Uncle Phan's Fresh Tofu Restaurant — Restaurant in Austin

Rating: 3.7/5 [dine in]

On Yelp, this place is called Fresh Tofu, but on Google, it's called Uncle Phan's Fresh Tofu Restaurant. We were looking for bánh bèo and there were very few restaurants that showed up. We had never been here before, so we decided to try it. Inside is like a typical Vietnamese to-go place and seemed family-owned. The older lady and man were nice and seemed to have built a connection with their patrons. We did question their sanitary standards as the tissue box had enough dust to look like it had just been pulled out of storage, and there were flies inside the store trying to land on our food. I would say the food is good if you eat it fresh or heat it up later, but not if you're eating on the go. We ordered from their "hot" bar and they didn't heat up the food, so it was borderline warm/room temperature. For the bánh bèo and bánh ướt, they made it fresh so it was yummy and warm! You order and pay before you grab a table if you're dining in.

Dai Huu Ky ($2): This didn't look like your typical dai huu ky you get with cơm dĩa. It was long like a tube and looked to be filled with vegetables instead of shrimp. It was soggy and just okay since it wasn't heated up. If we could air fry it, I think it would be so much better!

Tôm Rang ($10): Not heated up but warm enough. I'm not a fan of shelled shrimp dishes, but this was good, especially the flavors. Since we were dining in, they gave us a huge bowl of rice to eat it with.

Chả Chiên Các Loại ($2.25): Looks like a round fish cake. It wasn't bad; just wish it was a bit warmer.

Bánh Bèo ($5): This is what we came for, but we didn't see it on the menu so we asked the lady cashier if they still sold it. She said they did but had run out, so we would have to wait 5 minutes for them to make it. That was fine with us, and it was pretty solid. The mung bean had a bit of crunch to it, which is different from the usual soft and mushy version I'm used to. The lady told us that the plate she gave us was actually 2 portions, so now we have a point of reference.

Bánh ướt Chả Lụa ($11): Yum--this was probably my favorite dish of the meal. The chả lụa was delicious! The bánh ướt was soft but didn't have as much meat as I would like. Their nước chấm is very good though and brings the flavors together into a cohesive dish.

Sugarcane / Nước Mía ($5.50 Small): This was okay. The drink was a bit warm when we got it so it wasn't as refreshing as I was hoping it would be.

Salted Coffee / Cà Phê Muối ($5): I read reviews saying this was good here, but I thought it was just okay. The coffee wasn't as strong as I like it to be, so it leaned heavier on the salted...

Went here once, and was well received by the lady behind the cash register. The tofu came out with a large bowl of soup which was tasty, however upon going back to the cash register lady to pay - I noticed her sitting behind it clipping her toe nails! ...The tofu she sells is right beside the cash register, and although she wasn't clipping her nails right behind the tofu, it was still pretty nasty to have to stand there for about 50 seconds listening to *Clip *Clip *Clip of her nails before she noticed I was standing there waiting to pay for the soup/tofu meal.

Additionally there was at least one fly buzzing around the restaurant. ...Which they had an answer for, in the form of a fly trap (basically a few neon lights with a sticky pad behind it) which was also on the wall behind the food.

I don't know about you, but I question the sanitation of this place and will not be going back. The food is fine though, so you do you; just remember there are much better...

This place is mostly known for their fresh tofu or other quick To Go viet dishes. Belive it or not, you can get food to eat here. I had the Bun Bo Hue and I was surprised it was very good. The broth tasted like home made and had good depth of flavor. Not very spicy but they can give you chilies to make it so. They didn't skimp out on the meat fixings, I had a good amount of pork meat and cha Lua. I was really surprised and satisfied with my BBH. We also tried the Bun Moc, it was good but not really my thing, this is more of a plain but satisfying type dish. Just be prepared to sweat if you stay to have some hot soup on a hot day here, there's no AC so you may use up a ton of napkins :) Overall, very underrated place to grab some food, very authentic homemade Viet food and not expensive. I would definitely recommend giving this...