Pho Show — Restaurant in Culver City

I’ve been coming here since ~2008 and it never disappoints. Highlights from their menu that I’ve tried:

Items below have priced as of 11/13/2023:

SALT AND PEPPER TOFU $12.00 I ordered this to go two weeks ago and it was great. The tofu was crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. It has a ton of flavor! I’ve read reviews that complain that it doesn’t taste like salt and pepper, but this is what Chinese Salt and Pepper taste like- it’s usually made with salt and bell pepper, garlic, and green onions. Sometimes places will add white pepper or a spice like Szechuan chilis as well. But, this dish is not made spicy at Pho Show; it is salty and delicious, but you can add chili oil, chili sauce, or sriracha if you’d like (condiments on the table).

SALT AND PEPPER CALAMARI $15.00 I had this last night and it didn’t disappoint. I love fried calamari and adding the flavor of Chinese Salt and Pepper to it was perfect. I also highly recommend squeezing the lemon on it which they provide you. It adds a nice citrus flavor boost.

RARE STEAK PHO (pho tai) $13.25 + $1.25 for large The rare steak is thicker than most places, which I appreciate because I feel like I get more meat here than at places that shave the meat. However, it’s almost always cooked more than I like by the time I receive it at the table… so, when it arrives, I pull all the meat out immediately to stop it from cooking further. I like my steak med rare, and although some pieces may arrive medium well (little pink), most arrive well done. That’s because their broth is popping hot! And I always forget to ask for the meat to be served on the side, so I can add it for the time needed to cook only to medium rare. **HINT: if you’re like me and don’t want the meat fully cooked, ask for it on the side. The broth that comes with this is amazing. It’s hot and flavorful. It has white and green onions served in it. On the side, you’ll receive bean sprouts, basil, jalapeño, and lemon slices (they used to serve it with lime- not sure when this changed). I like to squirt in the lemon, add the sprouts, basil, and a single jalapeño for a little kick. On the table, you’ll have access to chili oil, chili sauce, sriracha, and of course, hoisin. I like to add the hoisin and a little sriracha to add some kick. *HINT: if you have broth left over, and you wanna make this into two meals, you can order extra noodles for $4-5. You can add it right away, or take them home for later.

ORANGE CHICKEN This is the best orange chicken I’ve ever had. Not only is the chicken perfectly crispy, with moist, flavorful chicken inside, but the sauce is phenomenal! I don’t know how they make it taste so much better than anyone else. Maybe it’s because it has a slight spicy kick to it? Maybe it’s because they add orange rinds to it? Whatever it is, this is delicious! *HINT: Don’t forget to order a side of rice to eat with it!

Pho Show can get busy, so call ahead to see if there is a wait. If there is, you can always order takeout. They have a website which you can order from without a fee! *HINT: they often have discounts on their website for online orders… like if you’re a local, etc

The inside is cute: outside they have tables with chairs, whereas inside they have a mix of tables with chairs vs tables with booths & chairs.

The staff who work here are nice and usually have good recommendations.

My only gripe!!!!! They got rid of the ube ice cream. That was the best ice cream ever!!! Please...

I've always thought about the cool names for a pho restaurant and this was one of them. I guess I couldn't be so naïve to think somewhere someone didn't already have my same ideas, but it's nice to know they lived up to my dreams and do a freaking delicious bowl. A guess in LA people don't eat in groups because all the tables were set up for 2 and we had the server push a few together. I think it's fair to say that most Vietnamese restaurants (pho or otherwise) serve complimentary water without asking. So I've come to almost expect it. They do not do that here, but like I said almost. No biggie we ordered it when we ordered our food. The menu is large and clear, but what's strange is they also differentiate Indochina dishes from everything else. After drinking at a few bars of course I have to go Large combo 102. I figure pre-emptive hangover remedy. Egg rolls were fairly light, cooled sufficiently for rapid consumption. I usually cool them in the sauce which also work like a marinade after a minute or so. No need here. Seeing actual spring roll options, like veggie, pork, shrimp, beef and a combination I had to go pork and that was the way to go. Nothing wrong with shrimp and pork, but this had a pretty substantial piece of hog in it. The BBQ beef and rice dish was good, but nothing memorable either direction.

The broth was golden goodness, not too much charred onion, noodles weren't a brick at the bottom. Plenty of room to mix and add the essentials and they have meatballs (there are quite a few places that don't put meatballs in the combo). Not too much tendon or flank, but my favorite tripe was minimal. Next time I'll go with meatballs and tripe only.

Service was mediocre and I get that it's late and probably the end of a long shift, but it's no excuse.

I did like the bar in the other room, almost felt like a completely different...

Tried to order through DoorDash just now, around 11am. Unfortunately the app wouldn't let me add extra noodles, so I called in, and a kind male employee told me he could note the request for extra noodles on my order once it was placed. When I called back to confirm that I had placed the order, an extremely rude female employee answered and told me it was impossible to order extra noodles that way and that the restaurant would not honor the request without charge. I explained that I had called back to pay for the extra noodles via credit card over the phone. She then told me that it's impossible due to the restaurant’s system and still refused to honor the other employee's statement that they would provide extra noodles. (Side note: why should there be no other option but to order another bowl for a whopping $25 just because I want some extra noodles?) She also told me she was going to download the DoorDash app to show me that I was wrong (about DoorDash not allowing add-ons for extra noodles), and then refused to give me her name when I asked for it and slammed and hung up on me. This type of service is completely unacceptable. It's the restaurant's responsibility to fix this situation they created, instead of blaming the customer. Had the female employee handled this better by honoring the first employee's representations, I would have definitely remembered such efforts and would come back in the future. However, due to the female employee's rude behavior, I will never order from here again. As others have commented, seems the service here has become subpar following a change...