Pho Lan Noodle House

Finally, a Vietnamese restaurant that offers authentic dishes in the Southbay.
Phở Lan has recently been under new management and their menu is quite impressive if you haven’t visited them in a while.
They serve the best phở thus far in the area. Thinly sliced pieces of rare meat and sinfully satisfying broth. The ox-​tail falls off the bone and cooked to perfection. I’d come here again and again for their Ox Tail Phở! The flavor of the ox tail definitely sets this place apart from other Phở restaurants.
The Bun Bo Hue is also a favorite of mine here. The broth is spicy, and rich with layers of flavor that seems like someone worked on it all day. The meat quantity for the dish is outrageous for the price they charge. I actually feel like I’m ripping them off :)
Also, unlike other Vietnamese restaurant I’ve been to, I felt that the service here was absolutely sincere. The treatment I received was definitely the best I’ve had in a while. The waiter made sure all our needs were met without being overbearing. This made everything very pleasant.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this place to any phở lovers or anyone seeking a good Vietnamese restaurant in the Southbay.

Skipped our usual Phở place and tried Phở Lan Noodle House for a late lunch today.
A little old lady greeted me and she’s so cute and very pleasant. She indicated that I can go ahead and sit anywhere. I chose the table by the window facing City Hall.
Menu was promptly brought to the table. She thought I spoke Vietnamese and started talking to me but immediately switched to English once she noticed my blank stare :)
I told her i was waiting for one more person and she left and came back with a cup of hot tea.
Here goes:
The difference with their style of serving you Phở here is this: Here there are only three chicken phở dishes. You can choose between breast, thigh and shredded. You do not have a choice in noodles. You can choose small or large size bowl.
We chose the breast meat and it came shredded. Both in small bowls. It has ample chicken meat. They gave us one plate of veggies to share. Total: $ 14.75 + tip. Average.
The soup itself was not salty and the type of taste that I like. Healthy but tasty :)
Personally I like it when i have options in choosing my noodles. I’m partial to glass noodles. I was somewhat disappointed when options aren’t available.
Clean intererior and nice controlled temperature. It was freezing and windy outside but it was nice and toasty inside. Perfect!
Street metered parking. My meter expired and a very nice total stranger fed my meter and knocked on the glass window to tell me :) Appreciate the kindness!
******Accepts credit cards with a mandatory minimum $ 10********

I arrived in San Jose earlier than I expected and since the doors at the Shark Tank wouldn’t open for another hour I decided to take a walk. I’ve seen this restaurant (
) in passing, and just from looking on the menu (
) that is adhered to the front door I’ve been meaning to try. Here was my opportunity to come in from the cold and check this place out.
I was a greeted by a very nice elderly lady who asked me to take a seat anywhere. The seating area is large and clean with incandescent lighting turned down low and Vietnamese music turned up high. There are heavy tables of several sizes and nice cushioned chairs throughout (
). The restaurant has a big open kitchen.
The lady came back around, gave me a menu and took my drink order. It was particularly blustery and cold outside so I asked for a cup of hot tea. I had consumed a bowl of Chinese noodles in chicken broth at home prior to boarding the CalTrain to San Jose so I decided to order something other than phở. I decided on the #25 Mi xao Do Bien — Seafood chowmein.
As I sat there waiting for my food I noticed most of the other customers had ordered phở, and judging by the big bowls being brought out to them the phở looked pretty good too. It was only a short wait when the chef brought me my chow mein (
). She also brought me napkins and utensils as there are only chopsticks and soup spoons on the tables.
The nice crunchy vegetables of broccoli, carrot, cabbage and bean sprouts stood out well. The big sprigs of cilantro were particularly fresh. The seafood consisted of tail-​on shrimp, tender calamari, fish ball halves and imitation crab (fish cake). The sauce was a bit on the gooey side, but the overall dish had good flavor and no MSG. The vegetables and seafood definitely out-​portioned the noodles on this dish. It filled me up well.
I noticed all of the other customers just getting up and going directly to the cash register to pay once they had finished their meals so I did the same. The elderly lady was so cute while I was pulling bills to leave as a tip. She smiled and bowed to me then thanked me. I will return to try the phở.