ZEN Pho & Noodles Jacksonville — Restaurant in Jacksonville

We went after seeing an Instagram post. I've been to this place before Zen took over and I enjoyed it. The service was OK, but things like refills didn't happen. The building looks like they didn't do any work, parking lot was nasty with trash everywhere-not good for a restaurant. We tried a couple of appetizers, the bao buns with chicken, and crispy shrimp. Both were good. The bao bun itself was perfect. It really needed some more filling and sauce, the bun alone won't cut it. The shrimp were ok just plain but crispy. So the entree we both chose was the beef/ribeye pho. The broth was good. There was little to no ribeye and the beef rib was ok but chewy. The worst part was the subpar vegetable toppings and bean sprouts. These items were visibly bad with discoloration and the serving was small. I asked for a fresh replacement and she bought out the same stuff. YOU can't sell PHO without the quality ingredients and fresh toppings. That was disappointing because the place before was perfect with their pho and gave PLENTY of fresh veggies. It's sad that they pay/feed these people to come do viral videos to get people in knowing darn well the regular paying customers aren't getting that same experience, quality or even amount of food/toppings. I looked back at the meat alone and theirs had to be double or triple. I'm kinda pissed off about that. Influencers get the good stuff and lure you in. Hopefully if we return they do better. And the mango drink was good. We went yesterday a Saturday and there wasn't even a lot of people in there to get...

Our new favorite Pho place! My husband especially loves Pho but they are not all created equal. The Pho here has a very flavorful broth which is of course the most important part of any soup. Wish they were a little more generous with the bean sprouts and other condiments that go with it. Bidenomics strikes again I guess. So unlike our old Pho restaurant this one offers other entrees that are actual very good. This is our 3rd time here and I have had something different each time and have enjoyed everything I have tried so far. They could tone down the heat a bit in their kimchi though. Bottomline on the food here is, it is fresh, plentiful and delicious. The atmosphere is very nice. First off it is clean. The music soothing and the TV screens show colorful fish, sea turtles and manatees. Very relaxing to watch. If you have had a bad day at work or whatever I would highly recommend eating here at a table facing that TV screen, relax listen to the music and then enjoy a great meal prepared for you. The service here is also very good being not just attentive but informative and friendly as well. Like I said this is our new favorite Pho place. The one we use to go to was closed one day on a regular business day so we came here and even though their prices are a bit higher they won us over in...

This place is lovely, hip and original. Its more of an asian fusion -type of restaurant, which I like a lot. So, practically you can get Vietnamese, thai and even a touch of Filipino in their menu. We actually came on a pact night so it was slow on the service, but we were not not mad about it. Our server still came by to check up on us here and there. Let me just say their tea is so amazing! They serve fresh brewed Green Tea, served cold. I felt bad for my server because I drank so much tea and the cups weren't too big so she ended up filling my drink 4 times plus a water with lemon. We ended up ordering Pho that came with ribeye, tendon, meatball, tripe and brisket. You can substitute those proteins. And even if you don't like those meats you can get the chicken pho, which I hear taste phenomenal, as well. The soup was so good flavor wise that I did not need to add anything. I usually add some hoisin sauce and a little sriracha, but yeah it was just right, unless you like heat then add your chili oil and sriracha and some fresh jalapenos. Oh, we also ordered the clear roll with shrimp and chicken....they did not disappoint in flavor, but my only concern was they were unraveling, and dripping water when I ate them....still delicious though. Excited to go again and try the Filipino...