Pho 85 — Restaurant in Oakton

Best food, everr. Just demolished the Beef Bahn Mi. Omg. Absolutely incredible. The bread is important and it had a bite to it with a little crunch on the outside. IYKYK. The meat a little smokey from the grill and delicious flavor; need to get their secret marinade, wow. Also had the traditional super fresh veggies/herbs. Enjoyed the Pho Brisket last week, too. Delicious. Broth tastes more "concentrated" than other places. It puts everyone else to shame like they're watering the broth down at other places around Northern VA to stretch it out. Not at Pho 85. It's rich and flavorful, giving off a unique aroma I've never experienced. You get all the usual fixings that are super fresh to boot. I had a generous portion of meat, noodles and broth. The place was busy, full of (just an observation) Asian Americans. They must be bringing the flavors everyone knows from their home towns, to Oakton VA. Definitely adding Pho 85 to the monthly list of local restaurants we frequent. Thank you sooo much. Can't find photos of the Pho. But look at...

came here due to it's availability to be opened during July 4th. so you can imagined I had the place all to myself!

started off w the traditional phở special and the Vietnamese iced coffee. phở was underwhelming... definitely on the lighter side. even w the extra trimmings it was ok @ best. the coffee was also not as rich and flavorful as a straight drip chicory coffee w sweet condensed milk would offer. you can tell by the light coloration of the glass as soon as it was brought out.

the highlight of the meal was the fried crab & pork rolls. you can hear the kitchen frying it up because the rolls are usually prepped ahead of time and fried to order, which usually doesn't take long. I enjoyed it a lot dipping w the fish sauce. the first bite didn't looked like it had a good amount of crabs but the 2nd piece showed it; just a comparison of the way the fillings looked even though both were plenty.

overall: if I'm here I'd try something else. it was...

Found a new go-to pho place in the neighborhood. My all time favorite is pho 75 in Rosslyn, but if I rate that place 9/10, this place could be decent 8/10. Considering distance from my place and parking situation, I would rather come here. Plenty of parking, plenty of seats, my server was kid-friendly.

Bahn Xeo is pretty good. The size is huge and it can feed two people. I really love the broth of pho. If broth has rich flavor without adding any hoisin or sriracha sauce, that’s the pass for me. Even my picky 3-yr old loved the pho; quality is verified. Fried rice was ok. Bun cha here is pretty good as well.

Overall, very pleasant experience and this is a must try...