Pho Play — Restaurant in Castro Valley

Had a hankering for some Bahn Mi and I have to kick myself for not having tried Pho Play. I've seen them being the one of the results on Yelp but thought that Castro Valley was just a bit far for a sandwich. I was in the area so I thought I give them a try.

The place is in a plaza near a Safeway and other small stores. Plenty of parking and very clean. At the time of ordering, indoor dining was still not available (but it's available now as of the writing of this review) but they have outside seating with heaters. I ordered the grilled pork Bahn Mi. I thought it was a bit pricey but was surprised when it came out.

The sandwich was big! About 10 inches long, filled out with meat and "veggies".. much bigger than regular sandwiches. Now, to be honest, maybe I didn't do it justice because I bought it to bring to work for lunch. But the fact I'm reviewing this positive is a huge plus. I work swing shift so I bought it at Noon but didn't eat it til 9pm (yes, I call it lunch time). The bread held up for all those hours.. still soft, not hard nor soaked. I sliced it to check the content and was not disappointed. Lots of meat! The flavor was perfect, the topping was still crisp. Usually, most other Bahn Mi would be disintegrated by now, but not this one. Very satisfying and filling are two words to describe the experience. Burp! If it was good after 9hrs in my bag, imagine having it warm and freshly prepped!

Now that I've tried the Bahn Mi and indoor dining is available again, I'm sure to try their Pho.. since it's in their name. I'm sure they'll surprise me just like...

Found myself coming back to this snug and welcoming restaurant multiple times during my recent trip to San Francisco (I stayed in Castro Valley). I tried a variety of dishes such as pho chin (vietnamese rice noodle soup with beef brisket), pork banh mi (vietnamese baguette sandwich with pork) and bun ba chi suon bo grill combo (vermicelli with a fried egg, vegetables and grilled pork belly and beef short ribs). All of these were delicious, with the pho chin being my favourite. I also ordered the peach fruit tea, with lychee jelly added on) and would recommend it for those who like sweet drinks.

The grill combo lets you choose between a variety of grilled proteins to add onto your base of salad, vermicelli or rice - ideal for those who are unable to choose just one meat/protein option (or for those that are indecisive like myself)! The staff are also very friendly and provided great service (thank you to Lily who suggested I try the grill combo).

Something of note would be the broth used in their pho - it tastes amazing! Better than the broths I've tried in Sydney's vietnamese restaurants. Would highly recommend trying either pho chin (pho with cooked beef brisket) or pho tai (pho with rare steak). Looking forward to coming back to Pho Play during my future visits to...

Went to taste the new vietnamese restaurant in Castro valley. The sign outside the place is great. It's easily spotted when you enter the parking lot. The service is very modern. You seat your self after ordering. It's the America version of vietnamese street food.

The menu is setup to speed up the service. A few items in each category. After about 3 mins standing in a fairly short line. 4 orders before us. We ordered the lemongrass beef bao, rare beef and meatball pho, and bun bo hue. We also got a peach fruit tea and soda.

The bao was by far the best item of the three. Large portion of meat filled the base of the bao topped with pickled carrots and daikon. The beef pho came with red rare beef. The portions of noodle to beef is balanced. The BBH from as far as I could tell is delicious. The pho only comes in one size, large. The peach fruit tea was really the only thing that we didn't like. We would of likes a black or green tea with peach. Not the fruit tea they use.

Castro Valley newest vietnamese restuarant is worth a visit.

Update: came back and ate the banh mi and egg rolls. Super soft roll for banh mi and possible frozen egg rolls. Banh mi is a 9/10. Egg...