Pho’ Miss Saigon

Worst Phở I have had in the Bay Area for a while.
Came here with a party of 4, we ordered 2 bowls of Phở Ga (#18), 1 beef combo (#2), 1 beef stew (#23), all small.
First off the portion was ridiculously small. The bowls were small for phở to begin with, and they only fill it to about half full. Each bowl only had a 4 – 5 pieces of meat in it, the beef stew had 3 pieces of beef and about 10 pieces of carrot, should have just called it the carrot stew.
But the portions turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The soup was bland, filled with MSG, and the temperature was luke warm at best.
This is probably one of the only time I can remember leaving a phở place hungry.
Avoid at all cost!

Great Phở, springrolls, eggrolls, prices. Need I say more for a phở place.
Owner is awesome and friendly! they serve beer and wine for the boozers!

3 star beef phở — good flavor but the meat was chalky.
2 star spring rolls — sauce was not good. Think they just mixed the brown phở sauce, water/​fish sauce + some peanuts.
1 star for the chicken phở — tasted like instant soup plus non-​free range chicken breast meat. Leaves a salty taste in your mouth after the meal as well.

This place is my go-​to for every Vietnamese food craving, from delicious rice plates to a beautiful big bowl of steaming phở. Mmm. Makes me hungry just thinking about it. The food is very like the gritty San Francisco version of Vietnamese food, which I find scrumptious, and others find slightly greasy. So don’t come in here expecting the super-​Americanized Vietnamese food a la Le Colonial.
The owner of the restaurant is a very nice man who definitely keeps the boat afloat around there. He is very attentive and will remember you every time you come in. He also does an excellent job wrangling his staff. Expect a bit of chaos if he isn’t working the day you swing by, since his staff seem to be lost without him (Noted, I see, in some past posts). Rest assured that the food is worth it, and you will be pleased with every bite of your selection.

I love phở. But I will not phở-​get my experience here.
The service was awesome, but the food… not so much. The soup broth was brown and not clear. And it had broth road floating on the top. I spoke to one of my Vietnamese friends who is an expert in making phở broth and she told me that the reason why it was brown was because they put too much cinnamon sticks. I knew it tasted funny too and that what explains it.
If you want phở… go to phở Minh in Cupertino!

Not a whole lot of Vietnamese joints in downtown San Mateo. In fact all of them seem to be ph focused. It’s a dreary and somewhat chilly day so it was perfect for something fast and warm. Tried the ph #1 but they were out of the meatballs. So I went for extra tripe (yes most people would not go this direction) and a soda chanh. Broth was good, decent salinity, survived the squeezed lime. Noodles were thin but had good texture and were just cooked right. The meats however were just ok, with the tripe being surprisingly the best of the bunch (amongst eye of round/​brisket/​tendon) which were somewhat overcooked. The place is quiet and a bit dim and from the outside it almost looks closed. Service is what you’d expect from a ph house. Good for a quick meal and a fix but not a destination Vietnamese place.

When you walk in, the interior of the restaurant gives you hope. But don’t trust appearances, because even a big bewbie hooker can still give you a STD.
Our afternoon lunch ended up being over 2 hours long. The long lunch wasn’t a relaxing meal with the family. It consisted of starving for a hour and a half waiting for them to sort out the entire restaurant’s orders.
Apparently that day, there was a major snafu with the orders. I first started noticing that a mob of annoyed people near the register. These suckers had ordered take-​out but the orders were all mixed up. That should have been the first sign from god to GTFO.
The second sign from god to GTFO was when the order came to our table. In a jumble of confusion, they started giving another table’s order. This was obviously when they not only gave us the wrong meals but the wrong number of bowls.
The third sign from god to GTFO was that the tables around us starting to get the wrong orders too. We probably got table 8’s order, table 8 probably got table 12’s, etc…
The fourth sign from god to GTFO was when the cook comes out of the kitchen and starts to yell at us. Either this mofo thinks he’s John Edward and trying to use psychic tricks to make us believe we ordered something different or he’s trying to be like Rod Serling and convince us that in this Twilight Zone we don’t get what we ordered.
A hour and a half after ordering we finally get our food. This is the shittiest phở I ever had. Gristle in craptastic soup. On a good note, the meal was probably better than putting my dog’s turds into warm water and charging for it.
Shitty food, shitty service but for a decent price. Luckily god decided to spare my b-​hole because surprisingly, there was no diarrhea afterwards!

My friends recommended me this restaurants last weeks. I had phở #1 small and egg rolls and I LOVE IT. Definitely will come back.
They have ‘LEVEL UP’ and online order ‘LEAPSET’…This is even better. COOL

3.5 stars. Not OMG/​fantastic phở but by no means bland. I went with a native of Viet Nam to gauge his reaction, and he said that it was better than he expected. I agree: very solid phở, with generous fresh greens (bean sprouts, lime, Jalapenos and basil sprigs) and a decent-​tasting broth.
Service was friendly and fast but then again the surrounding tables were mostly empty. I would certainly return but, there are some seriously good Phở places in San Mateo that give this place a run for their money.

Wow. (And believe me, not in a good way.)
We met my family here 2 days after our wedding — my parents and brother were still here from out of town, and we wanted to grab some lunch on a weirdly cold and rainy day (it was raining on June 4, who knew?). The new hus-​BAND and I were a little late, so when we walked in, the fam was already snacking on appetizers (chicken wings and fresh spring rolls were good).
Then we ordered.
I ordered hu tieu with rice noodles, but got egg noodles. I didn’t want to make a stink and I didn’t want even the remote possibility of retaliation for complaining, so I stuck it out. But being the polite party-​goer I am, I waited for everyone to have their food before I started.
**By the way, I like my phở /​hu tieu /​any old soup HOT, so it took a lot to wait for what I thought would just be a few minutes… little did I know I would be waiting much longer than that**
*Wait wait wait* — more food comes out. They put a bowl of bun on the table — «Who ordered this?» My mom ordered bun, but not that one… hm…maybe it was hers? Was this supposed to be hers? *Wait wait wait* — more food, but the bun she ordered was not among them.
(our food is getting cold)
*Wait wait wait* — we all have our food except my dad, who just happens to care the most about food, and who will be paying for this meal, and who came the farthest to be here. We flag down the waiter and tell him that my dad doesn’t have his food yet, and my mom doesn’t have what she asked for.
(our food continues to get cold)
*Wait wait wait* — they bring out my dad’s soup, and it’s the wrong one — send it back. My mom finally gets her bun.
*Wait wait wait* — flag down the waiter, the cook comes out and yells at my dad, and the head outside guy goes into the kitchen to get the right stuff.
Finally my dad gets his food. My lukewarm egg noodles disappoint. There is a cloud of gloom over our table. Ugh.
As we’re waiting to close out, we hear the table next to us tell the waiter, «We’ve been waiting a long time, and now I have to go back to work.» And the table next to the window, «Can I order now? I’m really hungry.» Was this a computer glitch or just terrible service?
My dad is a nice guy, and I assume he still tipped well, but I didn’t ask. None of us deserved that abysmal treatment, least of all him (he got yelled at, for gawd’s sake). Needless to say, we won’t be going back.

I work in San Mateo, and this has been my go-​to place for phở for a few years now. They’re always quick, polite, and their phở is good.
However, I went today for the first time in maybe a month or two and was disappointed. They’ve reduced their portion size by at least a third it seems. I got number 14 — phở with rare steak and tendon — and there were 3 slices of rare steak and 2 pieces of tendon. The amount of rice noodles was definitely less than before as well. I swear they even skimped on the green onions in the broth!
Not worth it for what they charge.

This place is over priced and not that good. The broth had tons of fat in it as you could see the bubbles gathered. It is right along a cute downtown so it does have location going for it. Came in on a weekday for a late lunch and there were plenty of parking spots on the street.
The service is okay and not as attentive as it should have been given the few people that were in the restaurant. But again, the killer for this place is the quality of the phở, which was a bit lacking.

You walk in & walk out with your lunch before the door even closes. :)
And, it’s not because they’re not fresh! They’re just efficient.
I can only vouch for the vegetarian vermicilli (#33) & the veggie spring rolls when I say: «YUM!»
No ambiance, but plenty of seating, quick service with a half-​smile & fresh food.
I don’t believe they have vegetarian phở — so, they get a star knocked off for that.
But, if you’re down for a quick Vietnamese fix — Phở Miss Saigon will deliver it!

It was the perfect day for Phở, a little cold, a little rainy… so getting a piping hot bowl of phở was just what my friend and I need to warm up. Plus we were craving it. I have probably passed this place a few dozen times, and have never really noticed it. They came to our table right away got our order and pretty quickly our food was at our table. The noodles were a little balled up, like another poster mentioned, bit they quickly moved apart and we were soon digging into our huge bowls! Now, I am not kidding, this bowl was crazy big. I felt like I couldn’t even get through half of it, and the next day… samething.
Just a few FYI’s, they don’t bring you your bill to the table, you have to go to their register to get it, and you have to ask for a to go box. The service is fast, but nothing over and above.
Get a large bowl… you can feed a small army. =)

The waitress was very friendly and cheerful. I feel pretty bad that I couldn’t like them more. I ordered their Bun Bo Hue and it was the blandest Bun Bo Hue I’ve ever tasted aside from the lack of authenticity, such as the lack of pork slices, pork blood, pork hock, banana blossom, Vietnamese perilla, mint, etc.
My boyfriend ordered their wonton noodle. Although not exceptional, it was a tasty bowl of noodle soup and the wontons were plump and juicy.
Their Goi Cuon (salad /​spring /​summer rolls) were pretty good if you feel like a light snack.
With all that said, I don’t think they’re so terrible that I’d never return. They’re okay but subpar.

**3.5 stars**
I’m in another mission to introduce Asian food to a friend … So this was a good start.
It was a Saturday night and of course San Mateo was happening! This was one of the few places that had no wait… Since we were hungry, on we went despite me being scared that there was no wait.
Got seated and given the menu. I had to tell my friend what’s what… I ordered a small phở with rare steak and I added beef balls. Since we were up for a long night… I also ordered their Vietnamese Iced Coffee.
Food came super quick… was disappointed that the coffee wasn’t the drip kind… but the phở was good… they give you a lot of meat compared to other spots who cheats you by filling a lot of noodles. The small was just right for my appetite.
Since i was I don’t remember what the friend ordered — phở also but not sure of the meat… inhaled and eaten everything… I think its safe to assume that it was also good.
Overall… fast and efficient service… loaded meat and it’s decent.

Bland.

Still a pretty consistent bowl of phở to expect from this restaurant! I’ve seriously had too much Thai and Vietnamese these past two weeks and most of it was bland or strange. I’m so happy to come back to the old standard sometimes and appreciate the classic things in life. I feel so happy to find a place that serves up a bowl of phở like the ones I’ve had at home.
You walk in and pick whatever seat you’d prefer and the menus are on the table ready to go. That’s one of the selling points of this place-it’s kind of cafeteria style and the layout is open and spacious. With the mirrors and the bright lights and crown moulding, you’d think you were in a time warp of some sort. KOITFM music buzzes in and out but it’s mixed in with static so I hope you had a good dinner companion ’cause the buzzing sound really distracts.
I can’t comment on the rice dishes here ’cause when you come to a place with the word phở in it’s name, you’d better go for the phở. I always pick the seafood phở with a side of beef tendons and spicy chili oil at least twice a week here. The staff here is always quick with the water and plate of bean sprouts with basil, cilantro and jalapeño. This is the only place I know that offers fresh cilantro in addition to the traditional basil. Can you say ‘yum?’ I knew you could.
I don’t know of any other place besides Treasure Island’s Phở Café that offers so much seafood in their bowls. The cooks here deal with my picky modifications of chili oil, ½ noodles and more soup and tendons which is not normal in restaurants like this and they take it in stride and deliver each and every time. The shrimps are never overcooked and always deveined, the crab sticks are giant and plentiful, and the squid is almost in every bite. To top it off, the broth is so flavorful and meaty you almost don’t need the seafood fixings. This is the only phở place that can get me full and that’s quite a feat in itself. For $ 7.95 a bowl, it’s one of the best bowls of phở in San Mateo.

First off, I hate the musical ‘Miss Saigon’, but this place is better than that. The food seem healthy, but for me, I felt like a Panda eating weird ass greens. LOL.
Dear Diary,
The boys and I are heading up river to the village of Da San Mateo. Heard by the locals, food was there. That was our mission and once we were done with it. Home with the Miss. I don’t know how I will explain her of all the things that happen. Maybe one day, when the dreams stop.
If you notice by my other reviews, I tend to not eat a lot of Vietnamese food. I felt like reviewing this place dismay what I feel about Vietnamese cuisine. I don’t like Vietnamese food much, but I give them some credit, still better than the MRE back home. Coming close now, the boys start to play Wagner ‘Ride of Valkyries’ and then we enter.
We saw this place look like a good place to eat after surfing, so we chow down. We enter the resturant, very clean and nice looking. Nobody hostress greet us, so we just went ahead and pick a table.
‘Smell that?’ ‘You smell that?’ my friend says with his cowboy hat.
‘What?’ I reply back to him.
‘FOOD, son’ he says licking his lips. ‘Nothing in the world smell like that’.
He kneels.
‘I love the smell of food in the morning’. He says.
‘Dude it’s 4:30 PM, it’s nearly dinner’ I reply. ’ And why are you wearing that stupid hat?! You’re from Patterson, New Jersey! (I knock the hat from his head)
The waiter comes, now great service. We quickly order from the menu. They had a good selection of Beef Noodle Soups: choice of small (6.25) to large ($ 7.25) known as Phở Bo. None of the food I could ever say in public, I look like a fool trying to say it. I know the types of meat they had:
Tai: Rare Steak (eye round cook in boiling broth to perfection)
Chin: Lean Brisket (no fat, well done)
Nam: Flank (Well done)
Gan: Tendon (soft, well done)
Sach: Tripe (bibble, well done)
When ordering beef noodle soup dishes remember that. They had very few Chicken Noodle Soups. They did have appetizers: (Khai Vi) all of them pretty ok. I wouldn’t advice it, unless really hungry. I would get a Cha Gio (vegatables Fried Egg Roll). Springs Rolls are worth the money. Kinda expensive for appetizers. The others taste weird.
You can get the Hu Tieu which is rice/​egg noodles. The item I always get is Hu Tieu Dac Biet. (Shrimp, Squid, Chicken, Pork, Fish Cakes with Rice Noodles soup).
You can also try the Bun (Rice Vermicelli) or Com Dia (Rice Plates). If you get the Com Dia, try the Com Bo Kho (beef stew over Rice) for 6.95
Thristy? Try Giat Khat (Beverages): Thai’s Ice Tea, and Vietnamese Ice Coffee are treats, but the Smoothies are da way to go. If you get normal soda, it’s cans, not fountain drinks. No refills. Why worry? You don’t cause as soon as you sit down, the waiter hands you a glass of cold ice water. Sweet.
Quick service as the bathroom looks ok. After eating you walk to the front, it’s look like my mission will fail. MINIMUM 10 Dollars for Credit Card!!! O the Horror! The Horror! Lucky me, they accepted my card. Yes!!! You know what it smell like…
VICTORY.
I did it, and went home. I can still hear the copter.
Well like The Door’s always say, that’s the end, my friend. Overall: great place: quick service, ok food.
Your choice
Well you can surf or eat!

I really was not impressed by this place. Sure it’s situated right in downtown San Mateo, seems to be surrounded by a happenin’ scene, and has semi-​clean tables, but their food really is mediocre. I have tried the phở and grilled pork over vermicelli, two basic Vietnamese staples, and they both disappointed me. The phở was kind of oily and artificially seasoned. The pork was not grilled well, and taste like cheap week-​old pork… the vegetarian kind… made for dogs… who don’t have taste buds…
For better, cheaper, and more authentic Vietnamese food, try Saigon City down the street. (I swear, I don’t work for Saigon City.)
1 star off: See my grilled pork/​vegetarian/​dogs/​taste buds comment.
1 star off: When it’s completely seated by Chinese people, it can’t be THAT Vietnamese!