Pho Southeast — Restaurant in Lakewood

If this is your first time going to a Vietnamese restaurant, especially a pho place, you will always want to order a small bowl of pho, preferably a kid's portion. If they don't offer it, tell them you just want a smaller portion because you want to try it but don't want to be too full, since you want to try one or two items on their menu. Why? This is my way of judging a Vietnamese restaurant: to see if the restaurant can make a good bowl of pho. For your information and in case you didn't know, the broth is what makes this soup special. It is what makes this soup so good, and I refer to it as "the soul". The fragrance from your pho should tell your brain and stomach that you can't wait to slurp up the broth and put the rice noodle in your mouth along with any meat you might have ordered. Once you squeeze and add the juice from the lime slices, swallowing the first spoon of this broth, you’ll want to eat more. However, slow down and savory everything. Just don't rush eating it.

Another thing you will need to know is that when you walk into a Vietnamese restaurant and if it's empty, it doesn't mean it's not a good restaurant, especially if the restaurant is just opened. You'll have to judge for yourself by ordering "the soul" dish first. You'll know.

For my to-go order, what were the items I picked up from it? My co-worker ordered chicken fried rice, while I ordered the kid's pho with rare steak and meatballs. My co-worker, after eating her fried rice, told me "I will definitely be ordering this chicken fried rice again!" After finishing my pho, I was so full! Although there was not a lot of meat, the meat portion is perfect since this is a kid's meal after all. My other item was spring rolls. This dish came with two rolls and a peanut dipping sauce. I was full but had to try a little bit of these rolls, since they were made fresh. The dipping sauce was such a disappointment. Instead of it being "saucy", it was like dipping in a small container of glue or paste. Solid instead of liquid. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the roll. It contained some boiled pork and shrimp with some lettuce and vermicelli noodles wrapped in rice paper. It was really good! Side note: I did call the restaurant and let them know about the peanut sauce, and they told me to give them a try again after apologizing for their shortcoming of the sauce.

I did come back that Friday to give them another try. To make up for the peanut dipping sauce, they gave me a free spring roll to try with their newly updated sauce, and this time, they delivered! The sauce was so good that I wished I had another roll to eat with it. I did try another dish: Vietnamese crepe. This dish comes with two crepes. The correct way to eat these crepes is to tear a little bit of the crepe, add the fixings, put both items on top of the lettuce, wrap it, and dip it in fish sauce. So good! Today, more diners were having lunch. I would say the restaurant was half filled.

Since it was the last day of the discount, a group of friends joined me on Sunday for dinner where we enjoyed the crispy salt & pepper tofu (on the house), as well as shaking beef with complimentary buttered fried rice, beef noodle bowl with an added egg roll, and per my recommendation, my friend ordered the kid's pho and the Vietnamese crepes. Everything we ordered at Pho Southeast was delicious. One of the friends said this: "if everything is as delicious as this, this restaurant is a hit!" And yes indeed, they are that good!

The ambiance here was quiet for a conversation, clean and bright, comfortably, cool, and I felt welcome while dining here.

My review and journey stopped here for Pho Southeast, but not the diners. While we were here on Sunday, I would say the restaurant was almost completely full. Remember: when eating at a new restaurant, try your best not to judge by how many people are there in the restaurant. Instead, judge it by its food....

So excited to have this new pho spot open just down the street! As someone who eats pho with my family at least 3x a month, and has a regular table and order at our long-time favorite on Federal, I don’t say this lightly: this place is already a serious contender for our new go-to.

We came in just four days after they opened, and they’re already building a cozy community of regulars. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the service (shoutout to Nick!) was kind and attentive.

We started with the pork and shrimp spring rolls. So fresh, and the peanut sauce was perfectly balanced: not too runny, not overly peanut-y, just sweet and savory enough. The Vietnamese iced coffee was also excellent. Bold but smooth, almost like coffee ice cream or affogato. No bitterness, just rich, creamy goodness.

I ordered the medium combination pho and it came out fast and boiling hot, exactly how it should be. The broth was dark, rich, slightly sweet, and incredibly flavorful. The noodles had the perfect bite and weren’t overcooked, and the meat portions were generous and tender. Nothing dry or skimpy here. Loved the fresh basil, jalapeños, and bean sprouts on the side too.

We also grabbed fried dumplings and a grilled pork banh mi to-go for my fiancé, and he said it was hands down the best banh mi he’s ever had. The dumplings were devoured in minutes.

I’m already looking forward to going back. When I find a place I love, I stay loyal and bring everyone I know. Wishing this place all the success in the world. They’re off to a fantastic start....

Having been to 20+ Pho places across the US, Pho Southeast is definitely one of the top Vietnamese spots.

For two people, we ended up getting an order of fried pork dumplings, a medium combination Pho, and a grilled pork Bahn Mi with an iced tea + coffee for drinks.

Fried Pork Dumplings - nothing short of fantastic. Doesn’t take like the frozen dumplings in order places. Juicy and crispy, with fried aromatics on top. highly recommended. 5/5

Grilled Pork Bahn Mi - The bread is very fresh and toasted well, pulling apart with a wonderful softness. Not sure if they make it in house, but it’s significantly better than other places. The natural mayonnaise compliments the vegetables very well. I’m quite picky and rarely enjoy a bahn mi without the customary (chicken) pate, but this one didn’t even need it.

Combination Pho: the pho is tasty and very rich. Not a bad thing, but richer the expected, likely because of the richer cuts added to the soup. If you prefer a leaner cut, consider ordering a different meat addition.

Overall - great place, wonderful food, attentive service, and fantastic...