Hot pho — Restaurant in Dublin

Saw this place and was surprised that Amazing Basil was no more. Decided to give it a try and got a #45 grilled shrimp and pork with vermicelli to go. I liked the flavors and decided I’d go back for another visit.

Re-visited the establishment on a windy and cold day so we had cravings for pho. I ordered a medium sized #7 rare steak and brisket. Wifey got #6 rare steak, tendon and tripe. She was hungry as she started eating right away so I lost my opportunity to snap a good photo. Doh! I liked my pho. The soup did not have an intense flavor, but was good enough and wifey said she didn’t detect any MSG (or it was very little that there was barely any trace). She did notice that the noodles were sturdier - like they didn’t break easily. Furthermore, the noodle did not absorb much of the soup. I’m not sure if that was an improved version of noodles or it was just way too processed and … unnatural. Lol. We also ordered the fried fish cake. Not quite what we expected, but not too bad. I think wifey wanted the fried shrimp cake. All good - we’ll get it next time.

I like to support small local businesses and we certainly would go back to visit again. There was not a lot of customers dine-in or to-go when we were there so we’re concerned that this place may not last long. Hopefully this place can survive as it has...

TLDL Serves sweet pho soup and recooked / over cooked noodles that can only be scooped up with a spoon. “Grilled” beef thats sliced so thin and small that isn’t grilled.

Got a pho and a rice dish for lunch. -1 star : -Sweet bland broth = soup has no flavor it’s just sweetness from the MSG and you will be thirsty/ headache afterwards. -1 star: Noodles- overcooked/recooked noodles. Can’t even pick it up with chopsticks without it breaking into pieces. Had to eat with spoon, only way to pick ip the tiny noodle pieces.

How can a pho shop not prepare fresh noodles?!?!??!!! (It really should be minus 2 stars) -1 star: “Grilled” sliced beef : beef not grilled. It’s sliced so thin like they’re using pho beef slices to grill & super salty . -1 star -Unsanitary packaging - threw condiments packets directly in with the food. Where have those packets been?? How can you toss it literally IN the cooked food? It’s not hard to place it outside the container.

If you count that, that’s -4 stars hence the 1 star...

This is a highly recommended local restaurant we should support and treasure! I went there this afternoon for a quick lunch and ordered a small Combo Pho and a piece of Fried Shrimp Cake.

For the Combo Pho, the meat quality is great and sufficient and the pho amount is just right! Most importantly is that the soup is hot and you won’t get thirsty after having their soup. At $12.50 price, that’s a great price in Tri-Valley since pandemic.

Also, I’d ordered a piece of Fried Shrimp Cake as the side of my pho. The shrimp cake is crispy and full of shrimp flavor and I can cut it into 9 bite size and it only cost...