Pho Company at Irvine

Not sure about this place.
There were ants everywhere while I was eating on the table… *gross* not really sure about cleanliness of this place.

I eat lunch here at least twice week. Always phở, either steak or shrimp with broccoli.
They know what I like and bring it to me without even being asked, extra limes, ice tea, whatever. The service can’t be beat; usually a lady waits on me and she is AWESOME. There’s also a younger guy who takes great care of me.
Can’t say enough about this place. It’s 3 off-​ramps away from my office, off the 5 freeway but well worth the drive.

I don’t know how many times this place has changed its name, but I’m just glad it’s still a phở restaurant.
Stopped in for dinner with a friend while in town. Ordered Spring Rolls, which was standard, but would have been better if the rice paper wasn’t so chewy. I was feeling Phở, but Mi sounded better since I haven’t had Mom’s in a while. I ordered Mi Hoang Thanh Xa Xiu (Egg noodles with wonton dumplings and sliced bbq pork) and it was really good! I only wished they had thrown in some baby bok choy, then it would have been awesome! The phở, which my friend ordered, wasn’t as good. The broth was definitely lacking flavor. Glad I went with the Mi!
Not much to say about the service. It’s typical and expected at every phở restaurant. Quick and gets the job done.
I’ll be back.

I used to come here when I was too lazy to drive to Westminster for a hangover cure and it USED to be pretty decent. My parents were in town and my dad wanted some phở since it was cold… this place was nearby so we went.
OMG…we were the only customers inside this place and now I see why. The food SUCKED BALLS, seriously everything was so bland and watery. I’m not going to waste time writing details about this place but seriously don’t eat here. I was almost embarrassed I brought my parents here.

This place still has my love. With the new company name… it used to be called Phở 99… it doesnt seem theyve done any other changes as well… just the name… BUT they have added one item to the PHO MENU
INTRODUCING THE NEW PHO CO COMBO!
–Sliced Steak
–Brisket
–Meatballs
One thing that Im confused about is… are they they PHO CO meatballs? or are they the traditional beef balls? bo vein?
The soup is amazing… the staff is great… the price is average IRVINE price… the place is clean.
UNTIL THEN! ^-^

Let’s just say «I’ve said no to better phở.» The taste or should I say the lack of taste was a big turn off.
Not to mention the service is not the greatest. The guy practically yelled at us for trying to put more seats at our table. (if we are doing something wrong tell us, don’t yell at us).
Like the other Unilocalers have said, if you want good phở you have to go to the north part of the OC (costa mesa, fountain valley, Westminster).
I DON’T recommend this place.

3 stars for I’d come again if I was in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
I got the Phở Bac with Beef and the portion is smaller than what I’m used to in the Westminster area, but it was the perfect amount for me. I thought the beef was seasoned well (sweet and salty) and very tender. There was plenty of it too! The veggies were nice and green with a good crunch. So no complaints about this dish.
The regular phở, unfortunately, was bland. I tasted some of my friend’s phở with flank steak and it tasted really watered down, despite all the hoisin and sriracha sauce she doused in it.
Servers were friendly and our food came out quick. You pay at the counter and they were more than happy to split our check in four.
I’d come back, but maybe not for their regular phở.

the waiter served my phở with his thumb dipped into my broth.
did i end up eating that bowl of phở? … yes.
did i get any irritable bowel syndromes? … no.
i guess i’d rather have a thumb than spit.
i got a phở + wontons. the wontons were hard and the phở was hard as well. stay away. far far away.

Acceptable deliverables at above competitive prices.
The soupbase lacks character — I believe they’ve opted out on the chicken broth or pork oil in its preparation. The cilantro and onions were meager and the beefballs were a bit bland. The final product was average, but I guess it works for outside of ethnic population pockets.

Save your time and money if you what authentic, If you are hungry, desperate and wanted a clean place with good service to eat at, go here.
I was craving something Asian and «Soupy» and decided to make a stop here, the signs outside says Golden Bowl, but everything inside indicates they are called Phở Company? The décor is nice and they kept the place clean and neat. Service was perfect, not something usually found in Asian restaurants. The food however was mediocre. The Phở’s soup was no flavorful enough, I was told that the soup base in Phở takes many hours to make, I’m assuming they cut that down. Their springrolls are bigger that what I’m used to, and their eggrolls was much smaller.
I may come back once in a long while. But definitely not my «Go To Place» for Phở.

First of all why is their sign called Golden Bowl and everything inside is called Phở Company? Please get your signs right!
Also, the first thing I noticed were the prices. It is sooo over priced. NOT WORTH IT. You can head to Garden Grove or Westminster to get some bomb ass food.
I ordered the Phoco Combo with has sliced steak, brisket, and meatballs. $ 6.75 for regular and $ 7.75 for large. The food came out extremely fast, seriously way too fast. I was extremely disappointed at the size of the bowl. It was TINY! NO LIE! Once, I got over that I tasted the food. The phở was lacking like crazy. It definitely did not have the phở flavor. It needed some star anise! Do they know what that is!!! There was barely any noodle… probably less than a handful of noodle… so ridiculous. I had to eat the phở with large amounts of hoisin and siracha hot sauce.
I can’t even say any more bad things about this place. Normally I would say try it… but don’t waste your money. Make a little farther drive to get some good phở!

Don’t Go.
Shortest review ever. Don’t be desperate for low quality phở. Anything you can do to ruin the phở experience I experienced here. I felt embarrassed bringing a friend here.

If you like flavorless phở come here. I had to douse my phở in Sriracha and hoisin sauce just to get some sort of flavor it in. Blah! All the same stuff is in the dish just muted.
This place wasn’t my choice. I like Phở Bac more.
Spring roll was were decent.

Yup definitely was excited to write this review. So curious why on a monday night it wasn’t so crowded. Only did I find out that the service wasn’t great.
We got their around 815ish when it closed at 9. We got seated, ordered food (phở) and ate. (again we were the only ones there). Around 830 – 840, another couple comes in, but the server says were CLOSED.
I mean come on?! Really? I think thats really bad service, even when theres no one there and its 830, theres plenty time to eat and order for them.
Not only that, they even rushed us to pay our check… it was 845… and another couple came in at that time. Right when we paying our check, he was waiting and tapping on our table like he was an a rush. He wanted to the close the register he said.
We left exactly 9 o clock.
Definitely looking to try another place, not recommending for first timers.
I could be wrong and it won’t happen to day people, but definitely didn’t like it.

My little heart hurts for this place. Am I the only person who likes this place? I think its quality of food is much better than some other phở places around the area, yet every time I come in here the place is eerily empty, save for the yellow-​shirted smiley waiters. Is it the odd corner location or the lame name? What. I can’t get a golden spoon with that golden bowl!!!
Anyway, hopefully this review will instantaneously jump-​start your appetite and send you to the wonderful golden bowl. Phở-​wise, I really enjoy the broth here. It’s deeply flavorful, yet light and not msg-​laden. I make phở at home once in a while, and this place (for Irvine I think) is the closest to achieving that harmonious slurp of spices and meat.
I also love the dry vermicelli dishes here, of which there are 3 combos (I’ve tried all 3!) Phở Bac’s vermicelli dishes… aren’t my fav: too much lemongrass on the meat and the veggies are a little dry. But here all the accoutrements (meat, shrimp, tofu) are so perfectly cooked and flavored! I finish the bowl each time, which is quite a feat for me. Plus the golden bowl is clean, well-​staffed, and cheap!!! Loves it.

This place has changed its name from Phở Golden Bowl to Phở Company. Came here for lunch with old co-​workers. The phở dat biet soup was a little blend for my taste.
Same old décor. Not very busy at all. It’s hard to get parking in that plaza especially lunch time!

3.5 stars
The phở here isn’t the greatest, but the vermicelli dishes are! I tried the vermicelli combination dish #3 and thought it was delicious. Clean, fresh, hot, cold, all in one! The nuoc mam (fish sauce) was perfect, not too salty or too sweet. It had a generous amount of noodles, lettuce, carrots, peanuts, bean sprouts, and of course, meat! You got your grilled shrimp, choice of grilled pork, chicken, or beef (I went with beef), and nem nuong, which is like pork sausage. The noodles were still hot and the combination of fresh cold veggies, hot meat and noodles was absolutely tasty. Only setback I found with this dish was that the meat was a little too oily for my taste and that the meat could have used more seasoning instead of just soy sauce/​fish sauce. Lemon grass? :)
My stomach no longer begged me to fill it, it was satisfied. For $ 8.50, it was a little pricey though, I’ve had the similar dishes for cheaper. I also tried the Thai Tea which wasn’t too bad either.
The service was very good here and they take plastic! Definite perks!
Vermicelli Combination #3 $ 8.50
Thai Tea $ 2.50
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Total $ 11.00 without tax

Yay! I’m a fan of having decent asian food at my disposal and not have to go to the spectrum for all american food.
I felt like I landed in asian food heaven when I got to this mall — japanese, ramen, shabu shabu, chinese, schezuan, vietnamese! Jack pot! It’s going to be a magical tasty trip going through all these restaurants :)
But anyways, onto the phở, surprisingly my phở craving was so bad, I ignored the ramen and *gasp* shabu shabu to come here.
What can I say, typical phở place. One thing that sucks is no rare beef :(that’s my fav. but I got the combo instead w/​meatballs, brisket and steak or whatever the common cut is. And I got some spring rolls.
Spring rolls were good, very delicate interior and exterior.
The phở I got wasn’t extremely flavorful, but it wasn’t bland either. definitely decent though. I put a lot of sracha and hoisin in it though and normally at good phở places i don’t add much.
I used to work by MacArthur and go to the phở place nearby there which def wasn’t good, so I’m glad I have decent phở at my disposal. Portions are big, I usually can finish my large phở if I try, but this time I just couldn’t. Luckily they had to go containers.
Prices were typical. 6.95 for regular, 7 something for large.
Perk: You don’t have to pay w/​cash, you can leave tip also on your card. Score!
I’ll def be coming back, I have no qualms making this my go to phở place for work !

Well, they say you never forget your 1^st, and I surely will not forget mine.
Oh you big tasty bowl of Phở *salivates*.
How could I live 38 years on this earth, 6 of which were in the Bay Area where I was SURROUNDED by lil mom & pop Phở restaurants and never have tried this tasty, delicious soup?
No no, it’s not just soup ya see. It’s an artful culinary creation extravaganza in a bowl.
My first few sips tasted like flowers, coating my tongue with an indescribable fragrance. It’s really was a taste carnival up in my mouth from the 1^st sip to the last bite.
I got the sliced steak and brisket kind. When the man asked if I wanted large or small, I asked what was the difference and he said One Dollah! So, I said large.
I should have had the small, because I barely put a dent in the large serving. But, it heated up well and I just had one hefty lunch.
Seriously, I am smitten with phở now. I have friends that are phở-​king phở-​reaks and go from place to place in search of the perfect bowl, and now I see why.
Not to be all racist or anything, but this place was filled to the brim with Vietnamese people dining. That has got to be a good sign when venturing upon authenticity in taste. The service kinda sucked but, it won’t stop me from coming back. It’s like the soup nazi kinda attitude and I think it’s just confidence because their phở is so special (though I have zero to compare it with)
I will be back many times because, now I am addicted. See, you can’t turn me onto something THIS delicious and expect that I can contain my desire for more.

I can’t believe no one has reviewed this place yet after it changed hands and went from Phở 99 to The Golden Bowl Phở & Grill. Back when it was Phở 99 I went a few times with family but it was really bad so I never went again on my own. I was reluctant to try the new place out, but I was seriously craving something Vietnamese and something soupy and just decided to give it a shot.
So anyway, I ordered the Mi Thap Cam Kho (combination egg noodles) which comes with bbq pork, fried chicken, shrimp, and the Vietnamese luncheon meat. I opted for the ‘kho’ version which is dry with soup on the side — an additional 95 cents for having it dry.
When my bowl arrived I was surprised to find that they were not stingy on the ingredients. Ample pieces of bbq pork, greens, and the bowl of soup was much bigger than those one would find in lil Saigon. I didn’t expect to find mi of this quality in Irvine.
I wouldn’t say it was better than lil Saigon because the texture of the mi wasn’t as chewy, but, having said that, if I didn’t want to drive out to Westminster for mi, this will suffice.
3.5 stars — they do use MSG but not a whole lot — uh – I take that back … totally passed out from MSG induced coma.