
Average: the rest of the food
The vegetarian phở broth tasted like vegetable broth with none of the cinnamon, star annis, ginger smell.
Service was slow and food was not coordinated, the main dish came out first before the appetizers.
Here’s the worse part and the very reason I won’t come back. There was a huge silverfish in my glass of water. I saw something floating before taking a sip and yes, a silverfish. Brought it to their attention and all we got was a handshake and «sorry.» It makes me want to throw up just thinking of that.
The food here is Americanized and if you’re looking for authentic Vietnamese food then head down a few blocks to bolsa.

I’ve heard very good things about this restaurant from coworkers so when my friend wanted to meet with me for lunch during work one day I had to visit! She and I have a fun history of visiting different restaurants when we see one another.
I didn’t know it was a sit-​down restaurant so heads up about that. Probably would not have eaten here had I know since I only have a 30 minute lunch and it took them about 15 minutes to seat us and get our orders out. The noodles took exceptionally long but I’m guessing that is what must be done when you cook home made noodles.
I ordered 2 bao chicken sliders and avocado & shrimp spring rolls. The spring rolls were generously sized and came with delicious peanut sauce and sweet ‘n sour sauce with a little kick to it. The bao sliders did not disappoint. Honestly the bao sliders were filling enough. I didn’t event need both spring rolls to fill up by I was able to split the order with my friend :-)
Can’t wait to come back here!

Oh I adore this hip phở place !
The décor is nice, clean and simple with a dash of Vietnamese décor !
Service was fast, speaks English and excellent !
Now to the phở.
Of course like most customers on here, I went ahead an ordered myself a phở filet mignon. It’s amazing, the meat is perfectly cooked and sorta melts in your mouth! Great phở noodles, fresh and well cooked! The broth is mediocre but the meat makes up for it! Definitely worth a try and will come back !!
Just don’t order café sua da. It was not tasty at all.

First thing I loved was the presentation and branding. The layout, choice of furniture, plates, utensils, etc were all well selected and the aesthetic is to my liking. But the noodles are the highlight. Made at the location, the noodles are gluten free, 100% naturally made. You can actually taste the transparency! The broth was superb, chicken was tender. Also had spring rolls which was just as beautifully made. Even the sliced onions were fresh and transparent. Loved this place.
The owner, Tony, took the time to explain his invention as well. The noodle maker, which is displayed there, took 10 years of research!

The have a phở maker which is super cool! I ordered the filet mignon phở. The meat tasted like it was roasted or seared which gave it a smokey taste. I’d appreciate it if it was straight up raw though.
The broth was a beef broth, but not phở beef broth. It has no star anise, fennel, and coriander flavor at all. We paid $ 11 for it so of course I’m gonna eat it, but was it worth it? Not really.
1 star for phở machine
1 star for décor
1 star for nice staff

Kind of a MEH experience at Silk Noodle Bar.
Walking into an empty restaurant on a Friday night, we were promptly seated. After a 10 minute delay to get some water, the waiter took our order.
Phở Filet Mignon– 3 stars. I live in GG, and am very loyal to Phở 45÷79÷54, so of course this phở wasn’t as good as other places, but very solid. The broth was good, and I could tell the noodles are fresh; they make the noodles when you order. You get a massive portion and 2 people could easily eat this. At $ 11 not sure I would order that again.
Pork/​Chicken spring rolls 5 stars. These rolls as massive, 1 order could be a meal for someone they are so big. They are packed full of veggies with plenty of meat. I would come back here to just to eat the spring rolls, I only think Brodard Château makes better rolls!
Chicken Vermicelli– 2 stars. If I had only read some of the other reviews, I would have known to avoid this dish. The dish is very skimpy with the chicken; it’s just a giant bowl of noodles with some salad and dressing. Do NOT order this, just order more spring rolls
I wasn’t a fan of the service while eating, it almost seem like the staff didn’t know what to do, so they made mistakes (not clearing empty plates, I was stacking them on another table, bring appetizers out with the main dish) and when I asked them to split my phở dish since I didn’t want to pour boiling water at my table I got weird looks.
I would come back to get the rolls for sure, they are worth a trip, and will be more selective when ordering! Thanks
#25/​2016

Silk noodle bar is legit! I like the modern vibe of this phở spot. Not your typical VN restaurant with portraits of ladies wearing traditional dresses (ao dai) or horse paintings on the wall. Two thumbs up on open kitchen/​drink bar concept.
Food was delicious. I know authentic when I taste it. Seeing they are a noodle bar we tried only the phở on this first visit. Per other Unilocal friends… I wanted a taste of fresh noodles made on site. Soooo good! Must have…
⁴⁄₅ stars. Traditional spring rolls with pork/​shrimp: very fresh and comes with two dipping sauces-​peanut and fish sauce.
⁵⁄₅ stars. Phở brisket. Just the typical phở with thin brisket, sliced onions, green onions, cilantro. No add ons such as tendon or tripe needed. No frills. Just good flavorful broth and meat.
⁵⁄₅ stars. Phở filet mignon. OMG! Meat was super tender. Highly recomended if you love steak!!!
⁴⁄₅ stars. Saigon yogurt for dessert. Not as thick as VN yogurt should be. Verry yummy still… comes with fresh strawberry slices.
Service + food + atmosphere = 5 stars!

Fantastic Phở can now be had south of the 405 on Beach Boulevard.
Silk Noodle Bar is well outside of OC’s Phở Triangle by several miles but you wouldn’t know it by taste alone. The new and modern concept restaurant is focused on the freshest noodles possible and the interior is literally built around a Phở noodle making machine that is the size of a midsize sedan. As you order you are actually watching your noodles being born which I found to be a great deal of fun. The youthful staff is supremely kind, willing to please and helpful. I would admit that the prices are realtively high (for Phở’s standard anyway), but you can still get out the door with a bowl and a drink for about $ 12.00 with tip included.
The broth is all that matters in my book and Silk offers a unique one featuring a robust beef flavor that you typically wouldn’t expect as Phở is usually about subtle flavors. There is no subtlety here — just a beefy smack to the palette which I enjoyed especially with a splash of Sriracha. The vermicelli rice noodles are naturally as fresh as can be as I watched them being made before my eyes. Chewy, al dente and… just… well… awesome. The Brisket was also memorable thanks to the lack of fat and being served at a medium rare temperature. A very acceptable bowl of slurpables in every aspect.
I think Silk Noodle Bar may offer the best «starter» Phở for the uninitiated in North County as the environs are clean, the service is exceptionally friendly and the ingredients in their offerings are easily recognizable. Better still — the food is delicious.
I bet that Silk Noodle Bar will enjoy tremendous success in Surf City, USA.

and… it only gets better…
Went with two friends from work today… Not only did we find the fresh noodle machine in action, we were lucky enough to go with a Vietnamese friend who knew to order «ginger sauce» with the Chicken Phở. This isn’t on the menu, you need to ask for it. Note: Two of the waiters weren’t aware of this sauce, so make sure you keep asking … until you get some! It’s delicious and a must as a dip for the chicken.

Mr. Willy Wonka would be proud to see the contraption SNB used to make FRESH PHO NOODLES. «Beep, honk, choo choo»…smoke coming out from the top and instead of an EvErLaStInG gObSteR, silky phở noodles. Fun stuff!
On that note, I’m not a big Phở person, but I had to see what hand made phở noodles were all about. However, Phở-​Veterans, don’t come here looking for a combination/​Dac Biet bowl. No tripe, tendons or a mixture of meats.
We started off with the FILET MIGNON PHO ($ 11). Good size bowl with plenty of noodles and meat to share with another person (if ordering something else).
*Meat: cooked medium rare when delivered to your table. Still slightly red! In this case, the broth is not going to cook your meat all the way. SO, if you want your meat cooked well done, which defeats the whole purpose of getting filet mignon IMO, you MUST ask them ahead of time to make your broth very hot to cook the meat all the way through. Meat is very very tender the entire time. Does NOT dry out when sitting in the broth. YUM!
*Noodles: fresh (NONE of that powdery preservative loaded kind) and slightly wider than your typical phở noodles.
*Broth: hearty and flavorful. Not overpowering with anise and I didn’t get the MSG headache after eating it. BIG plus.
Kiddos got the GRILLED PORK with steamed rice, no broken rice ($ 8 without the shrimp): Tender and nicely marinated grilled pork. Pork was cut thicker than the typical thin cut, but because it was so tender, it was easy peasy to cut for the kids. The hubs and I also shared GRILLED PORK & SHRIMP VERMICELLI ($ 10): same as pork in the rice, but with grilled shrimp! These noodles were not made in their fancy machine, but was still fresh and SPOT on in texture. Only complaint was they used a pre-​mixed lettuce (similar to the kind at Costco/Sam’s club) instead of cutting up romaine lettuce. Slightly more bitter.
SAIGON YOGURT: they warned us ahead of time this was more of yogurt than a drink. Thick and tarty w/​diced strawberries. Too heavy and doesn’t go well with our meal.
TID BITS:
1) Friendly and fast service
2) Next to Lazy Dog (took over George’s Greek)
3) Kid friendly and no MSG IMO
4) Staff does not speak much Viet.
Recommendation: Please put on some background music, since it’s awkward when it’s too quiet and the restaurant echos:)
SNB is pricier than the average Viet restaurant and lacking a bit authenticity. But, the quality and flavors of the food makes up for it.

Think of this as gourmet phở. I ordered the Filet Mignon Phở, which comes in at a hefty price of $ 11. They only offer one size which seems to be comparable to a medium at other phở restaurants. I don’t mind paying the higher price because the broth was the perfect fragrance, the noodles are made IN HOUSE, and the filet was perfectly tender and rare in large, thick slices. They also offer brisket and chicken phở, both of which feature large tender chunks of meat as well.
You have the option of ordering on an iPad when you walk in or having full service at a table. We went for the full service option and found the waiters to be friendly. The décor is open and contemporary, but not exactly warm or comfortable. The metal chairs were a bit awkward but I suppose it doesn’t matter if you don’t spend a long time dining. This is a great place to take anyone who is looking for something fancier than the down and dirty phở experience.

The phở filet here is pretty good and the cuts of meat are thick. However, it’s pretty pricey at $ 11 a bowl, but you’re in HB so I guess that’s standard.
The pork bun was decent at 2 for $ 5. I actually liked it better than Baos Hog.
I ordered the mango salad which I normally order at Vietnamese restaurants. The description read with pork, daikon carrots, shrimp and cherry tomatoes. I got 2 shrimps cut in half which was 4 pieces placed in the corner along with 2 tomatoes cut in half, 4 pieces placed alongside the shrimp. They top it off with pork, which is actually «thit nuong». This combination with a mango salad is terrible. Typically mango salads are served with seafood, but i suppose because they’re catering to the non-​Vietnamese crowd they felt the need to add meat. The dish is $ 8, I would say they should get rid of the pork which is probably $ 3 worth, add some more shrimp and tomatoes and they would have a solid dish for $ 5.