Pho Viet Royal — Restaurant in Bethlehem

Decent choice for the Lehigh Valley. I’m not a pho connoisseur by any means but I’ve had a lot of pho from all over the country and this place is an alright choice for the limited options in the Lehigh Valley.

We got the shrimp summer roll and crispy spring rolls as apps. Both rolls we really good, tasty and fresh. The peanut sauce for the summer roll for a bit thinner and runnier than I’m used to but the flavor was there.

We ordered the pho royal, seafood noodle soup and grilled shrimp and rice. The beef broth was much sweeter than other places I’ve been to. The sweetness was a bit too much and made the soup a little funky and off balance. The amount of meat in the pho royal was not what I was expecting. Very little amount of meat for the price I’m paying. I just wish there was a bit more. The seafood noodle soup came in a chicken based soup which was also very sweet. Lastly the grilled shrimp with rice dish had really good flavor and smokey flavor but was platted on a dish too big and looked like there was no food.

The decor was a little sterile to be honest. The dinning room is just a wide open space which made it feel like a cafeteria style. There wasn’t much of an ambiance; neither a private feel nor a community feels. There wasn’t much to look at either.

The wait staff was ok. Friendly but just ok. The one waitress was a bit of a mess. Directed us to a table. Then made us move stating “for social distancing,” but said it in a tone like it was our fault and we chose the table. She at one point guided another group of customers to a table but rolled her eyes when they came in. She brought the wrong order over to us which is fine but there weren’t even that many customers there. She then subsequently brought the wrong order to another table. Maybe she needs to play for diner dash or something.

As for covid guidelines, the place was so big, I don’t think they would ever be too close together to go over the limit. The wait staff wore their masks properly.

Again, overall a solid choice for the lack of options in the Lehigh Valley. Would recommend if just needing to get that...

edit: hi management! I mentioned the grill in my response; I know what viet BBQ should taste like, I had it in my friends autumn rolls here and it wasn't messed up. your employee agreed my entree was burnt by chef or grill, but that only the manager could discount or replace meals. It's okay to make mistakes; thanks for being accountable! I'll try again if you want to replace the meal for me and if all goes well we will give it another shot dining in.

Also, I don't want to be rude but I do want to stress, it tasted like fire starter and soot. I felt sick after one taste. I am not one to complain (seriously check my reviews) unless I think something is bad to the point of being irresponsible.

Non-existent customer service when manager isn't on premises and too expensive to lose money on. :c

I just moved to the area and this place was really busy, so I was excited to try it i really miss the food where i am from.

When we first came in a woman greeted us saying we just came in after a rush. everything was fine at first, until my grilled BBQ pork dinner came out and it tasted like the pan was absolutely blackened burnt or the meat got smokey from the grill not being cleaned and it was inedible. I asked our server if they were using liquid smoke and said it tasted off but i dont think he cared.

I didn't eat it and when we finally asked for a check she asked if i needed a box and i told her no and she asked if it was bad and that was when i explained and she tried my food to confirm it tasted gross. She blamed the pan or chef. My friend asked if anything could be taken off the meal since I left hungry and literally had to make myself dinner later that night. They said no because the manager wasn't there but we could take a drink if we wanted. It's just crazy to leave and pay for a whole ass entree that even an employee took a bite of to confirm it was inedible. They were acting nice but it was absolutely not a nice or reasonable response to...

Update 10/2021

Visited after a long hiatus from Covid restrictions.

Pho's quality went down hill. Long wait for a bowl of pho. The bowl had only scant of meatballs and tendons. Condiments for pho was pathetic, brown bean sprouts and some basil leaves. I wondered why basil was served this way. I suspected they recycled the basil from tables that did not use it. When I asked for extra basil, the waitress charged me 25 cents and brought out about 5 more leaves.

It is no longer a place to go for pho in the valley. This crown is now resided at Pho Bowl in Bethlehem.

Good pho, and perhaps the best pho in the valley. Flavorful broth. Composition of the bowl could be a bit better, only couple slices of meat floating in a bowl. Service needs improvement. We had to wait for a long time for two bowls of pho, and the restaurant was practically empty. More expensive than any other vietnamese joints in the area.

Updated 10/26/2019

Visited for the second time.. Pho was still decent. Egg rolls were good, albeit on the small size. Could use some more green and herbs. The clay pot dish (pork ribs) was tasty. One thing that fell short this time was the condiments for pho. The basil was brown, and the bean sprouts were also brown at the tips. Condiments for pho are very important, as they compliment the main dish and enhance its flavor. The waiter told us that they ran out of basil (what kind of silly excuse is this?), a pho place that ran out of basil on Saturday.

One star was taken off for serving wilted green. Hope for some improvement next time...

Updated 02/07/2020

New year, new outlook.... It seems like they get a hang of running the business. Service is now improved. Pho is still decent. This is the place for Pho in...