Pholicious

It’s a decent spot for phở that’s quick and easy. Also pretty affordable. I got the beef phở to go in a regular size and it was enough for me. It does come with the 1 jalapeño and bean sprouts, but I really wish it came with basil too. I took one star away for that. Service is good and friendly, I had no problem with communication like some people have had. I mean it’s not as good as the places on Convoy I frequent, but being close to the college it does pretty well.

Located inside the Grossmont Food Court, this place is churning out some fairly reasonable Vietnamese food. I visited their sister location in Plaza Bonita with reasonable results, but favored much better at this location.
I ordered almost the same thing, but this time I went for the grilled pork Bánh mì instead of chicken, and the same crispy fried Vietnamese egg rolls filled with ground pork and vegetable for $ 3.99 for four. This time I asked for no mayo on the the Bánh mì, which resulted in a more stable sandwich.
The Grilled Pork was tender, well seasoned, and as a result very tasty, but I little more of it would of been just grand. The fresh crisp cucumber were a nice pairing with the tender pork. The bread was had a good exterior crunch and soft center and the jalapenos they added the sandwich added some good heat, which I liked very much, but if you don’t, remind them to hold off on them. The Bánh mì only cost $ 4.49.
The egg rolls were very well fried and arrived pipping hot with a bit of green lettuce. These had a crispy exterior with tender meat inside and with some veggies that still had some texture. They tasted great and went well with the Sriracha sauce which I preferred over the sweet and sour sauce that came with them: just not into sweet sauces that much.
Service was genuine and quick.

Phở is hands-​down my favorite food, so when I have the chance to have it, I have it. I stopped in the food court after hitting the nearby comic shop. The menu is displayed over two TVs, and slideshows to display pictures of different items. They have less options than a traditional phở restaurant, opting to leave out more exotic items (such as tripe).
I ordered the beef phở and a Thai tea with boba. Typically, I order my rare steak on the side, but that didn’t seem like a reasonable request at a food court. I got my number and sat at the nearest table. There wasn’t a long wait for the food, and since I was the only customer, I didn’t wait for my number to be called out. With the phở came a snack sized baggy of bean sprouts, one japapeno, and one lime slice — no sweet basil. It also came with a small cup of hoisin sauce and another of sriracha. The beef in the phở was still a bit rare when I got it, which is a good sign; it was still tender. I opened my chopsticks and started to eat, going for noodles first; there were proportionally less than I’m used to getting, and they were cooked al dente. After so many bites of noodles, I’d eat a piece of meat (you have to space them strategically, so as to not get left meatless before you’ve finished your noodles). The meat came a bit stuck together, but was easily separated. Last but not least, the broth; it had a good flavor, but wasn’t the best I’d ever had. The Thai tea was sickeningly sweet (could be a pro or a con, depending on your tastes), and there was a bit too much ice, making it challenging to fish out the boba.
I’d definitely eat here again if I were in the mall to see a movie, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, or choose it over the nearby Phở Superbowl.

I ordered Taro boba and it’s better than a lot of other bobas I’ve tried. Can’t wait to try the phở next!

So decided to try this today for lunch… first problem communication, ordering is hard when they dont understand English very well, ended up with two different orders and still had to order a drink for myself at another food court business. I have had Phở before… not digging this place. I ordered the shrimp phở. You get a bowl of super hot flavorless broth with noodles green onions and 5 shrimp. The give you a little baggie with bean sprouts and jalapeños, 2 small containers of sauces. Not even close to what you get at a true Phở resturant. Big disappointment.

Pholicious just opened last Friday, December 11^th in the spot previously occupied by India Express, a place I was sad to see go. I stopped in today to try them out. They have a «Special Combo» for $ 10.99 that includes a bowl of beef or chicken Phở, two egg rolls, and a drink if your choice, smoothie, tea, coffee, etc. I got that and chose beef Phở and iced Vietnamese coffee.
The soup had good flavor but probably had tons of sodium. There were lots of noodles, cooked sort of al dente, and some thin sliced meat, 4 – 5 slices of semi-​chewy meat too big to make a mouthful but hard to pull apart into smaller bites. I do try to eat ladylike but it isn’t easy with noodles and larger meat slices. There were fresh sliced green onions on top and the portion was generous. The were no vegetables or herbs on the side to toss in like you normally get in other Phở places. It was extremely hot when it came out and I had to wait for it to cool down but felt like a pantywaist when I saw a girl at the next table drinking hers from the bowl as soon as she got it.
While I waited for the soup to cool down a little I nibbled on the egg rolls and they were excellent, hot but not too hot to eat, nice filling inside, wonderfully crispy and flaky on the outside. They came with a piece of lettuce on the side and some sweet and sour sauce that was probably pre packaged and had a kick to it.
The coffee was absolutely delicious, nice and strong, very sweet, wonderful flavor. I would definitely get it again. If you’re in my vicinity I suggest avoiding me as I get extremely talkative when I am over caffeinated.
There isn’t any service per se but the girl behind the counter was cheerful. I did notice while I was sitting and people watching that two different people who had ordered from this place took their bowl back up to the counter because of a problem. The first lady told them she had ordered beef Phở but was given chicken so they took it back and made her a new one. The second man was very polite and quiet so I couldn’t hear exactly what the problem was but I thought I heard the word vegetables and thought maybe he was saying that he had ordered chicken and vegetables and it didn’t have any vegetables or perhaps didn’t have very many vegetables like the picture showed. Considering the short time I was here I was surprised to see two different people going up to correct a problem. They seemed to have a lot of people trying them out. I was #28 and they were on #46 by the time I left.
All in all I’d say the place was worth eating at and I would come back to try more items, like the Bhan Mi sandwich or Vietnamese grilled pork and Jasmine rice.
Or, if you’re looking for a sit down Phở place, head over to Phở Superbowl close by.