Pho NC Cafe — Restaurant in Cornelius

Update-Love how you apologize, but in fact just making more excuses. Like state previously. Your kitchen have 2 chef with one server. As we walk in, there is one table of 2 already eating. One table of four already ordered. Whose food was delivered 5 min after we entered. And one party of 2 who entered about 30min after us. That meant you had 2 Chef 1 server vs 2 tables. If that is busy in your standard. I have nothing to say. We also saw 2 DoorDash drivers in the hour and half span.

To the point you made about us finishing the food. We came in starving. 30 min later your server came and said you have no ingredients. Offered us the option to leave. We clearly stated that we are too hungry to go somewhere else or wait for 15min for the correct dish. Just serve us whatever you had on the menus, even if it is not what we ordered and what we wanted. And it took them another 20-30 min to get the food (the compensating, not what we ordered) to us. yes - we are going to finish the food unless we think there is safety issue. But no- the food is not fully cooked. They only put the noodles in 50min after we ordered, and they only started cooking the noodle when I made a point to sit at the bar and stared at the kitchen. And by no means that means we are satisfied.

Original answer: We went there at 6pm to order a Bun bo hui. 20 minutes after we ordered they came out and let us know, they are out of the noodle. We can have a replacement noodle instead of the original noodle, we can also wait for another 15 min for the original noodle or we can just leave, there will be no problem. We assumed everything else is ready and told them, they can just do the replacement noodle, however, we do expect a discount. The server agreed. The server went back to the kitchen for another 15min, at which point we started being impatient. please mind that it was by no means busy, there is 2 other table there and are already eating. I went to the bar and ask them where our food is, they told us they are waiting on the broth. I find it hard to believe that for a place that only serve pho, they have no broth, no noodle and took 50 min to make everything. I sat at the bar to see what they are doing. Of course they brought the food out within 5 min. We finished the food, but first of all, the meat in the bun bo hue is not for bun bo hue, it is for regular pho. Secondly, the broth wasn’t even hot. And third of all, the noodle is half raw. When we paid, the server then declared they never agreed on a discount and then got impatient. If you customer is not even impatient to wait 50min for luke warm, half raw noodles. I don’t see what the point of this...

Pho NC Cafe is a Jewel! A must try restaurant. Authentic Vietnamese cuisine very reasonably priced. We were greeted warmly upon arrival and seated in a very comfortable booth. There were 4 of us including my wife, and my adult daughter and son (my son is a server at an asian restaurant in Birkdale and a connoisseur of fine asian cuisine: He thought this establishment was top notch!). We began with spring rolls. They consisted of a steamed delight of shrimp and freshly chopped veggies wrapped in translucent rice noodle, with a fantastic peanut dipping sauce, we had to get a second order! the main course included Meat Pho for my son. The broth was flavorful and complex, you could tell the chef had worked hard for hours to extract maximum deliciousness from the bones and veggies to make the stock. the meat was fresh and could be seen being poached in the steaming broth in front of our eyes. The classic accompaniment of bean sprouts, lime, basil and pepper slices was extremely fresh. My Daughter had the chicken soup. This was not your standard canned soup! The depth of flavor was a testimony to the labor of rich chicken bone stock creation by the chef. The base of the bowl was line with delicately pulled strands of tender chicken breast. It was also enhanced by the bean sprouts, lime, basil and pepper slices. I order Bun: Tofu Pad Thai, which is the best I have ever tasted. This dish can often be oversauced and heavy. Not at Pho NC Cafe: The Bun noodles were perfectly coated with the right amount of flavorful Tamarind that had the ideal balance of sour, sweet, salty, and umami! To satisfy the variable spiciness that consumers like, the dried pepper flakes and freshly chopped peanuts were placed to the side of the plate as neat piles so that the amount could be customized to satisfy the diner's palate. My daughter order strawberry Bubble tea as dessert. We were all graciously given individual samples as well free of charge. The tapioca was perfectly cooked with a very satisfying consistency, the strawberry was not overly sweetened as it often can be, and was very delicious for the whole table as a tasty dessert to finish the meal. The service by Stephanie and the manager was extremely attentive and courteous. The check for the whole experience was only $52, The quality and authenticity of food was well worth several times that amount. This restaurant is at the entrance of the Pennisula at Lake Norman, which is in an ideal location for sit down and take out for most Cornelius residents. I would venture to say it is even worth a trip for anybody in the greater Charlotte area! We will be regulars at this...

Was staying at a friend's house across the lake, and Pho NC popped up during a search for a restaurant and we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it turned out while it was "only" 3.5 miles away, it was on the other side of the lake so it took us 30 minutes to get there. We had already decided we wanted some Pho so we took the drive.

The Pho is phenomenal! Been to a lot of these places across the country (and world) and the broth is key. The broth here is very flavorful, ingredients are fresh, and the protein is excellent. Definitely authentic to what I remember from my visit to Vietnam and just the way I like it.

The only negative was we arrived about 15 minutes before closing because of the drive. There were 2 others sitting and eating their meal, but if it was up to the cook (owner?) he would have told us they were closed. The cashier/waiter had to kind of convince him to let us order take-out. I get it, they had already likely started putting things away and we usually won't go to eat inside of 30 min of closing. But really felt like we were imposing on them. Kudo's to them for taking the order even when I added in a spring roll - which was also excellent.

I usually don't like ordering Pho, Ramen, or any noodle dish take-out because they never quite come out right. Especially with a 30 minute drive back. But they package everything properly (broth separate from noodles and toppings) and when we got back we got the broth back to boiling and poured over the ingredients in a bowl. Will also note that the meatballs in the Pho Special were also very tasty, which isn't always the case.

The restaurant itself is located in a strip mall and the atmosphere is what you'd expect. There is a lot of parking and seems like a nice area. Overall I'd definitely return here for the food if I'm ever in...