Pho Ha Noi

This has to be my favorite phở places that I’ve ever been too and I’m like devastated that this place has closed down. That means that I can never go here every week again for some good phở. I’m going to miss this place and I hope that it will open again somewhere near the silver creek area ! All I have to say is their big noodles and fresh meat are like the best thing ever especially the broth ! It’s flavorful than the rest of the other phở places. Now where can I go for some good phở that serves big noodles? But I hope to find a place like this again ! ^_​_​_​_​^

I’m actually debating what rating to give this restaurant. If I could give them 3.5 stars, I would. I heard from friends and saw through Unilocal that the phở here is amazing, that their big flat noodles are freshly made. So I was excited to try this new phở place.
I ordered the phở with white meat chicken and flat noodles. I thought that the phở soup was very fresh and tasty. It had a lot of flavor. While the noodles were delicious and very light, I felt that it didn’t have that same phở feel. It tasted more like hu tieu than phở. So while the soup tasted fine, it didn’t have the phở taste that I was looking for.
I didn’t try the beef phở, but they definitely made it different from the usual phở. In other restaurants, the beef is sliced thinly. Here, the beef is sliced thinly and then appeared to be semi grounded too. Again, the flat noodles threw us off. My cousin felt that the phở was too light and it didn’t taste like phở because of the noodles.
I think I’ll come back another time and try the phở with regular phở noodles rather than the flat noodles to see how it tastes.

Great place that served Northern Vietnamese style phở with minced ginger and pounded beef. The phở was always very fragrant and piping hot while the beef was always fresh and quite tasty (more so than the place across the street!). I did always have to add a side of the beef just to get the proportion to noodles just right. Located next to the OSH in a semi-​ghetto, Phở Ha Noi never really got busy and I wasn’t always sure how clean the place was… that, and the service hardly spoke any English.
**Unfortunately, for all you fans, this place will be closing this week. The lease is up and the owners no longer want to keep the restaurant running. Just a heads up!

I am allergic to MSG, so I can never eat phở at certain spots with that cooks with MSG. This is actually one of the few places that I go for phở (sucks that they are not open late night). The dinning room is very clean compared to most Asian/​Vietnamese/​phở restaurants, and there are enough space where I don’t feel like standing up is going to be a fire hazard.
I always order my steak on the side and with the big noodles. The broth always comes steaming HOT to cook my steak, which is exactly how I like my phở boiling hot! I have not tried anything else there yet because I was too excited to find a phở place that I can eat at, and this has became the go to place every time. :)

I always order the chicken phở with thigh meat and with the big/​fresh noodles. Broth is always super fresh and clean tasting, always on point.
But, if you consider yourself a lover of food, please order the #15, sprinkle some maggi sauce and forget about all your worries in life as your only thoughts will be when is the next time I can eat this again, yes that good. I order this dish everytime I go and the dish is the main reason that I go, straight FIRE!!!

Great Ha Noi style beef phở. For $ 1.25 you can get a slightly bigger portion of the raw beef on the side. Too bad it makes your soup muggy after you dump it in. It would be good if they could give you a small bowl of soup to cook the beef like other phở places do.

In an area that’s saturated with phở joints, this is one of two that I like. I’ve never seen it all that busy, but that’s not much of an issue for me because that means I get seated and served quickly!
The broth seems much lighter and more fresh, but the one thing I don’t care too much for is that the ginger is a bit strong. Either way, the phở is still tastey! I’ve only gone a couple of times, but I love the wide noodles… SO much better than what you normally get at other restaurants. I brought my bf here, and it was his first time having noodles like these… he loved it, too!
As hot as it is right now, I actually kind of want to have a bowl right now…

Time after Time, i continue to enjoy this place. I am not a PHO eater or drinker, or whatever. But i love the vermcelli dishes, and mixed rice plates from this place. I always ask for extra meet, and its awesome.
Imperial and spring rolls are generally always decent. Wifey enjoys the phở here so it must be an ok joint if you like the «phở».
They prepare the food super quick, staff is generally young and attentive if you dine in, and the prices are well marked.
YAHOOO!

I might get Unilocal hate mail for this but I actually like this place better than Phở Y! I’m glad I tried this place.
The broth was more flavorful and the beef slices (tai) were thicker (and beat up?) and had more flavor.

Whenever I want phở, I go here.
.
Although it is northern style, I still think it tastes pretty darn good. Phở is phở! I usually order a phở tai because their rare flank steak is so soft and perfect the way I want it. It’s not fully cooked when it arrives to you too which is a huge plus. I usually order the big noodles rather than the typical phở noodles.
I can’t say much about the broth because I tend to only eat the phở noodles and steak and never drink the soup.

After a very early start for Christmas shopping this morning AND driving in the typhoon-​like rain, we came here for lunch. We have dined here several times and always leave satisfied with our menu options. It’s our #1 fave phở spot and we don’t mind driving across town whenever we have a craving for phở!
Upon arrival, you are greeted by one of the staff and shown a table. Plastic/​laminated menus are handed out with good descriptions, in English, on both sides. The menu shows various phở selections (beef or chicken), stir fry and rice dish options. The drinks available are hot tea, coffee, soda and other items I am not familiar with. I usually order a salty plum soda.
The tables are well spaced apart and cleaned immediately after it is vacated. The floors are kept clean which is a good thing!
After placing our order today (stir fried flank steak phở with thick white noodles and a beef/​veggie stir fry over noodles), the phở soup came out first closely followed by the stir fry. Both dishes came out pipping hot as usual. One important note — we always request the thick white noodles with our phở and it is amazing! If you want the thick white noodles, you need to let them know when they take your order.
In the many times we have dined here, the phở soup always comes out first while a stir fry or rice dish will follow shortly but not too long thereafter.
As we are not Vietnamese, we’re not familiar with any subtle differences between northern-​style phở (which is what is served here) versus the southern-​style phở in Vietnam. What I can tell you is we like the phở and other dishes here enough to come back several times.
*CASH ONLY* Thanks to Unilocaler and Friend Randy F. for recommending this spot!

5÷28÷2014: Try out Phở Factory if you liked this place. Not exactly the same, but they offer fresh noodles and rare filet mignon in their phở.
** So sad this place has closed. This was really my all time favorite phở place. If anyone knows of something similar, please let me know. **
My favorite phở place in San Jose. I really wish people knew more about this place because the phở here is really good and made differently than your usual Phở. If you prefer clear thin broths for your soups, you should really try out this place.
The broth tastes so clean and FRESH. Much fresher than your typical Phở with the richer soup. Here, the soup isn’t as rich yet still very flavorful with a hint of ginger. You also get to choose the regular style thin noodles or the wide noodles. I like both and change it up every time I go. They also top it off with rare minced beef for all their phở bowls. Interesting, and I don’t mind it although some may see this as awkward.
Service is always good. Restaurant is clean, nicely decorated, and all tables are well spaced out. It’s never jam packed which I actually like. Great food and no crowds? Finally get to enjoy a Viet restaurant in peace.

Quite possibly the worst phở I have ever experienced. The broth is so bland and ginger over-​powered. I was warned that this is the north-​styled phở and what not… but, ugh I’m sorry I would much prefer the usual broth flavoring. The amount of food given is decent. The large noodles would be pretty awesome if they were served with a much better broth. Someone else at our table ordered the yellow noodles and seemed to enjoy their meal much more than the rest of us. Sad for the rest of our table.
When taking our order, the waiter informed us that «the noodle soup comes out immediately so don’t order for someone not here yet» but low and behold, we waited for the bowls to arrive. Don’t over-​sell yourself on the wait, we are hungry! Our cups of water also took forever to appear at the table.
Doubt I will return.

Moving to SF has definitely allowed me to grow an appreciation for great vietnamese food. Growing up and even now, I actually don’t really like phở… but recently I have found myself craving for a simple noodle soup on some occasions.
Phở ha noi has fresh phở noodles that are tasty and easy to eat. I also like the beef here because it’s tender and easy to eat (not much of a beef eater). There’s not much else to say besides it’s cheap and tastes good. San Jose has many phở spots and this is one of the few if any phở places I’d actually want to go to.

This restaurant is not vegetarian friendly. There wasn’t any seafood on the menu and every entrée had meat. I found out that there was a vegetarian phở after I placed the order. I ended up ordering a sweet sticky rice with chicken. I gave my hubby the chicken, and just ate the sweet sticky rice. It was pretty good since it was crispy.
I tried some of the handmade phở noodles which were delicious. The soup was extremely salty.

************************** 552 ****************************
Phở Ha Noi, the name says it all. Northern style PHO but they do serve with bean-​sprout, basil, and Ngo Gai. Normally PHO from Northern Vietnam doesn’t serve with any herbs (hint: Turttle Tower in Tenderloin SF style!).
Phở Tai Dap — Rare beef Phở that tenderized the beef thinner, almost as grounded, but not quite is the best here. Although they serve with a lot of MSG, so I always got light headed afterward. For people with stronger stomach, Phở here is tastily good!

**Phở Quest Winner: Best Beef Phở (Overall and Northern style)**
Just a brief update, having ordered the phở ga (or chicken phở) here.
As my top rated phở restaurant, I tend to stick with the tried and true beef phở with minced beef. The flat rice noodles are perfect and the broth has a hint of ginger and depth of flavor that most phở restaurants can’t match.
I was in the mood for a non-​beef soup, so today ordered the phở ga. Turtle Tower, the only other Vietnamese restaurant in the Bay Area that I know that focuses on Northern Vietnam cuisine, is most famous for their chicken phở. It was time to see how Phở Hanoi compared.
The soup noodles came out quickly and I requested the same flat rice noodles that I love. The broth had a deep flavor just like their beef stock, but was chicken based. I particularly loved how finely the green onions were minced and added to the broth. A few lean pieces of dark thigh meat came with the broth and were all very flavorful.
Overall, an excellent bowl of phở ga. I’d say that Phở Kim Long in San Jose has the best phở ga but I’d definitely have no problem recommending it to a friend to order here. As for a comparison to Turtle Tower, I would say that Turtle Tower has the slight edge with regards to their phở ga, but that Phở Hanoi has the edge with the Northern beef phở.
Phở Ha Noi is cash only and is closed on Wednesdays.

I like this place but I am torn between this and Bun Bo Hue An Nam’s phở and this place’s phở. Their rare steak in the phở is so tender and melts in your mouth. The other beef slices and tripe etc along with the tendon is also top notch. One draw back for me is that I feel that the soup’s msg is a bit on the high side. I do not think they actually need so much msg since the soup base might just do very well with less.
Perhaps limes are not in season but one point less for having lemon wedges instead of the limes.

I like this place more than any other phở restaurants in the entire bay area. Yes. Phở Ha Noi is the one.
I know it is not a fair comparison. Phở Ha Noi serves a different style of phở — the «Hanoi» style, as the name of the restaurant suggested. Pounded rare steak instead of sliced beef, thick flat rice noodle instead of the thin vermicelli, beef booth with hint of ginger instead of heavy anise and clove. I love this version so much more. The extra texture of the tender meat really hit the spot. The entire bowl of phở has the perfect integrity. The last bite was just as tasty as the first. The milder booth flavor made it very drinkable. I even wanted to finish all soup when I was done with the noodle. I didn’t. I always try not to subject myself to unnecessary MSG intake but I was seriously tempted.
I was surprised this place was rather quiet during dinner time. Perhaps because it was a Monday night?

*** CASH ONLY ***
To sum it up in one word: Disappointing
I ordered the Phở Dac Biet with wide noodles and rare steak on the side (+$ 1) plus an order of fried spring rolls (I forget what they call them here, but it’s not the Southern Cha Gio and I didn’t think it was the Northern Nem Ran, but may be mis-​remembering) and Iced coffee with milk.
Edit: the rolls are Nem Cua Be or fried crab spring rolls. the description had crab, shrimp, & pork
I tried to order one roll from the «Extras» section ($ 2.50), but was told that those were add-​ons if you ordered the $ 7.50 roll dish (comes with 3 rolls, lettuce, noodles, herbs). I said I didn’t need the other stuff, but she wouldn’t budge and said I’d want all 3 because they were pretty small drawing a rectangle on her ordering pad to show me the size.
3 small rolls for $ 7.50?!? Beaten down and hankering for fried rolls, I acquiesced.
Being a Northern phở spot, I was surprised when the plate of sprouts, basil, lime & jalapeños came out. I guess I didn’t read the reviews enough. I just saw that this joint had 5-​stars from one of my favorite Asian food reviewers Derrick V. and braved the 101S at 6pm.
Anyway, the phở arrived and I plopped in some of the rare steak and the grated ginger that was on the pounded steak (see pic). The broth was light and I thought I tasted some anise with the mild beefiness; the grated ginger added a nice element. I made sure the staff wasn’t looking and slipped in some lime juice, basil leaves, and a few sprouts (don’t tell).
The broth was hot, but not piping hot. I noticed that the first beef pieces I put in weren’t cooking that fast. Usually I go in a continual process of add little beef, eat, add more beef, eat, etc. to make sure none of the rare steak is overcooked, but it became apparent that the broth temp wasn’t going to support this lackadaisical approach and I dumped the rest of the rare steak into the bowl immediately.
Compared to the generous portion of rare steak, Phở Hanoi seemed a little skimpy on the other items like tendon, tripe, brisket, and flank (maybe 2 pieces of each). I do have to say that all of them tasted very good and the tendon was just short of melt in your mouth. The wide noodles, while tasty were falling apart in my chopsticks.
This is one of the few times I haven’t finished a bowl of phở and the first time I’ve not eaten all of the rare steak. Maybe I’m a paranoid (I’ll eat a prime steak black and blue (charred on the outside and *cold* on the inside)), but I prefer my phở steak on the medium-​rare to medium side. The broth temp couldn’t do it for all the meat so I left some in the bowl.
I was excited to see the fried spring rolls were wrapped in rice paper (see pic), which seems to be a rare thing. The wrappers were a little charred, which I didn’t think about until biting into one. Overwhelming burned flavor! Even wrapping in lettuce with a pile of mint & other herbs and then dipped in the nuoc cham couldn’t mask it. Old burned oil? Bleh.
The coffee was pre-​made and came out mixed up with the condensed milk. I prefer to have it drip while I eat.
This was 2 star phở and 1 star spring rolls, so why 3 stars? When I went to pay the waitresses were seating new customers and a man who was working on a laptop at a table in the corner came to the cash register (owner /​manager?) rang me out and asked how things were. I told him and he seemed genuinely surprised, especially when he looked at the check and said «table 19? I prepared that order» DOH! He said I should have sent it back and they would have re-​made it no problem and that I should come back and give them another chance.
I gave him the benefit of the doubt and agreed to return and will update this when I have a chance to re-​try.