Phở 45 — Restaurant in Garden Grove

Flew late into LAX last night and was trying to find a pho restaurant that was still opened. Came across this place after a quick Google search & decided to give it a try. Have to say I was pleasantly surprised! I was greeted immediately by a staff member and was seated right away. He asked if I had children in my party and I replied yes, 1 child. He promptly brought out a bowl of pho noodles and broth (no meat) free of charge for the child. I think the tea is free as well. Pho itself was tasty with a very delightful and aromatic flavor- hardly needed any hoisin/sriracha sauce. I always test the flavor of a pho by its broth and if it doesn't need much flavoring, then it passes in my book! You have the option of big or small noodles here, I myself got the small noodles but saw many patrons got the big noodles, so maybe I'll try that next time. The gau (fatty brisket) was pretty fatty so not a fan, but the filet mignon was pretty tender. Egg rolls were alright and pretty pricey for just 2. Pho prices were very good though. The restaurant itself is small so seating can be limited. We came in before the late night rush crowd and saw that ppl had to wait that came in after us. SO all in all, I would return, esp since they open late on the weekends for those late night pho cravings. Skip the egg rolls, but the pho (and price) is...

I order their large bowl of pho combination with thick noodle. The broth is the essence of the pho and everything else, like noodle, meat, and condiments, are their sidekicks. It's usually a good sign when pho comes out piping hot. It's just the way I prefer it especially when they insert the raw meats right before they serve. There are like four or five spices that every pho use that bring out that unique flavor in broth. My first sip of that broth I thought this wasn't pho broth. More I eat I realized the stronger essence of chicken broth over beef bone broth. It's not all that uncommon for pho places to add chicken broth later on to add more depth of their broth. I didn't mind because broth still tasted good. Within this large bowl, I experienced the most amount of meats. So much meats in fact, often times, I had to fish out for noodles and for some soup. Of course this is not a complain, I'm just stating the positive. The only down side of this pho experience was the noodle. I haven't seen that many pho places offer thick noodle so I decided to try. That was my mistake. The noodles were over cooked and quickly became even more soggier as I emptied out my bowl. I also had their spring rolls but nothing special there. I thought their peanut sauce was too thick for dipping. I would come back again and try with the usual thin...

I've eaten at my fair share of pho restaurants in San Diego county, but this was my first try in Orange County. A local friend told me about a place that used filet mignon,made fresh noodles, and had the best broth. That place was Pho 45. And he wasn't exaggerating.

From the outside, it's just another unassuming store front in Little Saigon. When you walk inside, it's still your typical little Asian restaurant with crowded booths and (beautiful) hand-painted bamboo decor on the walls. Service was fine, though the wait staff must have confused us with regulars because he asked us if we were ready to order before we even looked at the menu.

We started with a few couple appetizer staples: spring rolls with peanut sauce, and egg rolls with fish sauce. The spring rolls tasted freshly made and the fried egg rolls were also tasty. I decided to order the large combination pho bowl, and I wasn't disappointed. I took a sip of the broth and it had a rich, hearty flavor. The noodles were delicious, the steak was tender, and just a hint of saute added just the right kick. The large was surprisingly filling. My wife couldn't even finish the small.

Pricing was average for pho, but the quality was top notch. Overall, if you're looking for the best bowl of pho in OC (and maybe all of SoCal) don't hesitate...