Pho House — Restaurant in North Hertfordshire

So excited to find a really decent Asian restaurant in this area. Was surprised to hear that there’s a substantial Chinese community, even hosting HK film night at local cinema The Broadway.

First of all the best thing about this place was the amazingly friendly genuine service. We had a messy toddler with a pram and we were welcomed (not always the case!). They were very accommodating bringing extra bowls, diluting their sugary drinks and even delivered some complimentary sesame balls at end of meal which the kids loved.

We had the traditional banh coun to start which was delicious; generous amount of tasty filling, perfect thickness of wrapping and the garnishes were fresh (eg not brown edged dried up iceberg as you can get in some places). That was my top dish. We ordered 2 lemongrass grilled chicken on rice; very generous portion size and well seasoned and cooked; easy crowd pleaser esp for the kids (just be aware the nouc nam dressing has a bit of a kick to it as it contains chilli seeds). This was also my sister’s favourite dish. We also tried the beef brisket pho which was clean tasting and very generous portion. But the broth lacked a depth of flavour, could have had more complex taste and additional herbs. But it wasn’t over salty or synthetic tasting or tasteless so it was still decent.

Fresh lemonade, also with guava juice was delicious - a little too sweet for our tastes but perfect for others I’m sure. Mango pudding was a bit too sweet and one note with mango purée - needed more coconut milk or something. But great to see on menu nevertheless as most non Asians probably don’t want to order sago.

Can’t wait to try other dishes esp the ho fun which was recommended.

Decent prices too so definitely worth trying if you haven’t been...

Authentic Vietnamese food🥰 This is my second visit We drove for half an hour to come and totally worth it. The boss/chef is Vietnamese and he mentioned it’s “home flavour”, I haven’t been to Vietnam but this is better than all Vietnamese restaurant in Hong Kong (food paradise😝).

You can tell the ingredient is fresh especially the herbs they used.

I love they incorporated much vegetables in the dishes.

Last time we tried Banh Xeo—crispy rice repe with stir fried veggies-5 stars Spring Roll-with taro inside-4.5 stars Pho Hue-spicy rice noodle-4 stars Tricolor coconut drink- with homemade green jelly Seasone balls

This time we tried Bun-sweet and sour mixed cold noodle , we ordered with pork and it is so aromatic and balanced-5 stars Banh Cuon- steamed rice roll, chef made the rice sheet himself , the fried shallot elevates the whole dish😍-5 stars Vietnamese coffee- very refreshing with crushed ice

So shame that we were so full that couldn’t order more🥲Really want to try Pho(soup noodle)😝definitely more visit in the future

I recommend you to reserve a table for big group of ppl since it’s kinda full...

We come here approx. twice a month and really enjoy the food, it really is great! However, on our latest visit, their level customer service when faced with an issue, really let them down.

My food was sent to another table by mistake. We waited for them to make the food again, but it only arrived as my husband was finishing.

Whilst we did receive an apology and we accept that accidents happen, we were surprised when we were charged full price for our bill. We questioned it, which resulted in them knocking off our cheapest starter.

I overheard them telling the incorrect receiver of my dish, who received this as well as their correct order, not to worry and that they can take it home for their lunch tomorrow. They certainly had better luck than us!

Safe to say, we did not feel valued customers and won’t be returning for a while.

Update: after a 6 month hiatus we returned and sadly the service has not improved, my husband received his dish 15 minutes before I did. A real shame, as the food is so tasty but the service lets it down! People giving the 5* service reviews are certainly...