Ocean Pho — Restaurant in Redlands

I can only speak to the service and the pan-fried items, but based on my experience, I won’t be going back. First impression upon entering was that the host was hassled to see us. The restaurant was mostly empty, with only one more table occupied. We were told to take a seat anywhere.

The menu barcode on the table was covered with the table items so we didn’t realize there was one until being attended to some minutes later. The menu that pulled up from the barcode was for online ordering supported by a third party vendor, so it didn’t have any item descriptions. I asked the server what is included in the lunch specials on the online order menu, and he stated “it’s just lettuce, there’s nothing special”. Okay. I exited the online menu and pulled up their website instead. Their website doesn’t have a menu for the Barton location (hyperlink doesn’t work), so I looked up their Mountain Grove menu and that one did have descriptions of items.

We ordered #120-Panfried soft noodles with chicken. And Pad Sew Ew with beef. Both items are described as pan-fried. But both items were basically boiled meat and noodles swimming in runny sauce and steamed vegetables. There is no wok-wonder going on here. The soft noodles with chicken was especially horrendous, because the sauce was sickly sweet. It also did not taste Vietnamese cuisine as they had used Chinese white pepper in great proportion, from what I could taste. I could also tell the chicken was just boiled in water.

The one star in this review is for the gentle lady from the kitchen crew serving the dishes. She placed the plateful of food on our table with love and a...

The food was ok but the customer service was horrible from the waitress. I wish that I knew her name so that I could post it. She was rude with us but not so much with the other patrons, so my wife and I noticed. First of all, when we arrived, she told us that we could only sit at the smaller tables since it was only two of us in our party. We went along with that, however, when others came in right behind us, with only two in their party, they were told that they may sit at any table they choose. Oh really!!! Secondly, when she took our order, her attitude was less than desirable. When she delivered our food she said nothing at all and when she slid us the check, again, she said nothing. We also noticed that she wasn't this way with others. Now, is it because I'm Black and my wife is Mexican/Caucasian? If I wasn't saved, I would have said some things to her that would make her go home crying. I Pray that she would mature and get to know the Lord Jesus and get rid of that...

I’m not a pho expert, so I brought in a professional pho reviewer to provide some Input. According to him, this is one of the best pho places he has been to. And I have to agree. The broth of the pho is truly unique, and is on the sweeter side than most places. Had the pho with filet-minon which was only $16 and a great quite frankly. The quality of the meat was exceptional. 9/10

I also had a beef bahn mi for $8 - and I will review this independently from the pho because I think they belong into separate categories. I think the bond me is good, but missing a few key elements to make it great. The ingredients themselves are very fresh, but need to be incorporated with more seasoning. Also, sandwich was a little bit on the smaller side than I expected. 7/10

Service was good. Very friendly. Establishment has been here for about five years with two other locations. Very clean, friendly atmosphere.

Food - 16/20 Service - 7/10 Atmosphere - 7/10

Total - 30/40 - come...