Unphởgettable — Restaurant in Mesa

UnPHOgettable that's what you are UnPHOgettable though near or far Like a soup of love that sings to me How the thought of you does things to me Never before has something been more

UnPHOgettable in every way And forever more, that's how you'll stay That's why, darling, it's incredible That something so unPHOgettable Thinks that I'm unforgettable too

Lyrics by Pho King Cole

I'm a sucker for that golden life blood broth that like the sun to superman recharges me from my drunken escapades. Granted it's not the best, lets face it, this is Arizona, the hotbed of Vietnamese cuisine, right?

Told by people in the know that this is the best they have and that if I'm in need to come here. Yes I was in needs. Hungover and feeling like a penny I looked like I just spend 40 days in the desert instead of 40 hours in the city.

Went with my standard spring rolls and large pho with extra tripe and meatballs, no tendon or flank. Soup was clean of debris from the parboil. Not oily slicked, but to me could use a deeper degree of coriander and spices. Noodles were looks and not packed at the bottom, plenty of room to mix and generous condiments. Spring rolls were tight, light, but could use more noodles. Peanut sauce could have the crumbled peanuts be more pronounced. Light on the fish sauce. An excellent meal.

I was surprised they had a sister store in Virginia Beach, soo far from Arizona.

The next day, same sob story, hurting from the night before I treid the Mi Vit Tiem, roasted duck leg soup, earthy, not gamey, rich and flavorful, but didn't have the same effect as my beloved pho. Kind of classy.

Service is great, totally family run. Prices are average, parking is stripmall ish and plenty. The Vietnamese coffee was the only real downfall. Kind of weak in my opinion. Just thick and I had to ask for extra ice. Not bad for Arizona.

Love how they open at 9am, but close really early...

The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated. I sat down and was promptly waited on. I ordered #13, which is the pho with rare steak.It came out promptly. All the expected garnishings were served, and all were fresh.

I've eaten pho across North America (travel for business) and throughout Vietnam (fatherland), so I have a lot to compare to. I am also an avid pho connoisseur; some would say, a "phonatic";) growing up eating pho on average 4 times a week for nearly 15yrs (due to my father's limited repertoire, but also b/c I always requested pho for dinner).

The broth was clear, which is important to broth experts, but I really only care about the overall taste. I felt that the broth was one dimensional, and slightly over salted. It resembled the flavour of instant noodle broth, which I enjoy, but not suitable for pho broth; the fragrance of the various spices that is typically found in pho were not coming through. This is the main reason for my 3 star rating. I am a broth man. Secondly, the meat was cut into small sized slices; the smallest I've experienced outside of Vietnam.All of the slices of meat were completely cooked, even as I separated the slices; the slices were not rare slices, as expected. Usually, the slices are much larger in area size and as you separate them, you can see that they are pink, but after submerging them in the hot broth, they quickly cook. The slices at Unphogettable were the colour of fully cooked steak. The noodles were as expected. Some places tend to over cook their noodles, which in my opinion ruins the entire pho experience-a pho-pas, if you will.

I did not finish the broth, which for me is very telling of how much I enjoyed the pho.

I cannot speak to any of their other dishes, as I've only...

My family and I have eaten here for years, and we will never come back again. I’ve told all my friends about the following experience and have also posted about it on social media. I will see to it that whenever Unphogettable comes up in conversation, the person I’m speaking with knows that it is an outright disreputable business.

My mother came to this location and ordered the pho dac biet. Within her first couple bites, she discovered that there were no meatballs in the pho (the pho dac biet comes with meatballs). She politely asked the waitress if they happened to be out of stock of meatballs, and the waitress said that they weren’t, and that she’d ask the chef for a side of extra meat to make up for the mistake.

After a few minutes, the waitress returned and said, “the chef said that he saw you eating the pho, so he won’t give you an extra side.” My mom felt insulted and embarrassed since she didn’t request the extra side in the first place — she only asked if they happened to be out of meatballs, and the waitress OFFERED recompense.

To incorrectly make a meal that a customer ordered, and then to offer to make it up to them, and THEN to retract that offer? It goes without saying that that’s bad business, but it’s also: disrespectful, unprofessional, and pitiful. If you can’t prepare YOUR OWN meals properly, at least have the decency to follow through with your offer to correct the mistake — or just don’t offer to have the mistake corrected at all!

Some “chef” you...