Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen — Restaurant in Dallas

TLDR: Carol, the manager, was condescending and belittling and ended up yelling and cussing at us.

Had a pretty disappointing first experience here. I asked our server if I could get the PHỞ TAI GAU BO VIEN, but if I could make it spicy and he said he wasn’t sure but he would ask the kitchen. And then when he walked away he said he was pretty sure they could do it. He did not return to tell me whether or not they were able to do it, and when my food was brought out I assumed that they had been able to do it. When I got my receipt I saw that I had been charged for their spicy pho, which was different than the one I wanted and they had also added on meat balls and marbled brisket. Which was an extra $9. The server never came back to tell me that they were not able to make the one I wanted spicy so instead I was charged for something I didn’t agree to. When I brought it up with the server he was like oh okay, let me go ask them. The manager then comes and then I explain to her the situation, and she replies with well you already ate everything so you need to pay for it. It felt like she didn’t really care to listen to what I was trying to explain to her. I explained how if I had known I was going to get charged that much extra for the meat, I simply wouldn’t have gotten it. She didn’t care, and started arguing with me and not really listening to what I was saying. Also to say that I needed to pay for it as if I was arguing that I wasn’t going to pay for it 😂. Anyways service here isn’t great, especially the manager. Wish I had a better experience.

Edited to include more things that happened. While they did take off the higher priced item they left still left the other one that I did not agree to pay for either. Main issue was that the manager was extremely rude when she came over to us. Not only was she condescending, and not trying to even understand what I tried telling her, she was trying to shame me for eating the whole thing? I wasn’t complaining about not liking it?? She came over ready to argue, and I think she never intended to actually listen to what I had to say. I never agreed to pay for that, and had it just been told to me before, I could have then made that decision for myself. But then to be treated as if I was trying to get a free meal? I never even said, I’m not paying for it. I just said, hey I didn’t agree to these extra charges, and she didn’t want to even listen. And since they wanted to know, I paid $32.48 instead of the $37 I was originally going to get charged for this meal when the original one he told me he could make spicy was $20 lol.

THEN unfortunately had another bad interaction with the same manager while trying to leave. We parked in the back of the restaurant because there was an open space, and there were no signs saying we couldn’t park there. As we were trying to leave, we realized there was a car blocking us in. We realized it probably belonged to someone in this restaurant and when one of the workers came out we asked if he could ask inside. To our luck, it was that same manager. She came up to us, told us that we needed to watch where we parked and to next time read the signs. She was still being very condescending. We really thought we might have missed a sign, but when we were leaving the only sign that was there was a “patron only parking”. When we told her that she started arguing with my friend and yelling at her that we couldn’t park there. My friend tried explaining that because we had eaten there we were considered patrons, and she told us she did not care, and that the next time we parked there she was gonna get us towed, and then looked over at me and yelled “and tell YOUR FUCKING FRIEND that the review she wrote is a complete lie.” At first I thought she might have been having a bad day… but I really think this is just the kind of person she is. We love pho, and we like to try different places in Dallas. Neither of us have ever been treated like this. Honestly the other servers were fine, it was the manager’s treatment that ruined this...

This review is mostly on the Pho soup, which I order every time I go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Anyone that is serious about food will tell you that a good Pho can brighten the darkest of days. When done correctly, its combination of steamy broth, soft rice noodles, fresh herbs and thinly sliced meats can bring you into the spiritual realm. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Pho served in this place.

Today I tried a Pho with meatballs and the imperial roles. The roles were delicious, crispy on the outside, firm and moist on the inside. The sauce was good too. But let's face it. Anything deep-fried in batter is bound to taste good. The real challenge is getting that soup right. Let's start with the positives:

Herbs: cilantro, green onions, anis, and bean sprouts were fresh even at the end of the day when I ordered. The limes wedges were not. Fresh cut limes don't have brown rims around the edges and sometimes can taste sour... Ok. I know, I am being petty. The meatballs: these were surprisingly good. Light and not rubbery like you'll find in most places. Also, not overly seasoned, which in a meatball is a statement. Bravo! The broth, hoo boy..... Like a kid getting dog poop for Christmas, I found myself with a spoon full disappointment and crushed dreams. Unfortunately, fresh herbs and tasty meatballs cannot overcome the disaster of brown liquid that came in my soup. The broth is the protagonist of the Pho, and without it everything falls apart. Imagine Titanic without DiCaprio, Destiny Child without Beyonce, you get the idea. This muddy, greasy dark brown substance was nothing like the semi translucent broth of roasted bones boiled for hours and skimmed for fat. It lacked the aromatics that only long hours of dissolving bone marrow can achieve. Instead, what was served (I imagine) was a meat sauce concentrate deluded in hot water, the ultimate sin when it comes to Pho. I might as well pour hot water on Maruchan dry noddle in a plastic bowl. Dreadful. But hope is not all lost. There are places like Pho DK in Addison, where the smell of herbs and roasted bones is said to bring back the dead. If I were the owner of Ngon, I would stop by Pho DK on a weekday after the lunch rush hour, order a bowl and contemplate whether to throw away that meat sauce concentrate or take his/her Pho behind the barn...

rude waiters. i’m vietnamese and came here with my white boyfriend. they came off as condescending to us. we were sat at a booth along the wall in the middle of two other groups. there were only four groups total in the restaurant, including us, all sat back to back in a row against one wall. when they took our order, we asked a simple question about the menu and she answered condescendingly. food came out pretty fast after that. we dined in two orders of pho, and our food was given to us with forks in the bowls. when we went to look at the other groups there, everyone else was given chopsticks. we weren’t even given an option for them, which is a small detail, but it came across as extremely condescending and rude to us, especially when everyone else had them and we were not even given an option. after we were given our food, they ignored us the whole time. they went down the line of booths, asking all the other groups if they needed anything else or a refill of water, and then deliberately skipped our table, even asking the booth right behind us immediately after skipping ours. we heard and saw them do it to every group in there, and the skipping of our table was blatantly purposeful. they did come refill one of our waters later on, but didn’t even say a word to us. the employees were also resting at a table in the corner, glancing and staring at us for most of our eating experience. but couldn’t bother checking up on us when they checked up on every group, even purposefully skipping our table. interactions with them were extremely short. they didn’t bother to exchange pleasantries with us. they took our bowls, then dropped off the check after, only then giving us a smile. we were respectful towards them and did not get the same in return. pho was average. nothing special. employees were rude. i do not normally write reviews, but the experience here ticked me off enough to write one. i just wanted a nice dinner with my boyfriend where i could share my culture with him, but we left feeling upset by the condescending waiters. even if we read the situation differently than they did, in the end, their service was extremely rude by blatantly skipping over our table and moving on to the one right behind ours. the service ruined...