Thái Sơn — Restaurant in New York

What do you do when you plans for a good dinner fails?

You come to ol' reliable Thai Son, son.

The Pho is still on point.

I ordered the number 1 off the Pho menu which was the BEEF PHO and the beef slices were perfectly slight pinkish hue. The hot soup will take care of it and make sure it is cooked. I don't like my meat too pink so this shade was just perfect. A nice light pink.

*noted that the number 1 is a larger bowl than all of the other Pho options on the menu. It is also pricier than all of the other Pho options on the menu.

In addition, I ordered the PHO W/GRILLED CHICKEN. The grilled chicken was more burnt on the outside this time than usually. I'm not sure whether it was because I came in 1 hr before they close which is pretty much a bad idea in itself or it was just an off night but it is still pretty good chicken. The pho served with this dish is smaller.

The BROTH is somewhat concerning for the beef pho. It tasted a little off and it was noticeable which is not exactly what you want. The broth in the pho with the grill chicken was on point. I'm not sure if it was 2 different cooks that made the Pho(s) but I'll write this off as an off night on a rather busy Monday Labor Day night.

The SERVICE still cordial and on point once again.

The SPACE is classed up a bit from the last time I visited. 2 new artsy picture hanging by the right side of the entrance and soft Classical music playing in the background.

Wow...just wow.

Yes, they were busy even 1 hr before closing.

CRAZY.

Still one of the better places to eat Pho in...

Visited Thái Son multiple times in the past many years. My most recent visit was last Friday, where my boyfriend and I each got a bowl of pho and a banh mi to share. He got a #1 (as always) and I got a #3.

#1: Xe Lua - extra big bowl of pho w/ eye of round, brisket, tripe, and tendon #3: Dac Biet - medium bowl of pho w/ eye of round, brisket, tripe, and tendon #29a: Banh Mi Thit Nuong - grilled pork sandwich

Quality Vietnamese food, conveniently located right outside the Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street subway station of Jackson Heights. All hit the spot on a chilly Friday night. Thái Son also accepts card!

Took a star off because we had just sat down and within 10 seconds, a waiter came over to ask to take our order. We asked for more time, and a different waiter came another 20 seconds later. We weren't ready yet, and yet, another waiter came a third time very soon after. It's hard to choose which appetizers we wanted with so many distractions in such a short amount of time. The fourth time, it was a young boy who asked if we were ready. I understand that people usually order a #1 and pho restaurants are quicker service, but the experience where they sent over 4 different waiters in a span of 2 minutes was too much.

All in all, I would go back because I love pho and Thái Son serves some...

Had to find out what the hype was about based on 5 star reviews on Google. I’ve been here just one time before 5 years ago but I wasn’t reviewing places back then. Compared to other Vietnamese restaurants, this one fairs slightly better, but prices are the same as every other Vietnamese place and I’m assuming because of covid. Speaking of the pandemic, there is no outdoor dining available so it’s a order-and-go type place. I got the Vietnamese spring rolls, grilled pork chop over rice, curry chicken over rice, and a salty plum soda. The spring rolls were awesome! One of the best I have tried. The same goes for the grilled pork chop over rice. The sauce for both was not overly sweet, which is a plus because some other Vietnamese places don’t make it right. The curry chicken over rice is a spicy dish. I didn’t find it too spicy but it wasn’t a dish I would reorder. I felt the chicken was overcooked and there was way more rice than there was curry chicken. This restaurant does not have Thai iced tea so I went with my second option, salty plum soda. It needed just a little more sugar and it would’ve been good. I would revisit just to try their pho and rainbow ice....