Saigon Bowl — Restaurant in Clearwater

We are tourists in this area, and had a craving to eat Pho, especially that last night was a cold night. So, not knowing the area, we went online to find Pho restaurants close to our hotel, and this restaurant was highly reviewed.

We drove there, and we had a good overall experience. The restaurant is simple yet cute decorated and very clean. They had nice instrumental music, mainly movie themes, which we enjoyed very much. The service is attentive, friendly, and fast. The prices are moderate. The food is well-made and tasty.

As our main purpose to come here was to eat pho so that’s what we ordered. The Pho was light in flavor yet well made. The highlight is that they have different types of Pho for you to select. We had the chicken with vegetables Pho and also the mixed vegetables Pho, with our choice of beef broth. It was full of vegetables, which is the reason why we chose it.

We first had a couple of appetizers, which the beef skewers were outstanding: tender beef and very flavorful.

We also ordered a different soup than Pho, the spicy lemongrass soup, which was actually our favorite. Very complex flavors, with a thick and dark broth, and you can request the level of spiciness that you want.

We will definitely recommend this restaurant and we will come back if we are again...

Sometimes I feel like the places that have the highest ratings on Yelp and Goog are the ones that simply purchased reviews. We are consistently disappointed by restaurants with anything close to 5 stars. It seems like a lot of the time, the reviews are misleading. This is one of those times.

Negatives: The kids pho for $6.99 is not a good value. Tiny portion with 2 or 3 slivers of meat. The big wonton soup was so-so but skimpy on the wontons. For $13.99, not a good value. The vegetable pho had 3 or 4 pieces of broccoli and barely any other vegetables. They asked if I wanted to add tofu for an extra $3. What? I don’t think I’ve ever been to a pho restaurant that makes you pay extra for the tofu in the veggie pho. It was reasonably priced, but with the tiny amount of veggies, NOT a good value.

The bathroom door is gross (see picture). I was afraid to touch it. How long would it take to clean that? 3 minutes?

The paper towel dispenser and the soap dispenser in the bathroom do not work, so they just set the paper towels on the wet dirty bathroom counter. Gross.

Positives: Big parking lot. Easy parking. Average service (just what you would expect from a pho place)

We will not...

My wife is from Vietnam and an amazing cook. We enjoy high quality Vietnamese food. We have been dissatisfied with every Vietnamese restaurant in surrounding areas, till Saigon Bowl opened up. Their food is EXCELLENT and very authentic. Not an Americanized version of Vietnamese food but the real deal. We order from Saigon Bowl every chance we get. Their Pho Soup is amazing. That takes work to make great - authentic Pho Soup. you don't just whip out some Pho powder and add water. Its real work. Their pork Chops and other dishes are FANTASTIC. I wouldn't bother to write this if it were not true. As a note, the owner and her staff are very friendly and they care that you are fully satisfied. We have become good friends. WE LOVE SAIGON BOWL. Check it out!!!! You won't be let down. p.s. Many times we order out and their delivery is very quick and arrives exactly what we ordered. p.s.s. Their egg rolls...