Mo Pho Mi — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

I have to give my honest opinion about this place and I hope they can improve with the feedback. I’ve been here a total of three times in the past year. The first time last year I randomly stumbled upon it and really enjoyed the pho broth, I actually finished it until there was none left. I’ve been to lots of pho places and I know how pho generally tastes whether at a restaurant or home cooked so I know what tastes good.

Because of the great food experience I went back again a few weeks later after the first time, the second time was the worst experience that I couldn’t understand how they could mess up.

I ordered the regular pho and needed good bone broth to help with my headache. For some odd reason they messed up my order by sending me the vermicelli dish with pork and egg rolls, which was really strange. When I actually received my pho and noodles there was an odd soap flavor in the dish, that I had to complain to the staff that it tasted like soap. They took it back to remake it again but again the soap taste was still in the dish. (I think there is something wrong with how they prepare their pho noodles.) During that visit I left without even touching the pho and was completely disappointed.

I almost checked this place completely off but came back again last night hoping this place could redeem itself. I ordered the pho again with noodles on the side because of my experience from the second visit to avoid the soapy taste. We were the only two customers there and they somehow messed up our order and had to take it back to correct it. When the pho finally came it tasted way off from what I remembered during the first visit. The broth didn’t have that unique star anise flavor and tasted more acidic as if they had added lime to the dish. I gave this feedback to the manager who said he was surprised that it was off, and that he has not tried tasting it that day. He went back to try it and said that it is a little different and that they recently hired a new executive chef. While at the restaurant the pho tasted okay, and since I had leftovers I ended up taking the pho broth and side noodles back home for lunch the next day. After reheating the dish and finally adding the noodles to the leftover I broth that I realized they didn’t not fix the soapy taste from my second experience. The soapy taste was still there!

Now I’ve completely checked this place off my list, and will not be...

This place was a welcome surprise in the land of msg-riddled phô. I’m allergic and damn near gave up on phô, tragic as it’s my comfort food—enter this little gem. I was a little hesitant as several reviews mentioned it being bland; my guess is that they were missing the taste of msg because it was not bland, the flavors are pure.

Josh was our waiter and you’d be hard pressed to find a kinder or more attentive human, he was a joy to interact with and made us feel well taken care of. He’s worth the visit.

The shrimp spring rolls had good ingredients and the peanut sauce was flavorful. They could use an extra shrimp or two and be rolled a bit tighter, they fell apart after the initial bite making it difficult to continue dipping in the heavy peanut sauce. Would still order again.

The selection of garnishes was great. Good amount of juicy limes (I didn’t have to ask for more which I typically have to at other places), the extra chilies were a lovely offering, Josh was happy to bring us more basil, and don’t forget the sliced white onions in vinegar (+$0.75).

Both the phô tom (beef broth w/ shrimp) and phô dac biet (beef broth w/ rare steak, brisket, beef balls) had good flavor, and perfect protein to noodle ratio; it didn’t feel skimpy. Broth was flavorful and tasted clean.

The only things I would change is the noodles were slightly over cooked and I would have preferred the soup to be much hotter in temperature. Imo, phô should be piping hot—if I’m not dripping in sweat and slurping to cool the noodles as I eat, it’s not hot enough. 😅

Thai iced tea was solid, not too sweet, and not overly iced.

We sat outside and enjoyed the little plant oasis, looking forward to coming back soon. *We were told that bánh mi are in...

Mo Pho Mi??? Pho sho!

Accidentally found this place in Costa Mesa, it is unbelievably amazing! Since we just did some work out, we decided to share a bowl of pho and an order of egg roll and call it a night.

We got a large three items pho combo with rare beef, brisket and meat ball. The soup is really fresh and flavorful. I don’t feel the dehydrated after a bowl of pho. You know, some pho places after you walk out the restaurant you have to chug a bottle of water. (too much Msg)

The shrimp egg rolls are fresh fried and come with whole juicy prawns inside!

The family that owns the restaurant were in the store. They are extremely friendly and told us about all the nutrients and philosophy behind the food. Everything is organic, msg isn’t used, only fresh ingredients, high quality meat, and the water used for the food is filtered. Offering all these healthy homemade recipes, the price is extremely affordable. $5 eggrolls $12 large pho and $2.75 for a milk tea. Where do you find $2.75 cold brew milk tea in Orange County?!?! I hope this won’t change.

It’s so rare for a restaurant to focus on health and nutrition other than profits. It is more costly and high maintenance verses just putting in cheap MSG. I’m really appreciate the initiative and integrity to run a restaurant from a healthy and delicious perspective.

For this new generation, health is really a big trend.

Good job!!！💯💯💯💯💯💯 Please stay alive in...