Pho Hien Vuong

This place changed ownership and management and is now turning into a Filipino/​Vietnamese fusion place. :(
They’re also incorporating Karaōke Night. NOOOO!
I’m sad to see it turn into that… and the night we went in to find all these changes, many things went awry.
1) No Debit/​Credit Cards accepted… the sign said it was temporary.
2) No Green Waffles… they said this too was temporary.
3) No Shrimp Cupcakes… this was permanent.
They took so many stuff off the original menu and added a bunch of Filipino dishes that I could get at other Milpitas restaurants.
I’m glad they kept the cook & the waitress (she’s such a sweetheart)! But, I’m afraid I’m going to have to find another fave PHO place to go to now.

OMG! Seriously my FAVORITE vietnamese place EVER!
There is nothing I can complain about from the phở to the egg rolls to even the WATER! YES! Water~ is infused with lemongrass!
My favorites:
Phở w/​FLANK… that’s all I need, I just order phở w/​just flank! The flank here is to die for, it melts in your mouth goooood~ Also some phở places give you pieces of flank that are just fat… that is not flank, this place has real flank. Then the booth is KILLER! You don’t see oil floating on top of the soup and it doesn’t taste as though MSG has been added. I’m sure some people can disagree, but this is my favorite phở and I’ve been to quite a few.
Egg rolls: also DELISH! I love that they bring a plate of fresh lettuce with the egg rolls. Some places charge and make you request for this. Lettuce is suuuuuper cheap and it makes me so happy when restaurants aren’t so stingy and charging a customer for everything. Oh and I like these egg rolls because they have the rice clear noodles, some places don’t do that. And they put the egg rolls on wax paper so the oil was soaked up!
Green waffles: these are definitely good, but I wish they used a Belgium waffle maker. The waffles here are very thin and get soggy soon… I know I’m complaining but I can live with this.
Strawberry smoothie: very delicious but more on the sweet side. I think I will try another flavor next time, but strawberry was very good :]
Décor is nice, the family that seems to own this restaurant keeps the place very clean. I haven’t used the bathrooms yet so I don’t know about that, but there are two TVs one on each side. I always find myself watching whatever intense sport they have the TV on.
P. S. open late! Bonus!

I’ve been trying to venture out of my usual spots for phở (just because its hard to find good phở places near my work that are open on Mondays) and my coworkers and I ended up at this spot. I would definitely say this place deserves a solid 3 stars.
First of all, its pretty nice looking. Unlike other phở places, they actually took the time to dress this place up a bit. Having said that, the chairs kinda irked me. They’re a bit too squishy for me, so I felt like I couldn’t get a good angle to eat my food. Personal preference – I should’ve sat in the regular chair, not the booth. I was also a little weirded out that they didn’t have soy sauce on the table. I know phở has a lot of sodium already, but I like soy sauce in my phở, damnit. The server was very nice though and quickly brought some out when I requested it.
Overall, not bad. The food was decent and I’d probably come back if it was a Monday and my normal phở spots were closed.

This spot is a bit hidden. I wouldn’t have found this place had I not been craving phở at night. I didn’t want to go to your typical Phở Mai or Phở Saigon because those are the LATE NIGHT spots. It’s in the same plaza as DAKAO II.
i came in around 9pm and to my surprise, the phở was legit! I liked the broth, it serves beer, and it’s open til 10pm, i believe (maybe 11? double check!). I would hit this spot up next time, before i head to the other two. This place also has booths if you prefer sitting in those. Kinda cute– for those young high school couples who are going out and wanna sit close with each other. hehe

Only reason i’m in Milpitas is to check out any potential good grabs at the Great Mall… needed Phở to energize myself before the venture.
I got the Bun Bo Hue… it was ok. I like it that the give me the paste to tailor the spiciness of my broth… but other than that… BBH is way better in SJ.

Been here twice and I’ll be back again! A modern appeal which is nice and unexpected from the looks of this plaza.
1. I ordered bot chien aka fried flour cake w egg. Negative was they chopped some of my fried flour cakes (maybe they were running low (?)) so mine weren’t all same shape like the ones pictured. Therefore, some pieces were overfried like overcrisp, hardened french fries– not a good thing. One thing I did like was the overall flavor with the dipping sauce that tasted similar to gyoza sauce to me. Overall, I wouldn’t really care to order again. I felt like paying for 3 eggs and randomly chopped pieces of flour cake isn’t equivalent to the $ 6 price tag.
2. Now the gg rolls– sooo good. Kind of darker but not burnt at all on the outside. Filling was so good. Freshly fried to order. I didn’t mind the wait time. It came out after the entrees though. Came with side of lettuce, basil, and fish sauce. YuM. $ 7 or so for 6 egg rolls.
3. Phở– I guess from the name, it better be good and it was. Broth was tasty and was good sized bowl.

Great service! Staff was courteous and very attentive. I ordered the Bun Bo hue which had a perfect balance between spiciness, pork, and beef in the broth IMO. I’m definitely coming back!
Oh…and their green waffles are good too

I’m taking away their stars because of their service and for the food we ordered today. My mom wanted to try their Bot chien (flour cake with egg) because the last time we got it, it was really good. The food took FOREVER to cook and when it was time to pay (we had gotten a gift card and used it previously, we had a few bucks left and just wanted to use the remaining and pay the difference). It turns out they miss charged us last time (we got food a few weeks ago) and they made my sister reimburse them $ 10 dollars. really? 10 dollars is nothing but i feel like a returning customer, you would just let it go and realize it’s your cashier’s mistake? And to make matters worse, the food was over fried. We couldn’t even use our fork, it was that bad. We called my cousin to see if her food was good (she placed an order as well) and she said the same thing. Inconsistent with their food and horrible service. I’m not coming back.

Pros:
— accepts Visa/​MC if over $ 10
— offers variety on menu (phở, broken rice, vermicelli)
— clean
— quick service
— taste of the broth is flavorful
— decent amount for the price you pay
Cons:
— busy during the lunch rush
— parking can be a pain during the lunch rush
— phở did not contain a decent amount of green onions and cilantro
— they play Paris By Night (seriously, who watches that?)
— skimpy w/​the meats
Ok– I know that even though my family and I do not watch Paris By Night, I’m sure other Vietnamese patrons do but I would hope the music or what is being played on television can be universal or at least in english.
I ordered a small phở dac biet and finished it.

This place is everything you could want in a phở restaurant.
Restaurant is clean, portions are good, food tastes good, prices are good.
+1 star for free hot tea
+1 more star for green waffles for $ 1.25

It happened to be a good accident coming across here. i was initially looking for Phở 909 on Abel but then ended up here where it read Grand Opening. Came in and the décor was very modern and nice! Not like your typical dirty phở restaurant where all of the utensils are sticky either.
Sat at the booth and ordered a small bowl of Phở Tai, Sach, and bo vien (beef, tripe, and meatballs). I wasnt so keen on the old and dried up jalapeño pepper slices we got but I ignored it and put the rest of the whole sha bang veggies in. The food came out in a timely manner. They have 3 large flat screens which was good.
Prices are $ 6.50−6.75 if I can remember correctly. I’m a fan and would def come back. :)

I’ve been trying different places for a good bowl of grilled pork or beef over vermicelli noodles. Thanks to Unilocal,we found this restaurant in late July and we’ve been back a couple times since.
So far, we haven’t been disappointed. The dh has had the cubed steak and it was so yummy, I keep saying I will order that dish for myself sometime. I’ve ordered the grilled pork over vermicelli and I liked it so much, I couldn’t stop eating it. I’ve also ordered the tofu and veggie phở, which I thought was good, too. I can’t remember what I had last visit, but i think it was grilled beef (I think) with vermicelli. Again, I couldn’t stop eating it. My hubby has had pork dishes and he liked both of them. We always order a green waffle for a $ 1. Oh, it’s so yummy!
The restaurant is clean, the service is friendly, the food comes out pretty quickly and the prices are reasonable. This is already our go-​to restaurant when we are craving vietnamese.

I’ve had phở at a lot of places and I can honestly say this place is hands down the BEST so far.
Not only because of the price (cheap and big!) but the food itself is just amazing. Every time I come here it is guaranteed that I leave with satisfied smile on my face along with an entry ticket to go into food coma.
Even though Milpitas is about 10 – 15 mins away from me, this place is definitely worth the drive.
If you’ve never had phở from here, you need to copy down the address, get off of Unilocal,mapquest it and hop in your car to get here ASAP.

3.5 stars
Food: Phở was okay, decent amount of meat and noodles, but the broth was kind of bland. Chicken vermicelli was good, but no better then I’ve had before.
Ambiance: Clean and modern restaurant.
Service: Good, but server could have been a little more friendly.
Price: $ 7.5 for a large bowl.
Overall: Outside of San Jose, this place probably would have gotten a 4, but with the clean décor and decent food, this place is about average.

First time in this center and also discovering this new phở place.
The exterior is a bit ghetto for they are still renovating. The interior is quite roomy with many tables set up with new t.vs.
I had Bun with grilled pork it was about 7.50 for a bowl. The phở averages around 7.50 for a large and 6.50 for a small. The grilled pork of my bun was okay. The slices of meat was quite large and a bit overcooked. The noodles would be better with more veggies/​mint and more fish sauce.
I tried some of the Phở noodles. It was alright, I still prefer Phở Nam next door. With a little renovation and attention to detail this restaurant would be a lot better.
3 Stars.

I do like this new phở shop. It is nicer than many typical phở shops I have been to. It is clean, spacious and bright with fairly good service. For one, you don’t have to worry about any communication problems here because the waitstaff speaks perfectly good English. The service is also more attentive than most. In additional to phở, they also have Bun Bo Hue, Bun Rieu and couple other Vietnamese dishes on the menu.
Unfortunately the Phở Hien Vuong Dac Biet and Bun Rieu Oc I have tried were just mediocre. The phở broth was a bit light but not oily. The meat toppings were plentiful. The Bun Rieu broth lacked the complex flavor and the crab paste lacked a little kick. The downside was really the amount of MSG. I left feeling super thirsty and I am not even that sensitive to MSG. I think they could really go easy on the MSG and still produce semi-​decent phở and bun rieu. A shame really. I would really love to have another favorite phở shop in the area.

I really like this place because it’s super clean. It’s really brightly lit inside the restaurant and the seating and chairs are super comfortable. They have flat screens on each of the walls so there is always something to watch while eating and the staff/​workers here are just wonderful. They are always attentive, super friendly and always smiling.
This place usually closes at 11pm I believe and yesterday I came at 10:45 and they were all ready to close — I’m guessing it was a slow night. All of the chairs were already stacked up and the place was cleaned. They still welcomed me in, took down some chairs, took my order and even thanked me for coming. Best customer service ever!
As for the food, the Bun Bo Hue is questionable. I wouldn’t recommend that. The cube steak tomato rice is delicious and all the other phở bowls are yummy.
I have a very big sweet tooth and crave for sweets all the time. The strawberry smoothie here is rich and creamy. I finished it in probably less than 5 minutes. The waffles here are SO GOOD! They have a hint of coconut in them which makes them so addicting. My favorite place to go for waffles =)
The minimum for credit card charge is $ 10 so be sure to bring cash if you don’t order over $ 10!

This rating is for their Bun Bo Hue.
The soup base is really plain with a hint of fish sauce and lime flavor. There’s a tinge of spice. The meat, coagulated blood, cabbage mixture and bean sprouts are pretty standard.
Payment sucks if you want to pay with credit card… minimum is $ 10.
For the bowl of soup, $ 7.50 was not worth it. I’d much rather drive to Bun
Bo Hue An Nam for a kick ass bowl of noodles! Sorry Phở Hien Vuong.
***
Update — So far, the next 3 hours, I have been experiencing extreme thirst. The soup has way too much MSG. I would never return here even if the place looks good and is super clean…

Around 5:15pm, we were the first one here. We ordered the phở #24 (beef, tripe, tendon, etc) & bun bo hue. The small phở bowl was very large, and my mom liked the broth. Bun bo hue was good as well. It was a total of ~$ 13 for both. What a deal!
The chef/​owner/​waiter was very friendly. He said he would turn down the volume on the tv since it was Vietnamese and we didn’t understand. We asked for him to cook our bean sprouts and when he returned with them a minute later, it wasn’t cooked. No biggie, so we just asked him again and he cooked it for us.

Tried this place out due to a suggestion and after eating the phở here, I can’t complain about much. This is a fairly new family-​owned establishment in the Abel Square area. Upon walking in, it’s very hard to ignore the long red couch along the length on one side of the restaurant and the TV on the other side. The service here was on point, and I was really impressed with how clean the place is.
The phở itself is one of the better ones I’ve had. The small was pricier than other places that I’ve had it. As most places, the #1 is the one universal phở dish and the #1 here holds its own. The broth is very flavorful, so flavorful that I didn’t have to put too much hoisin sauce in my broth. The ingredients in the bowl blend very well together which makes the meal very enjoyable.
Overall, definitely a good place to get phở. My only problem is that it’s a bit out of the way for me, and I’m not really in this section of Milpitas too much. However, the one HUGE plus is that this place accepts credit cards!!! Finally, a phở restaurant that does accept cards.