Pho-Binh Beef Noodle

closed

This is now Minh’s Vietnamese Restaurant. I was here for their Grand Opening. OMG, their beef phở was absolutely delicious as was their seafood noodle nest.
I’ll have to make a new first for Minhs. :)

Yep, Phở Binh is closed.
I drove by today for lunch and saw a few signs that say «Minh — Coming Soon». I’m not sure when the new place is opening, but I hope it’s good!

I just found out that they’re going to close for good after 16 years in service. I hate to see a good business like this one to go. It looks like they already sold the business to someone and they’ll close down next Wed for 2 months remodeling.
Anyways, I still love their Mi Vit Tiem. Let us know where you’re moving to and I’ll follow… Good luck.

It’s possible to fall in love with food.
I was taken out for lunch on my second day of work from Foster City. A co-employee’s uncle owns this restaurant, and everyone at work loves it. The restaurant was going to close the following Friday, so they decided to go one last time.
I of course ordered the famed Duck Soup, but with egg noodles. After fiddling the duck with my poor chopstick skills, I started attacking the meal unevenly with a soup spoon and chopsticks combo. The perfectly spiced broth was extremely tasty, the egg noodles proved to be a great choice, and the duck somehow managed to complement with even more taste. It was the most satisfying meal I’ve had since I’ve moved to San Francisco.
Now, I feel bad for rating restaurants 5 stars. This singular meal rightfully deserves it. But I didn’t stop there.
I also had thai iced tea. It’s served half way through the process with coffee still straining and a cup of ice waiting. A-​mazing. I don’t drink either tea or coffee and this is quite a strong drink, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Immediately after eating, I knew I loved the place. Then, remembering it was going to close, the love became unrequited.
[I really hope this is the right place…]

******************* REVIEW 455 *************************
I used to come here more often when my office was near by, now 1 of my customers is in this part of town, so I come here, 1 a month! I always try to make time to swing by here for their special dish: MI‘ VIT TIEM‘.
Don’t let the PHO BINH name fools you. This causal typical Vietnamese resto, family runs for years, not only offfers decent PHO. But they serve the best MI VIT TIEM in the south bay, I must say! This dish was a Chinese originated dish! Although it’s a popular dish in Vietnam as well.
MI VIT TIEM is a 5 spices roasted duck with yellow egg noodle soup. The bowl arrived with Roasted Duck thigh & leg that had been seasoning & stewed for hours; served with Pok Choy in a dark color broth with Shiitake mushroom & green chai on top.
My favorite part is it also comes with sour/​pickled sliced papaya as a condiment side dish! I can’t think of another resto in the South Bay that serves this papaya condiments with the Duck Noodle Soup. The broth was flavorful & wonderful aroma. The duck meat was tender, rich & fall off the bone as I bite on it, just perfectly cooked.
Always quick & friendly service!

I’ve been to this place twice and both times I’ve had the Mi Vit Tiem (duck noodle soup). The broth was rich and intense, the duck leg was nice and meaty, and the noodle was cooked just right. It hit the spot on a cold, rainy day.
Even though I had a great bowl of duck noodle soup both times, this doesn’t get 5 stars because of service and overall cleanliness. Service is typical vietnamese service. Not friendly, not professional, not there to please the customer either (but they sure bring your food really really fast after you order!). And cleanliness… well the tables were sticky… and they’d already been wiped down.
Regardless, when i am craving a bowl of duck noodle soup or just a bowl of phở, this is where i would go!

If I could take away a star for service, I would. The service here was terrible! Maybe it was a Saturday around noon. Maybe it was the new waiter. But man, I haven’t had somebody mess an order so bad in a while.
In a typical Vietnamese restaurant there are numbers next to your order; for example #1 is typically the Phở Dac Biet. And then there are sizes. How hard is it to hear somebody say they want a #1 Large?! Maybe its b/​c we had a party of 7 but still, its not that hard to write it down and bring it to the kitchen.
The actual Phở itself was okay; nothing special. I’ve had better else where. Overall I had a lousy experience with the service, and that alone will never bring me back here again.
Beware of the male waiter who doesn’t look like he knows what he’s doing, and that he can’t even comprehend the English/​Vietnamese language, or even the mechanics of using a pencil correctly for that matter

Well, I am a little late jumping on the Phở bandwagon… but I really enjoyed my lunch today at Phở Binh. I would have given 4 stars but I really don’t have anything to compare it with, being my first time eating Phở.
I ordered a beef Phở bowl, which was my first experience eating Phở ever. I was very pleased, the beef was very tasty and lean.
The food came out literally five minutes after we ordered. Everything was fresh, the sprouts, the peppers, noodles etc. My coworkers ordered the spring rolls, I didn’t particularly like the pork but I chalk that up to personal tastes.
This place was relatively crowded at noon, so getting there a little earlier is not a bad idea. Anyway… another first in my life, Phở.

Rain, Rain and more Rain. What goes good with a rainy day? Why Phở of course. So I thought I would give Phở Binh a try. I arrived there and noticed the interior of the restaurant was a little dated. The place was run by a lady that doubled as the Waitress and the Cook. I ordered a large number 7 –Which is Rare Eye Round Steak, Well Done Flank Steak, Well Done Lean Brisket, Soft Tendon, Fatty Flank and Bible Tripe. When I received The bowl it was good sized but a little lacking in content. I’m used to Phở Queen where the bowl is loaded with Meat and Noodles. The soup broth was a little lighter than Im used to but it was OK. Phở Binh would be my second choice for Phở in the area, with Phở Queen being number 1.

Hmmm… the good news or the bad news first? Let’s go with the good… but make sure to read about the bad too. The phở here is actually pretty good. Probably 4 – 4.5 stars worthy. I had the waiter tell me once that they made their noodles fresh. I’m not sure if that’s true but I don’t doubt it. This place is huge and it can handle large parties well. The rice plates are also pretty good. That same waiter always tries to sell the fried egg on top. My coworkers usually fall for it too… suckers.
Ok…so the bad news. With the large selection of phở places, we have nicknames for each one… we dubbed this one moldy cucumber. As you might imagine, one of my coworkers received a rice plate and halfway through his meal, he found mold on the bottom side of the cucumber. He told the waiter about it and the waiter went back to the kitchen, removed the cucumber, and put the remaining meal on a new plate. They didn’t bother to make a new one or comp the meal.
I still come back here once in a while. But I ALWAYS check the produce now =P

I went here for lunch yesterday. It was pretty well hidden. The interior is very friendly and inviting. There is a lot of shrubbery outside so it is a challenge finding the place. If you’ve past the Quality Inn, just make a quick U-​turn.
I ordered spring rolls and the chicken phở. I ordered a large, and the waitress confirmed again with me that it was a large. When the food got to my table, I thought they had mixed up my portion with a Kid’s Meal Sized bowl.
But since no one was here besides myself, this wasn’t the case. The chicken phở was OK if anything, spring rolls were better. I just can’t forgive a restaurant for charging the prices they charge and then giving customers under-​portioned meals. (+$ 10)
I actually went to another restaurant because I was still very hungry. This is something very unusual for me. Actually, generally it’s unusual for anyone. When you come to a restaurant, you expect to be fed. Not leaving hungry. :(

Hidden in the complex between Persian Drive and Lawrence Express way,
Phở Binh is one my favorite noodle houses for lunch. This place is usually packed on Friday noon. A lot of the customers work close by.
I usually come here for the Duck Noodle. This is why it is unique in the area. You don’t get to order the duck noodle at Phở Queen or Phở Nam. The soup base and the duck are delicious. However, it is kind of pricey.
It’s a nice place to have lunch and hang out. The wait is not too long if you don’t come by Thursday or Friday noon. Finding parking is not too bad either.
Oh by the way, if you ask for tea, that will cost your extra.
Overall, this is a great noodle house for the techies working in the Sunnyvale/​Santa Clara area.

Thank GOD…
Thank GOD…
THANK GOD!!!
LMAO, I enjoy that now in my 2^nd trimester into my pregnancy I forever freakin crave Phở… I was at Juan B’s complaining about what to eat. I bitched and yelled that I need my 4x time a week craving. I needed to Phở. We Unilocaled for a place and upon a reading a recommendation this place seemed to have the 5 star chicken phở, something I couldnt argue with. We jumped in the car and drove down, it’s about 7 minute trip to persian dr.
We found paking right in the front-(that wins points with my Juan B), we walked into a empty place which seemed they havent gotten any business all day, so we got to pick my seat. and my menu was limited to a few different things, But like I said… I wanted to eat chicken phở. Upon the food arriving I enjoyed cleaning my chop sticks and spoon with the blissful sounds of Karoke songs, LMAO the played «The Godfather» theme song I thought that was hella funny.
10 minutes and Wah-​Lah. My Phở appeared and the cook who brought the food out assumed the lil bowl was for me and I quote what he said, «Big bowl is for the big man, lil bowl is for the woman, if a big woman she get the big bowl» I thought he tried to make the only mexicans in his place more at ease and not so scared (I’m reffering to Juan. LMAO), as I prepared to get Phở with it, I was a lil disappointed about broth, it was a bit bland and chicken was flavored but yet it was cut in some huge slice and noodles I think they were stingy. I cannot complain, I problaby return but I’m seriously ready to give another phở house chance before I can truly call it my Phở Home.

I’m spoiled. I have had the pleasure of tasting, what has to be, the best braised duck and duck noodle dishes around. An old Chinese lady in Bangkok specializes in duck, and masterfully blends the best of Chinese taste and preparation with Thai spices to make the most flavorful duck dishes I have ever tasted. That is the beauty of Thailand, an abundance of blended flavors, unavailable even elsewhere in the region.
My eagerly anticipated mission to Phở Binh: Devour their highly praised braised herbal duck with egg noodle soup dish. The restaurant is run by two older Chinese-​Vietnamese guys, so I had high hopes. These guys, by the way, treat their customers really nice. Very friendly. Then the duck arrived in about five minutes. The dish included an entire braised duck leg and looked very appetizing. At the critical moment of spoon to lips, I realized all my hopes were dashed. The broth had absolutely no flavor. And they didn’t even have the right condiments to add to the dish. The duck itself was okay, but lacked any depth of flavor. Painful to look at and taste what seemed to be such a beautiful dish. I give them a lot credit for attempting and providing a braised duck leg dish on their menu. It’s truly hard to find.
For those who think I’m judging them too harshly, I say, while I don’t expect perfection here, the broth was the biggest let down, and should have been better. Two and a half stars.

Phở is something that is plentiful here in the Bay Area, so you’d better be on your game or you’ll be out. Based on my lunch today, Phở Binh has got to step it up or soon they’ll be out.
I was a bit skeptical when I first read the menu. Normally Phở places specialize in Phở, but this one had egg noodle soup plus other soups of Vietnamese and Chinese persuasion. You should base your tastes of Phở on the broth, since beef and noodles tastes the same almost anywhere else.
This broth was thin and lacked the depth of something that has been boiled for over 24 hours. When I sipped, I didn’t taste the complex flavors of anise, onion, beef, or any of the other 20 ingredients. I think I could have made this myself. And $ 22 for two small bowls plus spring rolls didn’t help the cause.
Next time I’ll be leery about picking restaurants on the fly, especially if they are in a hard to find area and I’m hungry.

The phở broth was the epitome of murky, both in appearance and flavor. This is likely the worst phở I’ve ever had, I still feel sick thinking about it. In addition to not straining the broth properly, it tasted of soap or something else astringent. In hindsight, it might have been a combination of maybe some pre-​added lime and the impurities in the stock.
To give them credit, it was probably an off day for them, a really really off day. But to serve me something like that, I will not forget. I was really about to get up and leave. But I sat there and ate all my beef and noodles like a good little boy.
As I got up to pay I was shocked to see crystal clear broth in others’ Hu Tieu soup. Maybe that’s the thing to get? Who knows though, I’m not gonna find out. As a matter of fact, I will never come to Sunnyvale techie land again.
I’m all phở’d out dude.

I had the hu tieu instead of the phở and it was good.
I like that they have a patio area to sit outside and eat. Their ice coffee is the drip type and very good.
Cash only, but the liquor store next door has an ATM.

I used to go to Phở Binh at least twice a week when I traveled to San Jose back in the dot com boom days. It was the best bowl of Chicken Phở I have ever tasted — the freshest of fresh ingredients. The broth was superb — light, clean, with some green onions. The chicken was exceptional quality — large chunks of white meat, and only $ 1 more for extra chicken! Their spring rolls and egg rolls were fabulous as well. This place is well hidden off of Lawrence Hwy but once you find it you’ll never forget it.
The customer service was always exceptional, a well built middle aged Asian guy would always serve us (it was his parents restaurant). Ever since we found this place back in 2000 it’s been the benchmark for good Chicken Phở, and only recently have I found one in Austin that really comes close! (Phở Saigon).
I sure do miss this place!

**Phở Quest Stop #2**
*sigh*
My quest for a place with outstanding beef phở continues. Unlike the quests of many others for the best ramen house, it seems that most beef phở places are consistently about the same. Phở Binh, like the nearby Phở Queen, is no different. Overall, I liked the beef phở but really felt like I could have gone to one of hundreds of beef phở places and gotten the same.
Maybe that isn’t something to complain about. But while I’m sure we’re blessed with a large Vietnamese community that leads to many solid beef phở places, there MUST be one that is truly phenomenal and great!
Look how easy it is for other categories:
Best steakhouse — duh, Alexander’s.
Best ramen — duh, Santa Ramen.
Best xiao long bao — probably, Hu Chiang Dumpling House.
Best prime rib — duh, House of Prime Rib.
Best chicken phở — duh, Phở Kim Long.
Now look at this:
Best beef phở — um, I’m not sure, they’re so many and most are about the same.
Alas, but I digress. Maybe my fellow Unilocalers will be able to recommend a top place, but til then, back to my review of Phở Binh.
We ordered several beef phở soups and also decided to try the Herbal duck noodle soup that has been written extensively about.
The phở soup broth was fairly tasty and the noodles were fine. Nothing really to complain about. Notably, the soup broth did seem a lot less oily than some others I’ve been to.
As for the Herbal duck noodle soup, I enjoyed it, though found it a bit saltier than I would have liked. I’m also not as big a fan of the yellow egg noodle used with this dish. I prefer thin rice noodles. For those of you who love this Herbal duck noodle soup, I highly highly recommend you go to San Francisco, go to King of Thai (multiple locations) and try their duck noodle soup w/​thin rice noodles. It’s very similar in herbal flavor and I’d say 10x better.
King of Thai would be my ULTIMATE duck noodle soup place. Now all I need find is the ULTIMATE beef phở place. Will travel if necessary…
BTW Phở Binh is cash only.