Pho Ha Noi — Restaurant in Irvine

Ehhhhhh.

My girlfriend was craving pho and spring rolls so I decided why not give this place a shot since it is so close to us. I've gone here prior and only had some spring rolls (which I didn't like) but thought the place deserved another chance.

We came here on Saturday evening to find an almost empty restaurant, which I'm assuming most people were going to Mokkoji Shabu Shabu next door. We got seated immediately. Once our server returned my girlfriend order #24 Pho Tai Nam Sach (Large), Goi Cuon (spring rolls), and I ordered the Com Bo Luc Lac. We also got a pot of hot tea.

Our food came out very fast and I couldn't complain since we were hungry. My girlfriend said for her pho the broth tasted good, but she's had better. The spring rolls were OK. The hot tea was good.

My food:

Com Bo Luc Lac: The meat was tender and tasty, as well as the onions. I wasn't a fan of the orange rice that came with it, which had the scent of coconut but tasted nothing like it. I would have preferred regular white rice. The salad that accompanied it was very dry, with a spritz of whatever dressing they put on it. Normally this dish at other restaurants would come with a soup on the side and a bowl of salt/pepper with a lemon, but this one didn't.

Service was a little dry. No one came to check on us and the server just stared at us at times.

Parking is plentiful, there are even charging spots super close. A motorcycle parking area is right by there as well, barricaded for safety.

Good food is worth traveling far for, and I recommend making the trek to Westminster...

It is very difficult to find good pho these days. There's no shortage of pho locations, but even the top place tend to slip. If you want a pretty good pho place without the crazy wait, Pho Ha Noi is for you. Especially you live near by, the other Irvine pho places are not the worth the drive and wait.

It's nice to get the same friendly service every time that I go. I'm guessing that it's family owned and nothing taste better than family made pho. It's easy to love a place when you can build a repore with the staff.

The food here is very basic- nothing fancy, but I like that. They do use MSG, but it doesn't seem to over power the taste of the food. I like the pork chops and rare steak pho. It won't win any awards, but if I'm hungry and don't feel like waiting this place isn't busy most of the time. I've gone here during busier dinner times, but I usually get my food quickly. You won't see the normal Vietnamese people talking loudly to each other because they don't want to work. You have to go else where if you want to experience that.

Food when you want it and it's not fast food....

Of all the pho places I've tried in OC so far this is the one I keep coming back to the most, because the broth and noodles are so good and there's never a wait. Their broth has the distinct flavors of traditional Vietnamese spices and feels so healthy. Their noodles have a great bouncy chewiness, and it's not powdery feeling or packed into a hard square block like other places. They come apart easily if you get it to go. They do a great job skimming the fat oils from the broth to a perfect ratio where there's still tons of flavor but light enough that you can drink it forever and not feel gross. The meat and toppings all feel pretty standard, but the meat can be a bit overcooked when dining in. If you order to go they will give it raw so you can cook it better. The service has always been very fast and friendly. They always greet me with a smile I think because they recognize me, and I always get my food in under 5 minutes. Just be aware that they use a good amount of MSG sometimes that can make you feel weird if you are...