Falansai — Restaurant in New York

Pho, like most other noodle soups, is heavily, if not solely defined by the quality of its broth. Noodles, meats and other accompaniments should be fully considered, but it is the broth that truly makes any noodle soup great.

As a first-timer at Falansai I ordered the pho bo. I was excited to find that they offered a variety of different pho with regional flavors and variations, but first I wanted to try their regular beef soup to really see what it was all about.

The broth here, which serves as the backbone for many of their other soups, was not impressive. It was murky in appearance and not clear as pho broth should be. Possibly from the bottom of the pot? It did not have a strong beef flavor either. Perhaps they were short on beef bones that day. The other spices were also late to the party. Important flavors such as coriander and anise were dim amongst a much more intense onion flavor. The broth was also not nearly salty enough, though this may simply be my own personal preference. I know the restaurant states that they do not use MSG in their pho, which I think is great, and I'm sure this reduced the saltiness and savory flavor of the broth considerably. However, a bit more salt or fish sauce would have been appropriate. Pho is supposed to be salty. Generally, pho broth is salty enough to begin with, yet many people still choose to add in globs of hoisen, sriracha, and fish sauce. It is certainly possible that the flavor of the broth has been adjusted to appease local palettes, which may also explain the lack of chilis on the garnish plate. But then again, I've had plenty of pho at 'non-local' spots that have been much better.

Additionally, there was not nearly enough broth in my bowl to begin with. There's a reason those bowls are so big. You've gotta fill those things up the way they were meant to. If I'm going to pay $11 or more for noodle soup I want a BIG ASS bowl of soup. To me, enjoying pho is a holistic experience. It's about having an intimidatingly large bowl of soup in front of you, slowly slurping delicious, boiling hot broth for the first 5 minutes, then completely filling your belly with salty, beefy goodness while contemplating towards the end whether or not you can or even should finish the rest. Of course, you always do finish. It's your duty.

I will say that the meat in the soup was very good. The flank was served rare (actually) and tasted very fresh. There was brisket as well which was very good, tender and beefy.

The service was good and the food came out in a hurry. They also had 33 lager from Vietnam, which was cool. Most other Vietnamese places don't even have that.

Anyways, maybe today's broth was a fluke. Next time, more beef bones, more spice, more salt/fish sauce, and MORE BROTH! I'm excited to try some of the other items with my next visit, which seem to be getting more praise anyways, so that may change my opinion later on. But I'm first and foremost a sucker...

TLDR: this restaurant is simply bad takes on Vietnamese classics, the servers are cold and act pretentious, and they are cheap with the serving sizes and meat portions. Would not recommend.

For context we ordered the tasting menu which people had seemingly good things to say about so we were going in with good expectations. The tasting menu was served with pickled carrot and daikon, 2 spicy fish sauce mixtures (a smokier one and a spicier one) which we were told to eat throughout the meal as pallet cleansers or on the side, but thought it really served no purpose or addition to the meal- why should we have to add the seasoning to our meal isn’t that why it’s called a tasting menu?

Seared Tuna: 5/10 - The tuna was slightly seared and was in a mayonnaise-like sauce which was virtually tasteless. The tuna itself had flavor, but I wasn’t impressed by this dish

Crab & Cucumber Noodle Salad: 3/10 - This was a slightly spicy dish with white (seemed like rice) noodles, maybe 3 small crab pieces (which split between 2 people was not enough at all), and cucumbers. The only redeeming quality of this dish was the cucumbers as they were fresh and crisp

Brisket Taco: 2/10 - The brisket meat was alright, mostly sweet flavor and was served with a guacamole sauce that was spicy. However it was just 2 thin slices of meat and a tortilla. There wasn’t any lettuce or toppings so it was basically eating a tortilla with 2 thin meat slices in it (?).

Cassoulet w/ Sausage & Tamale: 7/10 - maybe the only dish worth a try at this restaurant. Tasted reminiscent of bun bo hue, a Vietnamese soup combined with tomato tamale sauce. The tamale was good and the toppings of cilantro, avocado, and cabbages complemented the dish nicely. There was maybe 3 small pieces of sausage in the dish though…

Rice Thit Nuong (?): 0/10 - This dish was a take on bun thit nuong a Vietnamese vermicelli rice noodle dish and boy did it strike out. The rice tasted like it had been cooked in one of those stoneware pots, very smokey. The meat was dry and served with a barbecue sauce that didn’t match the dish at all. Maybe just leave this one to the Vietnamese restaurants…

Dessert - Chia seed pudding, jackfruit, coconut, hibiscus: 5/10 - honestly just didn’t think this was good at all

Experience: 2/10 - the lighting was dimmer with candles on the tables, it was very LOUD as in people were shouting to hear each other, the temperature was way too stuffy and humid, and the waiters all seemed like they were eager to get you to get you out of there

All in all the food was poor, the prices were steep, the service was bad, and the restaurant was loud and hot. Wouldn’t recommend...

Whomever was at the front — possibly the owner? — started eyeing me before I came in and their attitude was offputting for me, a visibly trans person who encounters a lot of harassment (see my many other reviews). I got the chicken pho because it had been recommended to me by someone as gluten free. I felt uncomfortable after ordering and went outside; I was told if I waited outside the food would be brought to me.

While I was outside I got harassed, so I came in, prompting an audible reaction to say the food wasn’t ready yet (which was not the reason I came inside). The food came shortly thereafter and I didn’t feel safe enough to ask to wait a bit or for someone to meet me, so I left, and got followed for almost a mile by someone. In the rain. The brown paper bag broke as I ran away, so I carried it between my hand and chin. But at least it was intact… When I came home I discovered it included a piece of fried chicken, which I do not recall seeing listed on the menu. I called and was told it was gluten free, asked for clarification and only then learned it is not fried in a dedicated fryer. My money will be refunded, hopefully, but after I was rebuked for being rebuked for not saying I have celiac, which was profoundly insensitive. I told him as a visibly trans person I don’t do anything to call more attention to myself; what I didn’t say was that I already felt ill at ease, and that his behavior had contributed to that. The phone call was really condescending and insensitive. I didn’t feel respected in the least.

Don’t say something’s gluten free if it’s not. If it’s cross contaminated, leave a note about that like everyone else does, and maybe even mention it when ordering… like most places do. Why would anyone think it’s fair to assume whether someone does or doesn’t have a food sensitivity? Just treat everyone like they might. Maybe some people aren’t comfortable saying it based on past confrontations (I’ve been tossed out of places more times than I can count for mentioning my dietary restrictions; one involved law enforcement, I kid you not). Not everybody has the privilege of acting like a cis dude! I was honestly shocked by this person’s behavior, although I’ve experienced worse, also in north Brooklyn.

Hopefully the refund comes through. What a disappointment. And really unexpected for the...