Bowl of Pho — Restaurant in Mishawaka

You don't want to bypass this review. I have been here many times and always have had a great experience. Today was definitely not the case. I watched my waitress "Jenna" grab the sprouts, basil, and lime with her bare hands and place it on the plate before she brought it to me. When I asked her about using her bare hands she paused and said no we use little tongs. She then proceeded to go into the kitchen area and tell the manager who I could clearly see using tongs. I never was offered new, uncontaminated items. Probably because everything in the bins on the silver racks is now contaminated. I can easily see the waitresses touching the pens that the carry out customers use. And touching the computer they all are using. As well as touching her face and glasses. It was busy so obviously following proper protocols isn't important. I'm so disappointed in this experience. The waitress asked if I needed a container and I told her no as I wasn't planning on eating anything as it was contaminated. I asked for her name and she said she was going to get her manager. The manager came over and asked what my problem was. I quietly and calmly explained to her what I saw. She asked me what I wanted her to do about it. I was pretty shocked at that point in time. I have never interacted with such a incompetent manager in my life. She stood at our table arguing over what I saw, what she should do. She asked if I wanted our waitress to be write up or fired. I told her that's not my decision. I just wanted to make sure people don't get sick from contaminated food. She said no one gets sick from their food. She stood there for what felt like forever arguing over my experience and how I am a miserable person. She asked my significant other multiple times how he could let me act like this. Mind you, I never raised my voice and never caused a scene. I even mentioned at the beginning that I have health issues so I worry about these things. She told us that they already went through the bean sprouts, and then came back later to say they pulled the bean sprouts. I asked for both the waitresses and the managers name and she refused to give me their names. She asked why I needed them and I explained that I was going to post my interaction in social media. The manager told me multiple times that it's not ok to "badger" their family owned restaurant. And she has worked there 13 years and what kind of person am I to do that. She told me that apparently I have never had to struggle and that's why I'm such a mean person. She told me her mom just died and that I just don't understand. I'll be honest I told her that has nothing to do with me. She told me she's never had someone be so rude to her. This whole interaction was so crazy I really wish I had recorded it. In the end she told us to just leave and that weren't welcome back. And even then I never once caused a scene or raised my voice. I believe in supporting family owned businesses who properly train their employees and handle their employees mistakes like a normal business. I feel for the owners who she pointed out were immigrants and were working in the back. I'm sure it's hard to hire and maintain quality employees, but that manager she is on another...

I visited Bowl of Pho yesterday for dinner and to catch up with a friend. We were seated promptly, but our server seemed flustered and rushed through taking our order. We both chose beef phở and Thai tea, a combination I’ve enjoyed on many previous visits.

When our food arrived, I immediately noticed changes. The phở was served with cabbage instead of the usual bean sprouts, and the broth was thin and lacked the rich, flavorful taste I had come to expect. The rice noodles fell apart as I tried to separate them, likely due to being overcooked or pre-cooked. Despite adding hoisin and sriracha, the dish was unappetizing, and after a couple of bites, I couldn’t continue. The phở I once loved had become a mediocre version unworthy of being called Phở Bò. I shared my concerns with the server, explaining the changes I noticed and my dissatisfaction. She dismissed me, claiming the recipe hadn’t changed and that she had worked there for 13 years. Despite my feedback, she offered no solution—not to remake the dish or exchange it for another item. When I asked if I was still expected to pay for something I couldn’t eat, she blamed the owner’s policy and explained they’d had issues with carryout orders. Feeling unwelcome, I reluctantly paid for my meal and left.

Later, I called the restaurant hoping to speak directly with the owner. The same server answered and claimed to be the manager. While she offered to pass my information to the owner, she again deflected responsibility and gave a half-hearted apology. She assured me the owner would call me back, but I’ve yet to hear from him.

I don’t typically leave negative reviews, and I’ve often recommended Bowl of Pho to others. However, this experience was incredibly disappointing. A manager should prioritize ensuring the food meets customers' expectations and addressing concerns with care. Offering to remake or exchange a meal is not unreasonable—it’s basic customer service. I’m not asking for a refund or policy change, but I would have appreciated a respectful conversation and an effort to resolve the issue. Instead, I left hungry and dissatisfied, with no intention of returning. I will also be discouraging others from visiting Bowl of Pho based on...

Whenever I travel, I always try to find good Chinese/Vietnamese places to eat. Coming from LA, I feel I have pretty high standards when it comes to Chinese food.

I had already tried Cre-Asian, had their Vermecilli and it was terrible. I then went to Cambodia Thai, and it the sauce was overwhelming.

As a note, this review is only for the service, spring rolls, egg rolls, and vermicelli dish, i had not tried anything else.

I had just about lost all hope in finding good ethnic food here around The Bend... But luckily I pushed on through and went to try Bowl of Pho, it was so good, that I ended up coming back the next night for dinner again, with the same awesome experience!

The server was nice and made good attempts of speaking Vietnamese. I had ordered the Spring Rolls (#4) and the Egg rolls (#1) (on separate visits of course!) and the #9 in the Bun (Vermicelli) section. Vermicelli is my go to dish, as it's my favorite over Pho.

The spring rolls left a bit to be desired. it was loosely wrapped for my tastes, but it OK, I didn't order them again. The egg rolls were really something special. They're not your typically Chinese egg rolls, they were actual Vietnamese egg rolls! What makes them Vietnamese? The skin!! I have always loved the Vietnamese egg rolls so much. So much so, that on my 2nd trip I ended up ordering them as my appetizer. This is a must get!

The Vermicelli dish was just phenomenal! The #9 comes with everything, shrimp, grilled pork, and 1 egg roll. They give you 5 shrimps, a few pork pieces, and 1 cut up egg roll. I was surprised at the amount of shrimp they gave you, but wished they would give you more pork. The vermicelli noodles themselves were perfectly al dente(I'm assuming you can use that word to describe Vietnamese rice noodles as well...) and you can ask my GF, I'm a stickler for perfectly al dente noodles.

Last thing to see though, is that this place is rather expensive. $13 for a bowl of Vermicelli is pretty expensive, even if it has shrimp... I didn't mind, since I was here on travel and I didn't have to pay for it... but it was definitely expensive. But compared to it's competition, I would still come...