Pho 909 Restaurant

Chonay an cung duoc lam. Ngon nhat la banh xeo. Ngon tuyet cu meo… Yeah. I like it. i love it

So delicious for inexpensive vietnamese food! Known for their banh xeo, but many people I know of who has had banh xeo love it except me. I’ve been here before when I was a kid and then realized I didn’t like the food here. But after hearing about the new owner, I was able to try the food again.
Nem nuong roll: has a wonton wrapper rolled into a stick and fried, mint, cilantro, bun, lettuce, sprouts, nem nuong, and a little pickles. Similar to spring rolls, but still good. YUM!
banh xeo: pieces are bigger than what you normally see. Usually eaten with the pickled Daikon and carrots and mung bean, but didn’t see any. Nbd, but still a favorite.
The other item I have no idea what the name is, but it was like a rice ball with shrimp, mung bean and something else usually eaten with nuoc maum. Another item I don’t like much, but they make it good here.
Shrimp and chicken chowmein: So so taste. Vietnamese chowmein isn’t that great, but this wasn’t bad.
Location: in a corner by ocean market nor far from omega restaurant.

Pleasant place. I feel soups here have less MSG than most Vietnamese restaurants around — I get less to no reaction. Interesting Central Vietnamese dishes (like Hue soups and crepes) in addition to regular menu.

Fast service. Nr. 1 from de menu Phở Special, very big bowl and tasty noodle soup. Good Thai food.

I like the phở in there. The soup is tasted.

The food here is delicious, all handmade, and fresh! My favorites are the fish fillet porridge and the shrimp with avocado spring rolls. Everything is made to order so the spring rolls Coke out super soft and yummy! The portions are on the larger side and prices are very affordable. The restaurant itself is clean and the servers aren’t very attentive but they’re quite nice and welcoming.

New ownership, will never come back again! The potion is half the size compare to before, taste is worst I’ve had for Vietnamese food, at not to mention price increase. I used to be a regular here but after yesterday I would never come back here again!

Seems to be an ownership change, I’ve been customer for at least 15 years, so many good memories though it was badly decorated and even a bit filthy, now it will likely be the end of it even though they’ve spent money renovating it and even improved the table and seats.
It is not the quality but the taste of dishes that have become very disappointing. My favorite dish has been the chicken clay pot, the fish and pork clay pot, and crepes (though other restaurants can match this).
The chicken clay pot for one, has been absolutely destroyed. Fried rice with chicken cubes and sausage becomes stir fried rice in clay pot with chicken strips and sausage, that is not too bad, but wait, what happened to the quarter bbq chicken? Gone! So you take away the main course and the price? Practically doubled, ok i know it has been a lot of years, I don’t blame you for $ 10, this dish is worth it if it were the same as the original dish, but it ain’t.
I’ve never asked much for service, it isnt improved either.

Great local place to get phở. Reasonably priced and good service. I’ll be coming here again.

Though the name would suggest otherwise, this spot actually has quite a bit more than just phở. It’s actually quite renowned for banh xeo, a crispy savory Viet crêpe. I actually also love the bun bo hue, a spicy beef vemicelli in broth dish, here too. Many places don’t deliver quite the heat and lemongrassy punch like this place does. When I get BBH, I expect the spice to get close to making me sniffle at least a little bit, and Phở 909 definitely gets me there every time. Love it! Even better, you can easily call ahead and have them pack it for you to-​go so you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home.
They also have banh nam here as an appetizer, another fav of mine you don’t see on many menus around here.
Definitely a solid place to take friends to especially if it’s their first intro to non-​phở places (though the phở here is also good).

Phở 909 has a large tablet for a menu, .laminated and all. skipped phở per reviews.
eats: Banh xeo tom thit heo (8.9)
–large crêpe with’/ pork, shrimp, bean sprouts ala omlette
–came with lettuce leaf wrap, cilantro, basil?, fish sauce dip.
–pork tasteless, shrimp chewy/​tuff, not tender/​juicy, not fresh
aftertaste, definite msg prescence.
take outs:
–tab 10.22, milpitas tax rate 8.75, tax 79, total should be 9.69
pay at register, no receipt given.
–coffee delivered to table by mistake, looked, didn’t taste.
–large dining room, friendly service
doubtful return.

Food wasn’t good at all. The veggies that came with the noodle soup were dried up, must have been sitting out for a long time. I ordered bun bo hue with crab paste and shrimp. Brooth was msg loaded… no shrimps at all, only had 4 meatballs.
Don’t even mention about service, no service at all.

Love eatin here=) there large bowl is worth the price… this is the place where i love having sum phở wen itz cold and when your sick…=) ill recommend this plc! Love it and there service is fast too.

As for their seafood phở it was a bit on the salty side. The lime would help but then its would be masking the broth’s original taste. Just stick to the Banh Xeo.

So. coming here reminds me of the vietnamese version of an izakaya (japanese drinking house — tapa-​style dishes that go well with alcohol).
We have been here a few times now simply because the restaurant is close by and eating the phở does not leave you with the tongue tingling numbness of too much msg.
Breakdown:
Phở with Oxtail — oxtail is not cheap but this dish is just around $ 11. Not bad.
Phở with the usual stuff (brisket, flank etc) — no or little msg makes this a go-​to place for phở for us
Vietnamese crêpe — mungbean, shrimp, chicken folded in a crispy egg-​based crunchy crêpe + lettuce& herbs dipped in fish sauce — the freshness of the herbs and lettuce combined with the sweet tangy-​ness of fish sauce makes this dish a great combination to have with some bubbled drink
Clams appetizer — a great small dish to share while drinking. comes with lettuce to wrap your clams in
Rice porridge — great flavor, a good dish to have on a cold dreary day or when you have a cold.
Rice with korean-​style short ribs — s’okay if you really really want to have rice with grilled beef at this restaurant but you are better off having korean ribs in a korean restaurant or vietnamese grilled beef at a place like Vung Tau II
Other things to know
— recently changed owners
— have dinner sets — havent tried but will one of these days

Honestly I live right by this place and never knew it existed, the Thai tea is tasty and creamy and the phone is what you pay for nothing to complain about, it was so quiet and clean in here there is no reason why it should be that way ! I think next time I’ll take the boyfriend !
For all those that complain it’s not like the old owners well its quite obvious why they aren’t the owners anymore obviously either health inspection problems or reasons they couldn’t make the profit

***** Note to all friends who go to a VIETNAMESE restaurant ***** If the name of the restaurant has PHO in it, don’t order anything else but Phở if you want to be pleased with the food.
I literally found this place on a complete whim while on my way up to Fremont. Pulled off the highway and randomly stumbled upon this place a little after the lunch hour rush. Was starving. The PHO is really on point here and reasonably priced. Not the prettiest interior but its really about the food here.
Service was a bit slow cause they were winding down from lunch, I like that they had a great number of other options but I was in the mood for Phở cause I hadn’t had it in FOREVER. Which is like more than month, LOL. Bowl was able to come out in less than 8 minutes for sure. That was key cause I was extremely busy on Friday and pressed for time. The sides vegetables were fresh and the table had chili sauce and hoisin which is all I really need to happily eat my Phở. Toss those bean sprouts in to the cool the soup and you’re good to go. Basil is a must for me as well with the meat. Dac Biet (special combination) all the way. I think they take cash only here, but your meal per person should be less than $ 10 for sure even with a tip.

The nem nuong cuon is not good at all. The crispy part is so soggy, you think it’s part of the vermicelli noodles that were in it. I didn’t even know nem nuong cuon came with noodles. It made the entire roll even more soggy than what it already was. It didn’t taste like anything. Two rolls comes with peanut sauce.
The restaurant is warm, a bit musty, and has some flies swinging around. The service is nice and courteous. They’re like the Vietnamese family who you want to take you home. The food is delivered quickly. I know water in most places is basically tap water, but goodness, this tasted like the tap water from the public library. I don’t know how I know this.

Bánh Xèo… Golden Stuffed Crêpe, AKA Sizzling Cake… If you’ve been searching the bay for the best of the best, look no further… Yes, they may be called «Phở 909», but neither Phở nor any of the other 909 items on the menu are their specialty. If you’re «in the know», the only reason why you’re here is strictly for one thing & one thing alone…, the Bánh Xèo…
Opted for Bánh Xèo Tôm Thit Heo (Shrimp & Pork) & as my Unilocal buddy/​coworker (Paul N.) who prepped me prior stated, «This will be one of the most crispity-​crunchity & tastiest crêpe’s I’ve ever eaten…» Additionally; typically, you’re given a massive dish of veggies/​lettuce (per order) which you’ll use to wrap portions of the Bánh Xèo. A piece of crêpe, a sliver of pork, a piece of shrimp, sprouts, etc…, all rolled together into a fresh/​crispy lettuce wrapper. Yes, it’s absolutely delicious as originally intended, but did you want to take it to take it up another notch? Ask the server to bring you a bowl of water & rice paper (the same wrapper used for goi cuon). Dip the wrapper into the bowl to soften, fill with lettuce, sprouts, pork/​shrimp, crêpe, etc…, then roll everything up within the wrapper like a fresh spring roll. Dip the nicely packaged roll into your nuoc mam & you are good-​to-​go… Sounds good don’t it? (This little tip btw was also brought to you by the great «Paul N.»). Trust me, you’ll thank us later… MUCH cleaner way to eat/​enjoy this dish as well…
Anyway… Yes, there are other spots out there in SJ, etc…, some bling’d-out or self-​proclaimed joints «specializing» in Bánh Xèo, but are nowhere near the quality nor crunch of Phở 909. This thing retained it’s crispy crunch throughout my meal, even resting atop the pork/​shrimp/​veggies & soaked within the nuoc mam. Portions by the way are MASSIVE & @ $ 7.90, this meal was one helluva deal… If you’re curious about this unique type of dish/​crêpe, may as well start from the top @ Phở 909 since, outside of the walls of this strip-​mall, it’s all downhill from here… I guarantee that once you take a bite of this masterpiece, all other spots advertising this dish on their menu will pale in comparison…
You may think you know Bánh Xèo, but you have no idea…

On my way to San Jose for some meetings, I stopped at Phở 909.
A look around the tables show they’re playing people for fools with their «Phở» name sine almost every table at lunch were enjoying some form of Banh Xeo (Vietnamese crêpe).
To kick it up from most places that have just one variety, they have 4 Banh Xeo options. 3 Shrimp variations (solo, +chicken, +pork
) and one vegetarian (Banh Xeo Chay) listed separately in the vegetarian section of the menu.
I got the #3 which is Shrimp+Pork. Similar to what I recently got at Anh Hong San Jose, this example used the «¾ fold-​over» method making the crêpe look bigger and putting a lot of the fillings on the plate rather than the bottom ¼ of the crêpe folded underneath (
).
Their version had great crispiness that lasted through the whole dish. A crispy crêpe definitely makes holding onto the lettuce wrap easier! There was a good amount of tender pork and 3 small shrimp along with sprouts, mung beans, and scallions (
).
The large plate of greens appeared to be lettuce, mint, cilantro, and purple perilla (
), but half-​way through I found some mustard greens buried under the lettuce (
) a rarity, it seems. Some of the lettuce and perilla was limp and wilty.
The nuoc cham had some garlic and pickled carrots & daikon. I found it a little sweet, but doctored it a bit with the nuoc mam and chili sauce provided on the table.
Iced coffee comes pre-​mixed in a to-​go cup. It was a bit watered down (
).