Pho Ninh Kieu — Restaurant in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Pho Ninh Kieu is a Vietnamese restaurant, tucked away alongside Sukhadia in a row of other businesses. They have shifted to an adjacent place and remodeled their restaurant in the new Avtar.

The timing was a little odd for me (it closes at 8 PM) so we reached there by 730. It was Wednesday night and hardly 2-3 tables were occupied, we waited for the server to get the table but no one showed up, so we got settled ourselves. Again, waited for the server to bring the menu, but helped ourselves to pick from the adjacent table.

Most Vietnamese food is harmonious, healthy, light to eat, colorful, and very diet-friendly- that’s what I heard.

We ordered-

Grilled Chicken Summer - rolled in rice paper, I did not find it wow types - 2.5/5

Shrimp Bao - soft bao with shrimp - it was good

Chicken Fried Rice: Best item on the table :D

Grilled Chicken Pho: Pho - it was just boiled noodles with veggies. Not even a suggestion by the server/owner that - hey eat it with this or mix some sauce. I was mixing sauces (kept at the table) to make it edible. Like what and how to mix so that we can eat that. I might sound ignorant but hey if I am new to your cuisine, help me out.

Shredded Chicken Rice Noodles Soup: same case with chicken soup as well. not sure it was supposed to be that way, but have it edible man.

Grilled Chicken Rice Vermicelli: Vermicelli- it's a cold dish, and again they have just mixed cold noodles with veggies and no sauces. it was left on us how and what to mix to make it edible. it was no fun.

I might sound orthodox and controversial, but on the contrary, I did not like the food. and the best item was chicken fried rice. The grilled chicken they served- the same type of chicken in every dish, from appetizer to Pho to rice vermicelli.

Service: it was on the slower side, with 2 folks (I guess a couple runs this restaurant), and from beginning to end, we had to wait for service.

Ambiance: it's new and fancy, classic find dine-in...

This is not my first time but writing the review for the first time for this place.

I have been frequenting Pho Ninh for about 4 years now, the quality of service is holding and is always good. It is a nice cozy family run place type of atmosphere, I believe quite a few family members pitch in from time to time. I love the Pho, beef or oxtail or house special. The quantity of meat has always varied and over the years have slightly reduced, I would not mind, they kept the prices steady for a long time, with slight increase this year, justified. The broth is above average, if they can bring salty notes a notch down would be good. Quantity is good, I take larger bowl. They always check on you, remember to acknowledge that I am back. I have had summer rolls, spring rolls from time to time, and they are nice too. This place prefers cash, will take CC but with a fee. I strongly recommend this place.

Update: 9/3/2022 This is one of my favorite Pho place. The owner also waits the table and is very friendly and communicative. He is very proud of the broth his cook prepares as the bone content is more than other places, he insists. That shows up also as the soup are very hearty and full of fragrance. 5 Stars to the taste and quality of Pho. I would like to see little more of meat portion in Pho; a mere 20% increment will be good enough to meet the meat deficiency in already a very nice Pho, for me. The portion in the Large Pho is adequate otherwise. Owner shared that the Pho is neither HCMC nor Hanoi but from the middle, I would take the words as I have not been to either. The sprout and greens are indicative of HCMC, as I am told by multiple Vietnamese Pho restaurants.

I am keeping 4 stars, that is not indicative of the taste and presentation, for that I give 5 stars, I think meat content can be increased a bit, leaves me...

Today was our first-time here.

For the decor- the place was extremely well attended to. It was clean, homey, and I loved the art on the walls and the tile. It was really nice to see how clean everything was, that speaks volumes about the quality of the food and the kitchen. I loved the menus too. Little details mean alot.

For the service- for us that was the best part. We basically asked the server what was his favorite for everything we were thinking about getting and he had so much helpful information to share and was extremely pleasant, along with the owner I believe. They are charming and funny too!

The food- We ordered apps: pork buns, grilled squid and an avocado smoothie. For the main we got two pho's- one L (p3) with eye round, flank and brisket and an XL vegetarian pho which came with tofu. It was so nice to eat half and bring the rest home! I would happily pay for quality any day. I typically would never think an avocado smoothie would be good and it literally blew us away, everything was sooo good. The sauce for the squid and how the squid was cooked, the pork buns, the flavor, and the pho was delicious. No additional sauce is needed. Of course we had to ask what the sauce was for the squid and he happily told us what was on it so we can make it at home although we will most likely just order from here haha. The owner said he makes the pho how he makes it for himself at home, no msg, uses 100 bones for the broth and keeps it really healthy. Also there was some extra spice in the tea which I couldn't put my finger on it but made it really delicious.

We are grateful to find such a nice place with such good food and great staff, it was a pleasure to dine here. We took home the papaya shrimp salad which amazing also for my mother in law, seriously everything is good. Come before this place...