Ha Tien Cove

I’ve had the phở and some of the rice plates. All were piping hot and dang tasty. I thought the portions were reasonable for the price; I never felt hungry once finished with the meal and often had leftovers. They are also very nice and accommodating to dietary needs, or at least they were with me. This is a great addition to a college campus.

I was sick so I thought eating phở would be a good idea. I bought the combo phở and there were some upside and downsides.
The downside is a lack of tripe and meatball! I love tripe but there were little thin slices of it in the bowl. I understand it takes time to prep it but if it’s there on the menu I want it THERE in person! And honestly I don’t care about the meatball in any phở bowls so, eh. It’s good but eh.
The noodles and beef steak were the upsides! I couldn’t finish all the noodles because I was already full (I don’t eat much). I should have asked for medium-​rare steak so it doesn’t harden in the soup.
I would come back to eat again on a cold day!

Never have I ever returned a food purchase before, until I ordered phở from here. You’re paying $ 7.50 for the broth because they are extremely stingy with the meat they put. I used to come here at least once a week, but they’ve lost business with me after they tried to rip me off with a to-​go order. Never again will I return. Their other location is a little bit better, I think they just try to take advantage of the college demographic on campus. Sad, but smart business practice.
I gave them 2 stars instead of 1 because they refunded my money.

I love this place.
The food tastes really good. I have only tried their sandwiches and rice plates.
My only critique for them is that they give such less meat on their rice plates. It is as if I am paying for a plate of rice with a small side of meat. So, minus one star for that.
In addition to the lack of meat, I don’t think that $ 8 for that much meat is worth it.
But in all, I would come back.
Update:
Serving on the sandwiches are good and the fresh coconut juice is delicious!!!

I got the chicken curry rice plate and it was the worst curry i have ever had, it also does not include the side salad like listed on the menu. The quality of the chicken was terrible, I took one bite of the food and threw it away. I also got the «fresh coconut juice», which was partially frozen and tasted like freezer burn. I will not come back here.

They give so little meat for their rice dishes! Like itty bitty! Not worth the price.
Their noodle soup is good tho I always get the bun rieu. But the bowl can get super hot when u carry it to your table so be careful!
I think their restaurant on Ocean is better.

Itty bitty meat portion. And they give a mountain full of rice but it would suffice a hungry college kid I guess.
On the bright side! Their service is great

Got lunch here for once and went for the bbq chicken rice plate. What could go wrong? Somehow, everything — the chicken (which there was barely any of) was gross looking, dry, full of cartilege, and not bbqed in any way. I composted the whole meal. Waste of food/​time/​money.
Maybe everything else from here is amazing, but… ugh.

While i was not a big fan of the phở here.
I was very surprised with how fresh their Bun thit Nuong here on campus is.
It wasnt buried in peanut layers, nor overly drenched in fish sauce. And thank god i found a place that didnt burn the meat to blackened charcoal. It was actually very pleasant.
It wasnt too chewy nor was it dried up like fish from he weekend.
I finally have a decently approving reason to stop by here more often while at state. :)

The banh mi at this place was good but the meat to bread ratio was a bit sub par. Other than that the meat quality was good and reminiscent of the «Dinosaur sandwich» type quality. The flavor was average in the sense that it didn’t stand out for being the best nor the worst. Next time I’m going to try the BBQ chicken or the tofu and hope that more variety of sandwiches will be added to the menu (ie pâté). If you are on campus looking for a healthier alternative sandwich and not the behemoth sandwich place beneath the student center… Cheers

I normally don’t write negative reviews. However, I feel obligated to write my experience here.
I only ordered the most authentic and easiest thing in the menu; shrimp spring rolls. I notice right away the peanut sauce was different in color. I’ve had plenty or Vietnamese Spring rolls with peanut sauce (normally light brown in color). I tasted «peanut sauce» only to realize it’s some peanut sauce mixed with other Asian sauce (tasted like hoisin). I neglected Vietnamese originality and started to eat my spring rolls. As I bite into a piece I find myself being stabbed in the mouth with a sharp object (like plastic). I immediately pull it out and observe. I’ve never had see anything like that from spring rolls (keep in mind I’ve had plenty from all over the city). I run back and ask for an explanation; cashier tell me it’s normal when noddles don’t cook and that happens all the time. In my mind, I was like «WTF» I have to expect this in my spring rolls and pay almost $ 7. Spring rolls are easy to make and requires two human hands to put together. I don’t understand how two hands making these missed two inches hazardous noodles. Cashier tells me it’s normal and not worry then she continues to talk to her friend. I smiled and walk away.
I was very disappointed she gave me a BS excuse. Maybe since I’m HISPANIC she thought I hadn’t eaten Vietnamese food and she tried to create poor expectations of what I was eating.
Next time, won’t be a next time. I’ll save myself from this place poor Vietnamese expectations.

40oz to freedom.
Seminal album:
Successful soup: Two days into a cold was looking to be free of its grasp. Chicken phở proved to be the answer.
Advertised as 40oz and ate every single bit. Loved how the noodles soaked up the broth and the chicken was steamed. It’s healthy, effective and just $ 6.
Next day finished a good BBQ chicken sandwich on a French roll. Homemade soy sauce was a nice add but could have used even more. Not bad especially for $ 5.
Gentleman helping me answered all my menu questions with insight and patience. Thanks again to him and the entire team for setting me free.

For convenient, on-​campus Vietnamese food at SF State, this place is great! My favorites are the curry chicken soup and combination banh mi. I’ve had the beef phở twice and the first time was good, second time was a little more on the bland side so I guess you have to catch them on a good day. The pork chop rice dish had two juicy pork chops and a generous portion of rice. The Vietnamese coffee is a little more on the watered down, powdery side but not as bad as some other restaurants. If there’s a line, don’t expect to get your food quickly. They’re usually pretty busy and it can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minute wait so plan your time accordingly.

Every so often, the urge strikes… for summer rolls. Need that goi cuon, man! On our way up into the city, I quickly Unilocaled Vietnamese food for takeout. Now, I knew that Ha Tien Cove is a little kiosk in the SFSU Student Center, so I wasn’t expecting anything fancy, or even wow-​worthy.
Oh, how wrong I was.
There’s an abundance of items on the menu. Categories include a large variety of phở with either beef or chicken soup, egg noodle dishes, com dia (rice dishes), bun (vermicelli dishes), and appetizers, which is where you’ll find the summer rolls.
They had pork rolls, chicken rolls, pork AND shrimp rolls (which I rarely see in SF!), shredded pork rolls, and vegetable rolls on the menu. What a variety, especially considering it’s a takeout place.
So we ordered a bunch of rolls. (Note that this review was written in the summer, when there aren’t a lot of students at the SFSU campus.) I’m not sure if they usually have them premade, like other takeout Vietnamese kiosks I’ve been to, but today they made them fresh. Like, cooked the meat and wrapped the rolls nice and fat. It cost about 6.50 for two fat rolls, except for the shrimp & pork rolls, which were 7.05.
Mmm. Those rolls were so freshly made and contained vermicelli noodles, lettuce, basil, mint, and the protein of your choice. The vegetable rolls also contained cooked cabbage, tofu, mushrooms, and carrots. They weren’t wrapped very tightly, so the filling might spill out a bit. It would be handy to have a fork or chopsticks handy for picking up spilled filling (or just use your fingers!). Not the best peanut sauce – it was kind of syrupy. Excellent nuoc nam (fish dipping sauce) though! Took a bit of extra time to make, but I didn’t mind because that meant it was freshly made to order. The meat was freshly cooked and flavorful. I definitely want to come back for more takeout at Ha Tien – maybe try the bun rieu next time.

So, first and foremost, this place is on campus. Let’s take a look at how much space they have to work with. Secondly, as a spot on campus, they have to pump out food at a rather rapid pace because some students with a 2 minute break expect their food out right away.
From personal experience, the food and drinks are really good for what they have to work with. From the sandwiches to the rice plates, it’s all good. The young woman who works there is super nice. The fact that she remembers what you usually get and name (especially if you go there often) is a great thing.
You have to really step back and look at this establishment holistically. For what they have to work with, they provide great food, great service, at a rather speedy time.

I stopped by this place for lunch since I have a gap between my classes here at SF state. I originally wanted a Banh mi but unfortunately, even though they do accept debit/​credit cards… there is a $ 6 – 7 charge minimum! Be aware of that! So I got a BBQ chicken rice plate instead for $ 7.90 with tax. It tasted pretty good but they were a little skimpy with the chicken compared to how much rice they gave. I wouldn’t say that this is the best place to get Vietnamese food but it’s alright if you’re on campus and want a quick fix. I have yet to try their other items from the menu!

I come here every Tuesday and Thursday before I start class at 1. This has gotten to the point where the lady in the window already knows my order!
I always get the tofu «sandwich» banh mi with extra pâté, jalapeños, and their special sauce. Which I LOOVEE. It is too crunchy and dry without it. But it’s still good either way. With the extra sauce though, it gets really juicy and reminds me of one of those French sandwiches with the Au Jus sauce.
However, I have also had the garlic noodles. I felt they were a tad salty, and there wasn’t anything too special.
I have had their spring rolls before. Comparing them to Turtle Tower (the old Vietnamese place) these are SOOO much better. Turtle tower would put way too much lettuce and their pork was dry. I love how refreshing their rolls are. Once, she gave me 7. ^_​^ I love this place
One more banh mi before I get a free one!

This place is usually packed around lunch time. So get here before noon if you could. Their menu is pretty big, they serve vermicelli, phở, banh mi, spring rolls, rice roll and a variety of Vietnamese drinks. I was disappointed to learn that their sugar cane drink is not served everyday. I’ve only tried their garlic noodles and banh mi. I thought both were ok, I didn’t really like the bread to my banh mi, and didn’t see any pâté that came with it. I wasn’t sure was i suppose to request it. The garlic noodles were a little bit salty but still ok. It;s not the same garlic noodles you can get at PPQ though. I recently ordered the rice noodle roll with fancy pork, i was expecting it to be something similar to the ones you can get at SoCal, but it’s a little bit different. Overall this is a decent place and it’s good that they actually take card.

They have friendly service and it’s nice to finally get another Vietnamese shop opened after Turtle Tower closed. These guys literally do it all — sandwiches, phở, rice, noodles, drinks, dessert, everything! They also recently started a frequent buyer’s card for banh mi’s — buy 10, get the 11^th free! Awesome! I also wished they would keep their employee discount rather than ending it at the end of February — it’d give me an incentive to go back. I’ve already lost track of how many times I’ve came here since the beginning of the semester, 2.5 months ago but here’s what I ordered…
Combination Pork Sandwich: They use an aoili in their sandwiches, which isn’t common in all sandwich shops and I definitely love the ones that add a little moisture to the sandwiches. Not sure if the bread’s toasted to what it should be but sometimes when I have their sandwiches, the roof of my mouth gets sore from the bread.
BBQ Pork Sandwich: Similar to the combination pork. Everyone was raving about it so I had to try it and it’s as they say — pretty damn good and pretty good change from a frequent combo pork sandwich person.
Phở: I ordered meatballs/​tripe several times and they put in a lot of noodles! As eco friendly as their take-​out bowl is, it isn’t really good at sustaining heat because whenever I’m trying to carry this to work, despite the short distance, I had to put it down several times because the bowl was burning from lid to bowl. The noodles also have a tendency to stick to the bowl as well, making it pretty tricky to eat from. I always wondered if they could just serve the noodle soup in those tall plastic soup containers. They tend to retain heat more often and I used to order udon from this one little shop downtown and it worked out great — also a great way to reuse the plastic containers. But, then again we’re in a university and I don’t think university students have the time to wash and reuse these containers — which is a real bummer.
As for the actual phở, it tastes pretty standard, there wasn’t really anything WOW that popped out to me. You’d have to finish it up pretty quick because once the noodles absorb the soup, not only do you lose your precious soup, your noodles get soggy and snap quickly causing it to be less al dente.
I don’t like the candy mints personally and try to refuse them whenever I get them.
I’d continue to come back here because it’s affordable and it’s different from the other food at CCSC.

I wanted something small to hold me over until dinner time. I’m trying to be pescatarian so I sought out their goi cuon (cold shrimp rolls).
Staff is pretty nice.
They make it on the spot instead of having it packed for you which is awesome. I thought they were fresh and tasty though the peanut sauce was more sweet and watery. Would have wanted that bad boy to be more peanutty but that’s because I really like that savory, nuttiness!
Overall good but at $ 6.45 for 2 rolls, I probably won’t get them again soon.