VIỆT KITCHEN-PARIS BÁNH MÌ — Restaurant in Blythewood

This place rides off of the ambience because it lacks in all other places! Absolutely grotesque pho! Entering this place, I was mesmerized. The enormous, large building full of magnanimous works of art held displays of highlighted light fixtures. Venturing through the restaurant, I worked my way to the front counter to make my order. As I approached the front counter, I walked past the bakery offerings which did not impress. Heard of cheesecake offerings, and macaroons that were not Paris-esque.

And then, back to the pho. I ordered a pho tai, but this was not authentic; FAR from it. The broth base was a watery, weak, greasy chicken base with a slight hint of beef. No star of anise, no garlic, no rock sugar, no essence of genuine pho broth with subtle notes of cinnamon. I’m not sure what happened here, but with the cashier named, Jay, he laughed and jeered me as I inquired about the restaurant. I ordered a milk tea but had to pay for the tapioca. It was overcooked, slimy, and in-edible. I should’ve known to cancel my order and leave. Not to mention the restaurant was empty, that’s always a terrible sign. When my order arrived, I was given a to go spoon, wooden chopsticks and I was not allowed a dipping dish for my Sriracha. I had to beg for my water, but my food was brought out quickly. As I dug through my bowl of pho, I noticed my noodles were discolored with a yellowish orange tinge. This is not the norm and is unacceptable. While I removed the strange and foreign pieces of noodle, I noticed other guests that came to eat. They made their selections and orders that included in house courses and beverages. They were given pagers for their beverages. After 15 minutes, their two beverages were completed. They were then paged with an alarming, horrifying, howling alarm sound. Another 4 to 5 minutes passes by, and another one of their orders is ready. Yet again, the alarm goes off and another person approaches the counter to receive their in store order. After another 10 minutes goes by the alarm goes off. The same family, waiting for the rest of their dinner, slowly approached the counter with the round black serving tray full of their in house orders. These amazing sweet & friendly guests were given pagers for their orders and I wasn’t, is the real question here?? The people that came to eat were minority family, & I the majority. I was served and waited on hand & foot except for server checks. I had to leave my table to retrieve more napkins and request more ice for my water, which is puzzling, because I was under the assumption. this was a restaurant, after all? The kicker was this family that was a minority had to walk back-and-forth to the counter to receive their order over 3 times in which I was not required to do the same. 3 separate guess we need to go order had to walk back to the counter to retrieve it and leave yet. They were nowhere near it so why not bring it to the guest and let them be on their way like every normal & respectful restaurant? Out of over 1000 visited Vietnamese restaurants in over 28 states, I have never went to one like tonight with treatment toward to-go recipients/individuals of the Black race. This is a restaurant I will never visit again! I’ll make sure the Black community is aware of this repulsion...

Quick service, delicious food, and great atmosphere. Really clean and spacious.

For drinks, we got a coconut milk tea with tapioca added, and the #2 specialty milk tea with the cheese cold foam and added tapioca boba. Both were delicious, the coconut milk tea was a bit sweet but once some of the ice melted it was a bit better. The milk tea with the cheese cold foam was INCREDIBLE. It surprisingly had a slight lavender/earl grey flavor to it. Highly recommend.

For food, we got the pho with brisket, I believe pho #2 or 3. We also got the grilled pork banh mi which I believe was also #2. The portion sizes were generous and the food came out so quickly. The pho broth was delicious and the noodles were cooked well. The pho had spring onions in it which was a nice touch and also the Thai basil, cilantro, lime, and bean sprouts that came on the side were REALLY fresh and clean. The brisket was delicious and melt-in-your- mouth.

The banh mi was PERFECT. The bread was so fresh, and the meat was perfectly cooked and flavored (also they do not skimp on the meat at all; generous portions). The pickled radish and carrots were delicious and the sandwich overall was so incredibly flavorful, crisp, and not dry at all somehow without being drenched in any sort of mayonaissy sauce.

Overall, highly recommend MUST go in my opinion. I will not go to any other Vietnamese/pho spot in the Columbia area as this seems to be the best and most authentic choice in the area. We drove 30 min for this and it exceeded all...

First off let me say this place is beautiful and very spacious. Employees are very friendly and kind. Their prices are amazing. My boyfriend and I, decided to get 2 Special Phos, a Special Banh Mi, a Hot Cheeto Half & Half Korean Corn Dog, and I got the Paris By Night Milk Tea while my boyfriend enjoyed a normal milk tea with tapioca boba. All This at the price of $64. THATS HARD TO BEAT. GREAT PRICES FOR A FULL LUNCH. The Pho was very authentic and a generous portion along with the free serving of bean sprouts, cilantro, and limes. The Korean corndog was really good, all the flavors of the Hot Cheetos, mozzarella and the sausage combined together was such a unique taste in itself. The Boba was terrific. Very generous amount of tapioca and the flavors were on point. Lastly, the Banh Mi. We didn’t try it till we got home because we were left full!! Once we tried it, completely spot on and mouth watering. Just a quick a microwave and it tastes exactly like it would have when got it! It was authentic and tasted perfect. I would recommend this place to anyone especially if you love Vietnamese cuisines! Would give this place 1,000 stars if I could. Beautiful decor, kind staff and amazing cooks! Will be...