The Pho Asian Fusion — Restaurant in Austin

This is a nice, clean restaurant. Personally a huge fan of the modern Vietnamese music playing overhead. Food was pretty good. I enjoyed it more than a majority of the Vietnamese restaurants in Austin. Service was however lacking.

Server was quick to have us seated, hand out menus, water, and took our order. Food was served within a reasonable time frame. A different person served us our food (I think she may have been the cook since she was coming from the kitchen) and noticed that the server had forgotten our utensils. She told the server to set our table up, and the server promptly came with a pre-set utensil basket. My husband ordered pho, but I noticed the typical pho spoon wasn’t given. We were planning to ask the server for it next time he swung around, but for the remainder of our time, our server didn’t stop by. In the end we just went with the metal spoon that came in our basket- not too much of a big deal, since we saw there was only one server at that time who was busy managing the front register and take-out orders. It’s a little unexpected that there would only be one server for the restaurant on a weekend during lunch service, though… so come with the thought in mind that’s service may be lacking due to being understaffed.

Food was good. The pho broth was robust and flavorful, not overly sweet like how I’ve noticed with other restaurants which I appreciate. Our pho came with thick fresh noodles (banh pho tuoi) which my husband and I personally don’t like in general- especially this specific preparation since it was on the mushier side and was breaking apart in the broth. We always go for the regular thin noodles and were surprised when the pho arrived because our server never mentioned anything about the thick noodles. I’m unsure if they only use the thick fresh noodles here, or if there was an option to pick between that and the regular noodle, but our server never gave us the option to choose? Aside from that, the bowl was on the smaller side portion-wise compared to other restaurants, but reasonable for the price. The vege portion included bean sprouts, green pepper, and Thai basil which was also on the smaller portion size, but seemed fresh. I got the Vietnamese shaken beef (Bo luc lac) with egg noodles. I enjoyed how it came with some mushroom (I think it was seafood mushrooms?) and bell peppers. The egg noodles has a wonderful firm texture and was coated nicely in the brown sauce. The beef was very tender, however the cuts weren’t very uniform. It also lacked the “wok hei” charred sort of flavor I usually enjoy with Bo luc lac. But it was generally seasoned well. I wish the noodles also came with the side of salt pepper lime like the rice version does, though.

Overall review: poor service, nice environment, food is promising but could be better. We look forward to given them another try and seeing how their...

*I am changing from 2 stars to 3 stars instead because the owner of manager saw my review & responded, & I confirm that they refunded my whole order. Clearly a trustworthy establishment. Thank you.

First of all for the record, we are not from Austin. Went to this place because it was decently close to our hotel in North Austin.

I called the order in: stir fried flat noodle with beef & shrimp.

When I came to pick it up, the nice young gentleman asked me if my order was CRISPY noodle stir fry w/beef. I told him no, it is the SOFT noodles stir fry with beef & shrimp.

He told me my order would be out shortly. The positive about this place is that it seems to be in a good location, was nicely & lively decorated, and clean.

The negative is related to my food- I was charged $17 + tax which was not the price on the menu online. The young man explained that they just recently changed prices so it was not yet updated online, & also, it would be a little more since I ordered a combination meat. When I got back to the hotel & looked at my order, to my dismay, instead of beef & shrimp, it was beef & chicken.

The beef was tender enough, but still a bit chewy as compared to how I've had it at many other restaurants back home in Houston. Of course, I did not eat the chicken. Perhaps because they had to put my order at the last minute since they got it wrong the first time, the flavor was not very good. It was quite bland. And some of the noodles were clumped together and would not separate.

I...

This was my second time at The Pho Asian Fusion, and it's still one of the more underrated Vietnamese restaurants in the area. The name might make it sound overly modern, but they actually serve a strong lineup of traditional Vietnamese dishes, including hard-to-find đồ nhậu (drinking food).

Last visit we had the goat hotpot, basil clams, and coconut snails. This time, we stuck with more typical lunch and dinner dishes:

Bò lá lốt (beef in betel leaves) – moist, flavorful, not overcooked. The best I’ve had in Austin and I never usually use the word "best" 🙂

Bò lúc lắc (shaking beef) – tender, buttery, and can be served with egg noodles if you want something different.

Bò né (Vietnamese steak and eggs) – same great beef on a sizzling plate, served with pate, butter, salad, and a sunny side up egg.

Chè ba màu – surprisingly rare in Austin. This one was close, just missing the beans.

Salt & pepper calamari – big chunks, tender, well-seasoned, served with salt, pepper, and lime.

They’ve also got $4 draft beers and happy hour specials and TVs, which makes it a solid casual spot for drinks. Huge space (great for group events or corporate dinners) and they even have claw machines.

They’re more well-known in the Vietnamese snd ATX Asian Food Facebook groups. Definitely worth a try if you’re looking for Vietnamese food...