Phở Khang — Restaurant in Centennial

Since this is a pho restaurant, I'm only basing my review on that and the service I received.

If you've had good pho most of your life, quit reading this review and just go look elsewhere. This place doesn't cater to you. If you've never had Vietnamese food, then you're likely going to enjoy it and hopefully it will enlighten your taste buds to something other than burgers and fries.

Before you go crazy with the hoisin or sriracha sauce, ALWAYS taste the broth by itself first. The pho served here was quite bland in my opinion. It was a clean-tasting broth, but lacked any flavor or depth. I didn't see a single sprinkle of pepper in their broth until I added it myself. Even after a ton of hoisin sauce, I still wasn't happy with it and I hate to admit this, as I find it sacrilegious, but I had to add soy sauce since there wasn't any fish sauce. I don't think I've ever done that to a bowl of pho in my almost 40 years of existence and now I feel somewhat ashamed!

This is by no means bad pho as it's hard to get this dish completely wrong. It's just very meh. I wouldn't look forward to eating here again unless I was in the shopping center and had to kill time while the wife shops at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

You can tell this place does not cater to Asians as it was obvious their broth did not use MSG, otherwise it would've had more flavor, as MSG is a flavor enhancer. Even the microwavable pho bowl that Costco carries every once in awhile has more taste, granted that probably also has way more sodium and MSG too.

Another way you can tell this is for non-ethnic people is the fact they list 2 different bowls as "dac biet" aka the special combination that has all the beef cuts besides chicken or shrimp. One "dac biet" bowl did not come with rare steak. Both did not include bo vien (Vietnamese beef meatball). I think the rare steak and bo vien scares off a majority of their clientele. But then the odd thing is they have tripe and tendon in both bowls. I find it weird that someone who can't eat rare steak (that's cooked by the hot broth btw) wouldn't mind eating tripe and tendons.

The lackluster pho I can forgive as the large bowl did fill me up and I think their prices are quite in line with Viet restaurants here in the Denver metro, but the service I received was also a disappointment. I was seated and given a menu and a large cup of water fairly quickly, but maybe the waiter is used to people taking their time deciding on what they'd like to try for the first time because it took him well over 5 minutes before he came back to take my order. It wasn't like he was busy with other customers as there was only 2 other small tables seated at the time and none required his assistance.

When he finally took my order, it did come out pretty fast as expected. He even offered me more veggies, which I'm not sure if I've ever been offered that or not. He leaves me alone the rest of the time to enjoy my meal, but never comes back to hand me my check. After I was done eating, the other young Asian guy with tats is taking an order at a table in front of me. He sees and looks at me and it was obvious I was done with my meal, but he goes and sits down behind the counter playing with his phone. I saw those little trays used for the check and tips, so I don't know if this was just their normal policy but I eventually had to get up and go pay at the counter unless I wanted to wait for an eternity.

As a native SE Asian raised in SoCal, I miss being surrounded with good ethnic food. Since moving to Denver the food scene here just isn't all that great in my opinion so my expectations are set somewhat lower than usual but it's still quite a letdown when you go to a place that averages 4.5 stars from over 400 Google reviews and the pho was just OK at best. Despite my criticism, I still applaud them for trying to introduce the people of Denver to authentic Vietnamese cuisine. It's not a Chinese restaurant in disguise.

P.S. Your front doors are heavy AF and doesn't convey an image that you're open...

I wish I could put a rating lower, but I guess I can't. I have two reasons why.

Having a set tip included in the bill is crazy. I should be the one setting how much I tip based off of their service.

Let me make my point straight. If youre coming here, PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR BELONGINGS. I came here yesterday with my sister and my husband for lunch and we had an okay time. When we left, I had left my phone on the table by mistake and like an hour or two later, I realized it was missing. I went back to the restaurant, asked about my phone, and one of the guys said that his brother was the one who was working during our visit and he said he would come back in about an hour or so. He showed me a few other "lost" phones and when I said none of them were mine, he said he'd give me a call once it comes up.

I waited another two hours.

Since I didn't get a call at all, my husband sent a text to my phone saying stuff on the lines of how he'd give a cash prize for whoever finds the phone, and when he sent it, literally 3-6 minutes later, we got a response from the guys who worked here. My husband went to go get it back and when he followed the workers into the back, one of them closed the door on him and demanded he gave them the money first. This was absolutely appalling. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but I assume that they had my phone the whole time and just didn't give it back. My husband gave him the money and I got my phone back.

I'm not advising anyone to not come here, but if you do, please please PLEASE be careful with keeping an eye out...

Some very delicious Pho is served here, and I'd like to say I have the authority to say that as I've been to nearly all Pho restaurants on Federal, and many more around the state. The service when I've gone in (between 2 and 3 pm during the week) has been prompt and courteous, partially helped by the fact I was one of the only customers in there (but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be taken care of).

Both times that I've been in I've ordered #5a: Tái Chín Nạm (rare steak, brisket, flank), and both times it has been extremely delicious. The first time I took it to go, and historically I have had issues ordering Pho to go. Usually by the time I get to my destination the broth is cold, and the rare steak has no chance of cooking in the broth. I was pleased that the broth was well enough insulated to stay piping hot when I made it back to work that day, and they gave me a massive amount of meat to go as well. I was extremely pleased. The second time I ordered in, and was also pleased with the broth, meat, and the appetizer I shared with a coworker (Crab Cheese Wontons - which are also mighty good).

Good Pho places like this concern me, because they are always empty when I patronize their establishments. They concern me because I feel like they can close at any moment, which would be a grave injustice against my digestive system and taste buds. So please, if you're reading this - do yourself (and me) a favor by frequenting this very...