Pho Lab — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

Let me start with that I'm 100% born Vietnamese and have tried many different Pho restaurants around the globe, from the Michelin stars in Hanoi to the critically acclaimed ones in Ho Chi Minh City, and I still think Pho Lab is likely one of the best Pho restaurants in the world. I have been here many times already and yet I was still surprised every single time. Pho Lab really does live up to its name and other reviews. The owner likely meticulously experimented to come up with this amazing dishes and menu, and especially how they, likely unintentionally, work well with each other.

Let's start with the highlight and likely what you're coming here for, their Pho. Instead of the regular rare beef that other Pho restaurants usually serve, they're serving thinly sliced ribeye steak. This made the bite extremely tender regardless of how long you let it sit inside the hot bowl, allowing you to enjoy the beef from start to finish. Their broth, at first seemingly not special, yet somehow manages to soothe inside your soul, leaving you wanting for more. Adding in their ox tail and your bowl just got elevated with its deep flavor in each of your bite while bleeding that flavor into the already amazing broth.

But they're not only serving just Pho. The Shaken Filet Mignon Garlic Noodles is undoubtedly their 2nd best dish. They take the traditional Bo Luc Lac from Vietnam and took their spin on it by using the tender fillet mignon beef. The noodles is also very carefully stir fried with garlic and butter, which combos extremely well with the beef to create a very rich and flavorful bite, regardless if you're eating just the beef, the noodles, or both together.

Their popcorn chicken is also unique. Unlike the heavily battered ones from your favorite fried chicken place, their popcorn chicken has little batter to it, and yet, it was still crunchy. The light crunchy crust covers a well cooked and tender chicken, allowing you to enjoy the initial crunch then enjoy the chew of the chicken. It's lightly seasoned with some greens and salt which allows it to taste well without dipping in their sweet and sour sauce. However, if you do, prepare to enjoy a fascinating bite of crunch, chew, initial, and long lasting flavor. If your kids don't want Pho, give them this and they'll want more.

Better yet, all 3 of the dishes I mentioned above taste wonderfully together. Normally you'd expect some clash between flavors, but the fillet mignon delivers a powerful first impression of taste, into the deep deep Pho broth that soothes your soul, into the popcorn chicken that rounds up the experience, then you try the cycle again, and the flavor remains in every dish, as if every bite was your first bite.

They also have more items from the menu that I want to try out, if only I can get through my cravings of their Pho or garlic noodles every time I come.

All that and you'd expect any caveat, maybe their prices are high or their portions are low. Each main dish is from $14 to $20 and you get a bowl of Pho or a plate of garlic noodles that can easily fill up your belly when you're 80% done with it. The hosts are very friendly and can answer any of your questions or offer you great suggestions on what to order on the menu. They also come around and make sure that you're serviced even if you have the slightest inconvenience of needing more water. The shop is not large, so you might have to wait during busier hours, but the food doesn't take long to come out, and they're freshly cooked.

If you don't believe me, feel free to try it for yourselves. I'm telling you this place is a hidden gem, and there's a reason why it has 5.0 rating on Yelp with a non negligible...

Horrible service and dehumanizing and guests last week my husband and I came in for some chicken fog because I was really sick. We ordered a pork on me two bowls of and two drinks. About halfway through our meal, the restaurant started getting busy and a large party came in about 8 to 10 guests wanted to be seated right next to myself and my husband. It was a really tight space but these two aggressive Asian Women instructed the staff to put a large table together next to my husband, and I, even though there was very little space in between the tables. I was clearly uncomfortable, and we were not even close to finishing our meal. The women and adults seated at the far end of the table and they instructed their sons to squeeze past my husband and I to get to their seats mind you the space between our tables at this point was probably an inch and a half and this young boy maybe 14 years old in his soccer uniform squeeze past us, but literally put his butt in my sandwich. Literally touched me and my sandwich with his ass and put his ass in my husband‘s face while he’s eating his soup And then I finally said something, and then the women accuse me of being rude and then a screaming match erupted for a solid two minutes. There we’re about six members of staff working that day and they all saw what went down. Nobody tried to stop it and calm them down. I literally had to stop speaking and put my head down and turn my shoulders away and turn my back towards these people for them to stop screaming at me. My husband and paid full price for a meal and tipped and we left as we were leaving. I noticed that the large party was just getting settled on the other side of the restaurant and their last guests were just showing up.

There are many reputable locations in this area. I suggest you go to those places where they Care about the customers and not just about money I believe that full lab is a scam and I will not suggest this...

This is a tiny spot in a strip mall that we took a chance on, and glad we did! We got there about 15 minutes before the rush, and got the oxtail, brisket, and veggie pho, and tofu spring rolls. The peanut sauce and chili sauce are the absolute highlights, but be careful if you’re not into heat with the red stuff! I love it, numbing first and then the heat creeps up. The portions are huge, and the oxtail was falling apart, 2 big pieces in the bowl. Comes with a big side of vegetables and basil and limes. The service is standard for most pho places… they get your order, let you eat, that’s that. If you want to get a doggie bag though, they’re super helpful! The only thing I can say could improve is that they tend to bring stuff in a hurry, so I did end up wearing some of my soup. But I’m clumsy, so I’d probably spill on people too! Overall, will return! (Side note- the patrons who ended up next to us, which is absolutely not in any way the restaurants fault, were a grey haired dude and a girl of about 16. Don’t sit next to them if they’re regulars. The dude kept “accidentally” brushing his hand on my 15 year old daughters arm while gesturing and then grabbed her butt as she was getting up to get away from him, after I’d sung some song lyrics about violence toward men quite loudly and told her to leave out her dads side of the booth. If you see this, next time I...