Mopho - MSY airport location — Restaurant in Kenner

Having had Cajun and Creole food every meal while in New Orleans, we were really craving some Asian food. It happened that my flight boards at gate B16, and there's not a lot of food options at this concourse. Then I saw this MoPho place and I immediately told myself it wouldn't be good. Yea I know I'm biased but there's no way you can find good Asian food at an airport, let alone it's cooked by non Asian chefs as I peeked in the restaurant. While waiting for our food, we went online to read about this restaurant and found the story of the owner and how he started this business. At that point I knew it's the worst food decision I've made during this trip. And yet we still ordered the Lemongrass turmeric chicken and the Refresher (chicken Pho). Oh boy... As a Vietnamese myself I was really offended by the food that I must write this review as I wait for my flight. You cannot even claim that this is Asian/ Vietnamese fusion. It's just totally wrong. While the chicken Pho has a decent broth, it's the weirdest thing I've ever had. Collard greens and mushroom and roasted thigh... What's that? Then the grilled chicken bowl is a total disaster. The chicken has a bland marinade, the vermicelli noodles is not done. I tried to find a good point about this dish but couldn't. I will never repeat this ever again. Not only here but any pho places...

This is in the context of eating at an airport:

MoPho is open from 0530 and closes typically around 2100 or about 30 minutes after the last flight. It's a primarily Vietnamese influenced restaurant that has decent prices, portions and good tasting food which makes it awesome as an airport restaurant.

For the positives? I ordered the breakfast version of the hangover and the flavor was great! It would have been better with a little lime but it was still delicious on its own especially compared to other airport fare. The serving size was quite filling but I didn't have to waddle to my gate. The soup had a rich beef flavor, the soft poached egg was perfectly cooked and a little Sriracha gave the bowl a nice kick. I sat at the bar and the bartender, Brandi, was welcoming and very prompt with service.

For the negatives, this does have the slight bump in pricing for being an airport, but its about $1 more it seems for most entrees. I'm sure the bowls are slightly smaller in size. Vegetables and herb add ins seem to be limited to a small container of cilantro and jalapeños. No bean sprouts or lime to be seen at 0730.

Overall, I would eat here again if traveling through the airport. Did wish for some more...

While getting a drink at the bar, my daughter sat at a table I told her to sit at and was then accosted by an imposing woman about eating her beignets from the airport. She spoke to her rudely until I approached and said I would order something so that my daughter would not be bullied at a public restaurant. So instead I was bullied into buying two ordered of terrible, dry disgusting wings that we threw I out after we paid for them all the while my daughter crying at the table, this is my memory of my visit to your city. The bar was part of the restaurant by the way, so I was buying something from mo fo. You need a sign that says no outside food in our restaurant although many other people were doing the same. My little daughter was an easy target. 32 dollars, many tears and a family argument later, we went to Mondos and had the nicest people take care of us. So if anyone reads this, we don’t know how your rules work, and never speak rudely to someone else child. It is very bad karma. Or whatever kindness system the Vietnamese food industry believes in, and telling everyone hopefully no one else sits where they are...