PHO KIM ANH — Restaurant in Hawaii

Was very excited that a new Vietnamese restaurant opened up on the Big Island. We drove from Hilo to Kona (1.5 hours drive) to eat at this place with high hopes that it will be delicious. We are true Vietnamese couple and know how real Pho taste like as we have tried many different places. Looking at their menu when advertised online, it looked very delicious and promising. So we decided to give it a try and take a day off from school.

Critiquing their pho:

1. I understand that it is COVID season, but charging $12.75 for a bowl of Pho Dac Biet #7 which is what I had was kinda pricy for the amount given.
2. The Pho Broth, the taste was a-ok but not the best I've had.However, after finished eating and driving back home to Hilo, we both had sore throat, felt tired and drank lots of water and knew right away that there was possible a lot of MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) used in the broth.
3. The vegetable given was very frugal as you can see in the picture. When I eat my pho, I like to have more beansprouts and basil. The amount given was not enough to suffice my needs.

Overall, we were disappointed in the quality being served as a new place that just opened up. We hope over a period of time their quality can improve. We understand that it was Grand Opening Week (Day 2), however, usually the first impression will encourage customers...

Ok first things first, this isn’t an authentic Vietnamese restaurant so please make sure you understand this from this point forward.

I ordered the egg rolls, and the grilled pork entree from the menu. I also wanted a Thai Iced tea but they only had the canned version — I suppose they don’t know how to make it. Now on to the main items.

Egg Rolls, we’re kind of too long for Vietnamese rolls, although they were crispy and fresh they lacked bean sprouts and the meat taste didn’t really do anything for me. Very plain.

Pork ribs and rice This again wasn’t cooked Vietnamese style, moreover it definitely had all the taste of Chinese spare ribs which wasn’t too bad but again nothing like East Asian or Vietnamese pork.

The dish also came with rice — which was good and some salad — but not Vietnamese style.

The bitter pill is that this is the only game in town for Pho so if you’re desperate (mainland or Oahu withdrawal symptoms) then it’s ok, but don’t...

We are always up to try new places in Kona. This store only opened 3.5 weeks ago. We are so happy to eat new flavors.

As you can see, we ordered 3 things: the bbq beef with rich noodles, spring rolls, and pho. If we only had the spring roll, I would’ve given a five star. The was probably the best we had on this side of the island. And the wrapper was crispy but not greasy. The pho would be a 4 star. The flavor is nice. I would love to have a richer flavor to the broth but it was clean and good. The meat was a little thick to my preference. The bbq rice noodles would be 3.5 star. The veggies were cut too thick so the texture didn’t align with the thin noodles. But the flavors were good.

Overall, We think the flavors here are good. But the execution could be a little more fine tuned. we’d go back again if...